Sermon Title: The Wrath of God in the Trumpet Judgements Sermon Series: Revelation: Christ Our Coming King Sermon Text: Revelation 8-9 March 22, 2009 Introduction: Today we take a very sobering, yet stirring step into chapters 8-9 of Revelation which describe the trumpet judgments of God. We have seen that the Great Tribulation period is Satan s Day; that time of Satan s wrath where he ratchets up his persecution in an effort to discredit, discourage or destroy any who are followers of God or who are considering following God. This awful time period will be brought to an abrupt end by the return of Christ and the gathering up of all the true followers of Christ. Once they are safely removed from the earth; it will be the LORD S DAY! After putting up with the perversity and evil for all these many centuries, He will assert himself and right every wrong and confront evil with all it deserves. In the chapters before us today, God s wrath is metered out through the trumpet judgments which begin at the breaking of the seventh and final seal on the scroll that was taken from God Almighty by Jesus the Lamb back in chapter 5. But before it all begins something intriguing happens. Look at the opening sentence of Chapter 8. Read 8:1 There is silence in heaven before God s wrath begins on earth What so you suppose is going on here? What s God thinking? Is this God s sigh before he enacts his tough love? Is God sitting in silence grieving the fact that his repeated overtures to many he loves have been rejected? Is he grieving that his love initiatives have been stiff armed? Obviously, there probably isn t any good way for us to try to understand what God might be feeling here. But, I wonder if it s a God-sized experience like what I went through as a parent in those times of having to exact discipline or some sort of punishment on my kids? I don t think any loving parent is eager to deliver punishment. I can remember very clearly as a young father, the times I would have sent one of my kids to their room that place of weeping and gnashing of teeth that place where they were kept for punishment until the proper time. Right before I had to go into their room and talk to them about why they were getting a punishment of a swat or whatever, I d be sick in heart. I d be in another part of the house regretting that this whole thing
was necessary. I would feel sadness that my child s behavior called for this. I would feel frustration that they did not obey after all the instructions and warnings of consequence. But, now I had to exact the consequences and my heart was sad. Parent s you know, there s so much truth to the old adage, This is going to hurt me, more than it hurts you. I wonder if this silence is the epic weeping of God. We know God s heart must be breaking, he doesn t want anyone to experience his wrath. Peter makes that absolutely clear when he helps his people understand why Jesus is waiting to return. Turn in your Bibles to 2 Peter 3. He writes, 3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:3-9) Now, when I was in that other room of my house psyching myself up for following through on discipline or punishment with my kids, at some point my resolve would began to strengthen as I realized that as a loving, responsible father, I could not allow disrespect, disobedience and destructive behavior to go unconfronted. I would recognize that left un-confronted, destructive attitudes and behavior would only get worse and cause more pain and heartache than ever. Could it be that in this silence God s loving father-heart is wrestling with his righteous warrior heart? Is his Lamb role transitioning to his Lion role? Is God getting his game face on as he regretfully realizes that now is the time for him to ride out as the warrior to confront evil and wicked people who have stubbornly refused to repent? Have his thoughts transitioned from grief to justice motivated vengeance? Is he remembering generations upon generations of heinous sexual abuse, self-serving marital affairs and choice upon choice of bold, arrogant fists clinched toward heaven? Is he reviewing all the greed, all the malice, all the slander, all the deceit and all despicable vile behavior not only carried out by people but championed by them in the lives of others? Is he thinking of the insidious creep of cancer and AIDS? Romans 1 tells us the whole creation groans as it eagerly awaits its redemption. Is God calling to mind all the innocent victims of evil s relentless warpath throughout the centuries and preparing to ride out as the righteous warrior and defender of the weak? The time has come to fulfill his promise of vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I love how Paul describes Jesus as our personal defender. I love this truth that Jesus will personally avenge every wrong that has ever been done to us. Turn in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians 1, beginning in verse 6 Paul writes, 6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will
happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.. - 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 We ve all seen movies where the bad guy is shown abusing people and quarterbacking one injustice after another and our sense of injustice is raised to a fever pitch. And after innocence or good has been violated and pushed around long enough, the victor, the champion rises up and saves the day. He pays back evil and injustice with what it deserves. And when that happens we find ourselves wanting jump out of our seats with cheers for him...not because we are mean spirited but because evil has ruled the day far too long heartless evil has caused enough pain. You see, in one respect we cheer on the wrath of God because it is giving his followers the vengeance they cry out for. In these trumpet judgments, God is our champion, our avenger, our deliver and our victorious warrior. We celebrate our avenger: He who will kick tail on our number one enemy. Now, let s take a look at these trumpet judgments closer. One of the most obvious things we observe is their distinguishing characteristic of limiting their impact to a third of the earth. The drama team read over the first three trumpets, so I d like to just make a couple of observations before reading remainder of them. The Wrath of God in the Trumpet Judgments Trumpet #1 - One third of the earth is destroyed Hail & fire, mixed with blood thrown to the earth. 1/3 of the earth and trees, all of the grass is destroyed (8:7). Keep in mind, there is not only the direct hit, but also the ripple effect. The damaged trees would mean an impact on food supply. The destruction of the green grass would mean the impending death of live stock and shortages of things like meat, milk and other related foods. (Keener, NIV Application Commentary, Revelation, p. 256) Trumpet #2 - One third of the ocean destroyed A third of the ocean s creatures and a third of the ships on the ocean are destroyed. Again keep in mind the ripple effect on seafood supply coming from the ocean and the economic implications. Imagine what air quality will be like at this point with all the smoke and smell of death in the air. Remember the smoke from all the fires last summer? Trumpet #3 - One third of the fresh water supply contaminated In this judgment, John says a third of the waters became wormwood. Wormwood is a translation of the Hebrew word for bitterness. Wormwood was a bitter herb and some thought it to be poisonous. The star named Wormwood fell into the fresh water source and turned a third of them bitter, ruining them for drinking. (Keener, NIV Application Commentary, Revelation, p. 257) Now let s pick up John s descriptions with trumpet #4 in verse 12. Read 8:12-9:19 Trumpet #4 - One third of the earth s light sources darkened So following the destruction of a third of the earth, ocean and fresh water supply, John says a third of the heavenly lights go out.
Then, following the fourth trumpet, Verse 13 of chapter 8 indicates that the intensity of the last three trumpets will be increased. We are alerted to this by an eagle that flies overhead calling out in a loud voice a three-fold woe, referring to the next three trumpet blasts as woes. Woes are bad news three woes in a row is seriously bad news. Trumpet #5 - Tormenting locusts released from the bottomless pit The first woe is trumpet 5. This star cast from heaven to earth is most likely an angel serving as the divine agent. When he opens the hatch to this abyss, smoke and a swarm of locusts come up so thick that the remaining light of the sun and sky is darkened. The locusts are told not to harm the vegetation as they normally would. Instead they are given direction to torment those without the seal of God for five months. They have a leader, whose name is basically hell and destruction. The worst part of this judgment is that men will suffer so much, death would be a welcome relief, but it will elude them. (Keener, NIV Application Commentary, Revelation, p. 258) Cornelius Gallus, A Roman Poet living in the first century B.C., wrote: Worse than any wound is the wish to die and yet not be able to do so. (NIV text note on Revelation 9:6, NIV Study Bible, p. 1936) Trumpet #6 - One third of mankind killed The four angels mentioned were released to lead an army of two hundred million mounted troops. They killed one third of humankind with fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths and out of their snake like tails. It s difficult to try and interpret what these trumpet judgments will actually be. I think It s reasonable to understand that the images and descriptions John uses are the best descriptors he could think of to convey what he was seeing. Some have taken the approach of understanding these visions as literal supernatural demonic beings. Others, like Hal Lindsey have taken the approach of understanding John s description being ancient language to describe modern warfare. Regardless of whether you think these invading forces are demonic creatures or a powerful human army with the latest weaponry, the bottom line is the same; the images John uses here serve to fundamentally communicate overwhelming forces bringing an inescapable and terrifying judgment. Sometimes people hear about the wrath of God and they say, It can t be. God is a God of love. Or, they say, How could a loving God act so viciously and hatefully. Remember, we ve already acknowledged that our God is a loving God, but he s also just. And the reality is, in these trumpet judgments God is actually giving wicked humankind the wrath it chose. Let me explain what I mean. In the trumpet judgments God is giving godless people the wrath they chose. The Bibles tells us that God is love AND God is holy and just. It also tells us that humankind is sinful and rebellious towards God. Your sinfulness creates a huge chasm between you and God. The only way that Chasm can be bridged is for the sin in your heart to be punished in order for the righteous demands of God s justice to be met.
