Well – today we have a formidable task, to somehow cover three chapters of the book of Revelation. We are using the same portion of Scripture in worship that we are using for our Bible study on Wednesday evenings and these chapters are difficult and appear very strange – like most of Revelation.
After our study on Wednesday evening, I had dreams all night about some of the images. I awoke numerous times and was thinking “Stop this. Dream of something else.” But they just wouldn’t go away. My sleep was filled with huge angels, locusts that have the face of men with long hair and the Abyss.
When I was ten years old a friend and I were dropped off at the theater in town while mom shopped and the movie scared the bajeebies out of me. It was from an Edgar Alan book, the Pit and the Pendulum, staring Vincent Price – a really creepy guy – and in the movie there was, of course, a pit. It was a bottomless pit with fire and smoke and they would tangle people over the pit. And that pit was back Wednesday night in my dreams because in this section, there is a pit – called the Abyss – a place where demons are kept – only during the Tribulation they are released and they torment people.
Now we can’t read everything that is in chapters 8-11 but they are all a part of what is called the Great Tribulation. And American Christians always want to know, “When is this going to happen? Will it happen in 2012 to coincide with the predictions in the Mayan Calendar? What are the signs? How will we know when it starts? Should we be stockpiling food and ammunition like Glen Beck says that we should?”
And I think we need to gain a much larger perspective on this. The church has two views about the Tribulation – at least among those who acknowledge that there is one. One opinion is that the tribulation began with the ascension of Jesus Christ and that the entire church age is in fact the tribulation – that there have always been and will always be wars, persecutions, and great times of testing until Christ returns. The other opinion is that it has not begun yet and will be a definite seven-year period of severe testing.
And it really depends on where you are in the world. If we were to ask some Christians who are living in China, or any nation where Christianity is illegal, they would probably say that we are in the midst of the tribulation right now, because they are being persecuted. Did you see the news about the man who is told by the Iranian Supreme Court to renounce Christianity and return to his parent’s faith of Islam or be executed? I am confident that in those nations they would say that we are in the midst of the Tribulation right now. Or maybe if we would ask some Christians living in Eastern Africa, they might say “Tribulation – yes – it has been going on now for ten years.” But it does in some part depend on our context – our life situation.
But when Americans are asked about the Tribulation, we think only about how to avoid it. In my opinion, some Christians have done some rather difficult interpretive gymnastics in order to come up with a doctrine where the church is removed from all of the Temptation. That is called pre-tribulation rapture – where all Christians are removed from the earth prior to the tribulation. But even the pre-tribulation rapture does not satisfy some.
Back in the 1970’s there was an increased interest in the Tribulation and the return of Christ. And I remember people saying that they really wanted Christ to return, but . . . . And we always have the watch what follows after that word “but.” “But – I would like to raise my kids. I want to finish my degree. I want to experience having grandkids. I don’t think I could endure watching my family suffer.” And those “buts” show us our lack of understanding of God and God’s plan for this world. The tribulation is – whether it is thousands of years or seven -- -a time when priorities are revealed and all people are warned by God – over and over – that it is time to worship God alone.
We have here in this section three series of seven warnings. First are the seven seals. We looked at them last week. This week we have the seven trumpets. And then later there are seven bowls. And each set of seven has a pattern. The first four in each series have to do with judgments that are very physical and impact the earth and the people who live on the earth. Then the next two judgments are spiritual. The seventh one looks to the future and tells about the return of Christ. And then included in each section of the seven judgments is an interlude – a break – where something else is revealed.
And I think that these 21 different judgments are not sequential, but rather are descriptive of the same period of Tribulation, only from a different perspective. And I encourage or perhaps warn you that if you take these things literally – you are misinterpreting what God and the writer John intended – because they are all figurative and give us one strong message. And the message to the Christians of the first century is the same message to us today.
The message is a warning.
Revelation 8 has seven angles with seven trumpets. Each one blows the trumpet and something bad happens.
