Revelation 7-8 (2011)

Transcription

1 (2011) The Tribulation upon the Earth is in full swing now The first six seal judgments have arrived SLIDE 7-1 SLIDE 7-2 They brought death to 25% of the world s population, Tremendous upheaval in the earth And a new world leader on the stage, the antichrist And as we studied last week, the seal judgments stopped short of the seventh judgment SLIDE 7-3 Because there is an interesting interdependency between the three series of judgments The seventh seal judgment is the seven trumpet judgments And the seventh trumpet judgment is the seventh bowl judgment One of the seal judgments raised a question that we have yet to answer The fifth seal showed the souls of saints martyred for their testimony during Tribulation This raised the question of where belief might arise in a world in which all believers were previously raptured So John s retelling of the progression of judgments is suspended briefly so that this question can be answered As we move to the next chapter, we ll also need consider the placement of these events into the overall chronology of Tribulation Rev. 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. Rev. 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, Rev. 7:3 saying, Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.

2 2! John begins the seventh chapter using one of those notable Greek phrases used to connect or relate events SLIDE 7-4 At the start of chapter 7, John uses the phrase meta houte, which means after this This particular Greek phrase does not imply any relationship between the events of chapter 6 and the events of chapter 7 We could simply say the next thing John saw John then describes four angels standing at the four corners of the earth These angels are holding back the four winds of the Earth They are preventing the winds from blowing on earth or water Stopping all winds on earth would be devastating to life The earth s weather and water cycle are driven by wind Wind carries moisture off the oceans to the mountains Moist air condenses over high altitudes as rain and snow, which fill streams and lakes and water crops Without wind, the world would experience devastating drought, famine and starvation This detail reminds us the earlier seal judgments, particularly the ones that brought an interruption in normal food production These angels were likely involved in creating the calamities of the earlier seal judgments Then in v.2 we hear of a second angel mentioned This angel is described as ascending from the rising sun and has the seal of the living God We don t know who this angel might be, though he is obviously significant and has authority Finally, we see four more angels (different than the first four) preparing to harm the earth How do we know these angels are a different four?

3 3! The first four angels have already been at work to harm the earth We are told they are holding back the four winds over land, sea and trees, which obviously harms the earth The four new angels have also been granted power to harm the earth, sea and trees but they are command not to do so yet So this second group of four is still waiting for their opportunity to act against the earth If we jump forward, we can find where these four angels finally get their opportunity to complete their mission In the next series of Trumpet judgments, each judgment is carried out by an angelic being Rev. 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. The first four Trumpet judgments are directed toward the elements of the earth, including the land, the seas and the vegetation These are the same four angels standing here in chapter 7 While the first four angels were also agents in the seal judgments Apparently, the next series of judgments are so severe that it s necessary for God to delay them in order to protect something important That important something is described in v.3 The chief angel and his team (notice the we ) have sealed the foreheads of the bond-servants of God A term bond-servant is a New Testament term that means a slave of God, one indebted to service to God Or simply, a believer So the angel is granting a short reprieve to the earth so that the angels will seal believers prior to the next round of judgments Let s look at who these bondservants are

4 4! Rev. 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: Rev. 7:5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, Rev. 7:6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, Rev. 7:7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, Rev. 7:8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed. Here we have the infamous 144,000 saints of Tribulation There has been so much speculation about this group of people, and most of it is utter nonsense You may have heard of the Jehovah s Witnesses or other non- Christian cults claiming to be a part of the 144,000 Some argue over the nationality of these people All the speculation and misinformation is so unnecessary because the text itself is absolutely clear about the identity and purpose of this group Let s understand what we do know about this group First, this is a group of bond-servants who come to faith after the Rapture SLIDE 7-5 Clearly, the Holy Spirit is back again on earth at work producing faith As Jesus said in John 3, the Spirit s presence is evidenced by His effect in the world Just as when we detect the presence of the wind by watching its effect on leaves, we see the Spirit s work here These believers are a part of Tribulation, so they cannot include anyone who is a believer prior to the Rapture No believer on earth today is part of the 144,000, because all believers are removed at the Rapture prior to Tribulation

