In the chapters dealing specifically with The Tribulation, The Revelation almost appeared to miss the return of Christ altogether, as though it assumed readers already knew about it. When describing the seven trumpets, it concluded, "In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound [his trumpet], the mystery of God will be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets." (Revelation 10:7)
That's all. Just "the mystery of God… finished".
The Apostle Paul spoke of this "mystery" as a time when true believers will become immortal. He said, "Behold, I show you a mystery. We… will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible. We will be changed. This corruptible [body] must put on incorruption. And this mortal [body] must put on immortality." (I Corinthians 15:51-53)
In the Gospels, Jesus spoke of the mystery as a time when he would return to gather together his true followers. He said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days… will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. Then will all the tribes of the earth… see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. He will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31)
When Jesus ascended up to heaven, forty days after he rose from the dead, two angels appeared and said to the disciples who witnessed this great event, "This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:9-11)
In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul again described the return of Christ. He said, "We which are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord will not prevent those who are asleep [i.e. dead]. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." (I Thessalonians 4:15-17)
But The Revelation doesn't mention this when referring to the seventh trumpet. Instead, it goes into descriptions of various aspects of the Tribulation, i.e. the Two Witnesses (chapter 11), the Church in the Wilderness (chapter 12), the Beast, False Prophet, and Mark (chapter 13), and the Prostitute (chapters 17 and 18). Chapter 14 was a transition chapter before the seven vials of the Wrath were described in chapters 15 and 16.
It is not until chapter 19 that we see the triumph of Christ's return. There John describes the picture he gets of the Wrath from a heavenly perspective. There is no mention of the suffering taking place back on earth. Instead, there is only rejoicing and celebration at the "marriage supper of the Lamb". Those Christians who have remained true to the Lamb throughout the Tribulation, whether victims or survivors, are honoured as his "Bride" at this great wedding feast. They all turn up for the party with immortal bodies, and dressed in "fine linen, clean and white". (Revelation 19:8-9)
All of this is happening at the same time that the vials are being poured out on the earth down below. Such suffering does not touch those who faithfully endured tribulation for Christ.
Then Jesus appears on a white horse (Revelation 19:11), and the armies of heaven follow him as he rides off to "tread out the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:14-15) Then follows a description of the Battle of Armageddon, and the capture of the Beast and False Prophet. (Revelation 19:17-21)
What happens during the Wrath, back on earth, is, in some ways, similar to what happened during the Tribulation. As each vial is poured out, a new judgment is revealed: (1) A "noisome and grievous sore" strikes everyone left on earth. (2) All life in the oceans is killed. (3) The rivers turn to "blood". (4) All our worst fears about the depletion of the ozone layer become reality, as the sun "scorches men with great heat". (5) Great darkness fills the "seat of the Beast" (Jerusalem?) And (6) the "kings of the east" join with the rest of "the kings of the earth… to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." The seventh vial is the battle itself. (Revelation 16:1-21)
The Bible says of that battle: "Great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." (Revelation 16:19) This is consistent with our theory that, even though the ten horns had earlier helped the Beast to destroy Babylon in the form of America, the role and title of Babylon would be passed on to the Beast, until the spirit of Babylon is finally and utterly destroyed at Armageddon.
The Bible goes on to tell of Christ ruling the earth for a thousand years after the Battle of Armageddon, assisted by his followers, who will have immortal bodies by this time. (Revelation 20:2-4)
What we have here is not the traditional picture of angels playing harps and floating on clouds for the rest of eternity. Instead, it is a real world populated by imperfect mortals who have survived the Battle of Armageddon. They will be ruled over by followers of the Lamb.
Christ had, on several occasions, talked of his followers ruling over or judging cities or tribes when he comes to establish his kingdom on earth. (Matthew 24:44-47; 25:21; Luke 22:29-30) It appears that we will be doing just that. We will be given a chance to show the world how it should have been done when the Beast was running things. That thought in itself should provide plenty of food for thought to those of us who are critical of governments that now run the world.
Ask yourselves, "How would I do it?" Think seriously about your answer, because, if you decide to give your life to the Lamb, you may one day have an opportunity to do it just as you have thought about doing it now.
Of course it will only be possible because the Devil will be locked up for a thousand years. When he is freed "for a little season" at the end of the thousand years, the troubles start all over again. But, as we said earlier, that's another story.