Verse 19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. Rev 11:19
The Temple Opened.--Once more the prophet carries us back to the beginning of the trumpet. After the introduction of the seventh trumpet in verse 15, the first great event that comes to mind of the seer is the transfer of the kingdom from earthly to heavenly rule. God takes to Him His great power, and forever crushes the rebellion of this revolted earth, establishes Christ upon His own throne, and remains Himself supreme over all. We are next referred back to the state of the nations, the judgment to fall upon them, and the final destiny of both saints and sinners. (Verse 18.) After this field of vision has been scanned, our attention is called back once more in the verse now under notice, to the close of the priesthood of Christ, the last scene in the work of mercy for a guilty world.
The temple is opened, and the second apartment of the sanctuary is entered. We know it is the holy of holies that is here opened, for the ark is seen; and in that apartment alone the ark was deposited. This took place at the end of the 2300 days, when the sanctuary was to be cleansed. (Daniel 8:14.) At that time the prophetic periods ended and the seventh angel began to sound. Since 1814, the people of God have seen by faith the open door in heaven, and the ark of God's testament within. They are endeavoring to keep every precept of the holy law written upon the tables deposited there. That the tables of the law are there, just as they were in the ark in the sanctuary erected by Moses, is evident from the terms which John uses in describing the ark. He calls it the "ark of His testament."
The ark was called the ark of the covenant, or testament, because it was made for the express purpose of containing the tables of the testimony, or ten commandments. (Exodus 25:16, 31:18; Deuteronomy 10:2, 5.) It was put to no other use, and owed its name solely to the fact that it contained the tables of the law. If it did not contain the tables, it would not be the ark of God's testament, and could not truthfully be so called. Yet John, beholding the ark in heaven under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, still calls it the "ark of His testament," affording unanswerable proof that the law is still there, unaltered in one jot of tittle from the copy which for a time was committed to the care of men in the typical ark of the tabernacle during the time of Moses.
The followers of the prophetic word have also received the reed, and are measuring the temple, the altar, and those that worship therein. (Revelation 11:1.) They are uttering their last prophecy before nations, peoples, and tongues. (Revelation 10:11.) The drama will soon close with the lightnings, thunderings, voices, the earthquake, and great hail, which will constitute nature's last convulsion before all things are made new at the close of the thousand years. (Revelation 21:5.) (See comments on Revelation 16:17-21.)
[1] George Croly, The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 164.
[2] George Storrs, Midnight Cry, May 4, 1843, Vol. IV, Nos. 5, 6, p. 47.
[3] George Croly, The Apocalypse of St. John, pp. 175-177.
[4] George Storrs, Midnight Cry, May 4, 1843, Vol. IV, Nos. 5, 6, p. 47.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] George Croly, The Apocalypse of St. John, pp. 181-183.
[9] George Storrs, Midnight Cry, May 4, 1843, Vol. IV, Nos. 5, 6, p. 47.
[10] Ibid., p. 48.
[11] Pitirim A. Sorokin, Social and Cultural Dynamics, Vol. III, p. 487.</p