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Message
Revelation 8:2-9:21
Repent from the Idolatry of This Broken World.
Let’s start by reading the passage we are going to focus on this morning.
Read Revelation 8:2-9:21
Up til now the imagery used by Revelation has been relatively easy to understand.
The throne room scene is full of awe and wonder, but it makes a lot of sense.
The various heavenly creatures are wildly imaginative, but we can comprehend the meaning.
Even the arrival of the four horseman was, with a bit of effort, able to be understood.
But now we have a new round of images – the sounding of the trumpets and their impact. There is something wild about these images, isn’t there.
And so some people have come up with some pretty wild interpretations.
The locust with the sting in their tail is a reference to the Cobra Helicopter with nerve gas in the tail used in Vietnam.
The 200,000,000 troops from the east is the Chinese army which will set out on an invasion towards Jerusalem.
Some might not go that far in the sense of identifying specific modern events. But what they do see is a very literal fulfilment. 1/3 of the world’s vegetation gone; 1/3 of the sea creatures and boats being destroyed; 1/3 of mankind being killed by the 200,000,000 horses. No matter which way you look at it – it is still pretty wild.
But here is the issue we need to wrestle with.
Should we expect a time when these scorpion-tailed locusts will crawl out of a fiery furnace hole to torment non-believers for five months?
Will a cavalry of 200,000,000 horseman on steeds with snake tails and sulphur breath kill 2.3 billion people?
If that were to happen, what is God trying to achieve. Sure it would have an impact on those who witness it … but what impact does it have on generations past?
Can you see the problem that a very literal interpretation brings? Either it forces us to identify some very specific events. Or it pushes the application of Revelation totally into the future; which again creates all sorts of speculation about what is going to happen.
That is why I believe most of the book of Revelation is not meant to be interpreted literally. Rather there is a huge amount of symbolism. Symbolism designed to show us how history is going to unfold under the control of God. And when you see today the extent of that control I believe you are going to be amazed at what God is doing here.
In order for us to see what is happening here we first need to answer the question “When?”
When are the trumpets blown?
Not, when are they blown in Revelation … for we see the story about the trumpets follows the story about the seals.
But, when are the trumpets blown in history?
Because we saw didn’t we, last week, that the opening of the sixth seal brings us to judgement day. Almost to the end of human history on this earth.
So here are the options.
Either the trumpets are blown after the beginning of judgement day.
Or we are being shown another aspect of the unfolding of history; but this time from a different perspective.
That is the interpretation we are going to take.
The trumpets are showing us another aspect of the unfolding of history; but this time from a different perspective.
The seven seals were looking at the unfolding of history with a focus on the church.
The trumpets are looking at the unfolding of history as it relates to those outside the church.
Which tells us a lot about the way history unfolds.
Because, if you just focus on history from the perspective of the breaking of the seals, you could come to the conclusion that the church – and the people of God – are really just a punching bag for evil forces.
We have to put up with the impact of conquerors bent on destruction.
When peace is broken often the church gets wounded.
In times of famine God’s people find themselves getting even less.
The sword of persecution, even now, is a daily occurrence.
Along with the saints under the altar we also can find ourselves crying out to God How long Lord?
Do we have to wait to get to heaven before God deals with evil people?
The answer might surprise you.
… …
Because the answer is, “No we don’t”. God doesn’t just let evil people get away with evil stuff. God isn’t going to wait until judgement day before he does something about evil. He acts in a way that brings about some sort of justice, even now. And He acts because our prayers have reached Him. You see it in chapter 8:3
Another 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. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 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.
Revelation 8:3-5
What is the fire on the altar made of? Incense and the prayers of the saints. When that fire is put into the censer and hurled the earth – it has an impact.
Now if the prayer was, “My financial advisor caused me to lose $20,000 Lord – strike him down”.
Or if the prayer is, “Someone stole my purse God – make her sick”.
Or maybe a prayer like, “That person who scratched my car without telling me Jesus – make him have an accident”.
If the prayer is like that, it won’t be in the censer. God is not about to respond to our petty vindictiveness.
But when we pray a prayer like this.
“God the evil in this world is just so over-whelming. There is so much injustice. Whole people groups are starving because of greed. So much corruption is taking place in the halls of power. Inequality is so widespread. Lord Jesus, we look at all this and we say, please do something. Please cause a change. Please bring us some sort of hope that our world isn’t all out of control”.
When we pray like that. That prayer is in the censor. It is part of the God’s response which causes lightning and thunder, rumblings and an earthquake. He who sits on the throne does not just sit back and let evil do what it likes. Evil is deceiving itself if it thinks it can remain untouched.
Rather it is because of evil that the trumpets have sounded right through history.
As we were reading these chapters was there something familiar to you about the impact of the trumpets?
Hail and Fire
Water turning to blood
Darkness
Locusts
Plagues
Death of those not protected by God.
Is there something familiar about this list?
In the book of Exodus we read about an event in history. God has said that the Israelites are going to leave Egypt. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, thinks about this request from God and then he says, “no”. So, through the hand of Moses, the Nile river turns to blood. The cycle keeps going, all together 10 different events happen – including darkness and locusts. The last event is the death of the oldest son, but only in houses that are not protected by the blood of the sacrifice. Pharaoh in the end knows he is beaten and the Israelites leave Egypt.
Why did the Lord do these things in Egypt?
