The Mystery of God and the Seventh Trumpet

There is an announcement concerning the mystery of God to be accomplished in Revelation 10:7 which connects with the blowing of the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15–19. These two references are as follows:

“But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished.” Revelation 10:7.

“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.’ And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.’ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.” Revelation 11:15–19.

John the Revelator describes two times that the temple of God in heaven was opened. These two times are clearly defined in The Great Controversy.

“As in vision the apostle John was granted a view of the temple of God in heaven, he beheld there ‘seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.’ Revelation 4:5. He saw an angel ‘having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.’ Revelation 8:3. Here the prophet was permitted to behold the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven; and he saw there the ‘seven lamps of fire’ and ‘the golden altar,’ represented by the golden candlestick and the altar of incense in the sanctuary on earth. Again, ‘the temple of God was opened’ (Revelation 11:19), and he looked within the inner veil, upon the holy of holies. Here he beheld ‘the ark of His testament,’ represented by the sacred chest constructed by Moses to contain the law of God.” Ibid., 414, 415.

The time of the opening of the temple, as described in Revelation 11:19 is clearly explained in the following statement:

“The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament. Revelation 11:19. The ark of God’s testament is in the holy of holies, the second apartment of the sanctuary. In the ministration of the earthly tabernacle, which served ‘unto the example and shadow of heavenly things’ [Hebrews 8:5], this apartment was opened only upon the great Day of Atonement for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Therefore the announcement that the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of His testament was seen points to the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 as Christ entered there to perform the closing work of the atonement. Those who by faith followed their great High Priest as He entered upon His ministry in the most holy place, beheld the ark of His testament. As they had studied the subject of the sanctuary they had come to understand the Saviour’s change of ministration, and they saw that He was now officiating before the ark of God, pleading His blood in behalf of sinners.” Ibid., 433.

The date for the beginning of the judgment is established in Daniel 7 and more especially or particularly in Daniel 8. It is established by the termination of the 2,300 year time prophecy recorded in Daniel 8:14 and confirmed by this statement in The Great Controversy, 328:

“The seventy weeks—490 days—having been cut off from the 2300, there were 1810 days remaining. After the end of 490 days, the 1810 days were still to be fulfilled. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. Consequently the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 terminate in 1844. At the expiration of this great prophetic period, upon the testimony of the angel of God, ‘the sanctuary shall be cleansed.’ ” Ibid.

The first thing we see is a judgment taking place. In this judgment some will be rewarded and others will be declared guilty. The following statement gives the time when the investigative judgment is to begin:

“In the typical system, which was a shadow of the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the last service performed by the high priest in the yearly round of ministration. It was the closing work of the atonement—a removal or putting away of sin from Israel. It prefigured the closing work in the ministration of our High Priest in heaven, in the removal or blotting out of the sins of His people, which are registered in the heavenly records. This service involves a work of investigation, a work of judgment; and it immediately precedes the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; for when He comes, every case has been decided. Says Jesus: ‘My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.’ Revelation 22:12. It is this work of judgment, immediately preceding the second advent, that is announced in the first angel’s message of Revelation 14:7: ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.’

“Those who proclaimed this warning gave the right message at the right time.” Ibid., 352.

Another announcement of God’s temple being opened in heaven is couched in the vision of the four beasts coming up out of a stormy sea and the rise of the little horn that attacked the ministry of Jesus in the sanctuary of the new covenant in heaven. This prophecy tells us what God is going to do near the end of Satan’s war against the sanctuary and God’s people during the 1,260 years. Over 2,000 years ago Christ made this announcement of a judgment to take place at the closing of the mystery of God. The announcement is found in Daniel 7:9, 10:

“As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.”

The Ancient of Days is God the Father. He is seen coming into the courtroom and taking His seat as the great Judge of the universe in the court of heaven. As soon as He is seated, the witnesses, thousands upon thousands, ten thousand times ten thousand, come into the courtroom and are seated. Then the books are opened. Everything is in place for the judgment to begin.

In verse 13, we see a representation of Christ, the great High Priest of the faithful believers, coming into the courtroom to represent the cases of God’s people. Daniel’s description of this scene is as follows:

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.”

We understand the “clouds of heaven” to be a symbol of the great number of angels that are accompanying Jesus when He enters the courtroom. We see in these verses in Daniel 7:9, 10, and 13 a description of the opening of the judgment announced by the first angel’s message in Revelation 14:6, 7 and by the angel blowing the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15–19. There is an account of this event in The Great Controversy.

“ ‘I beheld,’ says the prophet Daniel, ‘till thrones were placed, and One that was Ancient of Days did sit: His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.’ Daniel 7:9, 10, R.V.

“Thus was presented to the prophet’s vision the great and solemn day when the characters and the lives of men should pass in review before the Judge of all the earth, and to every man should be rendered ‘according to his works’ [Matthew 16:27]. The Ancient of Days is God the Father. … It is He, the source of all being, and the fountain of all law, that is to preside in the judgment. And holy angels as ministers and witnesses, in number ‘ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands’ [Revelation 5:11], attend this great tribunal.

“ ‘And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him’ (Daniel 7:13). … The coming of Christ here described is not His second coming to the earth. He comes to the Ancient of Days in heaven to receive dominion and glory and a kingdom, which will be given Him at the close of His work as a mediator. It is this coming, and not His second advent to the earth, that was foretold in prophecy to take place at the termination of the 2300 days in 1844. Attended by heavenly angels, our great High Priest enters the holy of holies and there appears in the presence of God to engage in the last acts of His ministration in behalf of man—to perform the work of investigative judgment and to make an atonement for all who are shown to be entitled to its benefits.” Ibid., 479, 480.

