Revelation Chapter 8:
In contrast to the loud, majestic praise to God and the Lamb, which will be heard in heaven as recorded in chapters 5 and 7, chapter 8 begins with about one-half hour of complete silence as a result of the opening of the 7th seal. This silence is no doubt in awe of the realization of the judgments that are soon to follow—the calm before the storm. Seven trumpets are then given to 7 angels who stand before God, ready to do His bidding. So the 7th seal contains these 7 trumpets.
God used trumpets in Old Testament times to warn of coming danger. Ezekiel 33:4-5 states, “Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning; if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head; he heard the sound of the trumpet and took no warning . . . But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.” Also, note verse 11 where God tells us that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but He pleads for the wicked to turn from their evil ways. So God will once again use the sound of a trumpet to warn the world of coming judgment, and “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21) How wonderful to see God’s great mercy in the midst of this time of great disaster.
Next, we see another angel come and stand before the altar in heaven, having a golden censer. This angel is given much incense which he is to offer, along with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which is before the throne of God. This censer and altar remind us of articles in the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 25-27). Hebrews 9:21-24 tell us that the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry were “patterns of things in the heavens,” or “figures of the true.” Heaven is a literal place with literal thrones, literal altar of incense, etc.
God instructed Moses to have the priests burn a “perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.” (Exodus 30:8) Incense was symbolic of prayer and worship in the Old Testament, and the smoke of this incense ascended up before God in a continual worship of Him. Of course, this is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ Whose giving of Himself for us as a sacrifice to God was a sweet-smelling savor (Ephesians 5:2). And even our lives become a sweet savor of Christ unto God as we walk in His love, doing His will (2 Corinthians 2:15).
There was an account of incense being offered up to God to make atonement for the sin of the people. This is given in Numbers 16:41-50, where the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the Lord was ready to consume them because of their rebellion. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in prayer of intercession. Then Moses told Aaron to take a censer and put fire from off the altar in it, then put incense on the fire to burn as a sweet savor to the Lord and thus make atonement for the people. Aaron did so, and the plague which had begun among the people was stayed—although 14,700 of them had already died before Aaron took the incense among them. The burning of the incense reminded God of the sacrifice of His Son, which was a sweet savor, and thus caused Him to show mercy. Even so, God’s mercy is seen all through these trumpet judgments.
Jesus told His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven … ” All through the ages, the prayers God’s saints have prayed for His will to be done have been reserved in heaven as sweet incense. These prayers are intricately woven together with God’s will in bringing judgment upon the earth at this time of tribulation.
So now the angel fills the censer with fire and casts it into the earth, beginning the needed cleansing of the earth. The results of the sounding of the first trumpet will be disastrous. One-third of the trees and all the green grass will be destroyed. With that much vegetation gone, many disasters will occur, including lack of food, oxygen, food for animals, etc. These are literal judgments. Examples of similar judgments are found among the plagues God brought upon Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let Israel leave his land (Exodus 9:22-25).
When the second trumpet sounds, something like a great mountain is cast into the sea. This probably will be a large asteroid or meteorite, which will cause one-third of the sea to become blood, perhaps from the death of the sea life, as well as the death of those people in the ships which will be destroyed. This probably refers to the Mediterranean Sea, for all prophecy surrounds Israel and the land of Israel. Compare Exodus 9:19, 20 and Hosea 4:1-3 concerning this judgment.
Next, the third angel sounds a trumpet and a great star falls upon one-third of all the rivers and springs, which causes many to die from poisonous waters. This star is called, “Wormwood,” which is a bitter, intoxicating and poisonous herb. When used freely, this herb produces convulsions, paralysis and death. God has given warnings through the years of similar judgments that will be wide-spread during these seven years of tribulation. One example was in the Aleutian Islands on March 21, 1823. There was a great volcanic explosion on that date and one of the results was that the river water assumed the color of beer and was so extremely bitter that it was unfit for use. Also read Jeremiah 9:13-16.
Some might attribute the first three trumpet judgments to exclusively natural disasters, but when the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, the lights of the heavens are affected. The sun, moon and stars are all darkened, leaving both one-third of the day and night in complete darkness. Can you imagine the fear that will grip the hearts of people when this darkness occurs after they have experienced the frightful disasters of the first three trumpets? If there are any who will have ears to hear, surely these occurrences will cause them to turn to the Lord in repentance, and to believe on His name. This is what God desires, for it is not His will that any should perish. (2 Peter 3:9)
In these first four trumpets, those things we take for granted are touched by God. Food is destroyed, distribution is hindered, water is limited, production is hurt—life in general will not go on as usual!
At this time, God sends an angel to fly through the skies, warning the inhabitants of the earth in a loud voice of the judgments that will come from the three trumpets which are yet to sound. These are called three “woes,” which indicate that they will be far worse than anything that has happened so far. We might wonder what else God could bring that would awaken the people on earth; but, as we will see in the next chapter, there surely are terrible things yet to come on a Christ-rejecting world—more terrible than the human mind could imagine. How thankful we should be that God has provided a way of escape to all who will accept His gift of salvation through His Son, Christ Jesus. Remember, all of the church, or body of Christ, will be in heaven before these trumpet judgments begin. But let us pray earnestly for those around us who have not yet believed on Him that they, too, can escape not only the terrible judgments of the tribulation period, but the eternal judgment of the lake of fire. God has provided a way out! Praise His name!
