Let's begin today by taking a step back, and reminding ourselves of the big picture of Revelation, starting in chapter 5. We need to somehow keep at least three chapters together in our mind, for today's passage to make sense.
In Revelation 5, the Lamb, Jesus Christ, suddenly appears in the midst of God's throne room. The Lamb, alone, is worthy to open the seven seals on God's book. And God's book, essentially, is his plan and vision for the world. Jesus unlocks God's plan, and sets in motion a new chapter in world history. In essence, the opening of the book set in motion the coming end of this world, and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth, where we will live in peace with God and each other forever.
Up to this point, the Lamb has opened six of the seals. And each seal, when it's been opened, has unleashed God's judgment on the world. But we should be more specific: God's judgment has been on the inhabitants of the earth. And by this, Revelation doesn't mean us. It's not talking about Christians who have washed themselves, and have dedicated (consecrated) themselves to God and to the Lamb. These Christians faithfully testify to Jesus, and live faithfully toward God and the Lamb. In contrast, the inhabitants of the earth are the ones who are idolaters, and murderers, and thieves, and the sexually immoral. That's not us.
So a new chapter in history has been set in motion. The book isn't even open yet (arguably, but following most; Revelation 10:2, 8), but there's progress in that direction.
Now, when we read about God's acts of judgment, we find ourselves wondering how we, the church, fit into all of this. Will we be able to stand, on the day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb? (Revelation 6:17). Or are all humans going to be swept up, and destroyed?
How does the church fit into God's plan?
In chapter 7, we were given two visions of the church. The first was the 144,000 sealed, 12,000 from each tribe. And we are supposed to take two main things from this vision. The first, is that we are the fullness and completeness of Israel. The second, is that we are sealed. We are protected from God's wrath. We are like God's people in Egypt, untouched by the plagues.
The second vision in Revelation 7, was of the church triumphant. We got to see a video of what it looks like in heaven, when people faithfully endure difficulties and tribulations, and pass through them, and pass through death, to the other side. And what we saw in heaven, was worship. People from every tribe, from every race, join in unity worshipping God-- the One seated upon the throne, and the Lamb.
So at this point, we should be starting to get a feel for how intensely practical the book of Revelation is. Revelation teaches us how to look at the world, and understand what God is doing, and what He will do. And Revelation teaches us how to look at ourselves. We should understand what God offers us, and what God wants from us. And as we keep reading Revelation, this is going to become more and more true.
So as of Revelation 8:1, six seals have been opened. Let's read from Revelation 6:12-17 (NRSV updated no reason):
12 When he broke the sixth seal, I looked, and there was a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree drops its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the magnates and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their[h] wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Can it get any worse than this? Can anything else, possibly be done to the heavens or the earth?
We assume, at this point, that the only thing left, is for Jesus to return and make a final judgment. But what we discover, is something more complicated. We now find ourselves shifting images, from talking about the seven seals, to the seven trumpets. Some of us are going to be tempted to think that the seven trumpets follow the seven seals chronologically. But this doesn't work. We are going to find ourselves reading about the sun and moon and stars, as if they haven't been touched up to this point. But we just read, in Revelation 6:12-13, that the sun has blackened, the moon became like blood, and all the stars of the sky fell to earth. So a strictly literal, chronological reading of Revelation won't make sense. If you grew up in a church where they used fancy charts, and taught some version of dispensationalist, rapture theology (hi!) :), I'd encourage you to consider throwing it all away, and be open to a different perspective.
Probably the best way to think about this, is that Revelation is re-looping back on itself chronologically. We are going to find another series of images describing God's judgment being poured out on the earth. Revelation 8 and 9 grab images from different parts of the OT, and amplify them, and apply them to the end of the world. These images will mostly come from Exodus, but we will also hear echoes from other places as well.
What we end up seeing, in the end, is three very different pictures of God's judgment. There seven seals, and seven trumpets, and seven bowls. But all three of them end up in the same place, right at the edge of end of this world (compare the 6/7th seals in Revelation 6:12-14+8:5 with the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:18-19 with the seventh bowl in 16:20-21; all have "flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake; the trumpets and bowls both have hail; h/t Paul Gardner, Revelation, 125).
At the same time, what we are going to see is that this isn't a perfect, exact re-looping. There are two key differences.
