Good morning and welcome back to the 5MC for another round in the study of the book of Revelation. I hope that you have been enjoying and learning much thus far into our study of Revelation. You know the old saying, "you get out what you put in," or as Paul says in Gal 6:7, “you reap what you sow”. I hope that you are giving the study the time and effort it deserves. I strongly encourage you to be reading the entirety of the chapter in study and hopefully even reading some additional commentary alongside the 5MC. God will bless your preparation and study of His Word in a tremendous way. Also remember that this is the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to those that read it, hear it, and keep it. (Rev 1:3) I pray you readily claim that blessing of God today as we read and study chapter 8 of Revelation.
Today we will see the opening of the 7th and final seal on the scroll in the throneroom of heaven. As I mentioned in an earlier study, the 7th of one series opens up the beginning of another. So the opening of the last seal today will begin the next judgement series of seven, the blowing of the 7 trumpets. Also recall that God’s judgements are sequential and build in their wrath. It’s basically like turning the heat up on a stove. He will increase the severity of the judgments as the great tribulation moves on. That’s not to say that the six seals we just studied weren’t absolutely terrifying, because they were. They were beyond what I could ever imagine experiencing, especially the destruction and suffering of the 6th seal. But folks, people just will not repent and turn to God, so He will keep dialing up the heat. And as we study the first four trumpets today, we will see them bring new levels of suffering to the world in a much more personal way.
Let’s look at chapter 8 and the opening of the 7th seal and then the blowing of trumpets 1-4.
“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
8:1 – “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”
This is the calm before the storm. As Jesus readies to open the last seal, the entire throne room realizes the extreme judgement that is coming on the Earth and all present fall into a deep silence. This might just be one the most eerie scenes in God’s Word. Silence is already very awkward but silence before something big is even more tense. 30 minutes of silence befalls before the wrath of God is unleashed in all of its fury.
8:2 - “Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.”
This is a new set of 7 angels that we have not seen yet in Revelation. The word ‘the’ describes them as a group or set. A specific group of seven angels with a specific purpose. They will blow the trumpets of judgment under the authority of Jesus. The trumpets recall God’s great use of them in the Old Testament. They were used to call for assembly, start the procession, to move into battle with God, and to announce the burnt offerings. (Num 10:2, Num 10:9-10, Num 10:4)
8:3-5 – “And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.”
Another angel is just that, another angel we have not yet encountered. He has a golden censer which is a special container that incense is burned in. He was “given much incense” (apparently by God on the throne) and he combines the incense with the prayers of the saints. Recall the 5th seal from Rev 5:9-10 and that it dealt with the prayers of the saints asking God to avenge their deaths. This is the prayers of the saints mentioned here. Remember that God gave them white robes and told them to rest a while. God heard their prayers and as God does with our prayers will act on them in His time, not ours. The time for God to act on these prayers is now and folks, if you ever want to witness the power of prayer to God, you’ll see it here. Incense speaks of the power of Christ’s name in our prayers. “Ask in my name” (Matt 14:13, Matt 15:16, Matt 16:23) The incense combines with the prayers of the saints and it wafts up before God from the hands of the angel. What beautiful imagery here as we see this curling smoke mingling into the air before Almighty God, the power of Jesus mixing with the power of prayer. But this peaceful scene shifts quickly as the angel takes some fire from the altar and places it into the censer. Fire is the symbol of judgement and since it came directly from the altar of God this is the direct judgement of God. The angel dispenses God’s judgement on the Earth and the unbelievers there by throwing the mixture down upon the Earth. The Earth groans under the judgment with lightning, thunder, and yet another Earthquake. We can assume that this earthquake is equal to or even worse than the one we witnessed in the 6th seal. Folks, it’s already been very, very bad, but God just turned the oven knob up several more clicks.
8:6-7 - “Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.”
