THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL REVELATION 8:1-13

Transcription

1 1 THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL REVELATION 8:1-13

2 2 Text: THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL Revelation 8:1-13, 1. Now 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. Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 4. The smoke coming from the incense, along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel s hand. 5. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. 6. Now the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. 7. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown at the earth so that a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8. Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood,

3 and a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed. 10. Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky; it landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11. (Now the name of the star is Wormwood.) So a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned. 12. Then 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 them were darkened. And there was no light for a third of the day and for a third of the night likewise. 13. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying directly overhead, proclaiming with a loud voice, Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them! (NET) Commentary: Six of the seals on the little book had been opened and their messages had been heard. Now the seventh seal was opened so its contents could be disclosed. The opening of the seventh seal was attended with a solemn silence in heaven for the space of half an hour. In expectation of destruction and overwhelming calamities there was only silence. There was also the appearance of seven angels. Each angel had a trumpet that was to be used to introduce a new series of events. The opening of the first six seals had given an overview of what was to happen. When the seventh seal was opened we

4 4 see the details of the events. The period of silence is the entire Christian age from that point until the end. This is the same time frame pictured by the first six seals. Trumpets were used to sound certain sounds. These seven trumpets sounded forth the beginning of a new series of events. Another angel is also introduced in vision. This angel is pictured in the act of giving worship and honor to God. He had a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. Much like when Korah led his rebellion God is here pictured as sending fire from heaven. (Numbers 16, Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, took men and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men. And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord? When Moses heard it he fell down with his face to the ground. Then he said to Korah and to all his company, In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him. Do this, Korah, you and all your company: Take censers, put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you

5 5 sons of Levi! Moses said to Korah, Listen now, you sons of Levi! Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them? He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek the priesthood also? Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the Lord! And Aaron what is he that you murmur against him? Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, We will not come up. Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind these men? We will not come up. Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, Have no respect for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them! Then Moses said to Korah, You and all your company present yourselves before the Lord you and they, and Aaron tomorrow. And each of you take his censer, put incense in it, and then each of you present his censer before the Lord: 250 censers, along with you, and Aaron each of you with his censer. So everyone took his censer, put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. When Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.

6 6 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: Separate yourselves from among this community, that I may consume them in an instant. Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all people, will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins? So the Lord spoke to Moses: Tell the community: Get away from around the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. And he said to the community, Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins. So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers. Then Moses said, This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord does something entirely new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up along with all that they have, and they go down alive to the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord! When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah s men, and all their goods. They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community. All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry,

7 7 for they said, What if the earth swallows us too? Then a fire went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense. The Lord spoke to Moses: Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pick up the censers out of the flame, for they are holy, and then scatter the coals of fire at a distance. As for the censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives, they must be made into hammered sheets for covering the altar, because they presented them before the Lord and sanctified them. They will become a sign to the Israelites. So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers presented by those who had been burned up, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar. It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company just as the Lord had spoken by the authority of Moses. But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, You have killed the Lord s people! When the community assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting and the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron stood before the tent of meeting. The Lord spoke to Moses: Get away from this community, so that I can consume them in an instant! But they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. Then Moses said to Aaron, Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord the plague has begun! So Aaron did as Moses commanded and ran into the middle of the assembly,

8 8 where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped. (NET)) God s wrath is poured out on those who oppose His cause. This is likewise very similar to Ezekiel 10:2, The Lord said to the man dressed in linen, Go between the wheelwork underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city. He went as I watched. (NET) where the man clothed in linen is commanded to go between the wheels under the cherub, and fill his hands with coals of five from between the cherubims, and to scatter them over the city. This was a symbol of God s destruction against wicked society. The angel casts the censer to the earth. The effect was that there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:5) all nature is in the hand of the Almighty as He brings His judgment against the persecuting forces. When the first angel sounded, a third part of the vegetation was consumed. As the second angel sounded, the burning mountain was cast into the sea and a third part became blood. A third part of the boats and fish were destroyed. The third angel sounded and a burning star named Wormwood fell upon the waters and a third part of them were made bitter and many died because of the waters. The third part of the light, both for day and night, was smitten when the fourth angel sounded. At this point, an