The first, is that we will find progress in these images-- the seven trumpets we will read about, will somehow be more severe, and more widespread, than the seven seals. If we let ourselves get sucked into Revelation, we will be end chapter 9 feeling appalled, and horrified. These chapters are the stuff of nightmares-- like a Stephen King novel. And the seven bowls, when we get there, will be even worse.
And the second key difference (arguably), is that the seven trumpets have a different starting point. The seals started with our current reality, of war, famine, inflation, and disease. We saw ourselves in the fifth seal, with the martyrs crying out for justice. And we found ourselves anticipating the sixth and seventh seal.
The trumpets start later. They begin with a prayer, like the fifth seal. And they anticipate the future. So the easiest way to think about this, probably, is that the trumpets don't describe the present reality. They describe the future. Probably, the seven trumpets are like a zoomed-in, close up perspective of the sixth seal (following Ian Boxall). [And I think part of the reason the little interlude in Revelation 8:3-5 shows up where it does, is to link it to the fifth seal. We are seeing basically the same thing, and that orients us, and shows us that the seven trumpets are a zoomed-in perspective on the sixth seal].
Let's start by reading through verse 5:
(8:1) And when he (the Lamb) opened the seventh seal, there became/was silence in heaven for roughly a half hour,
(2) and I saw the seven angels-- the ones before God standing--
and it was given to them seven trumpets,
(3) and another angel came,
and he stood at the altar having a golden censer (=a container for holding incense),
and it was given to him a large amount of incense,
in order that he would give/offer the prayers of all the holy ones upon the golden altar-- the one before the throne--,
(4) and the smoke of the incense ascended with the prayers of the holy ones from the hand of the angel before God,
So John "hears" silence in heaven, and he "sees" seven trumpets. And then we find an interruption in verses 3-5. It's another little interlude, like all of chapter 7 was. And this interlude, like chapter 7, is about the church. God gives us a vision of ourselves, from heaven's perspective (h/t M. Eugene Boring). We sometimes wonder what happens when we pray. We wonder how far the sound waves travel-- if they make it through ceilings, across the vast expanse of sky. On bad days-- days of tribulation, and doubt, and frustration, and fear, we wonder if our prayers do anything.
God here shows us what our prayers look like, from heaven's perspective. Now, this vision isn't something we should press literally, to the max. I think when we pray, our words have sound, and that God hears. But we can also think about prayers, in terms of Revelation 8.
Normally, heaven is a noisy place, filled with worship from angels, and the four creatures, and the saints who have gone before us. But when we, God's people on earth, pray, our prayers get put into this golden incense container, like was used in Solomon's temple. Heaven becomes quiet. Everything is still. And into this quiet, steps an angel. An angel mixes our prayers with incense, and the smoke of the incense rises up. Our prayers become part of heaven's worship. And we know that God enjoys things that smell good. Just as He liked the smell of Noah's sacrifice, and He liked the smell of incense offerings in Solomon's temple, so He enjoys the smell that comes from our prayers. When we pray, we make heaven smell good. Even while we are on earth, we get to participate in heaven's worship.
Now, in the context of Revelation, what do those prayers look like?
We've heard exactly one prayer in Revelation, up to this point. Let's turn back to Revelation 6:9-11 (NRSV updated no reason):
9 When he broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given; 10 they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” 11 They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.
This is prayer for justice, and an avenging of blood. It's not the kind of prayer that Western Christians pray very often. Life is usually too prosperous, and too easy, for us to think along these lines. But when God's people are in tribulation, this is what prayer often sounds like-- a cry for help. A cry for justice.
Those prayers smell good to God.
Now let's add verse 5:
(5) and the angel has taken the censer,
and he filled it from the fire of the altar,
and he threw it to(ward) the earth,
and there came/were thunders and rumblings and lightnings and an earthquake,
The most natural way to read verse 5, I think, is as a logical conclusion to verse 4. When the saints pray, God smells the prayers, and it leads God to action (compare Revelation 4:5). Prayer moves God to bring judgment on the world. And this judgment, isn't simply God giving wicked people what they deserve. This judgment, is more like the judgments on Pharaoh and Egypt in the Book of Exodus. This judgment, is God fighting for his people, to free them, and rescue them.
