Revelation 8

Revelation 8:1

E. The Seventh Seal and the Start of the Seven Trumpets (Chaps. 8, 9) 8:1 After the parenthesis of chapter 7, in which we saw two companies of Tribulation saints, we now come to the seventh and final seal. This is introduced by a thirty-minute silence in heaven, an awesome hush which precedes ever-deepening judgments. 8:2 No specific judgment is mentioned when the seventh seal is broken. The narrative moves directly to seven trumpet judgments. From this we infer that the seventh seal consists of the seven trumpets. 8:3, 4 The angel in this verse is often understood to be the Lord Jesus. He is called the Angel of Jehovah in the OT (Gen_16:13; Gen_31:11, Gen_31:13; Jdg_6:22; Hos_12:3-4). The prayers of all the saints ascend to the Father through Him (Eph_2:18). He takes much incense to offer it with the prayers. The incense speaks of the fragrance of His Person and work. By the time the prayers reach God the Father, they are perfectly flawless and perfectly effectual. In the context, the prayers are those of Tribulation saints, beseeching God to punish their enemies, although the order is true of all prayer. 8:5 In answer to their prayers, the angel … threw flaming coals to the earth, causing loud explosions, thunderings, lightnings and an earthquake. As H. B. Swete says, The prayers of the saints return to the earth in wrath. Thus the seven trumpet judgments are introduced with violent disturbances of nature. 8:6 We have now come to the middle of the Tribulation. These trumpet judgments take us on to the time when Christ descends to the earth, destroys His foes, and ushers in His kingdom. The first four judgments affect man’s natural environment; the last three affect man himself. Many commentators note the resemblance between these plagues and the ones which fell on Egypt (Exodus 7-12). 8:7 When the first angel sounded, a third part of the earth (NKJV margin), trees, and grass were burned up by hail and fire … mingled with blood. It is best to take this literally as a terrible calamity on the areas from which man gets most of his food. 8:8, 9 Something like a great flaming mountain … was thrown into the sea, turning a third of the sea into blood, destroying a third of the marine life, and wrecking a third of the ships. This would not only decrease man’s local food supply still further but would reduce his means of obtaining food from distant places. 8:10, 11 This third trumpet signaled the fall of a blazing star called Wormwood, causing a third of man’s water supply to become bitter at its sources. Apparently the bitter water was also poisonous, since many men died. It is difficult to identify Wormwood. When the trumpet sounds, these verses will be all too clear to earth-dwellers. In the study of prophecy, it is good to remember that there are many things that will not be clear until they actually take place. 8:12 It appears that the sun, … moon, and stars will be damaged in such a way that they will give only two-thirds of their usual light. This fourth trumpet resembles the plague of darkness in Egypt. 8:13 An eagle (NKJV margin) flying in mid-heaven pronounces a threefold woe to the inhabitants of the earth, that is, those whose outlook is utterly worldly, who are at home on the earth, who are not true believers. The three remaining judgments are also known as three woes because of their dire effect on men.