The Seventh Seal

Revelation 8:1-13

Introduction:

Focused on the tribulation period

Church will be in heaven at this point

Chapter 5 we saw the beginning of the seal judgments

Revelation 8 see opening of the 7th seal

I.                   The Silent Pause

1.      Contrast silent pause in 8:1 with praise and worship 7:10-12

2.      Purpose of the pause:

1)      Now they are going to see the rest of God’s judgments unfolded

2)      Expectancy of what is to come:  Can it get any worse?

3)      Judgments that would take place caused the pause

3.      Time of the pause: doesn’t seem like a long time 30 minutes

Compare with being in a waiting room for surgery

                                         Waiting for a jury to read the verdict

                                          Stop talking in the service

II.                 The Solemn Preparation vv. 2, 6

1.      Angels are given trumpets:  see holding judgments in 7:1-3

2.  Trumpets:

                  1) Occasions trumpets used in Bible Numbers 10:2-10

                              call to worship

                              call to war

                              announce dates and events

                  2) Occurrences for trumpets

                              Giving of the Law

                              First of the Month

                              Rapture of the Church

Have to think that the sound of the trumpets will silence the crowd who looks at God as too loving to ever carry out judgment upon mankind.

III.              The Saint’s Prayer vv. 3-5

1.      Who is this angel?

1)      Some think it is a high ranking angel

2)      Some think that it represents Christ

*doing the work of mediation

*refer to the fact that He appeared in OT as Angel of Jehovah

         Gen. 16:7  Ex. 3:2  Num. 22:22 etc.

It seems to me that when Christ is referred to in heaven that He is clearly distinguished from the angels

2.      What are the prayers?

Note 6:9-10

Perhaps here to it is a call for God’s judgment

3.      If it is a prayer for God’s judgment then it is answered in vv. 5-6

v. 5 Judgment of fire sent

v. 6 Trumpets prepared to sound

Great day of God’s wrath has come

IV.              The Sounding of the Trumpets

Again the habit is to translate these as figurative judgments:  To me it seems more logical to translate them as literally as we can:  Nothing in the text indicates that these are not literal judgments.

1.      The first Trumpet sounds v. 7

1)      Devastation:  Hail, fire, blood, cast upon the earth

2)      The result:  1/3 part of the trees burned and all green grass

How would this affect food supply?

2.      The Second trumpet vv. 8-9

1)      Devastation:  object thrown into the sea

1/3 part became blood

1/3 part of creatures died

1/3 part of ships destroyed

Consider ¾ of earth is water

Remember the winter that filled fish in pond:  Stench was bad

Weirsbe:  In 1981 there were 24,867 merchant ships, imagine if 8,289 were suddenly destroyed?

3.      Third Trumpet  vv. 10-11

1)      Star called wormwood fell uupon 1/3 rivers, fountains (springs, wells) and made them bitter

2)      Historically:  3 types of wormwood, all extremely bitter

Jeremiah 9:15

Amos 5:9

Deut. 29:18

Prov. 5:4

3)      National Geographic lists 100 principle rivers

Ranging from Amazon (4000 miles long) to Rio De la Plata (150 miles long).  In US longest is Mississippi (3710 miles)

1/3 so bitterly polluted that drinking will cause death

4.      Fourth Trumpet vv. 12-13

1)      1/3 of sun, moon, stars smitten:  24 hour cycle of the day shortened to 16 hours

Note Matt. 24:21-22

2)       The warning of v. 13

“You ain’t seen nothing yet!”