So we find that this interlude gives us another perspective on the church, living in the present day. I don't think this is a vision of the future. This is the vision of the present. We are the holy ones. We have a role to play in heaven's worship. We have a role to play in the story of God and the world.
And this little vision teaches a very simple, practical thing. If God appreciates our prayers-- if He enjoys the way they smell-- and if our prayers move God to bring judgment and fight for his people-- then what should we do?
[Pray].
Prayer isn't some type of mental or spiritual escape from hard things (h/t Ben Witherington). It's not a way to withdraw, and disconnect from the world. Prayer is a way to actively engage with God, and with the world.
So from this interlude, we see one part of our responsibility on earth. We don't simply endure ("come through"; Revelation 7:14) tribulation quietly. We come through tribulations LOUD, relying on our God. We cry out to God, and God fights for us, in response to our cries.
So this little interlude does two main things. First, it shows the church part of how we should endure tribulation.
Second, probably, it helps us place ourselves chronologically inside of the seven trumpets. We see ourselves here, before any of the trumpets have been blown. And so we should read the trumpets, as God's future judgment on the ones dwelling on the earth. Already in the present, we see God's judgment coming down "toward" the earth (Revelation 8:5). But what we see now, is only like the opening salvo in a cosmic battle. There's lots more coming.
At this point, I'm going to do something that feels a little risky. For the most part, I'm going to simply read the rest of chapter 8, and all of chapter 9. These are the seven trumpets. And let me encourage you, as I read, to try to avoid pressing the trumpets literally, because that doesn't work. Just let it hit you. And as I read, think about how this is God promising that He will fight for his people, partly in response to their prayers (Exodus 2:23-25).
Let's go from verse 6-12:
(6) and the seven angels-- the ones having the seven trumpets-- prepared themselves,
in order that they would blow the trumpets,
(7) and the first one blew a trumpet,
and there became/was hail and fire mixed with blood, [a worse version of Ex. 9:23]
and it was thrown to(ward) the earth,
and a third of the earth was burned up, [Exodus 9:22]
and a third of the trees were burned up, [Exodus 9:25]
and all the green grass was burned up,
(8) and the second angel blew a trumpet,
and something like a great mountain, with fire burning, was thrown to(ward) the sea,
and a third of the sea was/became blood, [Exodus 7:17, but with the seas instead of just the Nile]
(9) and a third of the creatures in the sea died-- the ones having "souls" ("souls"=life)--
and a third of the ships were destroyed,
(10) and the third angel blew a trumpet,
and a great star fell from heaven,
burning like a torch,
and it fell upon a third of the rivers and upon the springs of water,
(11) and the name of the star is called "Wormwood,"
and a third of the waters were/became wormwood,
and many people died from the waters
because they were made bitter,
(12) and the fourth angel blew a trumpet,
and it was struck-- a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars--
in order that a third of them would be darkened, [Exodus 10:21-23, but here only partial]
and the day wouldn't shine a third of time, and the night likewise,
So let me just pause here, for a second. The first four trumpets bring judgment on the four main parts of the created world-- the earth, the sea, the fresh water, and the cosmos (those four things should be written in the margins of your Bibles). All of creation is affected. But, like the trumpets, this judgment is only partial. It could be worse. And the fact that it's limited, and partial, shows that we are not seeing "the end."
At the same time, the trumpet judgments are worse than the seals. The four riders of the apocalypse were given authority to harm 1/4 of the world. And now, we find that the fraction has gotten bigger. We are talking in 1/3rds, instead of 1/4s (that should be underlined in your Bibles).
Now, if we get our calculators, because we are accountants or engineers and just can't help ourselves (hi!), what we will find is that 1/3 of the 3/4 left, is actually 1/4. At least, I assume I did the math right. But that's not how we should read this. What we are seeing, is that God's judgment is affecting more of the earth. The judgment is getting bigger. 1/3 is more than 1/4.
Verse 13:
(13) and I saw,
and I heard one eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a great voice,
"Woe, Woe, Woe, to the ones dwelling upon the earth, from the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels about to blow a trumpet,"
Who is being targeted, in these trumpets?
Not us. We are not the ones dwelling upon the earth. By this, I don't mean that the church has been raptured out, and that are untouched by any of this. I'm just saying, when Revelation uses this language about "the ones dwelling on earth," it describes people who worship idols, and demons, and persecute the church [Revelation 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8; 13:14; 17:2; 17:8].
