“The Seventh Seal”
November 29, 2009
1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
3Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
6Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
In our study of Jesus’ Revelation of the end times to the apostle John, we started with Jesus’ letters to the churches. Jesus begins this look into the end times by asking the churches to look at themselves. Judgment begins with the House of God. I think it is important for every church and every Christian to take time periodically to examine themself; to have times of introspection. It is easy to get off track and out of focus. The Bibles says,
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.”
(2 Corinthians 13:5)
One of the seven churches we looked at represents us – and each individual church there is. We are represented by one of these churches. In fact, a church may progress from being in one category to another – depending on if they grow or if they fall further into decline. It might be an interesting study to see which church represents us – here in Mount Shasta.
After studying the churches, we saw, through John, a door standing open in heaven, (4:1) and we caught a glimpse of the throne room, surrounded by 24 elders and a multitude of angels. We then saw Jesus, who sat on the throne, had a scroll in his right hand and it was sealed with seven seals. Jesus was the only one worthy to open the seals, and He did. With the first seal came a rider on a white horse bent on conquest. With the second seal came a rider on a red horse with power to take peace from the earth. The third seal revealed a rider on a black horse holding a pair of scales, ushering in a great famine. The fourth seal had a horse that was a sickly pale with a rider named death. Hades followed close behind and this rider had the power to kill a fourth of the earth by sword, famine, plague and wild beast. The world population right now is about 6.8 billion. That means almost a 175 million people will die at this time. The United States has about 300 million people in it. Europe has about 700 million and China over a billion people – or over 100 million. A billion seconds ago it was 1959. b. A billion minutes ago Jesus walked the earth. That a lot of people.
The fifth seal revealed those who had been killed because of the Word of God and their testimony. The sixth seal ushered a great earthquake. The sun turned black, the moon turned red, stars fell to the earth, the sky receded like a scroll rolling up and ever mountain and island was removed from its place.
We then came to our last study. It was chapter seven and I called it “The Pause” because it came between the sixth seal and the seventh seal. There was a pause, so to speak, as the four angels held back destruction until the 144,000 were marked with a seal on their forehead so that they wouldn’t have to go through the wrath of God. They would be on earth, but not suffer His wrath.
After they were marked on earth we are taken up to heaven a see a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language. They were given white robes to wear and given palm branches and were praising Jesus. They had come out of the great tribulation. Some believe this tribulation is life in general and others believe it is the seven year tribulation. Those who believe in a mid trib rapture believe it happens right here – before the seventh seal. I’m not quite convinced of that. At this point in time I am inclined to believe that Christians will go all the way through the tribulation. I will share why I believe that a few chapters down the road. But it isn’t a point I am willing to bet my life on. There is not enough information for us to be real dogmatic about any one view. I do think that the pre-trib rapture is the biggest stretch and the least biblically supported – but I could be wrong. I pray those who hold that view are correct – but I don’t see it in the Scriptures. Anyway, we see this great multitude come out of tribulation and into the throne room of God. He will protect them and bless them forever more. They never again hunger or thirst or are uncomfortable or cry. Jesus will lead them to springs of living water.
That’s where we ended last time. We pick up at chapter 8. And some scholars believe that this is proof that women aren’t going to be in heaven. They say there couldn’t be silence for a half hour if women were there. I certainly do NOT subscribe to that view. But why do we start out with silence? Have you noticed that heaven is not exactly a quiet place? We read about “voices like trumpets” and “rumblings and peals of thunder” and angels praising God day and night and elders with harps singing a new song and prayers of the saints ascending to God and more angels, thousands upon thousand of them singing another song of praise, and on top of that every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea are singing praises to God. That’s before we even get to the seals. After that we have martyrs crying for vengeance and a great multitude so numerous no one could count them, waving palm branches and crying out in loud voices praising God.
And then silence. Silence for a half hour. Why a half hour? I don’t know. The time, being so specific, has to have some great significance. I think at the proper time we will know exactly why a half hour. Right not it is speculation. But I think the silence may have been caused by heaven seeing the terrible things that are about to happen. I remember, as a kid, me and my brothers messing around, making noise, and doing stuff we shouldn’t be doing- and dad walking in. Instantly – dead silence. Oh, Oh! Someone was going to get it –usually me! Heaven may be silent for the same reason – someone is going to get it! The seventh seal is opened and heaven reacts with awed silence.
And let me suggest something else here. God is love. Do you know He loves everyone in the whole world? Every sinner is loved by God. His heart grieves for them! He does not delight in what is about to happen. God says,
“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die… ?” Ezekiel 33:11
I think He hesitates here in great sorrow over what is about to come.
Then we see the seven angels who stand before God given a trumpet. A trumpet in this day and age was a means of communication. It communicated something significant. A king was coming; A holiday was starting; an enemy was approaching; it signaled a call to arms; it called the people to assembly.
But before any of them blew their trumpets another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. Let’s look at the Scripture.
3Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
I want to mention to you again how important and precious your prayers are. Gold is very precious and valuable – as are your prayers. Incense is delightful and pleasant – as are your prayers. God values your prayers so much – that’s why the enemy of your soul works so hard to keep you and me from praying as we should. My kids are adults now – but do you know I delight in speaking to them. When one of them gives me a call just to talk to their old man – do you know how much that blesses me. The same with my grandkids. I love getting a call from them or having a conversation with them.
Now, if I am delighted to hear from my children – how much more is our Heavenly Father blessed to hear from His children. And when my kids ask something from me – I fall all over myself to do it – just like God does.
I want you to notice that nothing happened until the prayers of the saints ascended to God. Our prayers move the hand of God. Torrance said,
“More potent, more powerful than all the dark and mighty powers let loose in the world, more powerful than anything else, is the power of prayer set ablaze by the fire of God and cast upon the earth.”
Nothing happened until the saints prayed. The wrath of God does not come until we pray it down. The prayer in the censer ascended up to God, then notice what happens to the censer.
5”Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”
The censer was filled with holy fire from the altar and the fire was thrown down upon the earth. In my study of this chapter I haven’t come across any commentary suggesting what it means to have the censer filled with fire –or touched by fire, as one version puts it. I think, as we pray for vengeance and justice, we may have a little impurity in our requests. We may want God to get even for us. I think this could mean that God purifies out prayers in the fire of the altar and then returns them – or the desired results of them to the earth. What happens next is the result of our prayers – but it is a purified version of our prayers. God is doing what He has always done. Understanding what we really mean. The Word says,
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us …” Romans 8:26
God, the Holy Spirit, helps us to pray – and purifies our prayers.
After our prayers ascend to God, and fire is hurled down to the earth, the angels prepare to sound their trumpets. All heaven waits in anticipation. The first trumpet blasts – and look what happens!
7The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”
The first trumpet brings a plague on vegetation. A third of the vegetation is burned up. What do you think the tree huggers think about that? Even more importantly, what effect do you think this would have on the earth? There’s going to be a third less oxygen and a third less food. Maybe the fourth of the earth who died in the fourth seal wasn’t such a bad thing. And notice that the Bible says specifically ‘hail’, and it says specifically ‘blood’. Not something that looked like hail or blood. It was real blood – just like the plague in Egypt. It is a miracle of God. First came the devastating hail – then comes fire mixed with blood. No wonder a third of all vegetation is wiped out.
But this is only the first trumpet. Look at the second trumpet.
8The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
Notice that the Scripture doesn’t say ‘a huge mountain’ – but something LIKE a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. Some think, perhaps a meteor crashes into the sea and results in great oceanic upheaval. Researchers today say that this sort of phenomenon has happened many times in the history of the earth, sometimes resulting in great ecological upheaval and disaster. Here, the result is that a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Have you ever seen “The Poseidon Adventure”? Don’t be taking a cruise or sunbathing on the beach when this happens!
The blood may be either the cause or the effect of the widespread death in the oceans of the world. Scholars differ at this point.
The third trumpet blasts.
10The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
Something like a mountain fell into the ocean, now a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky, and turned a third of the water sources, springs and rivers, bitter. It reminds me of when I lived in Hawthorne, Nevada. Just a short distance from town was a canyon with a bitter creek in it. It was called ‘Alum Creek’. Have you ever tasted alum? It more bitter than a green persimmon. I don’t know if the star was alum and caused everything to turn bitter or if the great star was a nuclear bomb, as some people suggest. One thing is clear, if a third of our water supply went bad – we would be hurting. And the Bible says many people died as a result.
The fourth Trumpet sounds.
12The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
Imagine what our world would be like if there was a third less sun. Imagine if the days had a third less light. Right now the sun rises about seven and sets about five. That’s about ten hours of light. What if we had a third less light? What it the sun set at 2:00 instead of 5. Wonder what that would do to our world? It would be a pretty dark and dreary place. It would be a cold place.
But guess what? The worst is yet to come!
13As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
The first four trumpets God reveal the mercy of God. He warns. He prepares. These are partial judgments striking only one-third. They are meant to warn and lead a rebellious world to repentance before the final curtain call. For now, God spares more than He smites. The worst is yet to come. But can you see the love of God in this. God does not want anyone to die. He does not want anyone to go to hell. The Scripture says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” 2 Peter 3:9-10
Our loving Father gives us every opportunity to turn from our rebellion and come into His sheltering arms. The day of the Lord WILL come. The heavens WILL disappear. The elements that seem so solid and indestructible WILL be destroyed. The earth and everything in it WILL be laid bare. Are you ready for it?
I want you to know - you don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to fear. If you are a child of God you are under His umbrella of protection. You have a hedge of protection around you. You have an army of angels protecting you. If you are that rebellious son or daughter doing your own thing and going your own way – you have much to fear. Maybe this Scripture was meant to bring you home – into the protecting arms of Jesus. It is so simple to do. God has made it so easy to come into His fold and protection. Simply turn from your rebellion – and begin to follow the Good Shepherd. Pray a simple prayer like this:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the great love you have for me. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins. Please forgive me right now. From this point on I am going to live for you. I give you control of my life. Tell me what you want me to do – and I will do it. Give me the strength to obey you in every area of my life.
In Jesus Name.
