The Rapture has occurred. Those who have believed in Jesus, both the living and the dead, have been called into heaven and are no longer present on Earth. Now, the Tribulation period has begun. A seven year period in which God will pour out His wrath on the unbelieving world.
The Antichrist, who is motivated by the devil, but not yet Satan incarnate, is rising to global power. Global war has broken out; many believe this will be World War 3. Violence has escalated to the likes the world has never known before. Famine and inflation has affected the planet. A fourth of the planet has died. Those who have come to believe in Christ post-rapture now face martyrdom and are crying out for God to take revenge on their behalf. A great earthquake has occurred, the sun has become black, the moon has become like blood, stars have fallen from the heavens (meteor shower), and mountains and islands have been displaced.
Then, all of a sudden as the judgments were being poured out, Jesus called for there to be a cessation in the judgments, in order to seal 144,000 Jews who have come to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and are to go out and preach the gospel to all nations, but specifically to their fellow Jews, which God will grant them great success. Now we come to Revelation 8, which closes the seven seal judgments and begins the trumpet judgments.
In verse 1 we see Jesus opening the seventh seal followed by 30 minutes of silence in heaven.
Verse 1 reads, “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” Recall that just before this there was much activity going on in heaven. There was singing from the multitude of saved people, the angels, the 24 elders, and the four living creatures. Then, there were people before the throne serving God day and night.
But not now. Not for 30 minutes. For 30 minutes heaven was absolutely silent. One commentator noted that “with all the activity, this dramatic pause must have seemed to last for an eternity.”
Imagine, if you will, how dramatic this must have been. Imagine being in heaven, and it is brimming with activity. People are worshiping and serving God. Everybody is doing something. All of a sudden everything and everyone is still. Everything is quiet. Nobody is moving. Nobody is talking. Nothing is happening.
You may be wondering, why is there this silence in heaven? There may be two reasons for this. First, it is to prepare for what is about to happen, because after the opening of the seventh seal, the wrath of God will intensify on the earth. Secondly, it may be to pause and give added time for people who are left on earth to repent before God continues to pour out His wrath. If you recall, when the sixth seal was opened in Revelation 6:12-17 those who were left after the Rapture are seen crying out for the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of Almighty God and from the wrath of Jesus.
You may ask, why is God giving an opportunity for them to repent? It’s because God does not desire anyone to die and go to hell. God says in Ezekiel 18:23, “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? In Ezekiel 18:32 God said, “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” God finds no joy or happiness in people dying and spending their eternity in hell instead of with Him. Understand then, that God is giving those left behind to endure the Tribulation another opportunity to turn from their sins and live.
Also consider that God is patient with us today. God is giving us every opportunity to turn from our sins and put our faith in Jesus, so that we might not die and spend eternity in hell. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The LORD…is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” So, God is giving you time now to turn from your sins and put your faith in Jesus for salvation.
Again, God does not want you to perish and spend eternity in hell. God desires that all would be saved. But you will not be saved if you continue to reject God’s free gift of salvation through His only Son, Jesus Christ. In the same way, God wants to spare you from the Tribulation that is coming, but the only way to be spared is to turn from your sins and put your faith in His only Son.
After John sees Jesus open the seventh seal, he then sees seven angels holding seven trumpets (one trumper per angel), standing at attention, as though they are making ready to blow their trumpets.
Verse 2 reads, “Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.” What you need to understand is that these seven angels with their seven trumpets are the next series of judgments that God is going to pour out on the Antichrist and the unbelieving world, and these angels are standing at the ready before the throne of God, waiting for God to give the order to blow their trumpet. So what we are seeing happening is this: preparation is being made in heaven for the cessation to end and God’s judgment on the world to continue.
As John sees these seven angels standing before the throne of God, he then sees another angel standing at the altar offering incense.
Verses 3-4 say, “And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.” I want to take a moment here and help you understand what’s going on here, because it is important.
First, the altar we see in verse three is the same altar John observed when Jesus opened the fifth seal, with all the martyred souls underneath. I want you to understand that the Jewish temple on earth that we read about in the Old Testament is meant to resemble the holy temple of God in heaven. The temple that we read about in the Old Testament (Ex. 27:1-8; 30:1-10) had two altar’s, one for bloody sacrifices and another for smoky incense. The temple in heaven has one altar that serves both purposes.
Secondly, in the Old Testament, on the altar of incense, a priest would fill a censer with live coals and then incense would be poured on those coals, and smoke would then drift up towards heaven symbolizing believer’s prayers ascending to God. The same thing is being portrayed here with the smoke we read about in verse 4, which is the prayer of saints.
Thirdly, in regards to “the prayer of the saints”. What saints are we speaking about? I believe these prayers belong to two groups of people. First, they are the prayers of those who are present on earth during the Tribulation and have come to believe in Jesus post-rapture, and they are the prayers of those saints that were seen in the fifth seal who had been martyred for their faith. Which brings me to this question: What are they praying for? I believe they are crying out to God for justice, because they are been persecuted, and some have been murdered, for their belief in Jesus.
