Revelation 8
“First 4 Trumpet Judgments”
Chapter 8
Revelation
By: Michael Fronczak
Bible Study Resource Center
564 Schaeffer Drive
Coldwater, Michigan 49036
mikefronczak@
Copyright © 2005, 2007
Revelation 8 The First 4 Trumpet Judgments
Van Impe: We now witness the opening of the seventh seal. This seal includes the seven trumpet judgments. They are so terrifying that, as they are opened, the entire heavenly host becomes silent.
McGee Introduction of Chapter 8:
In chapter 8 we have the opening of the seventh seal which introduces the seven angels blowing seven trumpets. Four of the trumpets will be dealt with in this chapter. After the parenthetical matter of chapter 7, the sealing of two companies, we now have the opening of the seals resumed. Only the seventh seal remains to be opened. This is the pattern that John sets for the remainder of the Book of Revelation so that we cannot be led astray. There will be series of sevens and, in fact, there are four such series which relate to the Great Tribulation Period. John will give the first six of whatever the series is. Then he will present parenthetical material that contributes to the understanding of that particular series. Finally, the opening of the seventh of the series will introduce the next series of seven, which means that these series are interrelated, tied together, and actually belong to the same period.
There is no reason to get bogged down or to be sensational at this point. To begin with, we have said that everything from chapter 4 on is future—“the things that shall be after these things” (see Rev. 1:19). We are living in the things that are present, the church age, and in one sense these things do not concern us. Many people say, “Oh, it frightens me to study the Book of Revelation!” I will admit that, beginning with the riding of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, these are terrible, terrific judgments that are coming on this earth. They are so tremendous that they boggle the mind just to read about them. But we can at least know where we are: these are things that will take place after the church has left the earth. If you are a child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit to be delivered to Christ when the church goes out of the world before the Great Tribulation Period. This is what is called “the blessed hope” of the church.
These seven trumpets will bring us to the full intensity of the Great Tribulation. The seven seals bring judgments which are the natural results of the activities of sinful man apart from God. The sixth seal brings the judgment of nature. The seven trumpets reveal that God is directly and supernaturally judging a rebellious race.
The seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven personalities, and the seven vials or bowls of wrath all concern the same period, but from a little different angle. (1) In the seven seals we see the judgment which is the result of man’s willful activity. The judgment of God will be coming upon sinful man. In the first seal we saw the riding of the white horse—a false peace; “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them …” (1 Thess. 5:3). The second seal was the riding of the red horse of war. War comes because it is in the heart of man. A great many people think that if we took all the guns away from people, if there were no arms and no atom bombs, then we would have peace on the earth. My friend, war is in the heart of man, and you have to change the heart of man before you can get rid of war. Frankly, I would have more confidence in a real, born-again Christian who has a gun than an unsaved man who does not have a gun, because if he is unarmed, he can still choke his victim to death. We are seeing that murder is in the human heart. (2) In the seven trumpets, to which we are coming in this chapter, we see the judgment which is the direct activity of God. (3) When we come to the seven personalities, we will see the judgment which is the result of Satan’s fight against God. Satan will be brought out in the open at that time. (4) In the seven bowls of wrath, we will see the final judgment of the Great Tribulation, which is the direct activity of God because of man’s and Satan’s rebellion—God will judge both, by the way.
As we come to this section in which symbols will be used, let us remember that a symbol is a symbol of a fact. We will find that there is a strange and strong similarity between the plagues of Egypt in Moses’ day and the trumpet judgments. It is quite reasonable and logical to conclude that if the plagues of Moses were literal, then the plagues that are coming in the Great Tribulation Period are going to be literal. The symbols that are used are symbols of the reality which is coming. Plain language could not make it clear to our minds how terrible and tragic the Great Tribulation will be. It beggars description, and so God exhausts language and brings in symbols. It is well to keep in mind that this book is a revelation of Jesus Christ. We see Him now in a new role of Judge. The symbols that are used are not hazy and shadowy symbols which can be dissipated into thin air by some specious system of hermeneutics. When symbols are used—and they are used in this book—the key to their meaning is supplied. Scripture will furnish the explanation, and you do not need to draw upon your imagination.
The Book of Revelation is the last book in the Bible because a working knowledge of the sixty-five books preceding it is the basic requirement for an understanding of its vivid language. I get a little irritated when I see a new Christian immediately start teaching a class in the Book of Revelation. Why doesn’t he go back to the beginning and start with Genesis? Take some other book, but do not begin with Revelation. I come to the teaching of Revelation only after having taken nearly five years to go through the rest of the Scriptures. I believe that gives us the right to teach the Book of Revelation; I would not want it otherwise. It was Peter who said, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Pet. 1:20). You do not interpret Revelation by itself; there are sixty-five books before it. The symbols are going to be given to us, but we need to remember that the symbols stand for awful realities.
The opening of the seventh seal introduces the seven trumpets, and that is the way this entire book is built. If the structure of the book is followed, it will prevent you from going off into fanaticism and sensationalism and, as a Christian, it certainly ought to keep you from saying, “The Book of Revelation is so frightful! It terrifies me!” It ought not to terrify you. Actually, it ought to be a comfort to you. I thank God that He is going to judge this world that is running wild today. The way that mankind has blundered and gotten this world into a mess makes it look like it is filled with mad-men. I thank God He is going to judge it, and He is going to judge it rightly. It is very comforting to recognize that.
People often urge me to speak out on my radio broadcast against certain things that are taking place. It is not my business to get on radio and denounce every wrong. My business is to give out just the Word of God, and that is what I am going to do. He is going to straighten this world out someday. I wouldn’t have that job for anything in the world. I am glad it is His job. He is going to straighten out this world, and He is going to move in judgment.
Maybe you don’t like the fact that the gentle Jesus is going to judge. We have already seen that the wrath of the Lamb will be terrifying to those on earth. My friend, when you talk about the gentle Jesus, you had better get acquainted with Him. He died for you, He loves you, and He wants to save you, but if you will not have Him, I tell you, there is waiting ahead of you a terrifying judgment. Someone will say to me, “You are trying to frighten people. ” I would like to scare you into heaven if I could, but I know you are too sophisticated and cynical for that. But, my beloved, judgment is coming on this earth. I say, Hallelujah! I am glad that it is coming, and that God is not going to let the world go on like it is now. It has gone on long enough.[1]
The first parenthesis or interlude dealing with salvation in the Tribulation is now over and the narrative sequence begins again with chapter 8.
The Trumpet Judgments Background
The Book of Joshua as a prophetic anticipatory model? Joshua = Yehoshua = Jesus. Joshua is in the Hebrew and Jesus in the Greek. Joshua leads God’s people to dispossess the usurpers on behalf of His people (Originally 10 nations: 3 down, 7 left). These numbers are very similar to Revelation where the nations arise with the antichrist (7 heads and ten horns). He crossed over the Jordan on the 10th of Nisan; circumcised on14th of Nisan (Triumphal Entry: 10th of Nisan; Crucifixion: 14th of Nisan). (17th of Nisan Flood of Noah ended - Jesus resurrected) (Ex 12:2)
Who really fought the battle of Jericho? Jesus (Josh 5:13-15)
Jericho = house of the moon God
Laws of the Torah ignored?
• Ark itself goes to war
• Levites lead march; (exempt from military duties) Num 1, 2, 3
• 7 days of trumpets: 7 times on the sabbath? (twice as much on the Sabbath)
Why “two witnesses” sent: certainly not for military intelligence to develop this battle plan! ...to save a Gentile woman. (Like Rev. Chapt 11)
Silence preceded the engagement; cf. Rev 8:1.
Land of Canaan had 10 natrions
Adversary leader: Adoni-Zedek—“Lord of Righteousness”— who was defeated with hailstones from Heaven, and Signs in the Sun and Moon (Josh 10). Kings hide in caves (Josh 10:15 vs. Rev 6:15).
Jubilee Year: Begins after Joshua’s conquest. Debts forgiven, land returns to original owners, slaves go free: “The time of the restitution of all things.” Acts 3:21- restitution of all things. (Why does this begin on Yom Kippur 10 days after Rosh Haashannan rather than Rosh Hashanna the beginning of the year?) Are we about to enter the 70th Jubilee Year? Will it prove to be prophetically significant?
You can see the pattern being established. The seven seals were broken down into two sets: the four horsemen followed by three additional judgments. Likewise, the seven trumpet judgments will be broken down into two sets; four judgments followed by three judgments called “woes.”
Revelation 8:1
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Why “silence” before the “7 Trumpet” judgments? [Cf. Silence after Handel’s Messiah... the hallelujah chorus. The Scroll is completely open; lull before the storm?
(Zeph 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.
The Tribulation Period carries many names: the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the Seventhieth-week of Daniel, and the Day of the Lord’s Vengeance. The prophet Zephaniah gives it seven different names, and it is significant to notice that the last one is a day of trumpet and battle cry .
(Zeph 1: 14-18) 14The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
The opening of the seventh seal is a most important event, confirmed by the fact that there was silence in heaven for about half an hour after it was opened. Though thirty minutes is not a long time, absolute silence for such a period was ominous and an indication of tremendous events to come. It could be compared to the report of the foreman of a jury who called for thirty minutes of silence before indicating his verdict.
The contents of the seven trumpets indicate that they differ from the seven seals. W. Graham Scroggie states, “The trumpets, therefore, do not double back over all or some of the seals, but lie under the sixth seal, and proceed from it” (The Great Unveiling, p. 111). He also holds that the bowls of the wrath of God (chap. 16) “do not double back over the seal and trumpet judgments”
Chuck Smith: Silence can sometimes be an awesome thing, especially in a tremendous crowd of people. You see what silence for fifteen seconds does. It seems like it expanded, quiet. It is sort of an awesome thing. And there in heaven with vast multitudes singing and worshipping and seeing all of the activity that is there, and suddenly there is silence when this seventh seal is opened. It is sort of an awesome time.
