An Interlude Inserted in the Trumpets.
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. REV 10:1.NLT
The seven trumpets are the inevitable, climatic and cataclysmic results of the complete revelation of the Lamb as God Almighty, as we saw in chapter 5. We have been witnessing sin confronted by a loving God, who must eventually bring to a climax this planets rebellion and simultaneously demonstrate His love and Justice (Romans 3:26). The trumpets have given us insight into the results of earthly events that have challenged the purity, goodness and glory of God through an attack on his creation. That attack included an attack on the fourth commandment which identifies God as the creator (Exodus 20:8-11.)
The trumpets, therefore, are not just the next event in a process. They represent the ultimate turmoil sin creates when confronted by the revelation of the Lamb. Before our study is done, we will see this restoration, as God in His turn, unwinds the effects of sin! This should be an encouragement to you as we proceed through what must come.
The 7th trumpet (Rev 11:15-18) is separated from the horrors of the 6th (Rev 9:13-21) by a long interlude. This section is of a different character than the trumpet vision proper.
Instead of horrific judgments, natural catastrophes, and the fate of the unsaved; there is prophecy, preaching, and the experience of God’s people.
Is the interlude of Revelation 10 and 11 connected in some way to the trumpets? We can answer that question with certainty. You may remember that Rev 8:13 described three woes that would be coming during the sounding of the last three trumpets. Then Rev 9:12 said, “The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.” So, the first woe clearly is the fifth trumpet (Rev 9:1-11) and the second woe clearly begins when the sixth trumpet begins (Rev 9:13). But when does the second woe end?
“The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon” (Rev 11:14). The ending of the second woe (the sixth trumpet) does not come in Rev 9:21, it comes in Rev 11:14. That means that Revelation 10 and 11 are not something separate from the sixth trumpet. Revelation 10 and 11 deal with the same events as chapter 9, but from a different perspective. This is also the time of the sealing (Rev 7:1-4) and the gathering for the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:13-16). The core of the sixth trumpet is just before the close of probation (Rev 10:7). (The close of probation can be compared to Noah going into the ark, the door being shut, but no rain occurred for 7 days. Everyone’s fate was sealed)
So, in the sixth trumpet the same events are described from two different perspectives. Chapter 9 concerns the activities and fate of the unsaved toward the End, and Revelation 10 and 11 offer a view of God’s people and their experience in the same period. While Satan’s forces are preparing for the final conflict (Revelation 9:13-21), God is preparing a people to counteract that threat (Revelation 10-11:13).