The answer is in Exodus 7:3-5.
Though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.
Exodus 7:3-5
So the purpose of the plagues was an act of judgment by the Lord against a group of people who had been making the lives of God’s people miserable.
But, in doing this, God wanted the Egyptians to know that He is Lord.
It was an act of judgement.
But it was also an act of mercy and grace.
Keep that picture in your head. Now back to Revelation.
What happens here in chapters 8-9 is A Controlled Descent into Chaos.
It is chaos in the sense that events are happening which will get our attention.
1/3rd of the earth is burnt.
1/3rd of the trees impacted.
1/3rd of the grass gone.
1/3rd of the sea in blood.
1/3rd of the river water going bitter.
There is a message here isn’t there.
The burning of the Amazon Forest is enough to make us sit up and take notice. So did the fires in Victoria 3 years ago which claimed lives and demolished whole towns Loosing 1/3rd of all the trees, which would include 1/3rd of all fruit trees is an event that is going to get your attention. So would loosing 1/3rd of all grass which is used to feed many animals in flocks and herds. . Stuff like that gets our attention.
In this past year in there has been a huge shortage of water in Somali – most people around the world know about this. If the sea turned to blood, or if 1/3 of all the drinkable water was gone – even the undiscovered tribes in Papua New Guinea would know about it wouldn’t they. It would be a disaster that would get our attention.
That is what we are being told is happening here. Right through history there have been events which have caused us to sit up and take notice.
Famines in Africa.
Earthquakes in America.
Tsunamis in Asia.
Fires in Australia.
Environmental disasters in the Gulf of Mexico.
Heatwaves in Europe.
God does this. Not because it is a specific and direct punishment from Him. But because God has a message for those who are evil. The grand scale chaotic events created by the first four trumpets are all seeking to bring the same message to this world: I am God – have I got your attention yet?
But evil says, “We don’t even hear you ask the question”.
So God tries another tactic.
The fifth trumpet adds to the chaos by releasing these unimaginable Locusts from the Abyss.
The Abyss is the place of the dead and the location of the imprisoned demons.
The leader of this group is called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek. Both names mean “Destroyer”.
The Locust cannot touch those who have the seal.
When you put that all together the only frightening conclusion you can come to is that God allows demonic spirits to actively torment those who are evil.
Evil invites evil.
Standing against God doesn’t just create a foothold for Satan – it creates an open door with a welcome mat.
And demonic creatures are the masters of fear, doubt, anxiety, greed, manipulation, abuse, self-indulgence, lust, misdirection, brokenness, and apprehension. Demonic creatures take all that is good in life and turn it on its head. When such a situation occurs people become desperate. Through that chaotic desperation comes this message: I am God – have I got your attention yet?
But evil says, “We don’t want to listen to Your ways”.
So God tries one more tactic.
The sixth trumpet adds to the chaos by pointing us to unimaginable death.
Last yearm in Brisbane 11 people died in a house-fire in Logan – it was a story told all around the world. What would happen if 1/3rd of all humanity was to die in a very short space of time? On the basis of the current population that would be 2.3 billion people. No-one would be unaffected by that. It is an event that is going to get our attention isn’t it.
Death. It is the frontier that many people fear – especially when you do not have the comfort of eternal life. But now the sounding of the sixth trumpet magnifies the fear. Millions of people die as a result of God’s direct action in their lives.
Not pleasant deaths like dying in your sleep when you are 103.
But fire and smoke and sulphur deaths.
Deaths performed by the power of these horses.
You can’t avoid it. Death actively chases you. That is the chaotic message which goes out to those who are evil. Through it all God says I am God – have I got your attention yet?
I am God – have I got your attention yet?
That is the message that comes though the chaos.
But more than just that.
Remember before when I said it was a controlled descent into chaos.
The controlled part is this.
1/3 of the destruction of trees, grass, sea water – it is a lot. But so much more is still left over.
5 months is a long time to endure pain. But it isn’t a whole year.
1/3 of the death of humanity is staggering in its impact. But many are still left.
God uses chaos to get our attention – especially the attention of those who are evil. But He is still gracious.
You see for those who are against God there will come a time when everything will be burnt, and the sea will be destroyed, and life will be nothing but hell-like.
And for those who are against God the torment they endure from demonic creatures will not be limited to five months; it will be for eternity.
And death, for those who are evil, will just feel like it is going on and on and on.
That is how the story is going to end.
Revelation calls it the lake of fire.
It’s worse than hell.
God knows it is worse than hell. Every moment on the throne God the Father is reminded of this truth because Jesus, the Lion who is the Lamb that was slain is right there.
Slain for evil.
Slain for sin.
Slain as a result of God’s grace.
A chaotic event
arrest
punishment
whipping
mocking
crucifying
death
Worse than hell.
Chaotic … yet completely under control.
For through it all God shows that His heart is for everyone to repent and not perish.
Through it all God is shouting. I want your attention because I love you.
But so many … so many … are just too stubborn.
The rest of mankind … still did not repent. That is how Revelation 9 ends.
Today this is the word from God to you.
I am God – have I got your attention yet?
And if he has your attention … then this is the word from God through you – to the not-yet-believer.
He is God – has He got your attention yet?
Pray that he has … because the time of partial judgment will one day pass.
When full judgement comes – God will have your attention.
But it will all be too late.
Prayer