Now, out of the seventh seal there will proceed now seven trumpet judgments. In these pyrotechnic displays during the Fourth of July, you seen these skyrockets burst open with a big flash, but from that there will be a secondary puff. Just about the time the big one begins to fade, the second one comes out of it with another flash. Well, that is what we have here. The seventh seal is opened and puff, here comes the second series of seven judgments. Out of the seventh seal, the seven trumpets now burst out. When you get to the seventh trumpet, then the seven vials of God's wrath, which complete the plagues, will be bursting out and coming forth.
And so the silence of about the space of a half-hour in heaven, just before now, this second series of judgments.[2]
After the seventh seal the scroll (5:1) is not mentioned again, but what follows is a description of its contents. [3]
Seiss writes: “When the first seal was broken a voice like thunder was heard, saying, Go! It was the same at the opening of the three succeeding ones. At the breaking of the fifth, there was a great cry from beneath the altar. And when the sixth broken, a fearful tremor ran through the whole frame of nature, filling the Earth with consternation. But, at the opening of the seventh, not a voice is heard; not a motion is seen; an awful pause ensues, and all heaven is silent. A little while ago everything was ringing with triumphant exultation over the multitude which no man could number, but now silence takes the place of songs, and everything is mute and motionless.”[4]
With the opening of the seventh seal the narrative is resumed from the close of chapter 6. Though simply introduced, the seventh seal is obviously the most important development up to this point. Contained in the seventh seal are all the subsequent developments leading to the second coming of Christ, including the seven trumpets and the seven bowls of the wrath of God.
Bob Ripley, in his "Believe It or Not" newspaper column, stated: "This verse proves there will be no women in heaven." Ha! Seriously, what causes this breathtaking silence among angels and men? Answer-the contemplation of the forthcoming trumpet blasts.[5]
McGee: The Lord Jesus Christ is still in command. He opens the seventh seal, and there is introduced a fanfare of seven trumpets. He directs the action now from heaven. We need to keep that before us through the entire book. Do not lose sight of the fact that Revelation presents Him in His glory as the Judge of all the earth.
It may deceive you to have Him presented as the gentle Jesus who went about doing good—which He did, but we are also going to see the wrath of the Lamb some day. The Lamb is the One of whom John the Baptist said, “… Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Men are not lost because they are sinners; they are lost because they have rejected Jesus who died for them. Even if you go into a lost eternity and have not accepted Christ, He died for you, and you simply made His sacrifice for you of no avail. You have trodden underfoot the blood of Christ when you take that kind of attitude and position toward Him.
This is a very solemn scene. The Lord Jesus Christ orders a halt on all fronts: heaven, hell, and earth. Nothing can move without His permission. He had already ordered the cessation of natural forces on the earth when He ordered the sealing and saving of two definite groups. Now, for a brief moment, there is a lull in judgment activity; there is a heavenly hush. Godet defined it: “This silence is a pause of action.” It is the lull before the storm.
Why is there this strange silence? God’s patience is not exhausted. When the sixth seal was opened and nature responded with a mighty convulsion, brave men weakened for a moment. Christ gave them opportunity to repent. But like the Pharaoh of old who, when the heat was taken off, let his willful heart return to its original intention, many men will go back to their blasphemous conduct when there is a calm. They probably will even rebuke themselves for showing a yellow streak. They will say, “It was only nature reacting. It wasn’t God, after all. Everything can be explained by natural causes.” This, my friend, is the lull before the storm. As someone has said, “The steps of God from mercy to judgment are always slow, reluctant, and measured.” God is reluctant to judge for He is slow to anger. Judgment is His strange work. Isaiah writes: “For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act” (Isa. 28:21).
What is strange about God? That He judges, that He is a God of love, judging His creatures. “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God …” (Ezek. 18:32). This silence marks the transition from grace to judgment. God is waiting. By the way, He is waiting for you today if you have not come to Him. You can come to Him, for He is a gracious Savior.[6]
Revelation 8:2
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
These angels have names in the Apocrypha: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sarakiel, Grabirel, and Phanuel. Compare the apocryphal Tobit 12:15, "I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One." Compare Luke 1:19, "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God."
[trumpets] Don’t confuse the 7th trumpet judgment with the “last trump” of 1 Cor 15:52. There will be trumpets in the Millennium. Don’t mix metaphors.
The fact that these are angels’ trumpets distinguishes them from the trumpet of God (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16) and from other New Testament trumpets (Heb. 12:19; Rev. 1:10; 4:1).
Trumpet of God when law given (Ex 19:16-19);
7 trumpets at Jericho (Josh 6:13-16).
The Seals, Trumpets, Bowls, are a chronological sequence
Trumpets were used by Israel on all their national occasions: for assembly to battle, public assembly, to signal important events of the calendar year and almost any important occasion. In this context, they symbolize the announcement of judgment and the number seven signifies the completeness or perfect accomplishment of these judgments.
(Joel 2:1) Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the Day of the Lord is coming; Surely it is near.
Shofars (“ram’s horns”), not trumpets. The idea that the Great Judgment of the Last Days is heralded by blasts on the shofar has its roots in the Tanakh. “YHVH will be seen over them, his arrow will go forth like lightning, and Adonai YHVH will sound the shofar and will move in the stormwinds of the south …. And YHVH their God will save them [Y’hudah and Efrayim] on that day as the flock of his people” (Zechariah 9:14, 16). Similarly God protects Israel at 7:1–8 before setting the shofar judgments in motion “on that day,” half an hour afterwards (8:1). Compare Isaiah 27:13, Joel 2:1, Zephaniah 1:16 and, in the Pseudepigrapha, Psalms of Solomon 11 and 4 Ezra 6:23–26. In the New Testament see Mt 24:31&N, 1C 15:52&N and 1 Th 4:16&N. [7]
[And I saw the seven angels which stood before God ...] Rev. 8:2-6 are the 2nd parenthetical passage and explain events in heaven between the 7th seal and the first trumpet. They are preparatory to the blowing of the 7 trumpets, which may complete the first 3 1/2 years of Daniel's 70th week (♣ Rev. 11:15, note).
The 7 trumpets are to be blown successively between the seals and vials.
Van Impe: These trumpet judgments were prophesied by Enoch as recorded in the Book of Jude, verses 14 and 15, and were anticipated by the psalmist as well. That's why Psalm 96:13 states: He cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. Paul also confirmed these judgments in Acts 17:3 1, mentioning a time when the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Romans 1:18). Before the first trumpet sends forth its blast in verse 7, however, we witness an unusual prayer meeting in the next three verses.[8]
McGee: These “seven angels” are introduced to us as a special group. I believe that Gabriel is in this group because we are told that he stood before God. When he announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias, he said, “… I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God …” (Luke 1:19). The seraphim are also identified as beings who stand before God (see Isa. 6:1–2). However, these seven angels are seemingly a different order from the seraphim as their mission and service are altogether different.
“Seven trumpets” have a special meaning for Israel. I don’t want you to miss this; I consider this all important. Here is where it is essential to have a knowledge of the Old Testament. In the Book of Numbers, Moses was given instructions by God for the making of two silver trumpets. Two was the number of witnesses. The Lord has said on several occasions that in the mouth of two witnesses a matter would be established. These two trumpets were used on the wilderness march in a twofold way. They were used for the calling of the assembly, and they were used to start the procession moving on the wilderness march. “Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps” (Num. 10:2).
When Israel entered the land, the trumpets were used for two other purposes: “And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God” (Num. 10:9–10).
A single trumpet was blown on the wilderness march to assemble the princes: “And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee” (Num. 10:4).
This single trumpet is, to my judgment, that which corresponds to “the last trump” which Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15. This trumpet was for the bringing together of a certain group out of Israel. Paul writes: “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51–52).
Unfortunately, there are some who assume that “the last trump” of 1 Corinthians 15 is the seventh trumpet of Revelation—there is no relation at all. Listen again to Paul: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16).
The “shout” is the voice of the Lord Jesus. “The voice of the archangel” means that His voice is like that of an archangel. “The trump of God” is still His voice—His voice will sound like a trumpet. We see that from chapter 1, verse 10, where John says that he heard a voice like the sound of a trumpet, and he turned to see the glorified Christ. The glorified Christ is going to call His own out of the earth. When Paul speaks of “the last trump”—“the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised”—he means the call of the Lord Jesus. It is the last call that He makes to the church, and it is therefore called “the last trump.” But the Old Testament type of it is the calling of the princes from out of the children of Israel. One trumpet is blown, and it has no relation to the movement of the children of Israel on the wilderness march.
However, the trumpets did sound an alarm which moved Israel on the wilderness march, and an alarm was sounded to move each division. The tribes were divided into four groups of three tribes each which camped on the four sides of the tabernacle. In addition there were three separate families of Levi who carried the articles of furniture of the tabernacle: Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. Four and three make seven. There were seven blowings of the trumpets to move Israel out. When the first trumpet was blown, the ark moved out with the Kohathites carrying it. Then the tribe of Judah moved out with the two other tribes under the banner of Judah, and so on until they were all on the march. Every man knew his place and stayed in his station. There was no disorder in the camp of Israel whatsoever. (The apostle Paul says that everything is to be done decently and in order in the church. I wish the church were as orderly as Israel was on the wilderness march.) But note particularly that it took seven trumpets to move them out.
The seven trumpets of Revelation will likewise have the positive effect of moving Israel into the land of Palestine. I believe that it will take these seven trumpets to get all of Israel back into that land. This is another reason I do not believe their present return to the land is a fulfillment of prophecy. Rather, it will be fulfilled in the Great Tribulation with the blowing of the seven trumpets as they were on the wilderness march. After the seventh trumpet, Israel is identified for us in chapter 12 as the special object of God’s protection. An understanding of the trumpets, therefore, will prevent us from identifying “the last trump” of the church with the seven trumpets of Revelation.