This is where Jesus comes in. Jesus, the Son of God was sent to take the punishment for your sin instead of you. So, what the Bible clearly presents to each one of us is a choice. We can receive God s wrath for our sin ourselves or we can trust in the sacrificial death of Jesus who takes Gods wrath for us. Make sense? Pay the penalty for our own sin by receiving God s wrath ourselves; or trust in the death of Jesus as our substitute. Those who trust in Jesus are promised a complete pass on the wrath of God. To use the Biblical metaphor or language, when the wrath of God is delivered on all sin and wickedness, those who trust in the shed blood of Jesus on the cross are passed over and given eternal life. This is why Paul says, Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! -Romans 5:9 However, those who refuse to trust in Jesus and accept him as their substitute will have to face the full brunt of God s wrath square on. You see, what mankind gets when it receives the wrath of God is what Jesus received on the cross for all those who believe on his name. But, those who refuse to acknowledge their sin and give their lives to Jesus for his atonement covering are choosing at that point to atone or pay for their sin themselves. And these trumpet judgments are the beginning of their payment. This sobering, inconceivable scene of God s wrath being enacted is tragic when we think about what people will have to endure. But, remember, those who are the targets of God s wrath were also the targets of his love and he gives them multiple opportunities to respond and ask Jesus to be their savior. Up to the time described in Revelation here, God has been extremely patient and longsuffering with all the evil and rebellion he s put up with as he has reserved his wrath for the last possible moment hoping for as many to receive him as their atonement as possible. In fact, the wrath of God is metered out through these trumpet judgments taking aim at only a third of the earth in a last ditch effort to convince some to repent. Even as God s wrath begins, God in his love, holds some of it back to hope beyond hope that some might finally let go of the hopeless, helpless things of life and turn to him. Chapter 9 closes with this stunning comment regarding the unrepentant hearts of those who survived these initial plagues of God s wrath. Chagrined John writes Look at 9:20-21. Presumably, even at this point, God is willing to respond in forgiveness and salvation for those who would finally humble themselves and honor him as King of kings and Lord of lords. But, sadly they don t. Even as his wrath begins, redemption is still on the forefront of God s mind. This amazing reality certainly reinforces why God has this church on the urgent assignment to make Christ known to as many people as possible. The Bible says, Now is the time of salvation. And God has placed us here as a church to make that reality known. And this series is regularly reminding us of the urgency and importance of that assignment. We don t want our family member or our friend or our neighbor or coworker to perish and neither does God.
So, now let me make this personal with this passage in front of you What have you decided about God s wrath? Are you going to choose to pay the price for your sin yourself by enduring God s wrath? Or are you going to trust Jesus as your substitute? If you haven t ever made the clear choice to trust Jesus then by default you are choosing to endure the wrath of God yourself. And there is no reason that needs to happen. The Bible is clear when it says, That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. - Romans 10:9-10 Are there any who are here today who want to make the clear choice to trust Jesus as your substitute on the cross and to trust him to be your risen Savior and Lord of your life?