Revelation 8:1-5 – 2024 Oct 24

For just a little while when I was preparing for this study, I had a senior moment. I knew who I was and what I was supposed to be doing, but I had some trouble with how to handle the seventh seal of the scroll being opened by the Lamb of God. I know what the text is about, and I know how to communicate all of it, but how to approach such a subject? There are several ways of presenting this information, so I decided to present it in the order it appears because it tells a kind of story when I do that. The issue with that is that it might cause me to appear to ramble at times, but hey, it was the way John did it, and he is way smarter and better than I am.

I also like the way Dr. John MacArthur started his lectures on this subject. He points out what the constant activity of heaven is – the loud worship of God in all of His offices and persons by the residents of heaven, by those men who have arrived there, and indeed by all creation in its entirety, except for those individuals who have fallen and will not pay honour and reverence to Him or His name. This becomes important momentarily, and I will explain why then.

For those who like to quibble (uselessly, in my opinion) about just when in the first six judgements the Lord will rescue His people, the Church, it has definitely happened by this point because this is where not only has the real wrath begun in terms of the cosmic disturbances of the last seal, but it is about to enter the story in earnest from this point on. We will see that in the very first verse of this text this time.

I broke the chapter down as follows:

KV5: The Main Event (Displayed Wrath) Begins

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.

1: The Great Silence

2: The Seven Trumpets

3: The Golden Altar

4: The Smoke of the Incense

5: All the Prayers of the Universe

Many bible scholars, myself included, get the sense that this is the point that the judgments that are rendered by the seals, trumpets, and bowls begin to accelerate, both in intensity and speed of occurrence. Although we do not have any information on the exactness of the timeline, certain inferences can and maybe should be made. The first of those is that the time of waiting at some point will be over, and these described events will begin to occur. The second is that the entire world will be unaware of them when it all starts to happen. ALL of the judgments are some form of wrath. Note, these are all called the seal JUDGMENTS, not the seal PARTIES or seal FESTIVALS. The church is not destined for that wrath. It isn’t going to go through any portion of this. This will be really BAD. ALL of it. It’s getting worse by the day for us. We need to discuss the meaning of the Greek word harpazo if that is what you think. Used in the sense of the rescue of the church, according to at least one Greek scholar, it carries the meaning of “snatched away in rescue, just in time.” It does not mean we will not see some very dark things. It doesn’t mean that we will not experience everything that the 1^st-century church experienced under Nero, and that was as bad as it could get. It does mean that the Lord will save us, whatever that means, from this present evil world system, the kosmos. If you get to this point in history and you are still on earth, it is my opinion that you need to repent and believe the gospel, and do it as soon as you can because your eternal soul is in jeopardy. With that said, let’s look at the text.

KV5: The Main Event (Displayed Wrath) Begins

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.

The only believers that will be left on the earth at this point will be those who are still coming to Christ as a result of the work of those 144,000 Jewish evangelists. There will come a time when the enemy will seek to exterminate every last follower of Jesus on the planet, and at this point in history, I don’t think it is very far off in time from these events. Believers will go through all of the conditions that all of the lost will, and will probably suffer some of the physical consequences of that time. It will be a terrible time to be alive, and yet the Lord will make it so that His people in those days will see that those days too are the Day the Lord has made, and they will be glad and rejoice in them.

It all starts here in terms of the heaviest of judgments with the 7th seal, which contains all other judgments, both trumpet and bowl judgments. Let us look and see what John tells us.

1: The Great Silence

With such cosmic disturbances as were loosed by the 6th seal, and with the knowledge of the four angels holding back the winds of judgment from the earth in the interlude where 144,000 Jewish evangelists are marked out for divine protection as they carry the gospel to God’s chosen people everywhere, most of us would begin to brace for a rough ride, and those that find themselves as believers on the earth in that time should indeed…but then what happens? The seal is opened and…silence. What? Let’s read that verse.

