Explanation posted by John Wesley on 2007-01-01 00:00:00
From the first verse of this chapter to chap. xi. 13, preparation is made for the important trumpet of the seventh angel. It consists of two parts, which run parallel to each other: the former reaches from the first to the seventh verse of this chapter; the latter, from the eighth of this to the thirteenth verse of the eleventh chapter: whence, also, the sixth verse of this chapter is parallel to the eleventh verse. The period to which both these refer begins during the second woe, as appears, chap. xi. 14; but, being once begun, it extends in a continued course far into the trumpet of the seventh angel. Hence many things are represented here which are not fulfilled till long after. So the joyful "consummation of the mystery of God" is spoken of in the seventh verse of this chapter, which yet is not till after "the consummation of the wrath of God," chap. xv, 1. So the ascent of the beast "out of the bottomless pit" is mentioned, chap. xi, 7, which nevertheless is still to come, chap. xvii, 8; and so "the earthquake," by which a tenth part of the great city falls, and the rest are converted, chap. xi, 13, is really later than that by which the same city is "split into three parts," chap. xvi, 19. This is a most necessary observation, whereby we may escape many and great mistakes.