As the trumpets of Israel were used at the battle of Jericho, so the walls of this world’s opposition to God will crumble and fall during the Great Tribulation. When the Lord Jesus comes, He will put down the last vestige of rebellion against Himself and against God and establish His kingdom here upon this earth. This is a book of triumph and of victory for our God. At the end it has the Hallelujah chorus, and maybe you and I can sing it when we get there![9]
Compare the apocryphal Tobit 12:15, “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.” Compare Lu 1:19, “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God.”[10]
seven trumpets—These come in during the time while the martyrs rest until their fellow servants also, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled; for it is the inhabiters of the earth on whom the judgments fall, on whom also the martyrs prayed that they should fall (Rev 6:10). All the ungodly, and not merely some one portion of them, are meant, all the opponents and obstacles in the way of the kingdom of Christ and His saints, as is proved by Rev 11:15, 18, end, at the close of the seven trumpets. The Revelation becomes more special only as it advances farther (Rev 13:1–18; 16:10; 17:18). By the seven trumpets the world kingdoms are overturned to make way for Christ’s universal kingdom. The first four are connected together; and the last three, which alone have Woe, woe, woe (Rev 8:7–13).[11]
The seven angels who stand before God. Seven “Angels of the Presence” have a well-documented history in Jewish literature (see 1:4), possibly commencing with Isaiah 63:9, which mentions “an angel of his [God’s] presence” (compare Lk 1:19, “I am Gavri’el,” the angel answered him, “and I stand in the presence of God.”), and Ezekiel 9:2, which speaks of “six men … with slaughter weapons, and one man among them clothed in linen with a writer’s ink well at his side,” to whom God speaks. In the Apocrypha, Rafa’el identifies himself as “one of the seven holy angels” (Tobit 12:15). 1 Enoch 20 gives the names and functions of seven “holy angels who watch”: Uri’el, Rafa’el, Ragu’el, Mikha’el, Saraka’el, Gavri’el and Remi’el. The first four are called “ministering angels” (“mal˒akhey-hasharet”) in the Talmud, the siddur, and the kabbalah; compare the fact that in vv. 7–12 four angels are singled out to announce the four “non-woe” shofar judgments. See also 1:4 on “the sevenfold Spirit” and v. 4&N below. On whether angels exist at all, see MJ 13:2bN. [12]
Chuck Smith: Now, we know that the cherubim are about the throne of God. There are four of them. Satan used to be one of the cherubs. They seem to be the highest of God's created beings in an angelic form. The next highest are the archangels of which the Bible speaks of two. Michael, called the great prince, an archangel. Gabriel, when he announced himself to the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, he said, "I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God"(Luke 1:19). There are seven angels that stand there in the presence of God, who are dispatched by God on particular missions.
Now in one of the apocryphal books of Enoch and also Tobec, Rafael is also named as one of the seven angels. Also in Enoch is named Uriel and Sacral and he names a couple of others, but here are seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets.[13]
Revelation 8:3
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.
[another angel] (Greek = allos = another of the same kind) Not one of the seven. Although Jesus receives the prayers of the saints and is “mediator between God and Men” (1 Tim 2:5) this is not Jesus. Rev. 5:8 indicates that the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders have “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” When prayers are directed to God that are unanswerable, they may be stored by these administrative angels until the time for their answer, at which time they are used in the worship of heaven. Jesus never referred to as an angel – only “the angel of the Lord” or “the angel of God”. (Heteros = another of different kind)
(Acts 7:18) (Heteros) 17But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. 19The same dealt subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
another angel—not Christ, as many think; for He, in Revelation, is always designated by one of His proper titles; though, doubtless, He is the only true High Priest, the Angel of the Covenant, standing before the golden altar of incense, and there, as Mediator, offering up His people’s prayers, rendered acceptable before God through the incense of His merit. Here the angel acts merely as a ministering spirit (Heb 1:4), just as the twenty-four elders have vials full of odors, or incense, which are the prayers of saints (Rev 5:8), and which they present before the Lamb. How precisely their ministry, in perfuming the prayers of the saints and offering them on the altar of incense, is exercised, we know not, but we do know they are not to be prayed to. If we send an offering of tribute to the king, the king’s messenger is not allowed to appropriate what is due to the king alone.[14]
[censer] A saucepan-shaped metal object that carried frankincense or incense while it was burning, a priestly duty. During worship coals would be carried in a censer from the outdoor altar where animals were being sacrificed to a alter of incense inside the temple or tabernacle. There incense would be poured on the coals, producing smoke. The smoke symbolized the prayers of the people, rising up to God.
[all saints] None lost (Jn 6:37-40; 17:12; Heb 10:26-31).
all saints—The prayers both of the saints in the heavenly rest, and of those militant on earth. The martyrs’ cry is the foremost, and brings down the ensuing judgments.[15]
[altar] Tabernacle and Temple are but “figures” of the true altar in heaven (Heb 9:23,24; 8:5). The real one, with the Ark of Covenant also the real one is in heaven.
A censer filled with live coals was used in temple worship. Incense was poured on the coals, and the sweet-smelling smoke drifted upwards, symbolizing believers’ prayers ascending to God (see Exodus 30:7-9).
The angel fulfills a task assigned to a priest in the earthly temple. For the heavenly temple in Revelation, see comment on Rev. 4:6-7; as in some other Jewish texts (including in the Old Testament, in Psalm 141:2).
What can we learn from the imagery of this angel with the sensor and his function?
(1) The imagery is that of the Old Testament tabernacle which was itself made to serve as a copy of the heavenly (cf. Heb. 8:5; 9:1-5; Isa. 6:1-7).
(2) The altar is the golden alter of incense, which was before God (or placed before the Holy of Holies just outside the veil), but it belonged on the inside in the Presence of God (Heb. 9:3-4). It was kept outside of the veil because it had to be serviced and the high priest could only go within the veil once a year (Heb. 9:7).
(3) In the Old Testament the priest would burn incense on the altar of incense. The smoke would fill the temple or tabernacle and then ascend upward to heaven.
(4) The live coals on this altar originally came from the altar of brass, the altar of sacrifice or of judgment with the brass symbolizing judgment. This spoke of Christ our sacrifice who was judged for us. Anyone who rejects Christ’s sacrifice must face God’s judgment (John 3:16-19). Note that when this angel filled the sensor with fire from the altar and through the fire to earth, immediately, there were peals of thunder, flashes of lightning and an earthquake, all portents of divine wrath (Rev. 8:5).
(5) The sweet incense ascending heavenward was symbolic of worship and prayer and was a reminder that our prayers must have the character of sweet incense or the mediatorial presence of Christ to be accepted and heard by God. (a) The sweet incense speaks of the sweet savor of Christ’s person who satisfies the Father’s holy character and represents us before God, providing boldness and access to God (cf. Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:16; 10:19-22). (b) The incense poured on the coals from the altar of sacrifice producing the smoke and sweet odor pictures both Christ’s person and work together. It is this (both His person and work) which makes our worship and prayer acceptable to God. The coals spoke of Christ’s death, the incense of Christ’s person.
(6) In Revelation 8:3-4 much incense is given to the angel which is added to the prayers of all the saints upon the altar of incense. The point is that the incense gives efficacy, meaning, and acceptance to the prayers of the saints because it represents the sweet savor of Christ’s person and work. Thus their prayers ascend upward into God’s presence, gaining His ear and answer.
Van Impe: This angel is obviously the Lord Jesus Christ himself, because He ministers both to God and man (see 1 Timothy 2:5). The Savior also appeared as the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament in many instances: He wrestled with Jacob, walked among Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and made numerous other Old Testament visits to His people. This Mediator between God and men ever liveth to make intercession (Hebrews 7:25) and now stands at the altar adding incense (efficacy) to the prayers being offered by the saints of God on earth. They are imprecatory prayers for judgment, as in Revelation 6:10. They cry, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? At this point their prayers have reached the throne of God![16]
McGee: “Another angel” is positively not Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is no longer in the position of intercessor for the church. We saw in chapters 4–5 that He moved away from that position and was given the seven-sealed book. He is in charge of everything that happens from there on in Revelation. He is not moving as one of the actors down on earth’s stage; He is in heaven with the church, and He is not the intercessor. He is now in the place of judgment. He holds the book of the seven seals, and He directs all the activities from the throne. This angel is, as it is stated here, just “another angel.” I do not think the Lord Jesus would be identified as that. Although it is true that in the Old Testament the preincarnate Christ appeared as an angel, I do not believe He will ever appear again as an angel. He will be as He is in the glorified body, and we will see Him as He is someday.
The “golden altar” is the place where prayer is offered. Christ is not in the place of intercession before the golden altar. He is now upon the throne. Incense is likened unto prayer and is a type of prayer. David said in Psalm 141:2, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense….”
Incense speaks of the value of Christ’s name and work in prayer. “If you ask in My name” is His injunction. Many today who really believe the Word of God are falling into the habit of ending their prayer by just saying “Amen.” Someone said to me, “It is redundant to say, ‘In Jesus’ name,’ because in your heart you are praying in Jesus’ name.” I agree that to pray in Jesus’ name means more than simply putting on a tag end, “in Jesus’ name.” But I want to say that if you are making a prayer in Jesus’ name, and especially a public prayer, be sure to say that it is in Jesus’ name. I believe that is very important. Here they are offering incense, a sweet smelling incense. You and I are not heard for our much speaking or for our flowery prayer. We are heard when our prayer is made in Jesus’ name.