1: When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

I shouldn’t have to do this, but somehow, I still feel like I must point out who is opening these seals on the scroll. It is no normal man, it is no fallen angel, it is no denizen of hell…it is the Lamb of God that has taken away the sin of the world. It is God Himself that opens the Scroll in the person of the God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. “When the LAMB broke the seventh seal…” is what it says in the verse. Some have suggested that not all of the seals represent the wrath of God, and I disagree. The very first act of wrath on the world was the giving of the Antichrist as the leader of the world, followed by War, Famine and Disease, and then Death and Hell. And it is the LAMB, God the Son, that opened every single seal. Now He breaks open the seventh seal, and…silence.
That silence, in contrast to the constant loud praise of God in His various persons, will be deafening. I’ve been in rooms where you could have heard a pin drop. This will be like that, I would think. Only here, you’ll be able to hear that proverbial pin through all of heaven. But why?
There are a lot of reasons that have been proposed. Some have suggested that this is a collective inhaling of breath before the really bad stuff starts, but I find that somehow intellectually incomplete. I’m sure that’s a part of it, but I doubt it is the whole story. Others have said this is surprise at the intensity of the judgments that are coming, but I doubt any will be surprised. Some have said that this is a kind of holy awe at those coming judgments, and I think that is a part of this. The joke around here is that it is time for the dispensationalists to correct and update their charts. I’m not a dispensationalist; I’m a premillennialist, remember. I think it is a combination of the absolute holy awe at the work God is about to do. Scripture says in Isaiah 28:18-21 of that seven-year treaty will be signed with the Antichrist, “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place. As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means. The bed is too short on which to stretch out, And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in. For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon, To do His task, His unusual task, And to work His work, His extraordinary work.” This “unusual task” and “extraordinary work” can be said to be His work of Divine Judgment according to the Prophet Isaiah.

There is a unique quality of this work that will inspire awe at the sheer magnitude of the power God is about to unleash. It may include sadness at the destruction it will wreak, particularly at the loss of souls toward hell of those who have not turned to Christ. Will some see it and turn? We can pray that it will be so, but I do not know. I certainly have hope that God will redeem sinners even at that time in history. God Himself will know what to do. We will trust Him to do it because this is His work and not ours.

2: The Seven Trumpets

When that silence ends after about 30 minutes, more angelic beings step up for more activity. Think about how long 30 minutes is to sit and keep quiet. The best thing I can think of to compare with this is the minute of silence we have on November 11th. It used to be 3 minutes, but that was considered too long to stand in silence. Just a minute seems like a task. It was 30 minutes. They were waiting for these individuals. What a buildup!

2: And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

Apparently, this is a separate class of angel. I am not surprised at this, just amazed at how many there are. Lest you think this a topic to ridicule me on, and I have no doubt that you are out there, there is a definite article used in the Greek for this verse. The phrase τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλους (tous hepta aggelous) literally means “THE seven angels.” I seems clear that this is a group that is set aside and has some characteristic that makes them unique. That characteristic appears in the text itself, οἳ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἑστήκασιν (oi enōpion tou Theou hestēkasin), “who before [the] God stand.” These angels have even been identified as the “Presence Angels” by some, as those who stand in the presence of God Himself. If this is so, I suggest we know one of their names, Gabriel. We get this from Luke 1:19 when Zachariah had a little trouble believing Gabriel and asked for a sign regarding the birth of his son, whom he had just been informed of by the angel. Gabriel replied, “The angel answered and said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.’” Zachariah was then struck dumb until after the birth of John the Baptist.
These angels were given trumpets (another traditional connection to Gabriel). Viewers who are familiar with what these trumpets are for will know that they are for the announcing of the seven trumpet judgments, as each angel will sound a note to alert those who can hear it that the next trumpet is about to begin. Some have connected this with the Old Testament shofar, the trumpet carved from the horn of a ram, a male sheep or goat. I can certainly see the connection, as the shofar was used in ancient Israel to sound warnings, but that was not its only use. It was blown to sound the attack (like in Jericho). It was blown to call the people for war. It was even blown to call an assembly of the people together. Some or all of these may apply here, and we will make those observations as we see them. There is a whole section dedicated to the Trumpet itself if you can get hold of a Nave’s Topical Bible Index. Nave notes in that section that this is a symbolic reference to the trumpet, but I’m not at all sure of that. My own opinion is that this, like so many other things in Scripture, has both figurative and symbolic elements as well as literal components, as we have said throughout the book so far. We will likely continue to notice these things as we go on. These angels are given these trumpets in preparation for heralding the steps God will take in pouring out His wrath on the men of the earth who will not repent from their sins and turn to the Christ, who is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. So what happens next?