• The first trumpet sounds (8:7) and hail and fire, mixed with blood fall on the earth. 1/3 of the earth’s vegetation is burnt up and destroyed.
• The second trumpet sounds (8:8-9) and a mountain burning with fire is thrown in to the ocean and 1/3 of the ocean and its inhabitants are destroyed.
• The third trumpet sounds (8:10-11) sounds and a star named Wormwood falls to the earth into the rivers and 1/3 of the drinking water is ruined.
• The fourth trumpet sounds (8:12) sounds and the sky turns dark because 1/3 of the sun, 1/3 of the moon, and 1/3 of the stars grow dark.
Now in each trumpet we find that the destruction is limited to 1/3. That means that the judgment is limited and not complete. The purpose of the judgment is to warn – not destroy. And the trumpet is used in the Bible as the tool for warning the people. The trumpet is blown and people are to pay attention. God is saying something. Pay attention.
Now for some reason, people want to be warned, but seldom change their behavior.
It is like those warning lights that we have on our cars now. “Service Engine” lights are often ignored. I want to be honest with you and show you that my check engine light is on and has been on for six months. There is something wrong with a gismo in my fuel tank that will cost $400 to fix but won’t hurt anything. So I don’t know if anything else is wrong or not. But I admit that when I am driving and see this light that I feel a little uneasy – like my care may explode any minute and when the pieces are found and they find the black box, they will discover that I deserved it. My check engine light was on.
And the way that we ignore warnings can be humorous – almost as humorous as the stupid warning signs that are placed on products.
On a Duraflame fireplace log: "Caution—Risk of Fire."
On a Batman costume: "Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly."
On a bottle of hair coloring: "Do not use as an ice cream topping."
On a cardboard sun shield for a car: "Do not drive with sun shield in place."
On a portable stroller: "Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage."
Those things are just an insult to our intelligence. We know better than that and you can drive with that sun shield in place, you just have to hang your head out the window.
But what about other more serious warnings? The warnings on packs of cigarettes have had little effect and smokers say that they really don’t care. They smoke because they enjoy smoking. The FDA wants to put graphic pictures on the packs – pictures of a man blowing smoke out of his tracheotomy with the words “Smoking is Addictive.” They think that people don’t know the risk. Listen – people know – and they are warned – but they don’t want to stop. In Europe the warnings are huge and cover the entire pack and the young people there are smoking like crazy. Why do people ignore warnings – warnings that are aimed at helping us? Two years ago my doctor told me that I was healthy, but two inches too short. He said that if I could grow two inches my weight would match my height. I thanked him for the warning and told him he was real funny. I liked the old days when my doctor smelled of cigarette smoke. He was easier to disregard.
But we don’t take it seriously. It is strange – but that is the reality.
In 1903, a mountain fell on a town in the Canadian Rockies. The town of Frank, Alberta, was buried under 100 million tons of limestone. At least 76 men, women, and children were killed.
It was the rich seams of coal in Turtle Mountain that caused people to build a town under its shadow. The desire for coal led residents to ignore the regular tremors in the rocks above them. In fact, miners counted on the tremors to knock loose seams of coal and make their work easier. Days before the disaster, the mine had become "virtually self-operating in that all the miners had to do was shovel up coal as it fell from the ceiling."
Even the local Blackfoot nation did not like to go near the mountain, referring to it as "the mountain that walks." But the town ignored all these warnings. Just after 4:00 a.m., April 29, 1903, an enormous piece of Turtle Mountain, 3,000 feet long and 500 feet thick, broke off and tumbled into the valley below.
The exact number of dead will never be known. Of the 76 known dead, only 12 bodies were ever recovered. (http://www3.sympatico.ca/goweezer/canada/frank)
We just don’t think the warning applies to us. That is for someone else.
But what about when 1/3 of the natural resources are destroyed. You would think that would get our attention. We would say – “Hey – this is getting personal and close to home. The Daniel Boone National Forest is no more. It burned up. Maybe something is happening. Maybe I am not in control of everything. Maybe – maybe there is a God – a God who made me and loves me. Maybe God will take me in.” That is the purpose of these warnings in Revelation. That is why the trumpets sound. God is calling the in inhabitants of the earth to wake up.