So at this point we have seen the 7th seal opened and it revealed the 7 trumpets of judgement. These will be escalated in their severity and they will be executed one at a time. The first trumpet is blown here revealing quite the scene. We’re told that after the flood, God will never judge the Earth again by water. (Gen 9:11) But we are told in 2 Peter 3:6-7 “and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” Here we have that fire and what a fire it is. The 1st trumpet is followed by hail and fire mixed with blood. Hail is created as extremely cold air and moisture collide quickly with warm dry air. We’re seeing here a rapid climate change as the intensity of this fire changes the Earth’s atmosphere. It says it’s mixed with blood, this could be literal blood or possibly represents lava from massive volcanic activity that is “thrown upon the Earth.”
We see this fire "burn up" 1/3 of the entire Earth. We often see the terrible fires that burn and destroy California. The reports will often tell us how much land they have destroyed. For instance the fire has destroyed over 23,000 acres. Folks think about this, fire can’t destroy water. When we’re told here that fire will destroy 1/3 of the Earth that means land, not seas or oceans. The Earth is already 2/3 water so that leaves 1/3 of it as land. And 1/3 of that remaining land will be consumed by this fire. That is almost beyond comprehension. So for comparison to the wild fires in California that might burn a massive 23,000 acres, this fire will consume 1/3 of the earth's total land mass meaining it will engulf an unbelievable 12.3 billion acres! That’s 12,300,000,000 acres left charred an useless. Not just burned, but "burned up." Let that sink in a minute or two. This will be destruction on scale never before seen since the flood of Noah. In the fire we’re told that also 1/3 of all trees and grass will be consumed. That means 1/3 of all fruit, nuts, wheat, corn, rice, beans etc. will be gone also. Anything that grows on a tree or is produced of the land, 1/3 will be burned away. There will be tremendous food shortages as a result. It will also cause great environmental problems with the overloads of smoke, soot, and ash. Also think of the huge economical and societal shift this will cause as hundreds of millions will be homeless and jobless. And folks, this is the first trumpet.
8:8-9 - “The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
Something like a mountain on fire is thrown into the sea. We’re not told exactly, but it seems very logical this is a huge meteor of some kind. Just like in all of the Hollywood disaster movies, something of this size would cause disaster that would ripple throughout the world. It will cause the sea to turn as blood which will kill 1/3 of all sea life. There goes the food, nourishment, and provision from the sea. With 1/3 of all seal life gone, those that depend upon the sea for privision will be in utter despair. It also says that 1/3 of all boats will be destroyed. This seems to indicate the tsunami that this flaming mountain will create will be on a scale never witnessed. It will destroy boats at sea and in harbors. It will destroy ocean freighters, oil tankers, fishing boats, and pleasure yachts alike. Notice thus far that every judgement has been 1/3. Exactly 1/3. Folks when God says 1/3 He means exactly 1/3. If you were to count the boats before the tsunami and after you would find that down to the exact boat, 1/3 will be gone from the face of this Earth. This is to show all people of all time that this is not mere coincidence of mother nature being angry, but it is a precise and exact judgement from the God of the Universe upon a people that continue to arrogantly reject Him.
8:10-11 - “The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.”
Well, we might have lost 1/3 of our land, 1/3 of our food, 1/3 of our fish and 1/3 of our boats but at least we still have plenty of tasty fresh water right? Nope. The third trumpet takes a mighty toll on the Earth’s fresh water, literally the essence of human life. It’s estimated a human can go without food for a whopping 21 days. In fact, Mahatma Ghandi did this, eating no food for 21 days in a row. But water is different. The human body is over 60% water and without constant replenishment it will die within a matter of 3 days. This trumpet brings forth a star from heaven that affects 1/3 of all fresh water on the Earth. This meteor apparently breaks up and then falls exactly into the rivers, streams and fresh water lakes. Wherever “Wormwood” falls it make the waters bitter and undrinkable. Now you might think that this is going to be bad because people will not have water but that’s not the judgement in itself. We’re told it happened so quickly and that because of how rivers and streams flow, that many die directly from drinking the infected water. Maybe “Wormwood” hit 100 miles up the river and the people downstream had no idea. “Wormwood” will claim millions as people will have no choice but to seek out water and even take the risk to “drink or die.”