God used trumpets in Old Testament times to warn of coming danger. Ezekiel 33:4-5 states, “Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning; if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head; he heard the sound of the trumpet and took no warning . . . But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.” Also, note verse 11 where God tells us that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but He pleads for the wicked to turn from their evil ways. So God will once again use the sound of a trumpet to warn the world of coming judgment, and “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21) How wonderful to see God’s great mercy in the midst of this time of great disaster.
Next, we see another angel come and stand before the altar in heaven, having a golden censer. This angel is given much incense which he is to offer, along with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which is before the throne of God. This censer and altar remind us of articles in the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 25-27). Hebrews 9:21-24 tell us that the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry were “patterns of things in the heavens,” or “figures of the true.” Heaven is a literal place with literal thrones, literal altar of incense, etc.
God instructed Moses to have the priests burn a “perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.” (Exodus 30:8) Incense was symbolic of prayer and worship in the Old Testament, and the smoke of this incense ascended up before God in a continual worship of Him. Of course, this is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ Whose giving of Himself for us as a sacrifice to God was a sweet-smelling savor (Ephesians 5:2). And even our lives become a sweet savor of Christ unto God as we walk in His love, doing His will (2 Corinthians 2:15).
There was an account of incense being offered up to God to make atonement for the sin of the people. This is given in Numbers 16:41-50, where the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the Lord was ready to consume them because of their rebellion. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in prayer of intercession. Then Moses told Aaron to take a censer and put fire from off the altar in it, then put incense on the fire to burn as a sweet savor to the Lord and thus make atonement for the people. Aaron did so, and the plague which had begun among the people was stayed—although 14,700 of them had already died before Aaron took the incense among them. The burning of the incense reminded God of the sacrifice of His Son, which was a sweet savor, and thus caused Him to show mercy. Even so, God’s mercy is seen all through these trumpet judgments.
Jesus told His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven … ” All through the ages, the prayers God’s saints have prayed for His will to be done have been reserved in heaven as sweet incense. These prayers are intricately woven together with God’s will in bringing judgment upon the earth at this time of tribulation.
So now the angel fills the censer with fire and casts it into the earth, beginning the needed cleansing of the earth. The results of the sounding of the first trumpet will be disastrous. One-third of the trees and all the green grass will be destroyed. With that much vegetation gone, many disasters will occur, including lack of food, oxygen, food for animals, etc. These are literal judgments. Examples of similar judgments are found among the plagues God brought upon Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let Israel leave his land (Exodus 9:22-25).
When the second trumpet sounds, something like a great mountain is cast into the sea. This probably will be a large asteroid or meteorite, which will cause one-third of the sea to become blood, perhaps from the death of the sea life, as well as the death of those people in the ships which will be destroyed. This probably refers to the Mediterranean Sea, for all prophecy surrounds Israel and the land of Israel. Compare Exodus 9:19, 20 and Hosea 4:1-3 concerning this judgment.
Next, the third angel sounds a trumpet and a great star falls upon one-third of all the rivers and springs, which causes many to die from poisonous waters. This star is called, “Wormwood,” which is a bitter, intoxicating and poisonous herb. When used freely, this herb produces convulsions, paralysis and death. God has given warnings through the years of similar judgments that will be wide-spread during these seven years of tribulation. One example was in the Aleutian Islands on March 21, 1823. There was a great volcanic explosion on that date and one of the results was that the river water assumed the color of beer and was so extremely bitter that it was unfit for use. Also read Jeremiah 9:13-16.
Some might attribute the first three trumpet judgments to exclusively natural disasters, but when the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, the lights of the heavens are affected. The sun, moon and stars are all darkened, leaving both one-third of the day and night in complete darkness. Can you imagine the fear that will grip the hearts of people when this darkness occurs after they have experienced the frightful disasters of the first three trumpets? If there are any who will have ears to hear, surely these occurrences will cause them to turn to the Lord in repentance, and to believe on His name. This is what God desires, for it is not His will that any should perish. (2 Peter 3:9)
In these first four trumpets, those things we take for granted are touched by God. Food is destroyed, distribution is hindered, water is limited, production is hurt—life in general will not go on as usual!
At this time, God sends an angel to fly through the skies, warning the inhabitants of the earth in a loud voice of the judgments that will come from the three trumpets which are yet to sound. These are called three “woes,” which indicate that they will be far worse than anything that has happened so far. We might wonder what else God could bring that would awaken the people on earth; but, as we will see in the next chapter, there surely are terrible things yet to come on a Christ-rejecting world—more terrible than the human mind could imagine. How thankful we should be that God has provided a way of escape to all who will accept His gift of salvation through His Son, Christ Jesus. Remember, all of the church, or body of Christ, will be in heaven before these trumpet judgments begin. But let us pray earnestly for those around us who have not yet believed on Him that they, too, can escape not only the terrible judgments of the tribulation period, but the eternal judgment of the lake of fire. God has provided a way out! Praise His name!