Kingdom, Singular or Plural?
Revelation 11:15, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever. (RSV)
Note that the KJV translates ‘kingdom’ as a plural form, whereas the RSV translates it as a singular form. The actual Greek text uses the word basileia, which is singular. The significance of whether it is singular or plural is: a plural would indicate that the many earthly political units ruled by many and various kings had been given to Christ. A singular would indicate that Christ had regained the rulership of the spiritual kingdom of the whole earth, which satan had stolen. The singular form is the correct one.
Not only is the form singular in the original Greek, but that is the form which agrees most with other Scriptural references. The prophets foresaw the coming of Christ‘s kingdom as singular. Daniel interpreted the king’s dream of the earthly kingdoms that would exist from his time until the time of Christ, (Daniel 2:36-45). In verse 44 he says:
And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom (singular) which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever. (RSV)
Again in Daniel 7, Daniel himself is given a dream vision of the kingdoms that would lead up to the time of Christ. He sees in the spirit the presentation of Christ before God the Father:
And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom (singular) one that shall not be destroyed. (Dan. 7:14 RSV).
Although this kingdom is eternally sure to the “Son of Man“, it is to be the possession of the “saints of the Most High“, (Daniel 7:18, 27), who will rule as vice regents under the authority of Christ.
Micah 4:7 predicted the holy remnant would become a strong nation as the people of the Lord. Matthew 10:1-23 shows that Jesus commissioned his disciples to preach only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” For this particular mission they were told to “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans.” This mission would not be completed, that is, they would “not have gone through the towns of Israel”, before the Son of man comes. This mission was completed and the disciples reported back to Jesus concerning it. (See the parallel passage in Luke 9:1-10 and 10:1-17.) Therefore, the “Son of Man (has) come.”
Luke 9:27: But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
This passage shows clearly that Jesus said the kingdom would come in the generation that heard Him speak.
This first mission outreach produced the “good seed,” or “holy remnant” that formed the nucleus, or seed-crop, of the Church; therefore the kingdom did indeed appear during this outreach. It began the process of the translation of the earthly kingdom to the heavenly, the fleshly to the spiritual. This process of the emergence and translation of the kingdom was completed when Jerusalem was destroyed and the nation ceased to exist as a biological race. The genetic descendants of Abraham chose either to follow the doctrines of Christ or those of the Pharisees.
After this first mission, He appointed seventy who were sent to heal the sick and proclaim that “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Luke 10:9). These seventy returned from their mission reporting that even the devils were subject to them, (Luke 10:17), to which Jesus replied: “I saw satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18). Then He further commissioned them with authority to “tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:19).
Jesus then clearly stated:
All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Luke 10:22 RSV).
Jesus had received His kingdom.
Jeremiah foresaw that the Davidic dynasty and the Levitical priesthood would be multiplied and would be permanent. (Jer. 33:17-23) This was fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ, the Son of David, Who has an eternal kingdom as well as an eternal priesthood, (Hebrews 7:21-24). This dynasty and priesthood have been multiplied as the stars of heaven in the Body of Christ, the holy Church. (1 Pet. 2:5, 9).
Zechariah foresaw the coming of that day when: “the Lord will become King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be one and his name one.” (Zech 14:9 RSV).
In Paul‘s first letter to Timothy he calls Christ: “The King of Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, (1 Tim. 1:17, RSV. KJV renders “King eternal“.). The wording here in the Greek, (βασιλει των αὶωνων), “the King of Ages“, is almost identical to Revelation 11:15: “And He shall reign for ever and ever.” (basileύsei eỉV toùV aỉωnaV tωn aỉωnwn) To Paul, it was a present reality.
If the passage in Revelation 11:15 is to be correlated with other Scriptural passages, then we might understand that the sounding of the seventh trumpet occurred when Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father and began to occupy his place as King of the Ages. His parting words were:
Matthew 28:18b-20 RSV: All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the Age.
John 3:35 RSV: The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.
John 17:2 RSV: Thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.
Philippians 2:9-10: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth.”
1 Pet. 3:22 RSV: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
From these passages it is clear that Christ began to reign when He conquered the prince of this world, satan, and triumphed over death, hell and the grave. It was at that time in history that the seventh angel sounded his trumpet and made his announcement:
The kingdom (singular) of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.
But satan did not relinquish the Kingdom without a fight. In Revelation 12: 7-17, we see the war that he waged. Satan has here taken the form of the great red dragon. He is defeated and thrown down to the earth/land. The Kingship of Christ is repeated:
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!’ (Revelation 12:10-17 RSV)
When he could not devour the Male Child, (Christ), he turned his warfare against the Woman, fleshly Israel who brought forth the child, but could not immediately overcome her.
(See Commentary at 12:3 “The Red Dragon and His Manifestations”, for further comment on this warfare. See “Jesus The Conquering King” Commentary on Revelation 19:11-16.)
Temple Opened in Heaven
Revelation 11:19: “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened.” (RSV)
Note that in 11:19, following the second ‘woe,’ “the temple of God was opened in heaven, (KJV).” This represents a transfer to heaven of the temple. The transfer to “heaven” means the translation from the natural, physical world to the spiritual dimension. The earthly temple was never to be the real Temple again; it has been translated. From this point on throughout the book , the references to the “temple” are of the spiritual temple, the “temple opened in heaven,” that is, the Temple of Christ‘s Body, the Church, is seated with Him in heavenly places (2 Cor. 6:16; Ephesians 1:23; Revelation 21:22).
The glory of God has departed from the earthly temple and now resides in and upon the Temple in heaven. (As also happened in Ezekiel chapters 10 and 11.) The absence of the glory of God from the temple represents the time when God’s Spirit has ceased to strive with Man, (Gen. 6:3; John 6:44). There was a time when God’s mercy and grace ended for that generation of Jews who rejected His sacrifice.
In 14:15, this temple in heaven opens to allow an angel to come out. This is not another transfer to heaven, but rather the opening of the door, so to speak, to allow the angel to come out. Again in 15:5 we see this temple opening to let the angels come out who were given the vials containing the seven last plagues.