It is interesting that the incense was given to this angel. Christ didn’t need anything given to Him when He prayed. The prayers of saints which were offered under the fifth seal (see Rev. 6:9–11) are now being answered because of the person and sacrifice of Christ.[17]
Chuck Smith: I believe that this other angel is Jesus Christ and we see Him now in His work as a mediator there in heaven as our great, Great High Priest.
Now, you remember on earth the high priests would go in and offer before the Lord the sacrifices for the people. And within the temple daily the priest would go in and would take these little incense burners with the coals from the altar and offer them, and the smoke of the incense would arise before the altar, which was called the mercy seat which was outside of the Holy of Holies. Daily they would go in and offer this incense.
Now, the earthly tabernacle was a model of heaven, as we have told you. So again, now we see the actual scene in heaven of which the earthly tabernacle was the model. But we see this angel, who as I say I believe to be Jesus, with a golden censer offering with much incense the prayers of all of the saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of which the altar in the tabernacle of the mercy seat was a model.[18]
Revelation 8:4
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, and Paul prayed this prayer: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” Indeed (cf. Ps 7,26,35,52,55,58,et al.). The purpose of prayer is not to get man’s will done in heaven, but God’s will done on earth.
Chuck Smith: So, here are the prayers of the saints again being offered before God as incense.
Now, we found this happen back in chapter five, when the Lamb came took the scroll out of the right hand of Him whom sat upon the throne. The elders took the little golden bowls filled with odors, which are the prayers of the saints, and they offered them before the throne of God. That is when the church burst out saying, "Worthy is the Lamb to take the scroll." But our prayers are often referred to as a sweet smelling savor unto God, that they ascend unto God as a sweet smelling savor. So, here again the prayers of the saints being offered with incense before the throne.
These are possibly the prayers of those souls which were under the altar in chapter five saying, "How long, O Lord, before you avenge our blood." Now that God is going to pour out the second series of judgments, these prayers of the saints who were asking God to avenge their blood against those on the earth who had slain them, it could be that these are the prayers that are being offered at this time.
Back in chapter five, when Jesus takes the scroll, the prayers that are offered at that time are those prayers that were offered when you said, "Thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth even as it is in heaven." Our prayers will be offered at that time, because when He takes the scroll, that's the kingdom coming. That's getting the earth ready to establish God's kingdom. So, at that time those are the prayers that will be offered. Now, as we are getting ready to see these judgments, the prayers that those saints had offered for vengeance upon those who had slain them.
I often pray, "Lord, how long before you clean up this mess?" The corruption that is in the world, the corrupt people that are in the world, the corrupted morals. And when men kidnap a little girl three or four years old, abuse them and then kill them, I say, "God how long before you take vengeance on them, bring judgment on them?" I really get excited over these things and I really pray, "Lord, how long are you going to let this corruption go on?" The day is coming. God will judge the earth. Man will not get by with his iniquity.
So, the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar before the throne.[19]
Revelation 8:5
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.
Cf. Isa 6:1-7, the Vision of Jesus (Jn 12:41).
The fact that the fire is cast to the earth from the same censer as was used in offering up the saints’ prayers may imply that the judgments are in response to those prayers. As Ironside puts it, “here is the answer to the cry of His afflicted ones down in that scene of tribulation. The prayers went up to the Father, and judgment came down.”
Ezekiel described a similar scene when a man was told to “take a handful of glowing coals and scatter them over the city” (Ezekiel 10:2-7). This was picturing judgment on the city of Jerusalem as God’s glory departed. The fire from the altar being thrown to the earth symbolizes the prayers of the saints on earth being answered.
(Ezekiel 10:2-7) 2And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. 3Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’S glory. 5And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. 6And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels. 7And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.
What a contrast from the solemn silence of verse 1. Now every noise imaginable is heard as judgment is prepared.
McGee: The high priest of Israel took a censer with him as he carried the blood into the Holy of Holies. Here the ritual is reversed, because out of heaven the censer is hurled upon the earth. In other words, the prayers ascended is incense, and now we have the answer coming down. The tribulation saints had prayed, “Oh, God, avenge us!” The people of the earth, having rejected the death of Christ for the judgment of their sins, must now bear the judgment for their own sins. The Great Tribulation is going to get under way.
“Thunders” denotes the approach of the coming storm of God’s judgment.
“Voices” reveals that this is the intelligent direction of God and not the purposeless working of natural forces. God is in charge.
“Lightnings” follow the thunder. This is not a reversal of the natural order. We see the lightning before we hear the thunder due to the fact that light waves move faster than sound waves. Actually, the thunder comes first, but we do not hear it until after we have already seen the lightning.
The “earthquake” is the earth’s response to the severe pressure which will be placed upon it during the judgment of the Great Tribulation Period.[20]
Revelation 8:6
And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
This devastating judgment, like that announced by most of the trumpets, primarily affected a third of the earth.
The voice of the trumpet is the most significant voice known to the Holy Scriptures. The time for the blowing of trumpets was always important.
This is a solemn moment. The half hour of silence is over. The prayers of the saints have been heard. The order is issued to prepare to blow. The angels come to attention, and at the blowing of the trumpets, divine wrath is visited upon rebellious men. The blowing of the trumpets does not introduce symbols or secrets. The plagues here are literal plagues. This method today of evaporating the meaning of Scripture by calling it symbolic is just as bad as denying the inspiration of the Word of God. In other words, it is saying that God doesn’t mean what He says but that He means something else altogether.[21]
The seven trumpets are divided into four and three. The first four bring devastation to the world, God’s creation. Four is the number of the world, see notes Rev 7:9. The last three are aimed more directly at man though mankind is affected and hurt by all the trumpets. This is significant since these first four are areas of God’s common grace intended for man’s blessing. Yet man, on the whole today, attributes this world to evolution rather than to a personal God. The evolutionists often say, “God did not create the universe. Man simply created God in his imagination out of his fears and weaknesses.” But at this point in the Tribulation, remember that there will then be no atheists, only rebellious and hardened people.
Revelation 8:7
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.
Desolation on earth “Hail and fire mingled with blood” reminds us of the seventh plague that God sent against Egypt (Ex. 9:18–26). The Prophet Joel also promised “blood and fire” in the last days (Joel 2:30). Since this is a supernatural judgment, it is not necessary to try to explain how hail, fire, and blood become mingled. “Fire” could refer to the lightning of a severe electrical storm.
The target for this judgment is green vegetation, the trees and the grass, one third of which is burned up. One can well imagine how this would affect not only the balance of nature, but also the food supply. The Greek word for trees usually means “fruit trees”; and the destruction of pasture lands would devastate the meat and milk industries. [22]
[hail] = always used of judgment (Isa 28:2; Job 38:22,23; cf. Egypt, Ex 9:23-25). Also compare with the 7th plague against Egypt (Ex 9:18-26; Joel 2:30-31). “Hail” comes from above and naturally speaks of the source as well as the suddenness.
[fire] speaks of the consuming character of God’s wrath. These judgments consume and destroy the meaning and purpose of life on earth.
[Blood] is naturally descriptive of death. It not only reminds us men will be killed by these judgments, but that the wages of sin is death. God is judging moral and spiritual death on the earth by the physical death caused by the hail and fire.
[trees] Greek word, dendron = “fruit trees.” (implies sustenance)
The common feature of the first four trumpets is, the judgments under them affect natural objects, the accessories of life, the earth, trees, grass, the sea, rivers, fountains, the light of the sun, moon, and stars. The last three, the woe-trumpets (Rev. 8:13), affect men's life with pain, death, and hell, demonic activity.
These are the one-third judgments, similar to the bowl judgments – Many scholars try to overlap some of the judgments. However in the Greek they run in a continuous order and are Isomorphic in nature.
Van Impe: We have no difficulty understanding this verse literally. The same kind of judgment occurred in Exodus 9:22,23: And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt... And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. It happened then; now it happens again![23]
McGee: This is a direct judgment from God. Judgment falls upon plant life, from the grass to the great trees. Every form of botanical life is affected first. Notice, however, that it is only one-third, but it makes a tremendous impact upon the earth. Fire, the great enemy, is the instrument God uses. The Flood was used in the first global judgment; now it is going to be fire. This earth is to be purified by fire. The forests and the prairies covered with grass are partially destroyed by fire. One-third of the earth denotes the wide extent of the damage. “One-third” means not one-fourth or one-half; it means one-third. Plant life was the first to be created, and it is the first to be destroyed. In the record given in Genesis 1:11, God began with the creation of plant life after order had been brought into the physical globe.
This is a literal judgment upon plant life in the same way that the seventh plague of Egypt was literal (see Exod. 9:18–26). I called attention before to the fact that there is a striking similarity between the plagues in Egypt and the trumpet judgments—this is no accident. If you go back to the Book of Exodus, you will see that the plagues are literal—every believer in the Bible has to grant that; then you must also grant that these plagues in Revelation should be taken in the same fashion. I do not know by what flip-flop method of hermeneutics you could interpret one way in one passage and another way in another passage—unless the Scripture makes it clear that you can do such a thing. When hail came down on Egypt, we are told that “… the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field” (Exod. 9:25)—it was 100 percent destruction in Egypt; it will be one-third of the earth.[24]
The common feature of the first four trumpets is, the judgments under them affect natural objects, the accessories of life, the earth, trees, grass, the sea, rivers, fountains, the light of the sun, moon, and stars. The last three, the woe-trumpets (Rev 8:13), affect men’s life with pain, death, and hell. The language is evidently drawn from the plagues of Egypt, five or six out of the ten exactly corresponding: the hail, the fire (Ex 9:24), the water turned to blood (Ex 7:19), the darkness (Ex 10:21), the locusts (Ex 10:12), and perhaps the death (Rev 9:18). Judicial retribution in kind characterizes the inflictions of the first four, those elements which had been abused punishing their abusers.[25]
Chuck Smith: There is, in our solar system, an asteroid belt that does create great concern to many of the scientists and astronomers. Outside of Tucson, Arizona, they have established the Kit Telescope. In fact, it is quite a group of telescopes out there on Kit Mountain. And one of the main objects of research is that of charting and plotting and searching for asteroids that do present a real threat to the earth. There are some two thousand asteroids that have already been identified whose orbits can ultimately bring them into a collision course with the earth. There are another two thousand with the possibility of their orbits bringing them into contact with the earth.