9 9 angel flies through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! All of these events lead us to the final triumph of Christianity. The Opening of the Seventh Seal Revelation 8:1-3, Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. (NET) At the opening of the seventh seal there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. This silence in heaven demonstrated a sober, awestruck view of the judgment of God coming on the wicked. The prophet wrote, Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. (Zephaniah 1:7) There was a silence of reverence and expectancy. Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy inhabitation. (Zechariah 2:13) The silence shows that man cannot yet know all of God s plans. In the book of Numbers, chapter 10, we learn that the trumpets were used to: (1) call the people together, (2) signal the time for Israel to journey, (3) call the people to war, and (4) sound an

10 10 alarm. Joel wrote, Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand. (Joel 2:1) There was an angel, in addition to the seven, that appeared. The Judgment of God was about to be executed. The genuine Christians pray much to God for protection. Their prayers are pictured as much incense that is offered to God. The conquering Christ brought judgment upon all that opposed Christianity. The Seven Angels Prepare to Sound Revelation 8:4-6, The smoke coming from the incense, along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. Now the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. (NET) The judgment God spoke of through John was occasioned by severe persecution against the church by Rome. God would send destruction that would stop Rome s persecution, yet at the same time spare the church. The picture is that God hears the prayers of His struggling people. God would send forth judgment against the persecutors. The trumpets are a warning and a call to repentance. The sounding of the trumpets announced the coming of vengeance upon Rome. This chapter provides a picture of God s warnings concerning His

11 11 judgment against the wicked. This is only a partial judgment to warn wicked men. The First Two Angels Sound Revelation 8:7-9, The first angel blew his trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown at the earth so that a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed. (NET) This is not the final judgment as only a third of everything is touched. These are warnings to call the wicked to repentance. The sounding of the first trumpet had to do with land disasters. Many of these plagues sound like what happened to Egypt when the ten plagues came upon them. Hail and fire are usually a symbol of divine vengeance. The second trumpet was followed by volcanic eruptions that caused the death of one third of the fish and the destruction of one third of the ships. Mountains being cast into the midst of the sea represent great disorders, especially when kingdoms are moved by hostile invasions. (Psalm 46:2, For this reason we do not fear when the earth shakes, and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, (NET)) Now God s people know that He will punish Rome for how they have persecuted His people.

12 12 The Next Two Angels Sound Revelation 8:11-13, Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed. Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky; it landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. (Now the name of the star is Wormwood.) So a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned. Then 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 them were darkened. And there was no light for a third of the day and for a third of the night likewise. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying directly overhead, proclaiming with a loud voice, Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them! (NET) The third trumpet led to a star named Wormwood being thrown into water and one third of the fresh water was made bitter and poisonous. Rome had distressed Christians and now they will face much distress. The fourth trumpet led to a third part of the sun, moon and stars being destroyed. Calamity would come upon Rome as if darkness should spread over the sun, moon, and the stars, leaving the Roman world in gloom and despair. All of this was the result of

13 13 their persecuting God s people and being unwilling to repent of those evils. The judgment of God was descending upon that corrupt society. John wrote, And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:13) Coming judgment should move us to quickly obey the gospel. Obey now because tomorrow might be too late!

14 14 Questions on Revelation 8: The of the was with a in for the of an. In of and there was only. 2. appeared. Each had a that was to be used to a of. 3. The of is the from that until the. This is the pictured by the. 4. These sounded forth the of a of. 5. is also in. This is pictured in the of and to. 6. This angel had a ; and there was given unto him much, that he should offer it with the of

15 15 upon the which was before the. The the to the with the effect that was brought the. 7. When the, a of the was. 8. As the, the was into the and a became. A of the and were. 9. The and a named fell upon the and a part of them were made and because of the. 10. The of the, both for and, was when the. 11. At this point, an through the of saying with a,,,, to the of the... All these us to the of.

16 When the was, there was in demonstrating a, view of the of coming on the. 13. Another, in addition to the, appeared. The of was about to be. 14. hears the of His. Rome had the and would be. In the process would be. The announced the coming of upon. 15. The are to. 16. the sounding of the had to do with. 17. The sounding of the was followed by that caused the of of the and the of of the. were cast into the of the. 18. would for how they His people.