3: The Golden Altar

Well, the camera angle changes, so to speak. John is talking about the seven angels, and then as his glance sweeps over the scene as it unfolds, he sees another angel who is standing at the Golden Altar, the one the martyrs of the fifth seal were under, where another set of events is happening.

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.

Another angel, this time in a more priestly role, is standing by the Golden Altar. He has in his hands a golden censer, a container that is used to carry hot coals from the altar to other places. This ability will become important momentarily. This angel may, in fact, be another class of angel, those who have priestly duties in heaven. Not much more is said about that, but what is said tells us that he has priestly duties.
The job of the priest in the Old Testament was to offer the sacrificial animal on the altar on behalf of the sinner. In that position, the priest represented man to God, coming with the agreed-on sacrifice to atone for sins and other reasons as well. The priest here stands in the place of all creation that is not human to offer incense, which has in previous passages been connected with prayer. It is connected with prayer in a different way here in the next phrase.
Much incense was given to him. All creation is worshipping God by calling Him to do His will on earth as it is in heaven. And the angelic priest’s job has another step: he adds all of that incense that is symbolic to the prayers of all other created beings to the prayers of the saints. He joins the prayers of men with the prayers of all other created beings, which he then places on the Golden Altar that is before the Throne where God Himself sits with the Lamb. He offers the sacrifices of prayer of all creation to the One who will do His own will upon the earth just as it is done in heaven every unit of time that goes by in heaven.
This makes a somewhat related point about prayer. What does the priest offer on the altar? Sacrifices. Prayer is such a sacrifice. Think about it. We take our time, which for us is a finite and precious resource, and give it to God by asking Him to do things according to His will here on earth as it is done in heaven. The entirety of creation is offering sacrifice of prayer and praise here on the heavenly altar. Why? Because God involves us in His work in this way. He will do His will when and where He sees fit, but He wants our participation. He doesn’t need us, but He invites us to be a part of it if we will. Ask yourself if it is your will that He takes the earth that is rightfully His and do as He sees fit. If it is not, then you can offer the sacrifice of repentance and turn away from your will to His. If it is, you’re golden, no pun intended. And those prayers accomplish something.

4: The Smoke of the Incense

What does it accomplish? We have already briefly spoken about it, but there is more detail here to give.

4: And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.

The two things together, which we have just identified as the prayers of all of creation together, are burned up and their smoke rises together, intermingled in a perfect blend before God. The burning of an item is symbolic of it being sacrificed to God, given freely, for God to do with as He sees fit. The smoke of the incense, in particular, has a sweet and smoky odour to it, and it may or may not be pleasing to us, but it is pleasing to God. I still find it fascinating that the incense referred to here is equated here in terms of worthy sacrifice with the prayers of the saints. F. B. Meyer, in His work titled The Way Into the Holiest, his exposition on Hebrews, said: “We have been made priests unto God; but our priestly work consists in the offering of the incense of prayer and praise, and the gifts of surrendered lives.” Those prayers offered on the altar had been offered as lives completely surrendered to God as martyrs. We saw these people in the fifth seal. Although God may call us as martyrs, He also may choose to NOT call us in that manner. We should still be laying down our lives as a living sacrifice, as Paul says in Romans 12:1 – “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Whether we live or die, we live or die to the Lord, not for any other reason. “…for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Rom. 14:8)