So we've been warned that the last three trumpets are going to be bad. And we read this, starting in 9:1:
(9:1) and the fifth angel blew a trumpet,
and I saw a star from heaven having fallen to(ward) the earth, ["star"=an angel; Job 38:7. This is a sinful angel, kicked out of heaven?]
and it was given to him the key of the pit/shaft of the netherworld,
(2) and he opened the pit/shaft of the netherworld,
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BDAG on the "netherworld":
? a transcendent place associated with the dead and hostile powers, netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the ??????, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ?ßadd?? (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11 (cp. PGM 13, 169 and s. Ael. Aristid. 38 p. 724 D. on Philip: ???? ?ß??st?? ?? t?? ßa?????? t. ??? ??µ?µe??? ?a?? µ???? t. ???????); f??a? t?? ?. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.—JKroll, Gott u. Hölle ’32; KSchneider, RAC I 60–62.—DELG. s.v. ß????. M-M. TW. Sv.
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and smoke from the pit/shaft ascended like the smoke of a large furnace,
and the sun and the air were darkened from/by the smoke of the pit/shaft [again: the sun still gives light; contrast Rev. 6:12],
(3) and from the smoke came out locusts to(ward) the earth,
and it was given to them authority/power,
like the scorpions of the earth have authority/power,
(4) and it was told to them,
that they shouldn't harm the grass of the earth, nor any green plant, nor any tree, but only the people who don't have the seal of God upon their foreheads, [compare to verse 8, when all the green grass was already burnt. To read this literally, is to misread it.]
(5) and it was given to them,
not that they would kill them,
but that they would be tortured/tormented five months,
and their torture [is] like the torture/torment of a scorpion when it stings a person,
(6) and in those days people will seek death,
and they will absolutely never find it,
and they will desire to die,
and death will flee from them,
(7) and the appearance of the locusts [was] similar to horses being prepared for battle,
and upon their heads [was] something like crowns, similar to gold,
and their faces [were] like people's faces,
(8) and they had hair like women's hair,
and their teeth, like lions they were ["like lions" is focused], [Joel 1:6]
(9) and they had breastplates like breastplates of iron,
and the sound of their wings [was] like the sound of many horse chariots running toward battle,
(10) and they have tails similar to scorpions and stingers,
and in their tails, their authority/power to harm the people five months.
(11) They have over them a king-- the angel of the abyss.
His name in Hebrew is Abaddon,
and in Greek the name he has is Apollyon.
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"Apollyon," "Detroyer," is probably a play on the word "Apollo," a Roman god. One of the Roman emperors styled himself as being Apollo, Domitian, and if Revelation is dated late, this is a jab at Rome-- there will be much clearer jabs later, which lends itself to taking it this way. Everyone reading "Apollyon" is going to think of "Apollo." So Rome here is linked with demonic forces, and the emperor, with the king of the abyss. We could think about this would sound like if it was Bidenyon, or Trumpyon.
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(12) The first woe departed.
LOOK! Still two woes are coming after these things!,
(13) and the sixth angel blew a trumpet,
and I heard one voice from the horns of the golden altar-- the one before God--
saying to the sixth angel-- the one having the trumpet--
"Loose/release the four angels-- the ones having been bound at the great river Euphrates--
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Historically in Israel, the enemies come from the "north," meaning, from around the Euphrates: Assyria, Babylon. On top of that, from a first century Roman perspective, the Euphrates marks the edge of the Roman empire. That's where the Parthians live. So from both a biblical perspective, and a first century perspective, the Euphrates is a place of danger, and threat. And these four angels are linked to this somehow.
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(15) and the four angels were loosed/released-- the ones having been prepared for the hour and the day and the month and the year--
in order that they would kill a third of the people, [so now people are getting killed]
(16) and the number of the soldiers of the calvary was 20,000 [times] 10,000.
I heard their number, [again, given the "Euphrates" reference, we should be thinking "Parthians" here]
(17) and in this way I saw the horses in the vision and the ones being seated upon them: having breastplates fiery red and hyacinth-colored (dark blue? dark red?) and sulphurous (yellow),
and the heads of the horses [were] like the heads of lions,
and out of their mouths comes fire and smoke and sulphur ["brimstone," KJV, is apparently the archaic used for "sulphur" fwiw].