5 5! Secondly, these believers are taken from among twelve tribes of Israel Therefore, they must be of Jewish decent They are taken in equal numbers from twelve tribes This is an interesting detail since today only one tribe of Jews can still be identified: Levi All other tribe identities have been lost Still God knows and he will distribute His grace evening among the tribes They must be Jewish because as Jesus Himself said, salvation is of the Jews God always brings salvation through the Jewish people first The Fathers were Jewish The prophets were Jewish The Apostles were Jewish The Lord was Jewish Salvation will always begin with the Jews because of God s promise to Abraham that through his seed all nations would be blessed Some have wondered why the tribe of Dan is missing from the list of twelve tribes This a normal convention in Scripture to maintain the symmetry of twelves tribes In reality there were thirteen tribes, since Joseph s family line was split into two sons adopted by Israel Therefore, whenever the 12 tribes of Israel are mentioned in Scripture, one tribe is always missing in the list to maintain symmetry And that missing tribe is always different Here it is Dan that is missing

6 6! Third, we ll learn in chapter 14 of Revelation that these 144,000 are men Fourth, chapter 14 will tell us that they will be virgins Fifth, they have been called into faith to be the first evangelists of Tribulation From this seed group, the world begins to see a new wave of believers Finally, they have been sealed on their foreheads Sealing in general means placing the unique mark of an authority on an official document, as in a wax seal These men are being marked with God s seal because God is claiming them as His property They are marked on their foreheads Is that mark visible or merely a spiritual seal invisible to the world? Examples of both appear in Scripture, but since the seal is fixed to a certain physical location, this is likely visible From the context, the mark serves two purposes First, it designates these men in a new role to serve the Lord - a consecration Secondly, it forms a protection against the coming judgments at the hands of the angels How successful will this group of evangelists be? That only makes sense since the judgments couldn t begin until the sealing was complete Rev. 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; Rev. 7:10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.

7 7! Rev. 7:11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, Rev. 7:12 saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Rev. 7:13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from? Rev. 7:14 I said to him, My lord, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7:15 For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. Rev. 7:16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; Rev. 7:17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. John connects this passage to the earlier passage with the important connecting phrase After these things... John suggests a cause-and-effect relationship between the arrival of the evangelists and the resulting worldwide result SLIDE 7-6 An uncountable crowd is seen standing before the Throne and the Lamb If they are in Heaven, then we must conclude that are believers in the Lamb Their palm branches and white robes confirm they are believers They come from every nation and tribe This tells us this group is different than the 144,000 themselves This is a multinational group of believers Matt. 24:14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. So John s connecting phrase is the critical clue to tell us that this multitude are the saints created by the actions of the earlier 144,000

8 8! Then this multitude joins in the worship of the Lamb at the Throne, just as the resurrected saints did in the earlier chapters This moment has been prepared for John so that he might understand the impact of the evangelizing 144,000 To make sure John understands what he s seeing, one of the elders around the throne asked John who these people were John politely defers So the elder answers the question These are the saints of the Great Tribulation They have gained salvation and are now in the Throne room They are promised to cease in their suffering In particular, they will no longer have hunger and thirst and sun beating down on them nor any heat This is a rather strange list of things they will be rescued from We might have thought the list would include war and disease and other forms of suffering Actually, this list and other details from this chapter help us to form a proper chronology for when these events will happen So let s take a look at the chronology of this chapter First, we know that chapter 7 appears in the book of Revelation immediately after the first six seal judgments But that doesn t tell us much about the timing of the events in the chapter itself Authors frequently chose to describe events in a different order than they actually occurred simply out of convenience Secondly, we know that one of those seals included a reference to believers under the altar in Heaven We were told that they were martyred during the Tribulation

