Revelation Chapter 11
The Seventh Trumpet
Verses 16 and 17 as explained by Brother Frank Shallieu in The Keys of Revelation
VERSE 16 and 17 “And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.”
The twenty-four elders are personified abstractions of the Word of God in their component parts in the books of the Old Testament.
Since at the First Advent there was no New Testament, the twenty-four elders were emblematic of the whole Word of God. The prophetic utterances of the Bible concerning the Kingdom, particularly those of the Old Testament, which contains the bulk of prophetic testimony, will culminate and/or be fulfilled at the time the kingdoms of the world become those of Jehovah and His Anointed. It is then, when these prophecies are fulfilled, that the twenty-four elders will bow down and give homage to their Author and Sponsor, the Lord God Almighty. (See, “Prophetic Utterances of the Twenty-four Elders” under our study on How to Study the Book of Revelation, Part 42.
The twenty-four elders, who fall on their faces and worship, say, “We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty.” In other words, they give thanks to Jehovah, the All-Mighty God. The word “Almighty” cannot refer to Jesus, for his proper title is “The mighty God, The everlasting [age-lasting] Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).
The further designation “*who is and who was and who is to come” also cannot apply to Jesus because there was a time when he was dead (Rev. 1:18). Previously in the Book of Revelation, the title “which is, and which was, and which is to come” was seen to apply to the ever-living Jehovah (Rev 1:4). Here, under the seventh trumpet, the reason the twenty-four elders give this accolade of praise and thanksgiving is “because thou [the emphasis being on the Almighty God, NOT Jesus] hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.”
The reign of Jehovah is a future event. Once this time feature is properly seen, to then say that His reign has begun in any sense of the word would be not merely a diminution of God’s glory, but—more than that—a defamation of the Divine Character. With the continuing prevalence of sin and unchecked immorality, rebellion, and terrorism, with evil men prospering and evil deeds flourishing . . . to then blandly state that the ALL-MIGHTY GOD(?) has taken to Himself—that He has assumed—His GREAT POWER(?) and has begun to REIGN(?) is a completely untenable theory.
Upon whom is this marvelous authority being exercised?
Is not Satan still the god of this world?
It is most significant that in these three verses (Verses 15 to 17), the role of Jehovah is emphatically asserted, while The Christ is mentioned in a minor or secondary capacity.
Not only is Jehovah not reigning, but also, as already implied, neither is Christ or the Church presently reigning. The Church cannot reign until the whole body is complete.
The Apostle Paul said, “I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you” (1 Cor. 4:8), and “that we may be also glorified together” (Rom. 8:17), for “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50).
The Master himself said, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10), and “he that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he [the over-comer unto death] shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers” (Rev. 2:26, 27).
The Bride of Christ, when presented before the throne, will be a collective bride, and not be put forth in piecemeal fashion. Nor will this presentation be fragmented in its fulfillment, with some beyond the veil of humanity and some down here in the flesh. The same will be true with respect to the reign. It will be a joint reign with Christ, which will follow the marriage of the Lamb. The coronation of earth’s King and Queen, the inauguration of the Kingdom, will follow the wedding.
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The phrase “*who is and who was and who is to come” is A Title of Deity
“From him which is, and which was, and which is to come”—Rev. 1:4 (KJV).
“Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come”—Rev. 4:8 (KJV).
“O Lord God Almighty, which art, and was, and art to come; because . . .”—Rev. 11:17 (KJV).
“Lord God Almighty, which art, and was, AND because . . .”—Rev. 11:17 (Sinaitic).
In the last rendering it seems quite apparent that the omission of the phrase “art to come” was a lapsus calami on the part of the original transcriber of the Codex Sinaiticus because, as written, the extra “and” (capitalized) after the second descriptive phrase of the divine title would be superfluous. The phrase “art to come” is found in the following ancient versions:
Memphitic Lower Egypt Version (fourth century)
Vulgate Clementine Text based on Jerome’s Text (fourth century)
Armenian Version (Uscan Edition based on a fourth or fifth century text)
91. Codex Vaticanus B. Supplement (about the seventh century)
95. Codex Parham “17” Mt. Athos Scrivener Collation
The phrase “Lord God Almighty, which art, and was, and art to come”—whether in two or in three parts—obviously can apply only to Jehovah, the “Lord God Almighty.”
Continued with next post.