The scientists are actually discussing preventative measures that might be taken should we discover one of these trajectories of the asteroids to be an immediate threat, say, within the next year or so. To send a, somehow, a space shuttle out there to try to somehow redirect the asteroid away from a collision with the earth, because an asteroid of one kilometer impacting the earth would do more physical damage than an all out nuclear warfare. The only thing it would not have would be the radiation after effects.
We know that the earth has shifted from its polar axis. We know that the northern area of the North Pole up in those areas, the Arctic Circle was not always an Arctic Circle. It was not always a frozen waste. It was not always covered with ice. For there in the ice they have found mastodons perfectly preserved, frozen there in the ice with tropical vegetation in their digestive tracts. It is believed by many scientists that the shift of the polar axis could have taken place as the result of an asteroid impacting the earth. They believe that the crater there in Arizona, outside of Windslow, that is three miles in diameter, five hundred and twenty-two feet deep, that this crater was formed perhaps by the impact of an asteroid. And that that was large enough, if the impact came at the right direction to have jerked the earth.
You take a ball that is spinning and suddenly you hit that ball with tremendous force. You can stop the spin of the ball or you can cause the ball to flip over. So, an asteroid hitting the earth would cause it to flip and suddenly these mastodons who were living sixteen hundred miles away from all of this polar Arctic ice would suddenly be frozen. The earth gets jerked in just a moment's time sixteen hundred miles, and suddenly this tropical area is under this cold air mass of the pole and immediately they are frozen in this fifty, eighty below zero kind of flash freeze, as suddenly they are under this mass of arctic air. And they believe that that is perhaps the cause of the mastodons being found there. The polar shift taking place instantly, from some, perhaps impact of an asteroid.
Now, they have talked about disintegrating an asteroid with an atom bomb. If we see one that is going to impact, you go out there. But then they have talked about the problem, that if you blow the thing apart, then you are going to have several asteroids impacting. That would only compound the problem. But they are actually studying methods by which they can deter the asteroid from its orbit that would impact the earth. It is a tremendous concern of the scientists today. And we are spending millions of dollars in research and study to protect the earth from this kind of a danger that does exist.
The chances of an asteroid impacting the earth this year are three in a million. So, there is not much of a chance, but yet it is there. It does exist. They have impacted before. The scientists believe that in 1906 that great cataclysmic catastrophe in Siberia which flattened huge trees, laid them over like toothpicks for several hundred miles, they believe that that was perhaps an asteroid impact. It is a thing that is a threat and a concern.
Now it could be that in studying these phenomena that are taking place in these trumpet judgments, these things could take place as the result of asteroid impacts. You see, the last asteroid that came close to impacting the earth was back in 1937. We almost had a calamity then. The asteroid came within five hundred thousand miles of the earth. And of course, we were monitoring the thing and we didn't know at that time, we weren't able with computers to plot the trajectory enough to know whether or not it was going to impact. But a lot of people thought it was going to impact back in 1937. That was the last close encounter we had with an asteroid of any size. Of course, we find meteorites eighteen hundred per second coming into our atmosphere somewhere around the earth. That is quite common.
Now this year Halley's Comet is returning. Behind Halley's Comet is that tail that is a bunch of what they call space garbage, debris, but meteorites. And every August we have a beautiful, heavenly display usually around the 20th or 21st of August, or so, where we pass through the debris of the tail of Halley's Comet left by its last orbit around this direction. And this junk that is there in space, we, every year pass through the orbit. When the earth orbits around the sun, when we get to that point where all the junk is, we see what we call the falling stars or the showers. And on many nights I have stayed out and watched the shower. It is really an exciting experience.
Now, Halley's Comet will probably not be visible to us this year because it is going to orbit on the other side of the sun. We may be able to see a little bit of the tail as it moves away from us. As it begins to leave, the gravitational pull of the sun will pull off more of the tail and bring it into our solar system so that we could very well have some interesting meteorite showers and all in the next few years. As the sun will pull off a lot of the debris from Halley's Comet, as it turns and starts to escape, not all of the tail will escape. A lot of the debris will be pulled by the gravitational strength of the sun. But this strong asteroid belt is out near the planet Jupiter, but sometimes they are pulled out of their orbit there and are brought into a collision course with the earth, and it is something that is being studied and it is quite interesting to the scientists.
Now, we find Jesus saying that the stars of heaven are going to fall like a fig tree casting forth its untimely fruit. In other words, some of these meteorite showers that we have seen are nothing to be compared with what is going to happen during the Great Tribulation period. And some of these things that are transpiring do sound like perhaps impact with asteroids and the effect that it would have. So, the first angel sounded followed by hail, fire, mingled with blood, and cast upon the earth.
Now remember the earth has gone through a period of three and a half years drought, so all the trees are very dry and all. And with this fiery shower hitting the earth, the trees and the dry grasses and all will be like tinder and a third part of them will go up in smoke.[26]
Revelation 8:8
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
1st Egyptian plague (Ex 7:19-21; Ps 105:29; cf. Jer 51:25; (Mt 21:21).
More than 3/4 earth’s surface is ocean. (Atlantic Ocean = 1/3?)
[as it were] = implies idiom – large meteor?
Van Impe: This judgment is undoubtedly a giant meteor falling into the sea. Notice the phrase, as it were a mountain. This, again, is a symbolic description. Always take every word of the Bible literally unless God tells you to take it figuratively. This passage is an example of the latter. Something gigantic, as or like a mountain, is cast into the sea and causes a third part of the sea to become blood. A similar occurrence was experienced in Moses' day: And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that [were] in the river died (Exodus 7:19-21).[27]
Revelation 8:9
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
A few years ago, there were over 25,000 ocean-going merchant ships registered; Hos 4:3; Zeph 1:3; Isa 2:16. (This would be over 8,000 ships). One-Third makes the judgments seem very literal.
God's second trumpet blast is so horrendous that one-third of the creatures in the sea die and a third part of the ships are destroyed. God only knows what horrendous plagues will result when nuclear war under, upon, and above the oceans takes place.
McGee: The sea, which occupies most of the earth’s surface, is next affected by this direct judgment of God. The separation of the land and the sea occurred on the same day in which plant life appeared (see Gen. 1:9–10).
I want you to notice the exact language used here. John does not say that a burning mountain was cast into the sea but rather he indicates that a great mass or force “as it were a great mountain burning with fire was [thrown] cast into the sea”—as it were a great mountain. This careful distinction in the use of language should be noted, especially since it is the common practice to lump together everything in Revelation and call it symbolic. You might think that it gets you out of a lot of trouble, but it gets you out of the frying pan into the fire, by the way.
The mountain represents something as literal and tangible as that which we have in Jeremiah 51:25 where the Lord is talking about Babylon: “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.”
This literal mass falls into the literal sea, one-third becomes literal blood, and one-third of all the literal living creatures in the literal sea die a literal death. Nothing could be plainer than this. Also, one-third of the literal ships of all literal nations are literally destroyed. If we just let John say what he wants to, he makes it very clear.
There is no use to try to find some symbol. John doesn’t say that this is symbolic. He makes it very clear that a great mass, a force, is put into the ocean. I do not know what this could possibly be, and there are two reasons for that. First of all, John didn’t tell me; he didn’t tell anybody, and therefore, I do not think that anyone has the answer. The second reason is that I don’t expect to be here at that time to be reading the evening papers. The bad news that we get in the papers and on television today will continue, only more so, during the Great Tribulation. I won’t be here to see it. Therefore, this does not concern me too much, other than it is an awful tragedy that is coming on a Christ-rejecting world which actually ridicules the Word of God today. This is something that certainly makes the believer sorrowful in his heart—but it ought to do more than that. It not only ought to affect our hearts; it ought also to affect our wills and our feet to start us moving to get the Word of God out to the world. That is our responsibility, and I believe it is a very solemn responsibility. We cannot keep this judgment from coming on the earth, but we can get the Word of God out and reduce the population that will be left on the earth so that fewer people will go through that terrible time.[28]
The symbolical interpreters take the ships here to be churches. For the Greek here for ships is not the common one, but that used in the Gospels of the apostolic vessel in which Christ taught: and the first churches were in the shape of an inverted ship: and the Greek for destroyed is also used of heretical corruptings (1Ti 6:5).[29]
The first four shofar judgments affect nature directly and people indirectly (compare Mt 24:4–8) and resemble the plagues of Egypt (see Psalm 105:29, 32), while the last three plagues (v. 13) affect people directly (compare Mt 24:13–22).
The idea that the End-Time plagues will recapitulate those of Egypt can be found in the Midrash Rabbah:
“ ‘Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail such as has not been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now’ (Exodus 9:18).… However, there will be one like it in the time to come. When? In the days of Gog and Magog, as it is written, … ‘A torrential rain, and great hailstones, fire and sulfur’ (Ezekiel 38:2, 22).” (Exodus Rabbah 12:2)
Compare below at 11:19, 16:21, 20:7.
Consider the function of the Egyptian plagues. The well-known song, “Dayenu” ([It would have been] “Enough for us”), from the Passover Haggadah, says that God through the plagues judged both the Egyptians and their gods (compare 9:20). He did this by turning against the Egyptians the very things they worshipped. They worshipped the Nile River; it became blood. They worshipped beetles (scarabs); they got lice and locusts. They worshipped frogs and found them in bed. They worshipped the weather and had their crops destroyed by hail.
