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different, "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened". Under
the "opening" of chapter 11:, where the emphasis is upon the covenant, the Lord is seen
succouring His own during the time of trouble through which they pass; under the
"opening" of chapter 15:, where the emphasis is upon the testimony, the Lord is seen
visiting with unmitigated judgment the Beast and his followers.
Returning to chapter 11: we would draw attention to the R.V. which follows the best
texts in verse 17, "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast".
The A.V. wrongly adds "and art to come". The Lord had come, and that portion of the
ineffable name is fulfilled at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. For a fuller exposition
of the theme the reader is referred to Volume VIII, pages 40-44.
The several statements, "the Lord, and His Christ", "the nations were angry, and Thy
wrath is come", refer back to the prophecy of Psa. 2::--
"The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the
Lord and against His anointed."
"Then shall He speak to them in His wrath."
"Yet have I anointed my King upon My holy hill of Zion."
The words of Dan. 7: 21, 22, and 26, 27, seem very fitting here:--
"And I beheld, and the same horn made war against the saints and prevailed against
them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most
High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.......but the judgment
shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the
end, and the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an
aionian kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him."
The following simple diagram may help the reader to realize the chronology of the
seventh trumpet:--
The Time of the Seventh Trumpet, 3½ years.
The woman fed for 1,260 days (12: 6).
A time, times and a half a time (12: 14).
The beast has power 42 months (13: 5).
The Seven Vials (15:, 16:).
Babylon falls (14: 8).
The final 3½ years of Daniel's to weeks (Dan. 9: 27).
If the above suggestion is true, then it would appear that the breaking of the covenant
in the midst of the week (Dan. 9:) is answered by the opening of the temple containing
God's covenant. The giving over of the throne and great authority of Satan to the Beast
is answered by the proclamation of Heaven's King (11: 15). It is the date also of the
catching up of the man child to God and His throne (12: 5). The Lord too may descend
from heaven to the air immediately after the pouring out of the seventh vial--"and the
seventh angel poured out his vial into the air"--and the hope of I Thess. 4: will be
realized.