Revelation 8:5-13

Revelation 8:

Welwyn:

There is a connection with the prayers of the saints in 8:1-5, but it is not simply that believers are praying down judgement or wrath on the earth (remember how Jesus rebuked James and John for the suggestion of calling down heavenly fire on a village which rejected him—Luke 9:51-56). Nor, on the other hand, can we say that the saints are praying for wrath to be averted. The trumpets, as we shall see, combine judgement and grace. The prayers of 8:1-5 can best be understood as a pleading for God to intervene on the earth and act according to his majestic and perfect will.

Isn’t this what Jesus taught us to pray? 

Matthew 6:10

10 Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

The prayer of the martyred saints in 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?”

NOTE: There is obviously similarity between the Seals and the Trumpets...this understanding of Revelation is called “recapitulation”...the same general scene is shown, but significant details are added/shown...

Welwyn: Once again, as with the seals, there are six trumpets, then a long pause, while John is shown other visions, before the final trumpet is sounded

Welwyn: These first four trumpets, just like the four horsemen of chapter 6, come as a group. The first trumpet blast strikes the land and destroys the vegetation (8:7). The second one strikes the sea in a similar way (8:8-9). The third one strikes the fresh water, 'wormwood' being a kind of bitter-tasting plant (8:10-11). The use of the word here is probably an allusion to a pair of references in Jeremiah (Jer. 9:15; 23:15). The last of the four blots out the light (8:12). In each case the effects are partial: one third of the earth's natural resources, on which human life relies, are lost.

The trumpets picture the destruction of the earth that has been caused by man’s sin...and this has been happening through the centuries (and has continued since Christ ascended to heaven). Though caused by man in one sense, it is ultimately God’s judgment.

This certainly agrees with Romans 1 where the Apostle Paul writes:

Romans 1:18

18 For the wrath of God is revealed (note: “is being revealed”) from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

TRUMPETS 1-4:

Revelation 8:6-13 (LET’S READ)

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!”

Welwyn

So what is going on here? Remember that the story has been wound back to the beginning. We have set out once more with a perfect earth, a pristine creation. Now, in this vision of the trumpets, one part at a time, the world's natural resources—its means of supporting life—are ruined. Humanity has done that. We started at the Fall, where creation was thrown out of joint by our sin, and ever since, not content with that, we have burned, polluted, poisoned and generally destroyed the world which the Lord commanded us to look after. So now we have a world where large areas are desert, and the deserts are spreading, the vegetation shrivelling. The sea is a place of storms and conflict, polluted and overfished. The wonderful creatures which God made to live there are dying out. Meanwhile our drinking water becomes undrinkable. Cities are darkened by smog. All of these scenes are killing people—less so in the pampered West, more so in other parts of the world. It is significant that, out of these four, it is the third trumpet that brings human deaths, because it is the loss of clean water that is the most certainly lethal. All these are getting worse. We probably haven't yet seen the full extent of these judgements, especially the fourth one, but they are becoming increasingly evident. With every passing year this earth becomes less able to sustain life.

AND NOTE: BELIEVERS SUFFER FROM THIS JUDGMENT JUST AS UNBELIEVERS...

What this tells us is that the judgments that have been and are coming on the earth, which look so natural are:

FIRST-caused by man’s sin

SECOND-are God’s judgments and warnings meant to encourage repentance in light of the fact that WORSE judgments are coming...

NOTE: all mankind, both God’s people and the lost, have had to suffer the consequences of sin that have been destroying our world...

NOTE 2: isn’t it interesting that mankind has racheted up its efforts to treat the world more responsibly...to arrest the destruction of the earth and its resources, and yet to do it WITHOUT repentance before God...

Now see how the chapter ends in v13:

Revelation 8:13

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 see at the end of the chapter that this is meant to catch the attention of those outside of Christ, “those who dwell on the earth.” 

Why do we say that “those who dwell on the earth” are sinful mankind?

LOOK AT 2 OTHER PLACES IN REVELATION THAT ARE INSTRUCTIVE...

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?”

-here it is those who persecuted and martyred God’s saints

Revelation 11:10

10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

-here it is those who rejoice over the death of God’s 2 witnesses

And it seems that the final three trumpets are aimed specifically at the lost...and that they are spiritual and not physical woes (Welwyn)

Yet they do not repent: See in Rev 9...

Revelation 9:20-21

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.