Study of Revelation and End Times wk 20
Notes
Transcript
The Seventh Seal - The Trumpets
The Seventh Seal - The Trumpets
We are now in week 20 of our study.
In studying the book of Revelation, we now come to a time of silence between the seals.
1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
I cannot tell you for certain, but this may be the longest silence ever experienced in heaven.
What is this silence?
Maybe like the calm before the storm.
Like the calm in the eye of a hurricane, the silence before it gets really bad.
The seal was opened, and John saw -
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
A trumpet was used in the Bible for positive events like gathering a convocation or announcing a coronation - a crowning.
But it was also used to gather troops for war - much like a siren to warn of an air raid or tornado.
I. The Silence: A Lesson on Prayer:
I. The Silence: A Lesson on Prayer:
But before these trumpets are sounded, God puts a parenthesis here, and we learn a wonderful lesson on prayer:
3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.
5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.
Incense in the Bible has often been used as an illustration of what happens when we pray.
In the Old Testament the priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the altar.
The coals from this offering would then be placed in a golden censer, or container, and the smoke would rise to heaven as incense.
In much the same way, our prayers are like a sweet fragrance in the nostrils of God.
In verses 3-4, we read that the angel mingled the prayers of the saints with the incense.
In this passage the incense is the worth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are to come before God with our hearts filled with the Lord Jesus.
We are told in Ephesians 5:2
2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
When you pray in the name of Jesus, you are mingling your prayer with the incense of Jesus’ worth, and that’s a sweet smell to the Almighty God.
A. The Altars: The Sacrifice of Christ
A. The Altars: The Sacrifice of Christ
What do these altars represent?
The golden altar represent the fire of worship.
The altar of judgment represents the death of Jesus Christ for our sins (every Old Testament altar spoke of Jesus’ death on the cross).
Why would the death of Jesus bring judgment?
If you do not repent of your sin and receive Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for your forgiveness, His sacrifice that is meant to be a blessing will become a curse.
The gospel is a double-edged sword.
It is a savor of life unto life or death unto death.
If the death of Jesus Christ does not save you, the death of Jesus Christ will condemn you.
His blood will testify either for or against you.
After the angel mingled the prayers of the saints with incense, the angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were rumblings of thunders, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
The horrors of the Great Tribulation are about to intensify for those who have refused Jesus Christ, and yet He died for their sins.
II. The Trumpets: The Announcement of Judgment
II. The Trumpets: The Announcement of Judgment
1. The First Trumpet:
1. The First Trumpet:
The first trumpet announced the judgment on the land and the things that grow on earth.
7 The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to 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.
What man-made device or natural phenomenon could cause this?
Could it be an atomic explosion?
Perhaps.
But there could be a symbolic meaning of these things?
I think the grass and the trees may symbolize leaders and people.
6 A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
2. The Second Trumpet:
2. The Second Trumpet:
The second trumpet sends forth judgment upon the oceans and the things that live in the sea.
8 The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood,
9 and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.
This could literally be an erupting volcano that sends forth fire and burning lava into the sea.
Which sea?
It could be the Mediterranean, which John knew about when he wrote the book of Revelation.
But there could be deeper, more symbolic meaning.
In the Bible a mountain speaks of kingdoms.
For example, Babylon [now the nation known as Iraq] is spoken of as a destroying mountain in Jeremiah 51:25
25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,
“And I will stretch out My hand against you,
And roll you down from the crags,
And I will make you a burnt out mountain.
This sounds similar to what we find here in the book of Revelation.
This mountain is cast into the waters, which stands for a wicked and restless people.
The prophet Isaiah said, in Isaiah 57:20-21
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
The symbolism of this second trumpet is that this wicked, violent, Babylonish kingdom of the Antichrist will bring great trouble to the wicked people who are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest.
3. The Third Trumpet:
3. The Third Trumpet:
The third trumpet heralds judgment upon the rivers and the men who walk on the earth.
10 The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters.
11 The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.
There are two ways to interpret these verses.
First, if an asteroid hit the earth, do you think it could be seen as a burning star like a lamp?
I believe literal asteroids that may hit the earth could poison the atmosphere and waters and kill many.
Second, Satan is symbolized as a fallen star - Isaiah 14:12
12 “How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
The waters could speak of people - Revelation 17:15
15 And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
A fallen star (Satan) could poison the water of life, thereby killing off human society in a devastating way.
4. The Fourth Trumpet:
4. The Fourth Trumpet:
The fourth trumpet sounds, and God sends judgment on the skies and the light that shines from heaven.
12 The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
The drama of the end of the ages has now intensified threefold!
Notice the eagle said, Woe! Woe! Woe!
The sun, moon, and stars are darkened.
What would cause that?
If volcanoes and atomic blasts are sending smoke and ashes into the atmosphere, the light of the sun, moon, and stars would be dimmed.
From the beginning men have hated the light Jesus said, in John 3:20
20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Now these men will have their share of the darkness.
Symbolically, the sun, moon, and stars speak of ruling authorities.
The pastor of the church, for example, are symbolized as stars in the early verses of Revelation.
One explanation of this passage is that when the fourth trumpet sounds, the structure of society comes apart.
The things God ordained to give guidance and light are now obliterated.
The demon of darkness (Satan) becomes the prince of this world in the form of his Antichrist, who brainwashes the multitudes.