If these verses in Revelation are to be understood literally, then, since God uses nature to accomplish his purposes, one can imagine asteroids plunging into the earth, other materials from outer space darkening the skies and infecting the water, and heat flashes setting fire to the vegetation; and one can seek scientific explanations for such phenomena. But if these are graphic but figurative ways of describing God’s judgment and the terror it will evoke, such speculations and researches are irrelevant. There are intelligent, well-informed, God-fearing New Testament scholars taking each approach.[30]
Desolation in the seas Turning water into blood reminds us of the first Egyptian plague (Ex. 7:19–21). Note that John did not say that an actual burning mountain was cast out of heaven, but that the fiery object was like a great mountain. A triple judgment resulted: a third part of the saltwater turned to blood, a third part of the marine life died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. This will be an ecological and an economic disaster of unprecedented proportions.
Considering that the oceans occupy about three fourths of the earth’s surface, you can imagine the extent of this judgment. The pollution of the water and the death of so many creatures would greatly affect the balance of life in the oceans, and this would undoubtedly lead to further insoluble problems. As of January 1, 1981 there were 24,867 ocean-going merchant ships registered. Imagine the shock waves that would hit the shipping industry if 8,289 valuable ships were suddenly destroyed! And what about their cargoes!
Some interpreters take “the sea” to mean the Mediterranean Sea. However, this would make a relatively small impact on the world, since the Mediterranean covers only 969,100 square miles and averages just 5,000 feet deep. It is likely that all the major bodies of saltwater are included in this judgment.[31]
Revelation 8:10
And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
Figurative? Jn 4:13,14; Ps 84:6,7 (Heb). Literal: Ex 15:23, 25; Jer 9:14-15; 23:15.
Jesus uses this term idiomatically in this instance, John 4.
Revelation 8:11
And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
Desolation in the fresh water God’s wrath next reaches inland and touches the rivers and fountains of water (wells and sources of the rivers), making the fresh water taste bitter like wormwood. The National Geographic Society lists about 100 principal rivers in the world, ranging in length from the Amazon (4,000 miles long) to the Rio de la Plata (150 miles long). The U.S. Geological Survey reports thirty large rivers in the United States, beginning with the mighty Mississippi (3,710 miles long). One third of these rivers, and their sources, will become so bitterly polluted that drinking their water could produce death.
God has His stars numbered and named (Job 9:9–10). It is likely that this fallen star is molten and that, as it nears the earth, it begins to disintegrate and fall into the various bodies of water. If a star actually struck the earth, our globe would be destroyed; so this star must “come apart” as it enters the atmosphere. Of course, this event is a divinely controlled judgment; therefore, we must not try to limit it by the known laws of science.
The word translated “wormwood” gives us our English word absinthe, which is a popular liqueur in some countries of the world. The word means “undrinkable,” and in the Old Testament was synonymous with sorrow and great calamity. Jeremiah, “the Weeping Prophet,” often used it (Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19), and so did Amos (Amos 5:7, “those who turn justice into wormwood,” nasb). Moses warned that idolatry would bring sorrow to Israel, like a root producing wormwood (Deut. 29:18). Solomon warned that immorality might seem pleasant, but in the end, it produces bitterness like wormwood (Prov. 5:4).
If the people who drink from these waters are in danger of dying, what must happen to the fish and other creatures that live in these waters? And what would happen to the vegetation near these rivers? If the ecologists are worried about the deadly consequences of water pollution today, what will they think when the third trumpet blows?
There is no direct parallel here to any of the plagues of Egypt. However, after the Exodus, Israel encountered bitter waters at Marah (which means “bitter”) and Moses had to purify the water supply (Ex. 15:23–27). But no supernatural purification will be available during the Tribulation. [32]
[bitter] Greek: absinthe. Undrinkable without harm. OT: Synonymous with sorrow, calamity; hemlock, bitterness (Jer 9:15; 23:15; Lam 3:15, 19; Amos 5:7). [Figurative? Deut 29:18; Prov 5:4; 1 Tim 4:1; 2 Thess 2:10,11.]
Russian word for “wormwood” = Chernobyl? (Stedman)
National Geographic Society lists about 100 principal rivers. U.S. Geological Survey: 30 large rivers in U.S.
The star was named Wormwood. Wormwood is a bitter desert plant mentioned only here in the New Testament. It is mentioned seven times in the Old Testament where it represents sorrow and bitter judgment (Deut. 29:18; Prov. 5:4; Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19; Amos 5:7). One ounce diluted in 525 gallons of water can still be tasted.
Normally wormwood is not poisonous, but the plague of the third trumpet involves effects far more potent than the taste of this bitter plant: many men die from the water. Rapid pollution of a third of the world’s drinking water would set off a chaotic crisis.
Van Impe: Strange that Chernobyl in the Ukraine Bible means "Wormwood." This judgment also occurred in Moses' day: Behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood (Exodus 7:17). Now the phenomenon is repeated. A star, or meteor, soaring through space, speeds toward earth. When it strikes, one-third of our planet's water supply becomes a deadly poison. Rivers, springs, and wells are affected. Something similar happened in decades past. A volcanic explosion in the Aleutian Islands on March 21, 1823, caused the waters in that area to become bitter and unfit for human consumption. This could easily happen again.
God created every star, knows their locations, and has named them. Job 9:9 states: [He] maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. He also knows where the star, Wormwood, meaning "bitterness," is located, because Jeremiah 9:15 reports, Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink (Jeremiah 9:15). It will happen![33]
McGee: We are living in a world today where a great deal is being said about pollution, and it is a real problem. Man seems to have gotten a head start on the star in polluting all the waters. Personally, I think that man is going to be forced to clean up the water of the world if he is going to be able to exist at all. Self-preservation is considered to be the first law of nature, and man wants to hang on to this little earth; so he’s going to do something about it. In the Great Tribulation, the fresh water is polluted, and the drinking water for mankind is contaminated, that is, one-third of it is.
Those of us who live in Southern California know something of the scarcity of fresh water for drinking and domestic use. I am told that in Los Angeles it costs somewhere around $100 million just to turn on the spigot to get the water here to us. Fresh water is something that is essential for man and beast. I remember the drought of the ’50s in Dallas, Texas. The city’s water supply came from man-made lakes; the lakes dried up, and the supply was exhausted. It was necessary to get water from the Red River, but the oil companies had allowed salt water from their deep wells to drain into the river. Nobody worried about it until they needed the water for drinking. It was so salty, it was barely possible to drink it. Many people traveled to surrounding little towns to get a bottle of water to bring home. These experiences teach man how dependent he is upon fresh water.
When the children of Israel crossed over the Red Sea, they came to Marah where the waters were bitter. Moses was directed to take a tree and cast it into the waters to make them sweet. Here in Revelation, the sweet waters are made bitter by a meteor, a star out of heaven. The tree that Moses put into the water speaks of the cross of Christ.
“Wormwood” is a name used metaphorically in the Old Testament, according to Vincent (Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2, p. 506), in the following ways: (1) idolatry of Israel (see Deut. 29:18); (2) calamity and sorrow (see Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19); and (3) false judgment (see Amos 5:7).
This star is literal and is a meteor containing poison which contaminates one-third of the earth’s fresh water supply. The star’s name suggests that this is a judgment upon man for idolatry and injustice. Calamity and sorrow are the natural compensations that are coming upon man because of this judgment.[34]
Revelation 8:12
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Ninth plague on Egypt: Ex 10:21-23 lasted 3 days; Amos 5:18; cf. Rev 16:8-9; Mt 24:29-30; Lk 21:25-28.
Luke 21:25,26: “Powers of the heavens be shaken” = ouranos (“uranium”) = heavens,
dunamis, (“dynamite”) = Powers, saleo (“to be set off balance”) = shaken;
cf. Heb 12:26-28; Isa 30:26; Joel 2:1-2, “Darkness.” Very valid translation here!
Luke 21:25-28 25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
This could mean that the 24-hour cycle of day and night will be shortened to 16 hours or that the power of the sun, moon, and stars will be reduced by one-third. Perhaps this shortening of the days and nights is what is referred to in Matthew.
(Matt 24:22) And except those should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
The prophet Isaiah spoke of the day of the Lord: “The heavens will be black above them. No light will shine from stars or sun or moon” (Isaiah 13:10; Mark 13:24. Joel wrote, “it is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness” Joel 2:2). Amos wrote, “That day will not bring light and prosperity, but darkness and disaster” (Amos 5:18).
McGee: Another phase of creation upon which mankind on this earth is solely dependent for light and life is the sun. To a lesser degree, man is dependent on the moon and stars. It was on the fourth day of re-creation that these heavenly bodies appeared. They had been created before, but the light broke through on the fourth day. Now the light is put out, as it were, over a third part of the earth. God let these lights break through, the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night, and they were to be for signs and seasons. The Lord Jesus indicated that in the Great Tribulation there would be special signs in these heavenly bodies: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” (Matt. 24:29).
The laws of nature are radically altered by these disturbances. There is a definite limitation—only a third part of the light and of the day is affected. The intensity of the light has the wattage reduced by one-third. Talk about an energy shortage! Believe me, my friend, one is coming to this earth someday.
I saw an arresting billboard in Seattle, Washington, when Boeing had shut down many of its plants, laid off several thousand men, and people were beginning to leave town. On this billboard on Highway 5, some wag put this sign: “The last one leaving town, please turn out the lights.” Well, God is getting ready to turn out the lights here on this earth. However, the Lord has made it clear, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22).
A statement from Robert Govett (The Apocalypse Expounded by Scripture, p. 180) is intensely interesting in this connection, in view of present-day efforts to eliminate the death penalty:
Hence day continues still, though its brightness is diminished. God shows His right to call in question man’s right to the covenant. He has not kept the terms. Blood for blood is not shed by the nations. By this time the command to put the murderer to death is, through a false philanthropy, refused by the world.