This is the same judgment that was announced by the first angel.

The Philadelphia church is another announcement about the mystery of God that is to be accomplished. Revelation 3:7, 8 says,

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

The Philadelphia church represented the period of church history at the time of October 22, 1844, and following. We also know that Jesus is the One who is giving this message to the Philadelphia church for He is the One “who is Holy and True, who holds the key of David.”

In the message to the Philadelphia church, we are told that He (Christ) opened a door that no one could close. It was this open door to the Most Holy Place that the Ancient of Days, who is the Judge, Christ, who is our High Priest and Mediator and the heavenly host as witnesses entered to begin their investigation of the books, as described in Daniel 7:9, 10, and 13.

The door that Jesus closed at this time was the door to the Holy Place. The following statement is a clear explanation of the open and closed doors in the sanctuary of the new covenant in heaven:

“But clearer light came with the investigation of the sanctuary question. Now was seen the application of those words of Christ in the Revelation, addressed to the church at this very time: ‘These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth; I know thy works; behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it’ [Revelation 3:7, 8]. Here an open as well as a shut door is brought to view. At the termination of the 2300 prophetic days in 1844, Christ changed his ministration from the holy to the most holy place. When, in the ministration of the earthly sanctuary, the high priest on the day of atonement entered the most holy place, the door of the holy place was closed, and the door of the most holy was opened. So, when Christ passed from the holy to the most holy of the heavenly sanctuary, the door, or ministration, of the former apartment was closed, and the door, or ministration, of the latter was opened. Christ had ended one part of his work as our intercessor, to enter upon another portion of the work; and he still presented his blood before the Father in behalf of sinners. ‘Behold,’ he declares, ‘I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.’ ” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 268, 269.

Another description of this judgment is found in Hebrews 8:1, 2 and 9:15, 24–28.

“The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.” Hebrews 8:1, 2.

Paul wrote the book of Hebrews during the time of his ministry, not long after the time Jesus ascended to heaven. Paul taught that when Jesus ascended, He opened the sanctuary in heaven.

When Jesus ascended to heaven, He was inaugurated as a High Priest and began to serve in the sanctuary of the new covenant as our mediator. We can read the story of that inauguration in Revelation, chapters four and five. There is a description of this same event recorded in The Desire of the Ages, 830–835.

The following is an interesting statement about these two verses in Hebrews 8:

“Turning again to the book of Hebrews, the seekers for truth found that the existence of a second, or new-covenant sanctuary, was implied in the words of Paul already quoted: ‘Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary’ [Hebrews 9:1]. And the use of the word ‘also’ intimates that Paul has before made mention of this sanctuary. Turning back to the beginning of the previous chapter, they read: ‘Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.’ Hebrews 8:1, 2.

“Here is revealed the sanctuary of the new covenant. The sanctuary of the first covenant was pitched by man, built by Moses; this is pitched by the Lord, not by man. In that sanctuary the earthly priests performed their service; in this, Christ, our great High Priest, ministers at God’s right hand. One sanctuary was on earth, the other is in heaven.” The Great Controversy, 413. (Emphasis author’s.)

“The sanctuary in heaven, in which Jesus ministers in our behalf, is the great original, of which the sanctuary built by Moses was a copy.” Ibid., 414.

“The term ‘sanctuary,’ as used in the Bible, refers, first, to the tabernacle built by Moses, as a pattern of heavenly things; and, secondly, to the ‘true tabernacle’ in heaven, to which the earthly sanctuary pointed. At the death of Christ the typical service ended. The ‘true tabernacle’ in heaven is the sanctuary of the new covenant.” Ibid., 417.

Paul’s account of Jesus and His ministry in the sanctuary of the new covenant in heaven is in the following verses of Hebrews 9:15, 24:

“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. … For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.”

Jesus never ministered as a priest in the sanctuary on earth. The priests that ministered in the sanctuary on earth were all of human descent.

Notice this explanation given in The Great Controversy, 420:

“And what was done in type in the ministration of the earthly sanctuary is done in reality in the ministration of the heavenly sanctuary. After His ascension our Saviour began His work as our high priest. Says Paul: ‘Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.’ Hebrews 9:24.”

Continuing in Hebrews 9, we read verses 25, 26, 28:

“Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. … so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

So the evidence is very clear that the apostolic church had a clear understanding of the sanctuary of the new covenant in heaven and the ministry of Jesus in that sanctuary beginning at the time He ascended.

Let us take a closer look as to what is taking place in the courts of heaven at the present time.

“Every man’s work passes in review before God and is registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Opposite each name in the books of heaven is entered with terrible exactness every wrong word, every selfish act, every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissembling. Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs neglected, wasted moments, unimproved opportunities, the influence exerted for good or for evil, with its far-reaching results, all are chronicled by the recording angel. …

“Jesus will appear as their advocate, to plead in their behalf before God. ‘If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ I John 2:1. ‘For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.’ ‘Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.’ Hebrews 9:24; 7:25.” The Great Controversy, 482.

“The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated. But the apostle Peter distinctly states that the sins of believers will be blotted out ‘when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ.’ Acts 3:19, 20. When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will come, and His reward will be with Him to give to every man as his work shall be.” Ibid., 485.

When the work of the investigative judgment is finished, Christ will come.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New International Version.)

Maurice Hoppe is retired and volunteers at Steps to Life. His primary responsibility is working with the Training Program for Ministers and Church Leaders and the Training Program for Lay Workers. He also conducts a Bible Correspondence School from his home with emphasis on Bible prophecy. He may be contacted at: mauricehoppe@stepstolife.org.