The last thing we need to understand is who this angel is standing at the altar with a golden censer. I believe the angel in verse 3 is Jesus Christ for two reasons. First, because he is taking on the function a priest would in the Old Testament; only priests could offer incense on the altar of incense. Secondly, because Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us that Jesus is our “great high priest” today.
You may wonder what does it mean that Jesus is our “great high priest” today? What that simply means is that Jesus is the mediator between man and God, which simply means Jesus has made peace between man and God where there was hostility. Why is there hostility between man and God? Sin. How did Jesus bring peace between man and God? By the shedding of his blood.
Now notice what is done with the censer.
Verse 5 says, “Then the angel (who we are to believe is Jesus) took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.” Notice that this censer goes from being filled with incense to fire. Remember, in verse 3, the censer was filled with incense, the incense being the prayer of the saints. Now in verse 5, it is filled with fire. And then, it is hurled down to earth by this angel who we are to believe is Jesus.
Why would Jesus do this? Why would Jesus take this censer, fill it with fire from the altar, only to hurl it down to earth? It’s because the fire symbolizes the judgment of God that is about to be released in response to the prayers of the saints for justice against those who persecuted and murdered them. That’s where The Seven Trumpet judgments come into play. So understand, The Seven Trumpet judgments are in response to “the prayers of the saints” and their cry for justice.
As we look now to verse 6, we see that the posture of the seven angels that we read about standing before God in verse 2 has changed.
Verse 6 reads, “Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.” Recall in verse 2, each angel has one trumpet, and they are standing before the throne of God with trumpet in hand. Now in verse 6 they stand prepared with their mouths ready to sound their trumpet. Ready to issue the next round of God’s judgment.
Two things we need to understand about the trumpet judgments: 1) Each angel takes their turn to blow their trumpets, which means the trumpet judgments do not happen simultaneously. Each judgment that comes with each trumpet blast is completed before the next trumpet is sounded ushering in the next judgment. 2) We do not know how much time exists between each trumpet blast. Could be days or months. What we do know is that verse 6 prepares us for the beginning of The Seven Trumpet Judgments.
Now lets look at the first four Trumpet judgments.
Trumpet #1: Verse 7 reads, “The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.” With the first trumpet blast we see hail and fire falling from the sky and they are mixed with blood. The result being a third of the earth and trees are burned, and the grass is completely gone. By the way this is the same plague that God used against Pharaoh in Exodus 9:24, when Israel was captive in Egypt.
Trumpet #2: Verses 8 and 9 read, “The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.” This plague is meant to resemble what God did in Egypt in Exodus 9:22-26, when He turned the Nile into blood, except nothing is falling from the sky. Notice that John says “something like a great mountain…was thrown into the sea”, so we should not believe this a literal mountain being thrown into the sea. We are not sure what John is seeing here, but what we do know is something very large is falling from the sky, burning with fire, and it will land in the ocean somewhere. When it does, a third of the ocean will become like blood, a third of the sea creatures will die, and a third of the ocean vessels will be no more.
Trumpet #3: Verse 10 reads, “The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.” Now to be clear, wormwood is actually the name of a plant that produces a very bitter tasting extract. But John is not referring to a plant here. He is referring to a literal star falling from the sky. I believe what John is seeing is a large meteor, falling from the sky, and blazing with fire as it does. And when it makes an impact with earth it will cause a third of the planet’s rivers and fresh water springs to become bitter and poisonous to drink. And as a result, many people will die.
Trumpet #4: Verse 12 reads, “The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.” Notice that this plague resembles the ninth plague God sent on Egypt in Exodus 10:21-23. Also notice that this trumpet judgment is different from the others we have mentioned. The first three affected the earth and sea in some way. This trumpet doesn’t do that. Instead, it affects the sun, the moon, and the stars so that the light on the earth by day and by night is darkened by a third.
As we close, I want to make three points. First, remember that the seventh seal exists to do two things: prepare for the next round of judgments and give mankind an opportunity to repent. Secondly, I want you to consider this: the first four trumpet judgments have on the world. We think commerce is bad now. The world economy will begin to be ruined with these judgments. Consider the devastating effect these judgments will have on the fish industry with a third of the ocean turning to blood and a third of sea creatures dying also. Consider the effects these judgments will have in the shipping industry and trading between countries when a third of the ships are destroyed. Consider the effects these judgments will have on the farming industry (crop farmers, livestock farmers, and produce farmers) when all the grass is destroyed, a third of vegetation is destroyed and a third of the sun’s light is reduced. And lastly, these first four trumpets that are blown have affected the vegetation, the seas, the rivers, the fresh water springs, and the planets, and while many have certainly died, man has not been the target. In other words, these first four trumpets were targeted at creation. It will not be that way with the next three trumpet blasts. The next three trumpet blasts will bring much worse judgments, which will target mankind.