At the sounding of the seventh trumpet Christ does not return to the earth until after the 3 1/2 year reign of the son of perdition who is the one who literally takes his seat (throne) in Jerusalem. This takes place on the very Temple Mount of God where the Dome of the Rock sits and is even now being refurbished for this beast out of the earth in whom the beast out of the sea gives him his power to reign here on earth persecuting those who are God's own causing many of them to die a martyr's death, Matthew 24:29-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Rev 6:9-11, Rev 13; 19:11-21. (The beast/son of perdition is not a Muslim as many think he is)
Rev 11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Here we see much rejoicing in heaven for the time is now that the mystery of God will be finished as he declared this to the prophets, Revelation 10:7. God will make an end to all sinful abominations here on earth against His people as His mighty power will reign as now the blood of the martyred saints will be avenged. God is about to destroy the enemy for eternity and all the kingdoms or nations of the world will now have become the Kingdoms and nations of God and no man will ever be able to take them out of Gods hands again, John 10:27, 28. The time of Gods longsuffering in His patience for those who need to repent, 2 Peter 3:9, has now come to an end and all glory and honor is given to His name.
The nations are angry because of Gods wrath that torments them day and night as it is a mystery to those Pharisee types that think themselves pious as they follow false religions and beliefs, even making themselves gods and have caused others to stray away from truth. All they see is Gods chastisements, but neglect seeing the warning of them to repent. The ignorance of these people is what will cause them to perish as they stand before God in judgment, Hosea 4:6, 7.
The reward unto the servants of God is that of being delivered from all the persecutions against them, those alive and asleep in the grave as when the temple is opened in heaven the ark of the covenant is seen as this is Gods covenant promise of His blessings to those who have been faithful to Him as being part of the covenant God made with Abraham and every generation after him, Genesis 12:1-3. The covenant promise is now to be fulfilled in that all Gods faithful children will have eternal life with Him as He completes the final purification of heaven and earth in order to usher down the New Jerusalem where we will be with the Lord forever.
Lightning is a strong force of power as in Gods power in heaven. The thunder is the voice of Gods power when He speaks. When God speaks even the earth quakes at His voice. The great hail is that of Gods seventh vial judgment that is about to be made on those who refuse to repent and the weight of each hail stone is the weight of a talent which is around 75 pounds each, Revelation 16:21.