Revelation - Lesson 15

The 7th Seal & The Trumpets - Revelation 8 & 9

Prayer: Lord, we have another dark episode in today's lesson, an episode filled with events & characters which are hard to comprehend.  I pray you would help us to trust you at your word, to believe that these things will happen, and to trust that they hold a purpose.  Help us to trust in You, to trust in Your Love, as we study things that startle & could potentially frighten us.  Amen!

Don't get hung up on understanding everything we're studying, accept that there will be some things that you won't understand.  I hope that if you find your lack of understanding frustrating it will inspire you to study more on the subject yourself.

The book of Revelation doesn't stand on its own, it stands on the full body of scripture, to understand it well you really need to have a good solid understanding of all the scriptures.  Many books of the Bible deal with the end of things, this is only one of them, and all can be difficult to attempt to interpret.

I am attempting to teach something that I admit I don't completely understand, but I am being faithful to try & to honestly teach you as best I am able.  Your part is to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, to study it for yourself & check anything I teach you against the whole of scripture.

Today we get to the 7th of 7 Seals being broken & bringing judgement, this is the final seal on the scroll held by Jesus & will bring about the 7 Trumpet judgements.

Revelation 8:1-5 - The 7th seal is broken & there is silence in heaven.  There is a sense that this is a silence of a serious nature, a solemn silence.  The 4 creatures & elders & angels are not praising & singing, there is a heavenly hush.

Is this God exercising His patience?  The 6th seal caused nature to react with a violent convulsion, enough to cause the most powerful men to be weak, was this pause a window of opportunity for repentance?  In Egypt, when God was sending plagues, during the plague Pharaoh would concede, then after the plague had finished Pharaoh would harden himself once again.  Will they take this opportunity to repent or will they use this time to explain away the events they experience?

Seven angels are standing before God, they were given seven trumpets, but before the trumpets are blown & the trumpet judgements begin another angel has a job to do.

The other angel is standing at the golden altar, the altar of incense, holding a censer.  The golden altar, in the earthly tabernacle, was inside the Holy Place, in front of the curtain to the Most Holy Place.  Incense in scripture typically symbolizes prayer, and this angel is given much incense to offer, with the prayers of the saints.  The smoke of the incense, along with the prayers, is rising to God.

What happens next is a little startling, the angel adds fire from the altar of incense to the censer & hurls it to earth.  When it is hurled there are thunders, rumblings, lighting, and an earthquake - the silence is over.  Are these the prayers of the martyrs (seal #5) soon to be answered?

Revelation 8:6-7 - Trumpet #1 - Hail & Fire & Blood are hurled down on the Earth & burn up 1/3 of the earth, 1/3 of the trees, and all the green grass.  We know from Exodus that this is not the first instance of hail & fire combined, but the blood is new.  What exactly is this?  We don't know, it may very well be exactly what it says it is - certainly the God who created these things can do with them what He likes.  It might be some sort of chemical hail that burns up and resembles blood.  In any case it is severely damaging to all the forests, to agriculture, and especially to grains (grains are grasses).

Revelation 8:8-9 - Trumpet #2 - something Like a Huge Mountain, Ablaze, is hurled into the sea.  The result is 1/3 of the sea is damaged, 1/3 of the sea creatures are killed, and 1/3 of the ships are destroyed.  This sounds like something we might describe as a massive meteorite, but again we just don't know.  If something that large were suddenly to impact an ocean a massive tsunami would likely occur - that might explain the loss of ships.  As far as it turning the sea to blood, I can only say that from Exodus we know water was turned to blood (or something like blood), again God is quite able.  In any case it is severely damaging to the seas & oceans of the world.

Revelation 8:10-11 - Trumpet #3 - a Great Star Blazing like a Torch falls from the sky and impacts the rivers & springs of water.  The result is 1/3 of the fresh water sources are made Bitter - poisonous & causing people to die.  The star is named "Wormwood", which causes some to thing that this falling star is actually a fallen angel - but that isn't necessarily the case, it could also be yet another type of heavenly object impacting the earth, we simply don't know.

Revelation 8:12 - Trumpet #4 - Something happens to the Sun, Moon, and Stars.  They are "struck" so that a 1/3 of the Sun, 1/3 of the Moon, and 1/3 or the stars aren't giving light.   The days are 1/3 without light, as are the nights.  This one has me stumped, there are some thoughts that it might be something cataclysmic that happens to the stars in the universe (including our Sun) cause (possibly) by changes in gravitational forces on them.  Are they damaged? Are they blocked? I don't know!

