Revelation 11:18; Standing Before God (2)

Revelation 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. 

Not only will the seventh trumpet signal the outpouring of God’s wrath on earth, it will also indicate that the time has come for the dead to be judged. Time translates kairos, which refers to a season, era, occasion, or event. The establishing of Christ’s kingdom will be a fitting time for the dead to be judged.

The Great White Throne judgment (20:11–15) is not in view in this passage, as some argue, since that judgment explicitly involves only unbelievers.

It is best to see the reference to judgment here as a general reference to all future judgments. The elders in their song make no attempt to separate the different phases of judgment as they are separated in the closing chapters of Revelation.

They simply sing of future judgments as though they were one event, in the same way that other Scriptures do not distinguish future judgments from each other (cf. John 5:25, 28–29; Acts 17:31; 24:21).

John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

John 5:28-29 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. 

Acts 24:21 Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day. 

 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1999). Revelation 1–11 (p. 319). Chicago: Moody Press.