9 9! But if their martyrdom began during the seal judgments of Revelation, then they must have become believers before the fifth seal was open SLIDE 7-7 So the work of these 144,000 must have been ongoing even as the seal judgments were underway This conclusion is supported by the mention of the angels in the first verse The four angels are seen holding back the winds while these 144,000 are sealed So calling of these men into faith and into their Gospel ministry occurs while the seal judgments are already underway Thirdly, the second half of the chapter depicts the results of the evangelists work The multitude is described in v.14 as having come out of the Tribulation Come out suggests died and left the earth The very fact that they are in the throne room tells us they are no longer on earth So when do they die? The first clue is the phrase great tribulation in v.14 Great Tribulation is the term for that specifically references the last three and a half years of the seven year Tribulation Jesus uses this same term in the Olivet Discourse Matt. 24:15 Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place ( let the reader understand), Matt. 24:16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Matt. 24:17 Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Matt. 24:18 Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. Matt. 24:19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! Matt. 24:20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.

10 10! Matt. 24:21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Secondly, they are said to be saved from those strange afflictions, including sun, heat, hunger, thirst As we ll see later in this study, these are references to some of the judgments that will occur in the later stages of Tribulation Putting all this together, we arrive at a split chronology The first half of chapter describes the beginnings of a new wave of worldwide evangelism during the first half of Tribulation Before the Trumpet judgments are permitted to start, the 144,000 Jewish men are sealed for evangelism And starting 144,000, the world is given yet another opportunity to know the Gospel, even after the Church has been removed The result is millions of new believers So if we have family and friends who are left behind in the Tribulation, there is still hope that the Lord will permit them to believe in the Tribulation The second half of the chapter is a scene near the end of Tribulation that has been presented here for John s benefit These saints have endured some aspects of the Tribulation judgments and are now rescued from it The entire multitude hasn t died at this early point in the seven years of Tribulation, though some have started to die according to the fifth seal But nevertheless, John is permitted at this point to witness the multitude standing in the throne room so he may appreciate the effectiveness of the 144,000 ministry Chapter 7 interrupted the narrative of the Tribulation judgments But in reality the events of chapter 7 began almost immediately as Tribulation started And they don t finish until the very end of the seven years

11 ! 11 But in this moment, John is given this snapshot so he could encourage that future generation of believers who will read Revelation during the events themselves As a believer reads Revelation 7 even as the judgments have arrived and the antichrist is ruling, there is hope found in the concluding verses of this chapter I suspect this chapter will be a hallmark chapter for believers during the time of Tribulation A type of Psalm 23 for those enduring the hell of those days As we transition to chapter 8 and the Trumpet judgments, notice the connection Rev. 8:1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Rev. 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Rev. 8:3 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. Rev. 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel s hand. The chapter begins with an interesting moment Right away we hear that the seventh seal has now been broken Remember I said that all the remaining judgments will cascade inevitably once the final seal is broken And as that final seal is broken, the final judgments of the Earth are assured This produces a profound effect in Heaven There is a period of silence in Heaven for about 30 minutes Such a longer period of silence is a reflection of how awesome and profound this moment will be It is the culmination of all the prophets and all the promises SLIDE 8-1

12 12! It brings an end to so many things and triggers a new beginning for the ages The phrase about half an hour seems a bit curious by itself It s a surprising vague time description We know God s word is always precise and every word is intended So why is John so vague here? I think the answer is to keep us from making something out of nothing If John had said 30 minutes, we would spend our time trying to figure out the significance of 30 Instead, we re left to simply appreciate the length of time for what it says about the power of the coming judgments Now we see seven angels preparing for their work in bringing these judgments As I mentioned earlier, the first four of these judgments will impact the earth, while the final three are directed at the people directly This explains why the Scripture calls the final three trumpets the woe judgments, for they brings great woe to people Before the judgments begin, God receives the prayers of the saints as with incense before the Throne The prayers must include the prayers of the souls under the altar from chapter 6 Along with the prayers of those on the earth who are asking for the Lord to bring an end the suffering on earth With the breaking of the seventh seal, the end is approaching quickly Rev. 8:5 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. Rev. 8:6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.