Revelation 8:13 - There's another short break in the action, but this is not a pause or rest, this is a harbinger of doom - 3 woes are about to strike the earth.  We are told that an Eagle is calling out, though some translations say Angel, so it's a bit unclear what this creature is - but he brings a strong warning.

Revelation 9:1-6 - Trumpet #5 - Ah, the "star that had fallen", in this case we are told that this is a creature since "he" had been given a key.  Many speculate that this is Satan, and it seems likely that this is a fallen angel (angels are sometimes called stars), but we're not given a specific identity.

This "star" opens the shaft of the Abyss.  What is the Abyss?  Remember when Jesus drove the demons out of the man called "Legion" (Luke 8), and they begged not to be sent to the Abyss?  That's the Abyss!  Some believe it to be located within the Earth itself, some who believe this are Scientists, again we simply don't know.  Smoke rises from this deep shaft, and out of this shaft come these strange locust creatures that come down upon the earth.

These locusts are not normal locusts - we're told here that they are given power like scorpions & that they aren't to harm the grass or plants or trees.  They have a job to do, they are to harm those who don't have God's seal on them.  Apparently they could inflict excruciating torturous pain, and people will want to kill themselves to escape the pain, but they are will be unable to kill themselves.  I can't imagine how awful that will be.

Revelation 9:7-12 - Now we get a more detailed description of these strange locusts.  They look like "horses ready for battle" - there are middle-eastern locusts today have this sort of appearance, horse-like in shape with plated bodies.  These demonic locusts have something like crowns, have human-like faces, have hair like a woman's (long hair), teeth like lions (sharp & pointed), and breastplates like iron.  Their wings make a thunderous sound - those middle-eastern locusts I mentioned can get quite large, some the size of mice, and when they swarm the sound is said to be deafening.  They also have tails & stings like scorpions, and the power of their tails (sting?) inflicts pain & suffering that they are allowed to use to torment people for 5 months.

These "locusts" have a king, this is another indication that they are not normal locusts since Proverbs 30:27 tells us locusts have no king.  Their king is the angel commander of the Abyss, a fallen angel whose name means "Destroyer".

The first woe passes, and there are 2 more ready to come.

Revelation 9:13-16 - Trumpet #6 - A voice from the horns of the golden altar commands the sixth angel to release the 4 angels bound at the river Euphrates.  Again these 4 angels are fallen angels, they have been held in this place for a specific purpose at a specific appointed time, to kill 1/3 of mankind.  During the 4th Seal 1/4 of man was killed, now an additional 1/3 of those remaining will be killed - that alone without considering the deaths caused by the other judgements would mean that 1/2 of the world's population at the start of the judgements will be dead at the completion of this trumpet.

How did they bring about the deaths of 1/3 of mankind?  It has something to do with this massive army, 200 Million strong.  Whether this is a human army that is demonically controlled, or a demonic army, we don't know.

Revelation 9:17-19 -  John attempts to give us a description of the army.  The army have breastplates, they ride on some sort of beast (or device?).

The "horses" have heads resembling lions, and tails that are snake-like with heads. From the mouths of the heads are propelled something like fire, smoke, and sulfur that kills the people.  In addition, the tails are able to inflict injury.

Revelation 9:20-21 - Those where aren't killed by the plagues are unrepentant.  They will worship demons & idols, and will refuse to repent of murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, or theft.  The specific word for sorcery or magic arts is "pharmakeion", we use the same root word to get our current word for pharmacy, and so the implication is that there will be rampant drug use.

Prayer:  Lord, what we've read today makes the stuff of science fiction & horror movies sound mild, yet we know that you are in control & that your love abounds.  Help us to reconcile these things, to understand that judgement must come, and to trust you with our lives & our futures.  Amen!!

Reflection & Prayer: 

• Think about how twisted our world has become, the murder of babies in the womb is legal & subsidized, but the death penalty is under attack.  Innocents killed & killers protected.  Drug use is rampant, sorcery is not taken seriously.  Sexual morality is almost unknown in our world.
• Think about God's justice, it is not pretty but it is necessary, His Holiness demands it.  People choose to come under God's judgment, God is patient & desires all to come to Him.
• What is your response?

Take some time to pray with one another.