(18) By/from these plagues a third of the people were killed-- by/from the fire, and the smoke, and the sulphur coming out from their mouths.
(19) For the power/authority of the horses, in their mouths, it is, and in their tails. ["in their mouths" is focused].
For their tails are similar to snakes,
having heads,
and with them they harm,
(20) and the rest of the people-- the ones not killed by/from these plagues-- didn't repent from the works of their hands,
so that they didn't worship/bow down to the demons and the idols-- the gold, and the silver, and the bronze, and the stone, and the wooden [ones]--
which neither are able to see ["to see" is focused], nor to hear, nor to walk,
(21) and they didn't repent from their murders, nor from their witchcraft/magic, nor from their sexual immorality, nor from their stealing.
The last three trumpets are horrifying, right? We see mutant locusts rising up from the pits of the abyss, following their king named "Destroyer." We see them not actually killing anyone, but instead stinging the ones dwelling on the earth. Earlier, Death was one of the four riders of the apocalypse, chasing people down. But now, people want to die, and there's just no way to do it.
Then, we see the four angels being bound by the Euphrates-- a location associated with danger, and the enemies of both ancient Israel, and first century Rome. And then those four angels somehow (!) turn into millions of mutant cavalry, with lions' heads (so the locusts just had lions' teeth; the horses are even worse), that are actually more like dragons.
Many of these images build on stories in the OT. We hear echoes of the locusts from Joel. We hear echoes of the plagues in Egypt. But everything we read here, is far worse than all of those.
At the same time, we still see that these judgments are partial, and limited. 1/3 is more than 1/4. But these disasters are still only touching fractions of the created world, and of people.
Why?
Up until now, Revelation hasn't really answered our question. But here, in the last two verses, we find out why.
The judgments God will bring on the world have multiple purposes. Part of it, is that God fights for the church, to
free us, and rescue us. Part of it, is that God gives people what they deserve. But what we see here, is that God is doing something else, as well. When God brings limited, partial judgment on the world, He is giving people a chance to repent. He's calling them, to get their attention. The judgments, are like a trumpet call. And you're supposed to hear them, recognize the danger they represent, and turn.
But what we see, surprisingly, is that the trumpet calls don't work. Imagine being stung, and tormented, by a demonic locust horde. Imagine looking around, and seeing that all of God's people, who have the seal of the name of God, and of the Lamb, on their foreheads, are untouched. The locusts completely ignore them, to attack you. It's that obvious, and you don't fall on your knees, and repent?
What we see here, is something Paul talks about in Romans 1:20-21. People can become so hardened in their sin, that they become unable to reason clearly. Their hearts/minds become darkened, and they can't see the truth. You can reach the point, through stubborn persistence in sin, where even a mutant locust horde can't change your perspective. As we keep reading Revelation, we will see there's a solution to this [The gospel proclaimed by the church is a fire that cuts through that]. But the trumpets, by themselves, are not enough.
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As we inch our way into thinking about ourselves, and what Revelation wants to teach us, let's start by thinking about this from the perspective of the first century Roman churches.
When we read the letters to the seven churches, we saw that five of them were flawed, and compromised, in some way. In some churches, Christians were joining in idol worship (Revelation 2:14). Now, there were lots of reasons why you might worship idols in the first century. If you were part of a trade guild, you might meet at the local idol temple, and have a meal together, and do business deals. You might go to the idol temple to celebrate the birthday of a coworker.
Or perhaps it's more simple than any of this. At some point in your first century Roman walk with God, you decided that you will be like everyone else around you. You will worship lots of gods, including the Christian God.
And if Revelation has the later date of being written, as most scholars seem to assume, then emperor worship was a real thing as well. You were expected to worship the emperor as God. Rome let you worship lots of other gods as well. It didn't demand exclusivity. But our God does. Right?
If you're a first century Roman Christian hearing this book read, parts of Romans 8-9 are going to sting like a mutant locust. You're going to want to avoid making eye contact with the reader. You're going to want to hope the teacher moves on, and doesn't talk about those things for very long. Because you know, you are living a compromised life. And what does this passage teach you?