13 13! Rev. 8:7 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. The entire series of trumpet judgments are preceded by displays in the heavens and another earthquake to alert the earth to the coming judgments Remember from the Olivet Discourse that earthquakes will continue to be the warning sign to the world of the coming judgment They will continue to increase in intensity and duration At the sounding of the first trumpet, one third of the earth was burned up from a judgment of hail, fire, and blood This is clearly a supernatural judgment similar to the judgment in Exodus 9:23 on Egypt during the Exodus story And the parallel with Egypt is intentional throughout Tribulation In the earlier time as Israel was in bondage to Egypt, God brought judgments that ultimately led to Israel s freedom and an opportunity to enter the promised land In this case, Israel is in bondage to sin and the Lord is working to bring Israel out of that bondage as well So they may walk into the kingdom When the word says a third of the earth is burned up, do we suppose it is a third evenly distributed across the globe or one contiguous section of the globe? As we go further in Revelation, it will become clearer that we re looking at a contiguous section of the earth becoming uninhabitable And outside Revelation, Zechariah indicates that the world will be narrowed down to a small remaining section Zech. 13:8 It will come about in all the land, Declares the LORD, That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. Zech. 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined,

14 14! And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, They are My people, And they will say, The LORD is my God. The remaining earth trumpets continue this pattern Rev. 8:8 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, Rev. 8:9 and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. The second trumpet leaves a third of the sea unusable as the water turned to blood, which is similar to the plague in Exodus 7:17 We can t know what the great mountain will be that falls into the sea, but John says it was something like a great mountain So even he doesn t know what it was Maybe a meteor or volcano, but I assume John would have recognized those things Never mind that these things don t naturally turn water to blood Clearly, it is supernatural and unexplainable otherwise Rev. 8:10 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. Rev. 8:11 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.

15 15! The third trumpet produces yet more calamity upon the earth A great burning star falls from heaven upon the fresh water sources turning them bitter This star has a name wormwood The name wormwood has no other meaning in Greek but by the context we suppose it means bitter In trying to interpret the meaning of star here, we have to work through the possibilities It can t be a literal star, since a burning sun can t fall upon the Earth and only affect the fresh waters The Earth would be totally consumed It could be a meteor, since it falls from heaven and is burning But a meteor wouldn t simply turn water bitter And it has a name, which is not typical for an inanimate object like a meteor Therefore, it s likely an angel But in Scripture, angels can have two kinds of names Angels can have names that glorify God, like Gabriel (man of God) and Michael (who is like God?) Or angels can have names that suggest corruption and a fallen nature, like Wormwood and Abaddon So this is likely a fallen angel sent by God to do His bidding God is frequently shown using demonic agents for His purposes This also begins a pattern where demons are involved in the bringing of trumpet judgments

16 16! Rev. 8:12 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. Rev. 8:13 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! This judgment is a bit confusing and requires some careful thought What does it mean that a third of the sun and moon and stars are darkened? Does it mean that a third of these bodies are take away, reducing the light output by a third? John s description seems to preclude that interpretation John says the result of the judgment is that the sun would not shine at all for one third of the day But then he says that the moon would not shine for a third also This makes some sense, since it might be the result of the sun not shining on the other side of the planet And likewise the stars ceasing to shine for a third of the night is probably timed to coincide with the moon and sun The effect is a total blackout of all the universe for a third of each 24- hour period Besides the obvious fear factor, this change would lead to a dramatic drop in temperatures on earth It would be a nuclear winter scenario Crops would fail, water sources would freeze, livestock would die The world has already seen a fourth of the population dead, pestilence, starvation, and a third of the waters and land of the world are wiped out And now the heavens are beginning to fail Can you imagine the fear on earth?

17 17! Finally, the trumpet judgments are suspended for a brief time to allow for another warning to the earth An eagle flies in mid-heaven Mid-heaven refers to outer space (between the atmosphere and the throne room of God) Since we know that literal eagles cannot live in outer space, we can view eagle to be a symbolic reference to an angel Furthermore the eagle speaks in a loud voice to announce to the whole world that the final three trumpets will be woe, woe, woe to the earth These judgments will be directed at the people on earth instead of the earth itself It will be a terrible period But all the while, evangelism is still winning millions to Christ, helped no doubt by the dramatic events on earth