This is the last time God will do that, but it is not the first time. Throughout the Bible, God has warned and warned and warned. His purpose is to save people from harm. God alone knows and sees the dangers. God alone can see the potential danger, so he warns. He warned the people of Israel when they were in the wilderness for forty years. He warned them that when their children were in the Promised Land and they were living in cities they did not build, drinking from wells they did not dig, and eating the grapes and olives they did not grow, that they would forget Him. They would stray from him. He said “Watch out. There is danger in your prosperity. I am giving you this, but I am warning you that you will be tempted by your success to forget Me.” (Deut. 6:10-12)
That has been the story of God’s dealing with humanity. We forget. We trust in other gods – little gods we make with our own hands – little gods who do what we tell them.
And during the Tribulation, there is not a lot of repentance, not a lot of change. Those who have trusted in their little gods do not turn back to God.
In the Bible, that is called foolishness and the person who does not heed God’s instruction and warnings is called “the fool.”
Matthew 7:24–27 (NIV84)
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
What John writes in the Revelation is consistent with what Jesus taught and a continuation of the story of how God has tried and tried to prevent the suffering. But people just won’t listen. It is not about what we say or what we intend, but with what we do. The warnings of the Tribulation are to turn people from their foolish actions. They seem severe because these are the last warnings.
Now the fifth trumpet is different from the first four. The fifth trumpet is the release of demonic forces on the earth.
Revelation 9:1–12 (NIV84)
1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. 12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
A Taste of Hell
Now the angel is not a good angel, but still one over whom God has authority. The angel takes the key and unlocks the Abyss. We learn in Luke 8:31 and other places in Revelation that this place—the Abyss -- is the place of torment and the home of demons, who are released and are depicted as strange locusts that swarm over the earth, tormenting those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And the affliction is so bad that people want to die.
While the first four trumpets and judgments involve creation, this trumpet is not about physical punishment, but rather of the spiritual realm, which is not less, but actually more severe than physical loss. Those who are followers of Christ endure the judgments of the first four trumpets, but this is different. This judgment is to each individual. It will not make a difference where you live or how much you have. All that matters is who you serve. Back in 7:3 it says that God seals the “bondservants of God on their foreheads.” Before the trumpets ever sound, those who are God’s are protected in their minds. If you do not have the Spirit of God – who is our seal – (Eph 4:30) you will be tormented – inwardly, mentally, spiritually, in such agony and such fear that you will want to die rather than live – but death is not an option.
Have you ever been terrified? I mean really afraid – not just scared - -but terrified. It has been said that God never threatens and Satan never warns. God warns, but Satan terrifies. Fear – terror – is perhaps the most debilitating and paralyzing emotion. To be trapped and unable to escape, or to be mentally demonized by evil is perhaps the most terrible thing that can happen. This trumpet lasts for five months. It is a taste of hell for five months. No relief. No death. Just terror.
God loves us and God does not want anyone to perish. That we can be sure of. So God warns us. God blows trumpets. They get louder and louder. Time marches by. Simple actions turn into routines. Routines turn into habits. Habits turn into addictions. Addictions are not just things we drink, smoke, or eat. Addictions can be anything that fills a need that
God wants to fill. And maybe the Great Tribulation is not today. It doesn’t make any difference.
Are we teachable? Am I correctable? Or am deaf to the trumpets? Am I pretending that things will never change?
Proverbs 12:1 (NIV84)
1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
Don’t Count on Tomorrow
Sometimes the warnings are given and given, and we think that since it has been going on for a while that the warning is false. People fool themselves into thinking that.
My “check engine” light has been on for a year and nothing happened and then today the engine started smoking and stopped and I just don’t understand it.
We should never count on tomorrow. We are not in control of tomorrow. God is in control of tomorrow and God is warning us that the time is coming when the trumpets will sound whether we are ready or not.
