Living in the Last Days (14)

“The First Five Trumpets of the Seventh Seal”

Revelation 8:1-9:12 “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sound…”

I. Intro

Chapter seven was an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals to seal the 144,000 and explain the innumerable multitude. Now, the opening of the seventh seal begins with the seven trumpet judgments. The seven trumpets do not follow the seventh seal, they are the seventh seal, along with the seven vials, or bowls of judgment following the trumpets. The Great Tribulation is a trio of sevens: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials of wrath.

II. The Golden Censer and Incense (8:1-5)

The Lamb, Jesus-rightful Heir to Earth, opens the seventh seal on the scroll, which is the title deed to earth. There is silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. Silence is a response to the horrible judgments soon to occur on Earth. Zephaniah 1:7 “Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: For the day of the Lord is at hand: For the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath bid his guests.” There is no time in Heaven, but John must describe the happenings in earthly terms. After the silence, John sees seven angels standing before God and the seven trumpets that are given to them. When each trumpet is blown, a specific judgment is unleashed on earth. Each with greater intensity than the previous six seals. Before the first trumpet of the seventh seal is blown, another angel comes and stands at the altar with a golden censer, which is an incense burner, or fire pan. In the OT, priests would twice daily bring fiery coals from the brazen altar to the altar of incense in the Holy Place. Exodus 30:7-8 “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.” The burning incense was symbolic of the prayers of God’s people ascending to heaven. The altar of incense in the tabernacle, and later in the temple, was only a small replica of the one in Heaven. Hebrews 8:5 “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” A great amount of incense is given to this angel to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense and the prayers of the saints rise before God. The prayers are likely for Satan to be defeated and for God’s kingdom to come. Finally, the angel fills the incense burner with fire from the altar and throws it down to the earth. Then peals of thunder and flashes of lightening and an earthquake happen. No other details are given, but it is obviously a terrible judgment on earth. It is a judgment against evil and the answer to the age old prayer, ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ from Matthew 6:10. It is also a reminder of the promise in James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

III. The First Five Trumpets (8:6-9:12)

The First Trumpet (8:7)-Hail and fire mingled with blood are thrown upon the Earth. As a result, the third part of trees....and all green grass is burnt up. This could be the result of a nuclear exchange, or it could be the earlier earthquake causes volcanic eruptions on a worldwide scale, spewing out flaming lava that is blood red in appearance.

The Second Trumpet (8:8-9)-Something like a great mountain blazing with fire is thrown in the sea, and a third of the sea becomes blood. What appears to be a massive, burning mountain could be a giant burning asteroid or meteorite. It could also be a nuclear missile aimed at a fleet of enemy ships. Whatever the burning mountain is, when it hits the sea, it kills a third of the sea creatures, and it also destroys a third of the ships in the sea. The devastating, global effects of the first and second trumpets boggle our minds.

The Third Trumpet (8:10-11)-When the third trumpet sounds, a great star falls from Heaven. It is like a blazing torch and falls on one-third of the rivers and springs of water. This could be a comet, or meteorite, because it is blazing like a torch, which could refer to a fiery tail. The name of the star is ‘Wormwood’, which is a bitter herb. The water becomes lethal, causing many people to die from drinking the bitter water.

The Fourth Trumpet (8:12-13)-At the sounding of this trumpet, one-third of the sun, moon, and stars are smitten. Therefore, light from the sky is reduced by one-third. More than that, one-third of the day is dark, and one-third of the night there is no moonlight. In other words, there is total darkness. This could be the result of a partial eclipse or pollution in the atmosphere. Then, John sees an angel flying through heaven with a loud voice. The angel shouts, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth.” The word ‘woe’ is used in the Bible to warn of coming judgment. Hosea 7:13 “Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: Destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.” The angel’s three woes refer to the three remaining trumpets.

The Fifth Trumpet (9:1-12)-When the fifth angel blows his trumpet, John sees a star fall from Heaven to Earth. Unlike the other inanimate heavenly bodies that have plunged to the earth, this is a spiritual being. Since the Greek reads, “had fallen from Heaven to Earth,” (past tense) this could be no other than Satan who has fallen from Heaven. Isaiah 14:12-15 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” The fallen star is given the key to the bottomless pit, or Abyss, where the worst fallen angels-now demons-are bound. God is keeping some of the most notorious angels in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the Great Day. Jude 1:6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” The Abyss is a spiritual prison from which there is no release, except by divine permission. When Satan opens the bottomless pit, smoke darkens the sun and the air, releasing locusts. In the Bible, locusts are a symbol of destruction. However, these are not the normal locusts that eat only vegetation, because they are given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. These locusts are not to be interpreted literally or symbolically, but spiritually. They are spiritual creatures with a king over them. They are demons released from the Abyss. They are told not to harm the earth, but only people who have not the seal of God in their foreheads. They are allowed to torment lost people for five months, but cannot kill them. Their torment is like the torment of a scorpion when he strikes a man. Because of the horrible torment of these locusts, unbelievers will seek death and won’t find it. Revelation 9:6 “And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” John gives a description of these demonic creatures: they are like unto horses prepared unto battle. They are like unto horses eager to charge forward into battle. On their heads, John sees as it wore crowns like gold. The word translated ‘crowns’ (stephanos) means “victor’s crown”, indicating the demonic host will be successful in their mission because God has made them a temporary unstoppable force. Their faces are as the faces of man, indicating they are intellegent beings, not incests. They also have hair as the hair of women. Some ancient warriors, such as the Parthians, wore long hair as a symbol fierceness. These creature’s teeth were as the teeth of a lion. Such teeth can tear people apart. They have breastplates of iron, which means they are almost invincible. Their wings sound like chariots of many horses running to battle. This was the most fearsome sound in ancient battle. They have tails that sting like scorpions and are permitted to torment people for five months. They have a king over them… the angel of the bottomless pit, or Abyss. Revelation 9:11 “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.” Both of these names means ‘destroyer’. Some view this being as a high-ranking demon in Satan’s hierarchy. However, the title ‘king’ suggests the highest rank-Satan himself. In contrast, Jesus says in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” After the fifth trumpet, John writes, “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.” The first five trumpets of the seventh seal are horrible judgments, but the worst is yet to come.