King of kings
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. [Call to worship]
Rev 11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. [Response]
When the seventh angel sounded
The sounding of the seventh trumpet by the seventh angel marked the beginning of the third ‘woe’ 8:13; 11:14. Two previous woes had been unleashed on those who did not have the seal of God in their foreheads and one-third of men on earth, who all perished because of the first two woes. Indeed it was much distress and sorrow upon men for their worship of devils, and of idols of all kind, for murder, sorceries, fornication and theft 9:20,21. Yet they did not repent of these sins and wickedness 9:21. The third woe would be ushered in when the seventh angel sounded, but significantly, it was declared that in the days when the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, there will be no more delay of the fulfilment of the mystery purpose of God 10:6,7. It is time to wrap up the plans of God!
The Longsuffering of God
Whereas, God had waited throughout the ages, as he did in the days of Noah when the ark was being built (1Pet 3:20) because He was longsuffering toward men, so that they will not perish but come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9) that leads to salvation.
To illustrate this point, at the final supper with His disciples, the LORD Jesus said, “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” Mt 26:29. The Lord will have no pleasure, but will restrain and deny Himself, yeah suffer long until the sons of the Kingdom are all gathered into the Kingdom. Even now, Christ still ‘suffers’ because those He died for are not fully gathered yet. God endures, restrains and holds back His justice and wrath against all the wickedness and evils of men that they might be saved Jas 5:10.
Christ shall reign forever
What the twenty-four elders responded to in worship was the celebration and declaration by great voices in heaven when the seventh angel sounded. They declared, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” Rev 11:15. The Kingdom the disciples and the multitudes thought would come immediately (Lk19:11) has now come. Then, the one who was designated to have the kingdom was rejected and would not be allowed to rule Lk 19:14. The kingdoms of this world have always and everywhere rejected the reign of Christ- they won’t even bear with the mention of Christ’s name. The systems of the world are so designed to not accommodate Christ. Even a customized Christ-title on a bottled drink was rejected. From the birth of Christ to His death there was no room for Him. But now- all the kingdoms of the world shall submit to God and Christ and He shall reign over all forever and ever. The Kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy shall finally be established. Injustice, corruption, unfairness, immorality, lusts and all evils will finally come to an end. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” Lk 2:14 will now be witnessed in all fullness. Halleluyah!
Judgment and rewards
Two themes that were loud in the response worship of the twenty-four elders was that of the wrath of God and the reward of the Saints. Now, people don’t want to hear anything about the wrath of God. We can’t even imagine a God of wrath; no, God is good- that is what we want to hear. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” Rom 1:18. His wrath will be revealed on those who rejected the knowledge of God and have substituted it with creations of their own imaginations. A God who has no wrath is an idol created in the minds of men but it is not God. Likewise a God that is not Sovereign; a God of justice etc. A God that is not wholly God in His Being is not our God and such cannot be correctly worshipped as God. God will bring all these thoughts and acts to judgment.
But He will also reward His servants the Prophets, the Saints and those who fear His name both small and great. And these rewards, eyes have not seen, nor hearts conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor 2:9). This is the great motive to suffer with Christ (for we shall reign with Him 2 Tim 2:12); to endure hardship as good soldiers of Christ and to contend for the faith in doctrine and love for the Saints.
Conclusion
If your worship of God is wobbly now, may you receive insight to see Him truly as King of kings, the Possessor of all things. May you see Him as Isaiah saw Him…”for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” Is 6:5. It is true that our worship cannot be above or beyond the truth that we know of Him. May you receive the truth that will make you a true worshipper- the kind that God is seeking.