This, in my thinking, is even represented by the angelic being acting as a priest here. The smoke rises – from the angel’s hand. The Greek says, “ἐκ χειρὸς τοῦ ἀγγέλου,” (ek cheiros tou aggelou) literally, “out of the angel’s hand.” I mention this because it does NOT imply that it is the actions of the angel that cause the smoke to rise from the altar, but rather, the angel is also acting as the altar. Charles Ellicott, Bishop of Gloucester for the Church of England and contemporary to J. C. Ryle, in his Commentary for English Readers, suggests that the column of smoke rising with the heavenly incense from the angel’s hand signifies that the prayers of these lives laid down in offering are no longer premature, and are about to be accepted. He says, “The emblem of the rising column of smoke, in which incense and prayer now mingled, is the token that the prayers of the saints, now rendered acceptable, and no longer premature, are about to be answered. These prayers of God’s people, weak and imperfect as they are, are yet invincible weapons in the hands of Christ’s soldiers, and will be found mightier than any carnal weapons. As Jericho fell without Israel needing to strike a blow, so now the Israel of God will be seen to be omnipotent through true and faithful prayer. The charter of the Church’s power is in the words of Christ: “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). The judgments that follow are not indeed specifically prayed for by the Church of Christ, but they are the results of their prayers, and prove the might of all prayer.” The fact that it comes from the angel’s own hand demonstrates the care that God has placed humanity in, and he defends it and assists it through His own supernatural means and servants. These are not the unanswered prayers of children. These are the prayers of saints laying down their wills, their very lives, their own bodies, and trusting in the Lord Jesus for the outcome. And it is about to be answered. The prayers need not be specific to have the result that God wants. We will see that in the next paragraph.

5: All the Prayers of the Universe

Earlier, I suggested that these were perhaps the prayers of all creation mixed with the prayers of those who became those living sacrifices of God, which is wholly acceptable in His service. We have that opportunity, and before I conclude this thought unit, I need to inform all our viewers of just how to do that.

What you must understand is that all of humanity has sinned before a holy and righteous God. Beginning with our first forebears, we have disobeyed God and become in our very natures radically depraved. We are completely helpless to correct that, because the thing we must pay to atone for our own misdeeds is our very life…and then we have the disobedience of the entire race to pay for as well. It is impossible for us to pay for any of it. For this reason, our Creator God became a human and remained God at the same time, according to the Bible. He lived a perfect life in obedience to the Law that He wrote, and then, at the right time, contrived events to happen so He could lay down His life as the perfect atonement for all of our sins. God was so pleased with that sacrifice that He rose from the dead, and if we will acknowledge that before Him, He will save us from His wrath. We need to do two things. The first of those is turn from our sins, also known by the bible word, repentance. Then we need to reckon that the price that He paid was paid for us personally, and that God raised Christ from the dead as a result. We call that having faith or putting your trust in Christ. IF you will do those things, then God will save you from the wrath that He has predetermined for all who will not turn to Him. If you skip on those two things, all the prayers in the universe will not only NOT save you, but it will condemn you to eternal and conscious torment, regardless of what some heretics present. I’ve read some books that should never have been written on the subject. I won’t name them or give them air time. Those prayers from the previous verse have a purpose, and we are about to see it played out.

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.

The angel that offered that prayer up before God now takes the censer, dips it into the fire on the Golden Altar, and fills it with the coals that were burning thereon. Clearly, this servant cannot be burned by the fire (the incense was offered out of his hand, remember). It is my speculation that he dipped that censer deeply into the coals because it says here that he filled it with the fire of the altar.

Then this angel servant steps over to an area where he could see the earth because he threw the contents of the censer, the fire or burning coals from the Golden Altar that is before God’s Throne, to the earth, with all of its holy fire, the results of those prayers of all creation, to burn away impurity and purify everything it will touch, which I think must be all of it.

What follows is loud peals of thunder. I suggest that this thunder is because of the flashes of lightning. God is so controlled in His ability to do these things that He can actually make lighting speak, and He will do that later in the book. There are other sounds, maybe the electrical discharge noises from the lightning, maybe the tectonic plates grinding together to make the earthquake that accompanies this holy fire being thrown over the earth. Whatever these sounds and flashes and thundering and earth-shaking are caused by, a heck of a show is being prepared for all those who will be watching from what Dr. Chuck Missler called on more than one occasion, “the mezzanine level.”

This was the opening of the seventh seal of judgement of the scroll that many believe is the title deed to all of creation. Many of these things that John describes are difficult to understand and even more difficult in their interpretation. At the same time, through various ways and means, no doubt overseen by the Holy Spirit, it has come to us in black and white. It is our responsibility as would-be Bereans to study the Scriptures to the best of our abilities and try to understand them and learn what is so. I will finish with the opening verse from our next study: “And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.”

That’s what I saw in the text this time. Next time, we will look at the first four trumpet judgments, 8:6-13. These are very powerful verses, and they seem to be happening with some increased rapidity.