(4) The voice from the throne--16: 17. The great voice from the temple-throne that ordered the plagues, understood to be that of God Himself, now declared the end in verse seventeen--it is done--that is, the plagues had been accomplished, the mission of the seven angels had been fulfilled. The pouring out of the vial into the air symbolized that the sphere of the influence of the wicked nations was destroyed by the wrath of God in the seventh vial--it was the destroying of them that destroy; and is the same of apocalyptic characters as Isaiah 26:13-14, prophesying the decease of the wicked lords who had oppressed Israel: "O Lord our God, other lords have had dominion over us . . . they are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.” No clearer explanation could be made of the visions in Revelation in the pouring out of the vials of wrath upon the nations that persecuted the Bride of Christ, the Lamb--his church. (7) The last vial poured into the air, causing voices, thunders, lightenings and a great earthquake: “ And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake; such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great” --16:17-18. As defined before, the symbol of the air represented the sphere of life and influence of the wicked nations. In Ephesians 2:1 Satan was named the prince of the power of the air-- not the actual exercise of power, but of influence--the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. In this symbol the great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne was not the voice of an angel, but of the Great God Himself. The great voice said: It is done. The time for the end of the judgments had come; the time for fall of the Harlot City; and the time for the punishments to follow on both Jewish and imperial persecutors of the church; all of which was signified by the distant rumbling of voices, thunders and lightnings. The earthquake everywhere used in the apocalypse symbolized the shaking of nations; and the effects of the fall of Jerusalem were not limited to Judea and the Jews--the mighty influence of the terrible events had a solemn impact of worldwide significance. With the removal of Judaism from the path of the church the way was opened for the universal expansion of Christianity, and the Lord’ s words in Matthew 24:31 were fulfilled: “ And he shall send his angels (emissaries) with a great sound of a trumpet (the proclamation of the gospel), and they shall gather together his elect (those converted by the gospel) from the four winds (every direction), from one end of heaven to the other (the remotest bounds of the habitation of men). And it was done.