8:12 – “The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night."
Here comes the 4th trumpet and we see it affecting the space around the earth. The sun has 1/3 of its light removed. Also, the moon and the stars shine 1/3 less. This now affects the daily cycle of the planet. The sun will be reduced by 1/3 which will affect the growing cycles of whatever can be grown on the remaining 2/3 of the earth's land remaining. This will not only be a physical impact but one of great mental trauma as well. Unbelievers might be able to discount all these other disasters as merely “mother nature” or “the planet” judging in climate revolution, but folks, God makes the sun go dark. And not just dark, but God in His power makes it a regular rhythmic event. Just like our sun rises and sets in a perfect daily rhythm, the sun will be darkened like clockwork each day. God is doing everything He can to dial up the heat on this stiff-necked people to get them to turn to Him. But yet they will not repent so He will turn up the dial even more.
8:13 – “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
We have seen today the first 4 of the 7 trumpets to be blown and their absolute devastation loosened upon the Earth and it’s unbelieving people. There are 3 left. But before those three are unleashed God gives one more additional warning. These three will be so bad, so untolerable, and so unbearable that God goes as far to give the people one last warning before He releases them. Will people listen? Will they finally turn to God or will they continue to follow their own sinful ways? It is quite amazing what people will do and how far they will go to resist God.
I worked with a young lady named Anna while we served on Maui. Anna claimed to be an atheist. She didn’t believe that there was a God. We would discuss it during our night shifts at Tommy Bahama, selling Hawaiian shirts to Hawaiian tourists. In a friendly, relaxed fashion, we would converse about God, or the lack of one. She would attempt to convince me there was no God and I would appeal to her "to simply look around at the beauty of creation, how could there not be a God?" But you know what God revealed to me? Both views take faith. I can hear your response, "what, an atheist has faith? In what? In their belief that their is no God?" You see, you can’t prove God, but you also can’t disprove God either. It takes faith to believe in God, but it also takes faith to believe that there is no God. This brought about an interesting wrinkle into our discussion as I would tease her about her huge level of faith in the idea that there was no god. But you see, she even saw faith as bad. She, in her absolute rebellion to God, didn’t just want to dispel God, she wanted no God for anyone. She was in such rebellion to God she simply wanted there to be no God for her or for anyone else. Folks this type of rejection of and rebellion to our creator is why these judgements in Revelation will eventually need to befall the Earth. Yet God looks down upon these poor souls and even in His Revelation judgement, He offers them more grace. During all of this terrible pain and suffering all one needs to do is to cry out to God to save them and the blood of Jesus will save them just like it will save sinners today. Yet it will not happen for so many. In their own twisted faith they will say, there is no God.
An eagle flies over the entire Earth and makes the somber announcement, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!” I heard somebody one time criticize this verse, “how can an eagle talk, birds can’t talk.” Someone quickly responded “yeah birds can’t talk, it’s not like God made parrots that can talk, right?” The response was silence. Yes, the eagle talks just like the donkey talks to Balaam in Numbers 22. God's world doesn't hinge on our ability to understand it. There are three trumpets left and the eagle issues three “woes”, one for each judgement. The last three trumpets will be personal anguish and torture for all left on the Earth. But God in His limitless mercy has the eagle offer them one last chance to repent before they are loosed. In our next lesson we will look at the last 3 trumpets which will indeed bring woe to all those it touches.
By the way, if you're wondering what ever happened to my young atheist friend Anna mentioned in the story above, our frequent conversations really starting her questioning why she believed what she did. As I saw the Holy Spirit stirring her, I challenged her to go seek the one and only truth that exists in this world. For God promises if we seek Him with all of our heart, He will be found. And all glory be to God, she came in a few months later and informed me that she had indeed found 'the truth' and had accpeted Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. Folks, there is nothing better in this life than watching God save sinnners.
God bless your journey towards becoming closer to Him through a deep and personal study of His Word.
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