This is another angle to the question of capital punishment. These judges with soft heads as well as soft hearts eliminate capital punishment and turn the criminals loose on us in this world today. Man continues to move in that direction, but God says, “I gave you a covenant that you were to protect human life, and you are protecting human life when you execute murderers.” Capital punishment is a deterrent to crime, and any person who says it is not a deterrent to crime must be like an ostrich with his head in the sand. I think that capital punishment will be abolished by Antichrist if it is not done so before.[35]
Chuck Smith: So, it is quite possible that in this—if it is indeed a meteorite shower, and when these meteorites come into our atmosphere and disintegrate, they turn into dust. And it could be that a tremendously heavy shower could create so much dust in our atmosphere that it would actually begin to filter out the light of the sun. Even as when Mount St. Helens erupted and it became dark at noon, in several of the cities in Washington around Mount St. Helens, as that thing disintegrated to dust and really darkened the skies.
So, a heavy kind of meteorite shower, if it is like a fig tree dropping its figs in a wind, just a heavy shower of meteorites around the earth, disintegrating into dust could very well shade the sun for a time with all the debris in the atmosphere. And so the sun shone but for a third part. And the moon, of course, was just a reflection of the sun and the stars.[36]
Revelation 8:13
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
[angel] aietos = eagle (Rev 12:14; Mt 24:28; Lk 17:37). Very unusual passage – eagle Somebody says, “This eagle is talking! Is it a literal eagle?” If God can make a parrot and a few other birds talk, I do not think He will have any problem at all with an eagle.
As the ass spoke to Balaam, so this eagle, by the power of God, will speak from heaven as it flies about the earth giving warning of the coming last three trumpets.
Some scholars believe both and eagle and an angel may be right. This may be the eagle referred to in earlier manuscripts as the fourth living creature seen before the throne of God in Rev 4:7. The angel that had the appearance of an eagle.
“Inhabiters of the earth” (12X): Rev 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 12:12; 13:8,12,14; 14:6; 17:2,8. [Opposite of citizens of heaven: Phil 3:18- 21.] Earth-dwellers are not born again: Rev 13:8. (are different than people whose citizenship is in heaven - just passing thru)
[woe, woe, woe] This is the 3rd parenthetical passage. It announces 3 woes upon man at the last 3 trumpets: (The Woe Judgments)
1. Plague of demons out of the abyss to torment people for 5 months (Rev. 9:1-12)
2. Plague of demons out of the abyss to slay a third of mankind on earth (Rev. 9:13-21)
3. Casting out of Satan to the earth to destroy people for 3 1/2 years (Rev. 11:14-13:18)
The word “woe” is a Greek interjection ouai, meaning “alas for.” The word may not be an announcement of judgment but may portray the miserable condition of those who have rejected the gospel (Matt 23:13-33; Luke 11:42-52). John uses three woes in 18:10-19 to refer to the various plagues and disasters of the final judgment. Many Jewish scholars of John’s day referred to the “woes” of the Messiah. These were sufferings experienced by humanity in general before the kingdom could be established (Dan 12:1; Rev 12:1-6).
Warning was given that the next three trumpets would be more severe and devastating than those which preceded them. The triple woe announced by an eagle warned of coming judgment. Eagles are also mentioned in 4:7 and 12:14.
[inhibiters of the earth] Earth dwellers, People who dwell upon the earth, where their heart is. A condition of the heart and the mind, not the physical body.
(Rev 13:7-8) 7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
(Matt 16:18) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
(Dan 11:40-41) 40And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
Desolation in the heavens The judgments from the first three trumpets affected only a third part of the land and waters, but this fourth judgment affects the entire world. Why? Because it gets to the very source of the earth’s life and energy, the sun. With one third less sunlight on the earth, there will be one third less energy available to support the life systems of man and nature.
This judgment parallels the ninth plague in Egypt (Ex. 10:21–23), which lasted three days. “The Day of the Lord is darkness, and not light” (Amos 5:18). Think of the vast changes in temperatures that will occur and how these will affect human health and food growth.
It is possible that this particular judgment is temporary, for the fourth bowl judgment will reverse it, and the sun’s power will be intensified (Rev. 16:8–9). Then, at the close of the Tribulation, the sun and moon will be darkened again to announce the Saviour’s return (Matt. 24:29–30; see also Luke 21:25–28).
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion,” said the Prophet Joel, “for the Day of the Lord cometh... a day of darkness and of gloominess” (Joel 2:1–2). Darkness, indeed! Not only will nature suffer loss, but human nature will take advantage of the long darkness and no doubt indulge in crime and wickedness. “Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light” (John 3:20).
At this point, a remarkable messenger will appear in the sky, proclaiming woe to the earth’s inhabitants. Most manuscripts have “eagle” here instead of “angel,” but either one would certainly get people’s attention! Could this be the eaglelike living creature that John saw worshiping before the throne? (Rev. 4:7–8) Will God send it on this special mission? We cannot say for sure, but it is a possibility.
The three “woes” in Revelation 8:13 refer to the judgments yet to come when the remaining three angels blow their trumpets. It is as though the messenger cried, “If you think this has been terrible, just wait! The worst is yet to come!”
The phrase “inhabiters of the earth” (or “them that dwell on the earth”) is found twelve times in Revelation (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10 [twice]; 12:12; 13:8, 12, 14; 14:6; 17:2, 8). It means much more than “people who live on the earth,” for that is where all living people reside. Instead, it refers to a kind of people: those who live for the earth and the things of the earth. These are just the opposite of people who have their citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:18–21). John described this worldly sort well in his first epistle (1 John 2:15–17), and later in this prophecy he again makes it clear that “earth-dwellers” are not born again (Rev. 13:8).
At the beginning of human history, heaven and earth were united because our first parents honored God and obeyed His will. Satan tempted them to focus on the earth; they disobeyed God; and ever since, a great gulf has been fixed between heaven and earth. This chasm was bridged when the Son of God came to earth and died for the sins of the world.[37]
Chuck Smith: Now this word "angel" here is not the same word that we have been dealing with. "Aggelos", which is messenger, but "aetos" which is also translated eagle. And in some of your translations you will find eagle. The eagle flying through the midst of heaven. But, you remember that the cherubim, one of the faces was that of an eagle. So, this could be both an angel and an eagle, or one of the cherubim. Certainly it is not an eagle as we know an eagle. They are not able to speak. This one flies through the heavens and warns all of the inhabitants of the earth. So, it is orbiting the earth no doubt, saying, "Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound." In other words, you haven't seen anything yet. Four angels have sounded and we have had some pretty cataclysmic effects, but what is to come is even worse. "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth by the—
I had a parrot once that I trained to say, "Woe, woe, woe." Old George would—I kept him here in the office for a long time until my secretary got tired of him and gave him away when I was gone on vacation. And when I came home there was no George. But he would say, "Woe, woe, woe, sinners." He was a nice bird.[38]
Van Impe: This fourth judgment has to do with earth's luminaries-the sun, moon, and stars. We note with interest that, on the fourth day of creation, God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven (Genesis 1:14). Now, at the blast of the fourth trumpet, one-third of the light produced by these bodies is extinguished. This, too, happened in Moses' day: And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days (Exodus 10:21-23). It happened once; it will happen again!
The worst, however, is yet to come. An angel flying through the midst of heaven cries, Woe, woe, woe! This correlates with Daniel, chapter 9, where the Seventieth Week (discussed in Revelation, chapter 6) is described. The first three and one-half years of the Tribulation are not nearly as severe as the final three and one-half years. In Matthew 24:8, our Lord described the first half of this time period as the beginning of sorrows. However, He referred to the final three and one-half years as the great tribulation (Matthew 24:2 1). As the Tribulation hour approaches its climax, the judgments become more severe and the loss of life greater. This is especially noticed as one observes that two verses cover the scope of each of the first four trumpets. However, trumpet five requires twelve verses and trumpet six necessitates nine verses.[39]
McGee: When the fourth trumpet is blown, the announcement is made of a peculiar intensity of woe and judgment that is coming on the earth. The last three trumpets are separated from the other four; they are “woe” trumpets.
“And I saw and heard one eagle.” Somebody says, “This eagle is talking! Is it a literal eagle?” My friend, if God can make a parrot and a few other birds talk, I do not think He will have any problem at all with an eagle.
It is interesting to note that our Lord used the eagle to speak of His coming: “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together” (Matt. 24:28)—that is after the great Battle of Armageddon.[40]
A lone eagle, representing swiftness, or “a lone vulture,” representing pursuit of carrion (as at Mt 24:28&N, Lk 17:37).
Woe! Woe! Woe! The remaining shofar judgments are directed not at nature but at the people living on earth (the pagan world hostile to God; see 3:10) in order to get them to repent (9:20–21), while the sealed are spared (9:4; 7:1–8). These three “woes” are announced by the remaining shofar blasts, and are described at 9:1–12, 9:13–11:14 and 11:15–18:24 respectively. Just as the seventh seal (v. 1&N) included the seven “shofar” judgments, so the seventh shofar blast includes the seven “bowl” judgments, which begin at 16:1. [41]
The First 4 Trumpet Judgments
(1st four are “natural”; the next two are “demonic”...)
“Judgment of the Thirds”
• 1st Trumpet: Aimed at the earth; 1/3 trees, grass dies.
• 2nd Trumpet: Aimed at the Sea; 1/3 of fish, ships destroyed.
• 3rd Trumpet: Aimed at the waters; 1/3 part dies. Star called “Wormwood.”
• 4th Trumpet: Aimed at the Sun, moon, stars: 1/3 sky darkened.
The final 3 Trumpets are also called “3 Woes.” [Chapter 9.]
