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Revelation 8

8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Heaven is stunned to see what is revealed when the scroll is unrolled after the seventh seal is broken. This silence will be broken with the blast of the first trumpet 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. "the seven angels" has the article the indicates these seven are a specific group In Tobit 12:15 Raphael identifies himself as "one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One" 1 Enoch 20:2-8 the names of seven angels are listed as Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel and Remiel Jubilees 1:27, 29; 2:1-2, 18; 15:27; 31:14 refer to the Angels of Presence. Isaiah 63:9, "In all their distress he too was distressed and the angel of his presence saved them." Luke 1:19, Gabriel declares to Zechariah, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God." To stand in God's presence or to stand before God means to be in a position that is ready to serve God. Elijah said, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand" (KJ) "As the Lord, the God of Esrael, lives, whom I serve, . ." ( 1 Kings 17:1) The prophet Elisha said, "As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, . . . (2 Kings 5:16) These may be the same seven angels of 15:1 "seven angels with the seven last plagues." These angels have not just recently arrived in the vision just because they are mentioned first here. Details of the throne room continue to be brought out as the vision progresses. John is still in the throne room of God as the vision from chapter four continues. Trumpets (salpiggeV salpigges) salpiggeV salpigges is used as: 1) the natural instrument in1 Cor 14:8 2) the acts of angels at Christ second advent in Mt.24:31 3) heard at Mt. Sinai from the mountain of God when he descended Heb. 12:19 4) when John was summoned to God in 4:1 and 1:10 where the trumpet actually is speaking words 5) at the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16) Used in the OT for: 1) Call people together (Number 10:3) 2) to move the tribes on their journey (Numbers 10:5-6) 3) to sound an alarm before a war or invasion (Numbers 10:9) 4) to celebrate feast days (Numbers 10:10) Josephus describes the trumpet as “a narrow tube about a cubit in length with a mouthpiece side enough to admit the breath and a bell-shaped extremity” (Ant.3.291) When Joshua was marching around Jericho before its defeat it says: "The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets." It is interesting to note that: 1) The ark of God represents the heavenly throne of God 2) The two cherubim on the mercy seat are in the same positions as the seraphim in Isaiah 6 3) The four priests that carry the ark are in the same positions as the four cherubim in Ezekiel 1 4) The seven priests with their seven trumpets are marching in front of the presence of the Lord just like the seven angels proceed the return of the presence of the Lord to the earth with their seven trumpets. The seven trumpets of the seven angels of Revelation 8 will call forth: 1) four great disasters on the physical earth 2) two demonic plagues on the people of the earth (9:1-21) 3) The great proclamation that "the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." (11:15) This results in Satan's cosmos kingdom collapsing with he and his angels being cast to the earth. (12:7-13) 8:3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at (epi "on", may mean "stood over") the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The altar is the golden altar. Daily the priest in the temple of Jerusalem would take hot coals from the altar of sacrifice and carry them in the holy place to the golden altar of incense. Read Exodus 30:1-10 ". . .where I will meet with you. . .must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come." The Correct Translation "He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne." (NIV) The clause can mean: 1) the incense was mingled with the prayers of the saints 2) the incense is the prayers of the saints The majority of commentators and English translations favor "the incense was mingled with the prayers." F. F. Bruce does not translate the preposition "taiV" in the dative case as "with", but interprets it as an equivalent of the Hebrew "le" so that the translation reads: "He was given much incense to offer, consisting of the prayers of all the saints." This would agree with the Rev. 5:8, ""they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." Notice again that the vision in the throne room continues to reveal details that have been there all along. Here we find out that in front of the throne of God is this golden altar is before the throne of God. ". . .on the golden altar before the throne." 8:4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. When the grains of the incense come in contact with hot coals a fragrant smoke cloud is released. This fragrant cloud of smoke is the symbol of divine acceptance. 8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Ezekiel 10:2-7,"The Lord said to the man clothed in linen, 'Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city." It is clear that the place of intercession is a direct cause for God's response. 