“The Tribulation”
Part Two
Soap Opera
Revelation 8:1-5
We are told that after the opening of the seventh seal for half an hour there will be silence in Heaven.
What does this silence stand for?
Some have suggested there will be no women in Heaven but I wouldn’t dare say that.
Seriously--why does heaven come to a standstill? What does this silence represent?
When John says the silence lasted about half an hour he was saying it was a long silence.
In the Bible, silence would often come before God’s Judgments. In Habakuk 2:20 says, “But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.”
And in Zechariah 2:13 we read, “Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
So God is about to hand down the trumpet judgments that are so terrible, so horrendous, so incredibly frightening, that no one in heaven dares to breathe a word.
I believe that all of Heaven is holding its breath.
Illustration: Verdict in a courtroom.
At this point in the book of Revelation, judgment is about to come to the earth like never before.
The storm is about to break in all of it’s fury, and what is about to happen is so enormous it causes everything in Heaven to come to a stand still.
Even God pauses to assess what must be done.
What is it about the opening of the 7th seal that is so awesome it brings silence?
No wonder heaven stood still for half an hour, when they saw 7 angels preparing to sound 7 trumpets in a row! Something big was about to happen!
Trumpets have been used to announce, direct, and get the attention of people since they were first invented.
1. They called the people together. Remember a trumpet was sounded to call the people together when Moses was given the Law at Mt. Sinai.
2. They announced war. Joshua had the people blow the trumpets at the conquest of Jericho.
3. They announced special times. In 1 Kings 1:34-39 trumpets were sounded when the king was anointed and enthroned.
Illustration: Calvary in the movies.
The trumpet judgments we are about look at here are of greater intensity than the seal judgments, but not as destructive as the final bowl judgments
These trumpet blasts have three purposes:
1) To warn that judgment is certain.
2) To call the forces of good and evil to battle.
3) To announce the return of the King, the Messiah.
These warnings urge us to make sure of our faith is in fact firmly fixed on Christ.
Verse three says an angel holding a golden censer.
A censer was a container for burning incense.
The reason it is associated with prayer is because the both ascend toward heaven.
So the prayers and the incense went up to God’s Throne.
Revelation 8: 6-13
Read verse 6&7
Trumpet Judgments are known as judgments of one-thirds.
It shows that the destruction of Creation will be catastrophic, but also limited by God.
We are told here that 1/3 of the trees and grass was destroyed.
This would include the grains we depend on for food such as wheat corn rice oats, ect.
So 1/3 of the food supply from these grains will be gone.
The hail & fire mixed with the blood I believe could be compared to the fire & brimstone that God cast down on Sodom & Gomorrah.
And John could be describing another nuclear attack.
Illustration: Star Wars Technology.
Read verse 8&9
John says that when the second trumpet sounded, “something like a great mountain all ablaze was thrown into the sea”.
Some theories of what John was describing have been a meteor shower and some believe it is thermo–nuclear warheads attacking ships at sea.
It could be but if you keep in mind that this is God’s Judgment on the physical world and is a severe warning to sinful people.
Now when you couple the destruction of 1/3 of all vegetation with 1/3 of all marine life, this is a massive reduction of the worlds food supply.
Add to this 1/3 of all the worlds ships and this would virtually stop food from being distributed to starving countries.
Read verse 10-11
The third trumpet judgment brings a great star called Wormwood which means bitterness.
So 1/3 of the water on the earth becomes poisonous and many people will die because they drank the polluted water.
Read verse 12
Remember what I said earlier that the 1/3 of the destruction of Creation will be catastrophic, but also limited by God.
This could possibly mean that the destruction of the first three trumpets, no matter how it happened, caused a global pollution that reduces visibility by 1/3.
Read verse 13
The eagle is a symbol of wrath and the “woes” refer to the announcement that the final three trumpets are going to get much worse.
The first four trumpets affected the physical world but the last three will affect people directly.
God is pressuring man a little more each time to repent and accept Christ.
Notice there are three woes, one for each of the final trumpets.
Revelation 9:1-21
Read verses 1-11
The “star” is actually a person and not a literal star. Most likely one of Satan’s fallen angels and God gives him the key which opens the Abyss.
The Abyss is the bottomless pit which is the dwelling place of the demons that God has kept them bound since the days of Noah.
II Peter 2:4-5 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on it’s ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others.
John talks about locust that have a scorpion like sting. This is one of the most painful wounds a person can endure.
Their leader Abaddon & Apollyon means destroyer.
Locust were unstoppable and they devastated the crops and John says for five months they will torture the people who do not follow God.
God grants Satan the power to hurt but not to kill, though the people will want to die but can’t.
Remember the story of Job when God allowed Satan to do things to him but would not allow him to kill Job.
This is how it will be during this time.
Read verses 12-19
The sounding of the sixth trumpet releases the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates river, again these are fallen angels, who were Israel’s enemies that were bound by God.
These four angels will mobilize an army of 200 million soldiers. That is 2/3 of the people of the United States. That folks is a huge army.
The Romans, Greeks, and Babylonians considered the Euphrates River as the boundry between east & west.
The first sin committed by man was in this region.
The first murder took place here.
The first world ruler had his kingdom here.
We are told 1-3 of all mankind will be killed. Remember last week when the 4th seal was opened and ¼ of all mankind was destroyed, then many died because of the polluted water.
Now 1/3 of the people left will be killed. So at this point the earth’s population has decreased considerably.
John describes this army with words like fire, smoke, sulfur, and snakes to emphasize how horribly evil these troops are.
Read verses 20-21
Now I found this very interesting and I asked myself why wouldn’t the people whose lives were spared finally see the light and repent?
If we think back to how Pharaoh’s heart would not soften after ten plagues we can compare this with that.
We know as Christians when something bad happens in our lives that we get comfort by turning to God for strength.
But it also works the same with the non-believer.
When someone who mocks God and refuses to follow him has something bad happen to them the first thing they do is blame God.
Illustration: Death of a loved one.
So these people who were already hard of heart toward God certainly were not going to give in and follow Him.
They continued to worship idols which I believe the biggest idol worshipping today is money and it will continue until the end.
Verse 21 talks about all the things they continued to do including murdering, sexual immorality, stealing, and magic.
What is so bad about magic. I was a magician and performed tricks and sleight if hand?
In the ancient world magic often involved drugs and casting of spells on people.
This kind of magic involves evil spiritual forces opposed to God.
This kind of magic is far different than the entertainment magic that we watch today.
The soap opera continues.