The idols you worship, are demonic (1 Corinthians 10:20). When you worship an idol, you are inviting demons to fellowship with you (in the same way that the Eucharist, is an invitation to Jesus, to fellowship with you). As first century Romans, maybe you want this. Maybe you think demons can offer you something useful. Maybe you think they make good allies.
But this passage teaches otherwise. Demons will mess up, and harm, the people who serve them (Mark 5:1-20). They may offer you something, up front, but there is a cost to that help. And in the end, one day, God will use demons to judge those who worship demons.
So if you're a compromised Christian, how should hear this passage?
You shouldn't say, "It's true that I worship demons, and I'm sexually immoral, and steal, but praise God, I have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and none of these judgments will fall on me. Thankfully, I have the seal of the Father, and of the Lamb, on my forehead."
That's not how it works.
What you should say, is more like this: "I should listen to the message of Revelation 8-9. I shouldn't pretend that God is okay with my compromise. I should accept that Jesus has threatened to come in judgment on churches that do these things. I should accept, that demons are not my friend. And I should repent, today, at a time when my conscience isn't yet fully seared, and when I can still recognize the truth."
And the same thing holds true in other areas as well. If you are living a compromised life, in areas of sexual immorality, or stealing, or magic, or witchcraft, the time to repent is "now."
Revelation has painted several pictures so far of what God's coming judgment looks like. At this point in Revelation, I have no idea, literally, what it will look like. But it will be bad, for those who are not sealed. So wash your robes; whiten them in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14). The time to get serious about repenting, is today. Today is the day you decide, "I will bring off my affair. I will stop looking at pornography. I will stop stealing, and I will repay those I've wronged. Today, I begin to worship only the One Seated Upon the Throne, and the Lamb."
So that's the first part, I think, of how we should hear Revelation 8-9.
The second part, has to do with what this passage teaches us about God. In this passage, we see an angry God, and his wrath is being poured out on the world. But at the same time, there is more to it than that. God wants all people to repent. He wants them to turn from senseless idol worship, and all their other sins, to serve and worship him. God doesn't want any to perish.
This is the reason why God's judgments, up to this point, have been partial (and this "works," regardless of which interpretation of Revelation we take). When God brings partial, limited judgment on the world (Luke 13:4), it's designed to make people stop and think, and realize that God is angry. People might or might not take this warning seriously. They might or might not learn from it. [I can remember Nancy Pelosi at one point saying that "Mother Earth is angry." Exactly the wrong conclusion.] But either way, God gave them a chance to repent.
So Revelation doesn't encourage us to write off the entire world as being hopeless. We shouldn't retreat into our bunkers, and watch the world go to hell. God's heart, is for something else. And if God hasn't given up on the world, as of Revelation 8-9, perhaps we shouldn't either? There is a hint here, of something else God wants from us. But you'll have to come back next week, to hear that :)
Translation:
(8:1) And when he (the Lamb) opened the seventh seal, there became/was silence in heaven for roughly a half hour,
(2) and I saw the seven angels-- the ones before God standing--
and it was given to them seven trumpets,
(3) and another angel came,
and he stood at the altar having a golden censer (=a container for holding incense),
and it was given to him a large amount of incense,
in order that he would give/offer the prayers of all the holy ones upon the golden altar-- the one before the throne--,
(4) and the smoke of the incense ascended with the prayers of the holy ones from the hand of the angel before God,
(5) and the angel has taken the censer,
and he filled it from the fire of the altar,
and he threw it to(ward) the earth,
and there came/were thunders and rumblings and lightnings and an earthquake,
(6) and the seven angels-- the ones having the seven trumpets-- prepared themselves,
in order that they would blow the trumpets,
(7) and the first one blew a trumpet,
and there became/was hail and fire mixed with blood,
and it was thrown to(ward) the earth,
and a third of the earth was burned up,
and a third of the trees were burned up,
and all the green grass was burned up,
(8) and the second angel blew a trumpet,
and something like a great mountain, with fire burning, was thrown to(ward) the sea,
and a third of the sea was/became blood,
(9) and a third of the creatures in the sea died-- the ones having souls (souls=life)--
and a third of the ships were destroyed,
(10) and the third angel blew a trumpet,
and a great star fell from heaven,
burning like a torch,
and it fell upon a third of the rivers and upon the springs of water,
(11) and the name of the star is called "Wormwood,"
and a third of the waters were/became wormwood,
and many people died from the waters
because they were made bitter,
(12) and the fourth angel blew a trumpet,
and it was struck-- a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars--
in order that a third of them would be darkened,
and the day wouldn't shine a third of time, and the night likewise,
(13) and I saw,
and I heard one eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a great voice,
"Woe, Woe, Woe, to the ones dwelling upon the earth [this is not us; this is a way to describe humans who aren't part of God's people], from the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels about to blow a trumpet,"
(9:1) and the fifth angel blew a trumpet,
and I saw a star from heaven having fallen to(ward) the earth,
and it was given to him the key of the pit/shaft of the netherworld,
(2) and he opened the pit/shaft of the netherworld,
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BDAG on the "netherworld":
? a transcendent place associated with the dead and hostile powers, netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the ??????, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ?ßadd?? (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11 (cp. PGM 13, 169 and s. Ael. Aristid. 38 p. 724 D. on Philip: ???? ?ß??st?? ?? t?? ßa?????? t. ??? ??µ?µe??? ?a?? µ???? t. ???????); f??a? t?? ?. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.—JKroll, Gott u. Hölle ’32; KSchneider, RAC I 60–62.—DELG. s.v. ß????. M-M. TW. Sv.