There appears to be a “logarithmic” progression to the base 7 in the various judgments: Seals (Ch. 6), Trumpets (Ch. 8 & 9), and Bowls (Ch. 15 & 16).
Compare:
Trumpets vs. Bowls (Ch. 16)
1) 1/3 of the Earth The Earth, Beast Worshippers
2) 1/3 of the Sea The Sea; all die
3) 1/3 of the Waters The Waters; (fresh water)
4) 1/3 of Sun, Moon The Sun; scorching
5) Woe #1: Abousso opened Throne of Beast; Air Darkened
6) Woe #2: Demon Army Euphrates; Kings of the East; Armageddon
— (Chapter 10 & 11) (Verse 16:15)
7) Woe #3: Kingdom claimed, “It is done”; Babylon falls
The Significance of the Number Four
Many Bible students believe that four is the number of the world. It marks God’s creative works. We might say that it is the signature of the world, or the universal aspect.
(1) On the fourth day God finished the material creation, i.e., the heavens and earth (Gen. 1:14-19).
(2) Revelation 7:9 gives us four divisions of mankind: nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues.
(3) There are four directions or regions: north, south, east, and west.
(4) There are four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter.
(5) In presenting the Lord Jesus to men, there are four gospels.
(6) There are four kingdoms: animal, mineral, vegetable, and spiritual;
(7) Finally, in Daniel’s portrayal of the times of the Gentiles, we are given only four great world powers or kingdoms of prophecy, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
In this regard, the seven trumpets are divided into four and three. The first four bring devastation to the world, God’s creation. The last three are aimed more directly at man though mankind is affected and hurt by all the trumpets. This is significant since these first four are areas of God’s common grace intended for man’s blessing. Yet man, on the whole today, attributes this world to evolution rather than to a personal God. The evolutionists often say, “God did not create the universe. Man simply created God in his imagination out of his fears and weaknesses.” But at this point in the Tribulation, remember that there will then be no atheists, only rebellious and hardened people.
Supplemental Background: The Plagues of Egypt
Judgment against the gods they worshipped (Num 33:4; Judg 10:14); public display of power (Ex 9:16); warning to other nations (Josh 2:8,9); Philistines (1 Sam 4:8; cf. Gen 12:3).
Design Patterns Exod:
1) 7:14-25 Waters turned to blood Warning #1
2) 8:1-5 Frogs on land, homes Warning #2
3) 8:10-19 Lice on persons (no warning)
This is a strange plague, this prevented worship by their priests (8:18); they could not worship if they had lice on them. This plague could not reproduce by the Egyptians. (3 times they did reproduce: rods into serpents 7:12 (2 Tim 3:8); water into blood, 7:22; frogs, 8:12) Note also miracles by enemies: Rev 16:14
4) 8:20-24 Flies on homes Warning #3
(Beelzebub = “Fly” God) Lord of the flies
5) 9:1-7 Disease on Cattle Warning #4
6) 9:8-12 Boils, sores: man & beast (no warning)
7) 9:18-35 Thunder, hail Warning #5
8) 10:1-20 Locusts Warning #6
Pharaoh: “I have sinned”
9) 10:21-29 Darkness (3 days) (no warning)
10) 11 & 12 Firstborn, Man and Beast , Ex 4:22, Warning #7
Israel = “firstborn”
Other Patterns:
1, 2, 3 = Rod of Aaron;
4, 5, 6 = no rod;
7, 8, 9 = Rod of Moses
Also,
5, 6 Cattle involved
4, 7 Goshen exempted (8:22; 9:26)
3, 8 Admission by enemies
2, 9 Darkness
1, 10 Death
Prophetic Aspects of Judgment
1) Jacob’s trouble: affliction Isa 60:14; Jer 30:5-8
2) Cry to God; heard: Jer 31:18-20
3) God will command oppressors: let them go: Isa 43:6
4) 2 witnesses, with miracles before enemies: Rev 11:3-6
5) Enemies will also perform: Rev 13:14,15
6) Sore judgements from God: Jer 25: 15,6
7) God will protect His people: Rev 7:4; 12:6; 14-16
8) Water turned to blood: Rev 8:8; 11:6; 16:4,5;
9) Satanic frogs: Rev 16:13
10) Plague of locusts: Rev 9:2-11
11) Boils and blains: Rev 16:2
12) Hailstones from heaven: Rev 8:7
13) Darkness: Isa 60:2; Rev 16:10
14) Hearts hardened: Rev 9:20, 21
15) Death to multitudes: Rev 9:15
16) Israel to be delivered: Zech 14:3,4; Rom 11:26
Idioms of Judgment
(Suggestive only; use your own concordance, etc.)
Hail Isa 28:2, 17 Judgments
Fire Deut 32:22; Isa 33:14; Judgments
Sea Dan 7:2,3; Isa 57:20 Gentile humanity
Trees Dan 4:10, 20-22; Ezek 31:31 Pride of man
Grass Isa 40:6,7 People
Mountain Jer 51:25; Dan 2 Government
Star Rev 1, 8 Spiritual leaders
Lamp Rev 1 Churches
Rivers, Ezek 47:1-5; John 4:10-14 Sources of life
Fountains
Judgment frightens us. (It is supposed to.)
Sobers us...
Humbles us...
Corrects us...
Reassures us...
Homework for Next Session: Read Chapter 9-9; 16 (Trumpets vs. Bowls); Joel 2, 3
The Hebrew Letter Chet ח
There seems to be a correlation between this eighth chapter and the meaning of the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chet ח is the letter that stands for “a new beginning.” It is the letter for the “transcendence, divine grace and life”, transcendent life. The letter lifts us above this earthly plane and sets us in heavenly places. It is a metaphysical letter that is “not of this world.” Corresponding to this letter, the scene we witness in Revelation 8 is a heavenly one. This onset of God’s judgment upon the world is seen from a heavenly viewpoint. The casting of fire upon the Earth launches a new beginning for mankind.
Eighth Chapter of John
John tells us of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus offers her a new life, a new beginning.
(John 8:10-11) 10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Old Testament References
8:1 Josh 6:10
8:2 Josh 6:4
8:3 Ps 141:2
8:4 Ps 141:2
8:5 Ezek 10:2; 8:5-6; Ex 19:16
8:7 Ex 9:23-24; Josh 10:11; Ps 18:13; Isa 28:2
8:8 Ex 7:17-19; 8:10; Isa 14:12
8:11 Jer 9:15; 23:15
8:12 Josh 10:12-14; Isa 13:10
The Prayer of the Saints:
There is an eye that never sleeps
Beneath the wing of night;
There is an ear that never shuts
When sink the beams of light.
There is an arm that never tires
When human strength gives way;
There is a love that never fails
When earthly loves decay
That eye is fixed on seraph throngs;
That arm upholds the sky;
That ear is filled with angel songs;
That love is throned on high.
But there’s a power which man can wield.
When mortal aid is vain.
That eye, that ear, that love to reach.
That listening ear to gain.
That power is Prayer, which soars on high.
Through Jesus, to the throne;
And moves the hand which moves the world,
To bring salvation down!
-----------------------
[1]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:957). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[2] Chuck Smith Sermon Notes, Commentary on Revelation, Calvary Fellowship, Costa Mesa, CA
[3]Stern, D. H. (1996, c1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed.) (Re 8:1). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.
[4] The Apocalypse, Joseph A. Seiss, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 49501
[5] A Message of Hope from Dr. Jack Van Impe, Commentary on The Book of Revelation, Van Impe
[6]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:959). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[7]Stern, D. H. (1996, c1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed.) (Re 8:2). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.
[8] A Message of Hope from Dr. Jack Van Impe, Commentary on The Book of Revelation, Van Impe
[9]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:960). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[10]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Re 8:2). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[11]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Re 8:2). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[12]Stern, D. H. (1996, c1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed.) (Re 8:2). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.
[13] Chuck Smith Sermon Notes, Commentary on Revelation, Calvary Fellowship, Costa Mesa, CA
[14]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Re 8:3). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[15]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Re 8:3). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[16] A Message of Hope from Dr. Jack Van Impe, Commentary on The Book of Revelation, Van Impe
[17]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:961). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[18] Chuck Smith Sermon Notes, Commentary on Revelation, Calvary Fellowship, Costa Mesa, CA
[19] Chuck Smith Sermon Notes, Commentary on Revelation, Calvary Fellowship, Costa Mesa, CA
[20]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:962). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[21] McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:962). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[22]Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Re 8:7). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
[23] A Message of Hope from Dr. Jack Van Impe, Commentary on The Book of Revelation, Van Impe
[24]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:963). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[25]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Re 8:7). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[26] Chuck Smith Sermon Notes, Commentary on Revelation, Calvary Fellowship, Costa Mesa, CA
[27] A Message of Hope from Dr. Jack Van Impe, Commentary on The Book of Revelation, Van Impe
[28]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:963). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[29]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Re 8:9). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[30]Stern, D. H. (1996, c1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed.) (Re 8:7). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.
[31]Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Re 8:7). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
[32]Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Re 8:7). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
[33] A Message of Hope from Dr. Jack Van Impe, Commentary on The Book of Revelation, Van Impe
[34]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:964). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[35]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:965). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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[80]£[81]¤[82]«[83]ý[84][85]o[86]·[87]õ[88]ý[89]6[90][91]öïâïØÍÅ» Chuck Smith Sermon Notes, Commentary on Revelation, Calvary Fellowship, Costa Mesa, CA
[92]Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Re 8:7). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
[93] Chuck Smith Sermon Notes, Commentary on Revelation, Calvary Fellowship, Costa Mesa, CA
[94] A Message of Hope from Dr. Jack Van Impe, Commentary on The Book of Revelation, Van Impe
[95]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:965). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[96]Stern, D. H. (1996, c1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed.) (Re 8:13). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.
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