Our Almighty God
Though as believers we will
eventually be like Christ
and live in God’s eternal kingdom,
we should more and more
reflect our Almighty God’s holy nature
in the here and now.
Here’s Dr. Gene Getz:
As we look at this section
of the Scriptures that deals with
the seventh trumpet,
one of the things that comes out
is that we worship God who is Almighty--
the Almighty God.
And He appears throughout the
book of Revelation as the Almighty God.
The interesting thing is
that the term "Almighty God" or "God Almighty,"
that is used only 10 times
in the New Testament to describe God.
Nine of the times it’s in the
book of Revelation.
So that should tell us something
about who God is--the Almighty God.
So, Revelation chapter 11, verse 15, and following:
The seventh angel blew his trumpet,
and there were loud voices in heaven saying:
The kingdom of the world has become
the [kingdom] of our Lord and of His Messiah,
and He will reign forever and ever!
And there, another thing that
happens throughout the book of Revelation
is that periodically you see a projection
all the way to the end.
Even in the midst of what’s happening,
leading up to the fact that Jesus Christ
is going to come. He’s going to rule
and He’s going to reign.
There are projections ahead
as if it’s already happened.
And you see that here.
And so the 24 elders who are seated
before God on their thrones--
and we don’t know who those 24 elders are.
Some say they represent the church of Jesus Christ.
Some say they represent the 12 sons of Israel
and the 12 apostles.
Although there's some questions
that are raised with any of these points of view.
But the fact is that they are there.
They appear right from the
very beginning of the book,
particularly in relationship to chapter 4. But:
…The 24 elders, who were seated
before God on their thrones,
fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
We thank You, Lord God, the Almighty,
[Lord God, the Almighty]
who is and who was, because
You have taken Your great power
and have begun to reign. ...
Now again, that’s a projection.
God is revealing His power.
He has not yet come to reign.
But they see it as already as if it has happened:
…The nations were angry,
but Your wrath has come. ...
And we’ve seen obviously that that
is happening through the seal judgments,
the trumpet judgments,
and then the bowl judgments:
…The time has come for the dead to be judged,
[and] to give the reward to Your servants
the prophets, to the saints,
[and] to those who fear Your name,
both small and great, and the time has come
to destroy those who destroy the earth.
God’s sanctuary in heaven was opened,
and the ark of His covenant appeared in His sanctuary.
There were lightnings, [there were] rumblings,
[there were] thunders, an earthquake, and severe hail.
Now, keep in mind that this is all a vision.
John is seeing this.
He is hearing this as if it were real.
It has not yet been fulfilled.
He’s on the isle of Patmos.
God is giving him, throughout
this treatise we see, a glimpse of what
is going to happen on in to the future.
Now it’s interesting that if you go back
through the book of Revelation,
you can see that 9 times, as I said earlier,
that God is called the Almighty God.
And what I’d like to do is just sort of
walk you through that
and show you the different designations
and terms of God Almighty.
When that word is used,
there are other things said about God.
For example, if you go back to
chapter 1, verse 8, He’s called the eternal God.
And this is what we read in verse 8:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God,
“the One who is, who was, [and] who is coming,
the Almighty.”
The eternal God.
Without beginning. Without end.
If you move on to chapter 4, verse 8,
you have the Holy God
associated with the Almighty God.
Chapter 4, verse 8:
Each of the four living creatures had six wings;
they were covered with eyes around and inside.
Day and night they never stop, saying [What?]:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty…
There we see God Almighty as the Holy God:
…who was, who is, and who is coming.
If you move on to chapter 11, verse 17,
He is the omnipotent God,
the all-powerful God,
associated with the term "Lord God, the Almighty."
Here we read:
We thank You, Lord God, the Almighty,
who is [and] who was, because
You have taken Your great power
and have begun to reign.
He is the almighty, powerful God.
Moving on to chapter 15, verse 3.
He is the creator God.
And this is what we read in chapter 15, verse 3:
They sang the song of God’s servant Moses,
and the song of the Lamb:
Great and awe-inspiring are [What?]
Your works, [the creator God]
Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true
are Your ways, King of the Nations.
So He is the creator God.
He created all things with the word of His mouth.
In chapter 16, verse 7, He’s called the righteous God.
And we see that association once again:
Then I heard someone from the altar say:
Yes, Lord God, the Almighty,
true and righteous are Your judgments.
And by the way, as you look at
all of those judgments,
one of the things that I think
that we need to really understand:
that God is righteous.
And no one will ever be accusing God
or can accuse God
of not being righteous
in all of His judgments.
We don’t understand that,
but the fact is that it’s true.
He is righteous in all of His judgments.
In chapter 16, verse 14, He’s called
the triumphant God.
Again associated with the term Almighty:
For they are spirits of demons performing signs,
who travel to the kings of the whole world
to assemble them for the battle...
And this is speaking of the great battle of Armageddon:
…the battle of the great day of God, the Almighty.
And so there you see Him
as the triumphant God.
But He’s also the God who reigns.
