part 39: The Calm Before the Storm
Puzzled About Revelation, September 29 2022
“When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”
main text: Revelation 8:1-13
Chapter 8 begins with the opening of the seventh seal, which brings about a silence in heaven, like the calm before a storm. The wrath of God is about to fall on the earth, and it will be greater than any distress the world has ever known. We will also be talking about the true altar of God in the true tabernacle of God.
Outline of Revelation 8-11:
The Seventh Seal (8:1)
Seven Angels and Seven Trumpets (8:2,6)
Fire from the Altar (8:3-5)
The 1st Trumpet: Hailfire & Blood (8:7)
The Second Trumpet: A Blazing Mountain (8:8-9)
The Third Trumpet: Star Wormwood (8:10-11)
The Fourth Trumpet: Celestial Lights Dimmed (8:12)
Pause & Prepare: Three “Woes” (8:13)
The Fifth Trumpet: Demon Locusts (9:1-12)
The Sixth Trumpet: Four Angels at the Euphrates Released (9:13-21)
The Mighty Angel & The Little Scroll (10:1-11)
The Two Witnesses (11:1-14)
The Seventh Trumpet (11:15-19)
“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.”
I. The Seventh Seal—Silence in Heaven:
Rev. 8:1 “When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”
PATTERN: THE EXODUS:
The is the “eye” of the hurricane between the great apocalyptic signs of the 6th Seal and when the Lord of Hosts rises to go forth in great wrath and judgment. All heaven is silent at the MAGNITUDE of what is about to be unleashed on the earth!
See also Rev. 6:13-17 (6th Seal)
Ps. 76:7-10: “It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? 8 From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the earth feared and was quiet—9 when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. 10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.”
Ex. 11:4-7: “So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7 But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.”
Mal. 3:18: “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
II. The Seven Angels and The Seven Trumpets:
Rev. 8:2 “Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them… 6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.”
PATTERN: JERICHO:
Jsh. 6:2-5: “Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
Ex. 7:1-5: “Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2 You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he 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. 5 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.”
III. The Prayers of the Saints:
Rev. 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 God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 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.”
PATTERN: TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS:
When the Israelites were encamped at Mount Sinai, Moses was instructed to build the tabernacle, including the ark of the covenant, the altar of incense, the golden menorah, the table of showbread, the tent of meeting, the altar for burnt offerings, and the washbasins. And Moses was told that these were a pattern of heavenly things.
In Revelation 8:3, we see not an earthly altar, but a golden altar in the presence of God, and incense mixed with the prayers of the saints, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.
The saints are not passive SPECTATORS but active PARTICIPANTS in the unfolding drama at the end of the age. Their cries are heard by the Righteous Judge who will bring them justice, and quickly!
Ex. 3:7-8: “7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…”
The “Maranatha Cry” is an essential component of the Bride’s preparation for her Bridegroom and the bringing about of God’s judgments and the Lord’s coming.
Mt. 23:39: “For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
See also Rev. 5:9-11; 16:5-7
IV. The Timing of the Trumpets:
Rev. 8:2: “Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.”
Most people read Rev. 8:1-2 and assume that the 7 trumpets follow the seventh seal. However, an easily overlooked detail in the modern English text is that there is a PAUSE after 8:1 and the introduction of a new vision in verse 2. This serves to SEPARATE the 7 Trumpets from what immediately came before. I believe that the 7 trumpets fit between seals 5 and 6.
The Trumpet Judgments must come AFTER the 5th seal because they are a direct result of the prayers of the saints coming out of the great tribulation (See above).
I also believe that these judgments are being called down on the Antichrist/Beast kingdom by the Two Witnesses (Moses/Elijah?), similar to how Moses & Aaron called down the plagues of YHWH on Pharaoh and Egypt.
Rev.11:3,6: “And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth…6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.”
The Trumpet Judgments must come BEFORE the 6th Seal (Rev. 6:13-17) because that is the great Day of the Lord’s wrath against the kings of the earth gathered at the Battle of Armageddon (16:14,16; 19:11-21), the Day heaven and earth disappear, and the day of resurrection-gathering. This corresponds to the 7th Trumpet (11:15-19) and 7th Bowl (16:17-21).
Therefore, Trumpets #1-7 must occur during the 42 months of the Great Tribulation, with the 1st beginning after the 5th Seal and culminating with the 7th Trumpet on the Day of the Lord.
V. The Sounding of the Trumpets:
“Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. 8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. 12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. ”
PATTERN: THE EXODUS:
These judgments are TARGETED towards the Beast empire that has shed the blood of the saints.
These judgments are LIMITED to 1/3 of the affected area as and act of MERCY IN JUDGMENT—God is revealing His wrath incrementally so as to give people more time to repent!
In Ezekiel 5, God spoke of judgments in 1/3 parts: One third would die by the sword, one third by famine, one third would go captive, and a very few would be hidden away in His cloak.
In Zechariah 14, it says that 2/3 of Jerusalem will perish in the final siege, and 1/3 will be preserved and refined through fire.
Trumpet #1: Hailfire & Blood
Rev. 8:7: “The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on 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.”
See also Exodus 9, the plague of hail mixed with fire
IMPACT: AGRICULTURE
Trumpet #2: A Blazing Mountain
Rev. 8:8-9: “The 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, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
See also Exodus 7, the plague of water turned to blood
IMPACT: SEAFOOD and SHIPPING
Google: “Canary Islands Supervolcano”
Trumpet #3: Star Wormwood
Rev. 8:10-11: “The 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— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.”
See also Exodus 15, bitter waters at Marah
IMPACT: DRINKING WATER
Wormwood: (Gk.) absinthe = a bitter plant with toxic properties
Wormwood: (Wormwood in Ukrainian is Chernobyl!)
Trumpet #4: Celestial Lights Dimmed
Rev. 8:12: “The 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.”
IMPACT: AGRICULTURE, MENTAL HEALTH, NAVIGATION, TECHNOLOGY
Pause & Prepare: Three “Woes”
Rev. 8:13: “As 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!”
Next Week: The Fifth Trumpet: Demon Locusts! (Rev. 9:1-12)