Revelation 8:1-13

INTRO

PRAYER

A -

C -

T -

S -

EXPOSITION

8:1

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”

Seventh Seal = All 7 Trumpets OR Silence??

1/2 hour for what…

listen to saints / gravity of events / time incongruity

8:2

Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.”

7 Angels = Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqâêl, Gabriel, and Remiel.

Luke 1:19 “19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.”

7 Trumpets

call people together / move on the journey / sound the alarm for war / celebrate days and feasts / coronation of king /Jewish New Year !! / Jericho

Wrath !!

8:3

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,”

Angel / Altar

Angel / Jesus? … priest… given MUCH incense?… LOTS of prayer !!

Revelation 5:8 “8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

golden Altar / altar of incense

Come up again in 9.3… Exodus 30:1–3 “1 “You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it.”

8:4

and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.”

A Fragrant Offering !!

Ephesians 5:2 “2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

1 Peter 2:5 “5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Psalm 141:2 “2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!”

Leviticus 16:11–13 “11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.”

“prayers of the saints”

Saints = all those who believe in Jesus

8:5

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.”

Filled and Throne !!

Fire from the Altar

Wrath to be poured out… Answer to prayer?

Revelation 6:10 “10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?””

Thunder / rumblings / lighting / earthquake

—————— Shift to Trumpets ! = Egyptian plagues… sequential / recapitulation / perspective ?

Purpose is REPENTANCE !! … Division of 4 / 3 = Seals… De-Creation ??

Romans 8:20 “20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope”

Romans 8:22 “22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

8:6

Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.”

Prepared to blow

8:7

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.”

First Angel ?

Revelation 8:7 “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.”

Hail & Fire - Asteroids / Hail?

Exodus 9:19 “19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.” ’ ””

Exodus 9:25 “25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.”

1/3 of the earth = not complete destruction … Repent !

Literal / Allegorical

Trees = great and mighty / Grass = common man

Literal Hail = wildfires around the globe ??

8:8-9

Second Angel ?

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.”

Exodus = blood / Moses / Pharo

Figurative / Literal

Asteroid / Volcano / Leader

Asteroid = burning rock from space that causes chatostrophic impact and some form of bacteria (red tide)

Volcano = Deep within the ocean causing a tidal waves as well as upsetting the PH and temp of the ocean

Leader = historical analogy of mountain / rock of leader / king… sea = peoples and nations

Jeremiah 51:25 “25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares the Lord, which destroys the whole earth; I will stretch out my hand against you, and roll you down from the crags, and make you a burnt mountain.”

1/3 = not complete and time to repent !!

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.”

Third Angel ?

Figurative / Literal

Same Asteroid or different? … smoke or dust? / Satan / false teaching or prophet

Satan - star from heaven? - deceive christians and churches teachers and leaders

OT story

It is the reverse of the miracle at Marah where Moses cast a tree into the bitter waters and they were made sweet (Exod 15:25).

1/3 = not complete, time to repent !!

Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.””

8:12-13

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!””

Fourth Angel?

Figurative / Literal

Leaders - Sun, moon, stars… Joseph

Literal Darkness - smoke and suit in the atmosphere - supernatural control over physical

Amos 5:18 “18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light,”

Joel 2:2 “2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.”

1/3 = not complete still time to repent !!

Mark 13:24–27 “24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”

This is a pretty negative chapter but it is actually steeped with hope… what hope? We are not here yet!! there is still time and there is more hope as well!!

MESSAGE

Jesus has ultimate authority and has invited you to pray.

The prayers of the saints are pleasing to God.

God will act in accordance to His will and timing.

How can you have a powerful prayer life?

Keep a short account with God

Pray scripturally

Start small and be regular

Keep track of your prayers

Do not get discouraged

CLOSE

PRAYER QUOTES

“Prayer lays hold of God’s plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth.”—Marvin J. Newell

“We should wrestle in prayer and fasting for the things we know are God’s will in our lives and families and our church and our city and our world. But by and large we should probably leave it to God how he will use angels to get his work done.”—John Piper

“When there is no hope on the horizontal level, there’s always hope on the vertical level.”—Adrian Rogers

“It is a good fall when a man falls on his knees.”—Charles Spurgeon

“Prayer is not getting man’s will done in heaven, but getting God’s will done on earth. It is not overcoming God’s reluctance but laying hold of God’s willingness.”—Richard Trench

“God’s delays aren’t God’s denials.”—Adrian Rogers

“When we depend on our organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend on education, we get what education can do; when we depend on man, we get what man can do; but when we depend on God, we get what God can do.”—A. C. Dixon

“Prayer releases the grip of Satan’s power; prayerlessness increases it. That is why prayer is so exhausting and so vital.”—Alan Redpath

“No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it.”—Guy King

“God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it.”—John Wesley

“Prayer is a gift from God as well as appeal to God. Every prayer for mercy is not a cause, but a result! Divine grace is at the back of prayer and at the base of prayer.”—Charles Spurgeon

GROUP QUESTIONS

What stood out to you most from this message?

Which quote is you favorite and why?

Do you struggle to pray? How would you encourage another believer to see the importance of prayer?

What role does silence play in your prayer life? Spend some time in silence before the Lord simply contemplating His glory and power.

What role do you think angels play in carrying out God’s will? What does scripture say about this topic?

Look at the characteristics of “warfare prayer” listed in this notes. How do your prayers line up with these? What element will you add to your prayer life this week?

Spiritual conflict is real, but many believers fail to consider it in their own lives. How have you seen some characteristics of spiritual warfare in your own life? How might these truths shape your prayer life?

Why do you think God receives Christians’ prayers as a sweet aroma? How does this encourage you in your prayer life?

How should we pray for God’s judgment? Should we seek to carry out that judgment ourselves?

How is God’s mercy shown even in His judgment as seen in Revelation 8?

How would you summarize the main purpose of these trumpet judgments? What evidence would you use to support your view?

What material or earthly things are you tempted to trust in? How is Jesus better than each of these things?