8:6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. These next judgments are not: 1) simply a review of the seven seals we have just seen 2) Events that happen in strictly chronological order after the seven seals What difference we can see is: 1) The first judgments of the seven seals are inevitable consequences of human sinfulness 2) The seven trumpet judgments are the active involvement of God. It appears to be a combination of chronological events and parallel events: Chronological Evidence: 1) Rise in intensity (part of earth with trumpets, all of earth with bowls) 2) Seals, trumpets, bowls have different events and different sequence 3) 9:4 refers to those not sealed which means chapter 7 has already occurred 4) “When he opened the seventh seal. . .I saw the seven angels. . .to them were given seven trumpets” would indicate sequential events Parallel Evidence (the seals, trumpets and bowls are occurring at the same time) 1) The 6th and 7th seal, the 7th trumpet and the 7th bowl all seem to depict events that occur at Christ’s return. 2) The trumpet judgments are aimed at the world that is against God. These judgments are never unleashed in the fullness of their destruction which indicates: 1) Their purpose is not total punishment 2) Their purpose is to lead to repentance The number 1/3 occurs twelve times. These trumpets warn the people of the coming wrath of God The first four trumpets strike at nature. The first three all involve fire which may correspond with the angel casting his censer with fire from the altar to the earth. 8:7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. Judgment 1) hail 2) fire 3) blood Result: a) 1/3 of earth burned up b) 1/3 of the trees burned up c) All of the green grass was burned up Reference to blood may align with Joel 2:31, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth , nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken..” (Luke 21:25-26) An earthquake with the magnitude of 8.5 would trigger worldwide volcanic eruptions. Large quantities of flaming , blood red lava would be blown into the atmosphere. This atmospheric disturbance could cause violent thunder storms that would produce large hail. The masses of water vapor blown skyward might condense in the intense updrafts as hailstones. The blood of entrapped men and animals might be mingled with these hailstones . The water drops would be so contaminated with dust and gases that they would be blood-red. The result would be: 1) catastrophic fires 2) destruction of crops 3) death of animals 4) loss of wood for construction 5) loss of water sources 8:8,9 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Judgment 1) "something like" a blazing mountain enters the sea Result a) 1/3 of sea turned to blood b) 1/3 of living creatures in sea die c) 1/3 of ships were destroyed The destruction of the ships gives the impression that the seas became very turbulent While the people are trying to recover from the first trumpet, the earth is struck with this. The people observe a massive object coming towards the earth like a blazing mountain. This would seem to be a giant meteorite or asteroid flaming with gases burning from the entrance into our atmosphere. The world will see it coming, they will watch in person or on TV as it enters our atmosphere and crashes into the ocean somewhere. The impact causes huge tidal waves around the world since the oceans are connected. (In John McArthur commentary from 1999 on page 48 he calls these “tsunamis” The explosion is greater than an atomic bomb. 8:10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water - the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. Reference to blood may align with Joel 2:31, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth , nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken..” (Luke 21:25-26) An earthquake with the magnitude of 8.5 would trigger worldwide volcanic eruptions. Large quantities of flaming , blood red lava would be blown into the atmosphere. This atmospheric disturbance could cause violent thunder storms that would produce large hail. The masses of water vapor blown skyward might condense in the intense updrafts as hailstones. The blood of entrapped men and animals might be mingled with these hailstones . The water drops would be so contaminated with dust and gases that they would be blood-red. The result would be: 1) catastrophic fires 2) destruction of crops 3) death of animals 4) loss of wood for construction 5) loss of water sources 8:8,9 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Judgment 1) "something like" a blazing mountain enters the sea Result a) 1/3 of sea turned to blood b) 1/3 of living creatures in sea die c) 1/3 of ships were destroyed The destruction of the ships gives the impression that the seas became very turbulent While the people are trying to recover from the first trumpet, the earth is struck with this. The people observe a massive object coming towards the earth like a blazing mountain. This would seem to be a giant meteorite or asteroid flaming with gases burning from the entrance into our atmosphere. The world will see it coming, they will watch in person or on TV as it enters our atmosphere and crashes into the ocean somewhere. The impact causes huge tidal waves around the world since the oceans are connected. (In John McArthur commentary from 1999 on page 48 he calls these “tsunamis” The explosion is greater than an atomic bomb. 8:10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water - the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. The next three trumpets are aimed at “the inhabitants of the earth.” “Inhabitants of the earth” is a technical designation of the unbelievers and those living in wickedness. “Inhabitants of the earth” are not followers of the Lamb. This eagle may be one of the cherubim who are mentioned to have the face of an eagle. Any destruction to the earth that man can prevent until this time will be caused by God: Depletion of the ozone Pollution Destruction of the rain forests Global warming Saving the whales The spotted owl Demonic activity will increase in chapter 9.