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and smoke from the pit/shaft ascended like the smoke of a large furnace,
and the sun and the air were darkened from/by the smoke of the pit/shaft,
(3) and from the smoke came out locusts to(ward) the earth,
and it was given to them authority/power,
like the scorpions of the earth have authority/power,
(4) and it was told to them,
that they shouldn't harm the grass of the earth, nor any green plant, nor any tree, but only the people who don't have the seal of God upon their foreheads, [compare to verse 8, when all the green grass was already burnt. To read this literally, is to misread it.]
(5) and it was given to them,
not that they would kill them,
but that they would be tortured/tormented five months,
and their torture [is] like the torture/torment of a scorpion when it stings a person,
(6) and in those days people will seek death,
and they will absolutely never find it,
and they will desire to die,
and death will flee from them,
(7) and the appearance of the locusts [was] similar to horses being prepared for battle,
and upon their heads [was] something like crowns, similar to gold,
and their faces [were] like people's faces,
(8) and they had hair like women's hair,
and their teeth, like lions they were ["like lions" is focused], [Joel 1:6]
(9) and they had breastplates like breastplates of iron,
and the sound of their wings [was] like the sound of many horse chariots running toward battle,
(10) and they have tails similar to scorpions and stingers,
and in their tails, their authority/power to harm the people five months.
(11) They have over them a king-- the angel of the abyss.
His name in Hebrew is Abaddon,
and in Greek the name he has is Apollyon.
(12) The first woe departed.
LOOK! Still two woes are coming after these things!,
(13) and the sixth angel blew a trumpet,
and I heard one voice from the horns of the golden altar-- the one before God--
saying to the sixth angel-- the one having the trumpet--
"Loose/release the four angels-- the ones having been bound at the great river Euphrates--
(15) and the four angels were loosed/released-- the ones having been prepared for the hour and the day and the month and the year--
in order that they would kill a third of the people,
(16) and the number of the soldiers of the calvary was 20,000 [times] 10,000.
I heard their number,
(17) and in this way I saw the horses in the vision and the ones being seated upon them: having breastplates fiery red and hyacinth-colored (dark blue? dark red?) and sulphurous (yellow),
and the heads of the horses [were] like the heads of lions,
and out of their mouths comes fire and smoke and sulphur ["brimstone," KJV, is apparently the archaic used for "sulphur" fwiw].
(18) By/from these plagues a third of the people were killed-- by/from the fire, and the smoke, and the sulphur coming out from their mouths.
(19) For the power/authority of the horses, in their mouths, it is, and in their tails. ["in their mouths" is focused].
For their tails are similar to snakes,
having heads,
and with them they harm,
(20) and the rest of the people-- the ones not killed by/from these plagues-- didn't repent from the works of their hands,
so that they didn't worship/bow down to the demons and the idols-- the gold, and the silver, and the bronze, and the stone, and the wooden [ones]--
which neither are able to see ["to see" is focused], nor to hear, nor to walk,
(21) and they didn't repent from their murders, nor from their witchcraft/magic, nor from their sexual immorality, nor from their stealing.