We’ve seen that already in certain verses,
but in chapter 19:6,
it’s associated with the fact that
He’s the Lord God, the Almighty:
Then I heard something like the voice
of a vast multitude,
like the sound of cascading waters,
[and] like the rumbling of loud thunder...
And by the way, periodically throughout
the book of Revelation, you see this language.
The sound of rumbling, loud thunder, and in this case:
…saying: Hallelujah--because our
Lord God, the Almighty,
has begun to [What?] reign!
He is the reigning God. He will reign.
And through the person, of course,
of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
But He’s also the God of wrath.
And we see that throughout the book of
Revelation--in 19:15:
From His mouth came a sharp sword, so that
with it He might strike the nations.
He will shepherd them with an iron scepter.
He will also trample the winepress
of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty.
So He is, indeed, the God of wrath.
But finally, He is the God of eternal light.
Which comes from heaven
in the sanctuary where He is the light.
There’s no need of the sun by day
or moon by night because He is the light:
I did not see a sanctuary in it
because the Lord God the Almighty
and the Lamb are its sanctuary.
And in that context, it talks about
the fact that He is indeed the light--
God the eternal light.
So here we have a theme that runs
through the book of Revelation
that appears in relationship to the
blowing of the seventh trumpet.
The Reflection and Response question is:
Since we serve the Almighty God,
how should this impact our hearts
now and in the future?
Right now.
Well if you look at John 14:1 to 3,
the disciples were troubled
when Jesus said He was going to leave.
When He was going to go away.
They didn’t understand all that.
And Jesus there in the upper room said:
Your heart must not be troubled.
Believe in God; believe also in Me. ...
And then, here is our wonderful hope:
In My Father’s house are many dwelling places;
if not, I would have told you.
I am going away to prepare a place for you. ...
And that’s a wonderful thing.
We have hope.
God is preparing--Jesus is preparing
a place for us if we know Christ:
…[And] if I go away and prepare a place for you,
I will come back and receive you to Myself…
Now that’s an interesting phrase:
...I will come back and receive you
to Myself, so that where I am
you may be also.
Now the interesting question is:
When will Jesus come back
to receive believers to Himself?
Well that is a question that is debated
because there are various opinions.
There are those that believe that Jesus Christ
will receive the saints
prior to the tribulation period.
And the tribulation period
according to the book of Daniel,
what is called the 70th week of Daniel,
which is really a 7-year period:
That there are those who believe
that Jesus Christ will come with a shout
at the last trumpet.
The dead in Christ will rise first.
Those who are alive and remain
will be caught up to be with the Lord.
Paul talks about that in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4,
1st Corinthians chapter 15.
And the idea, the theory,
or the teaching is that all believers
will be removed from this world.
Both those who’ve died in Christ,
those who are alive when Christ comes,
to go to be with the Lord.
So that during the whole tribulation period,
believers are with the Lord, who are alive
when Jesus Christ comes.
Now there are other views.
There’s the view that Christ will come
at the mid-tribulation point.
And the mid-tribulation point would be
in the middle of the 7 years. When the seals
are beginning to be revealed:
The judgments. And the trumpets.
And the seals. And all of this
will be during that last 3½ years.
Then there is: Those who believe
in the post-tribulation rapture.
Which means that those who are alive
when Christ comes--
when the trumpet sounds,
when that moment happens
in the twinkling of an eye,
that that will be basically
simultaneous with Christ returning to earth
to rule and to reign.
If that’s true, then believers
who are alive when Christ comes
will go all the way through the tribulation.
Frankly, I hope they’re wrong.
Because I don’t want to be here.
But one thing I know: I shouldn’t
let my heart be troubled.
Because regardless, if I know Jesus Christ,
Jesus said: Don’t let your heart be troubled.
You believe in Me.
Believe in God. Believe also in Me.
I’m going to prepare a place for you.
And if believers should go through
the tribulation period, they will be protected
because I believe according to
1st Thessalonians, we will not be subject
to the wrath of God.
And throughout the tribulation,
particularly the last 3½ years, it’s God’s wrath.
Now God does not promise us
that we will be protected from enemies
who hate Jesus.
Many, many people, many Christians
have been martyred for the cause of Christ.
Over the years. Over the centuries.
God doesn’t even promise
that we will be protected totally
from Satan’s evil influences--
because he works through enemies
and evil people.
But it would be contradictory to the fact
that we’re saved
and delivered from God’s wrath
if indeed, as believers,
we were subject to God’s wrath.
So regardless, we will be protected
from God’s wrath.
Now my personal opinion is--what I prefer--
is a pre-tribulation rapture. I prefer that experientially.
And I prefer that biblically,
although you cannot look at the
book of Revelation and prove that.
You know, with references.
And say: This is it. This is it.
You have to look at the whole of Scripture,
and particularly at the book of Daniel.
And look at the fulfillment of that 70th week,
which will come after the 69th week.
And as we’ve looked before at Daniel
that there is the great gap between.
And that's the church age
in which we live today.