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Text Sermons : Zac Poonen : (The Final Triumph) 8. Chapter 8

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Verse 1: And when He broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

With the opening of the seventh seal, the judgment of God begins to fall on the earth.

In chapter 6, we saw various riders bringing calamities on the earth. We also saw great tribulation. But we did not see any judgment being poured down FROM HEAVEN on the earth.

The church is on earth when five of the six seals are opened - wars, famine, earthquake, pestilence and persecution. But immediately before the judgments of God begin in chapter 8, we find that the church is taken up in chapter 7. And the God-fearing Jews are sealed and protected.

As soon as the seventh seal is opened, there is silence in heaven.

Silence - even for 30 minutes - is so unusual in heaven that it has to be recorded, because the normal atmosphere of heaven is one where praise is rising up to God continuously like the noise of thunders and mighty rivers. John wonders what is happening when everything is quiet.

But here is the reason for the silence: In Isaiah 28:21, 22, the Lord's decision to carry out "decisive destruction on all the earth," is described as His "unusual task" and "extraordinary work". Judgment is not God's usual task or His ordinary work. It is a strange work for God. It is not something He delights in. It is something strange and foreign to Him. It is almost as though God is waiting and saying, "I wish the people would repent, so that I won't have to judge them at all."

That is why there is silence. God is not willing that any should perish. His longsuffering is waiting for all men to repent. And there is a pause in heaven. God waits even today, for people to repent before the final judgment comes.

In Revelation 6, we saw Jesus opening a scroll. Here we see that scroll fully unrolled - with the opening of the last seal. Until now it was only partially unrolled.

In Luke 4:16, 17 we see Jesus opening another scroll - the scroll of the book of Isaiah - in the synagogue in Nazareth. He found the place where Isaiah 61:1 & 2 were written and began to read. But he stopped before the end of the second verse. If you compare Luke 4:18, 19 with Isaiah 61:1, 2, you will find one significant difference. What Jesus read was,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favourable year of the Lord.
Jesus stopped there and did not read the next sentence about "the day of vengeance (of judgment) of our God". Notice here that it speaks of the favourable YEAR of the Lord - 365 days of favour - and the DAY - just 24 hours - of vengeance (judgment)! God is both kind and severe. But His kindness is 365 times greater than His severity! That is how He wants us to be too.

The Lord is also trying to impress upon us here that He is longsuffering and patient and that the age of grace is a long, long period. Jesus stopped with "the favourable year" - the year of grace that has now extended for nearly 2000 years. And then He left the rest unread and rolled up the scroll (Luke 4:20).

But when we come to Revelation 8:1, we see that God has waited long enough - 2000 years. But He still waits for a little more time here. One day is with the Lord as 1000 years. So the 30 minutes of silence would be about 20 years. God waits. He is waiting so that people will repent. But finally when they don't, then Jesus opens up the rest of the scroll and reads that last sentence too: "The day of vengeance of our God has come."

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

We need not think of the seven trumpets as seven different trumpets. When we saw the seven lamps of fire, which typified the seven Spirits of God (Revelation 4:5), we saw that they were not seven different Holy Spirits but the seven-fold Holy Spirit. Even so here, this is one trumpet - the last trumpet - seven-fold in its duration.

The significance of this trumpet is seen in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52: "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep (we shall not all die; some will die, but not all), but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet (when the church is raptured)."

What we read in Revelation 8:2, is the beginning of that last. seven-fold trumpet. That trumpet will sound and "the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52), as we saw in Revelation 7. The last trumpet sounds immediately after the great tribulation, and the church is caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

When the last trumpet is blown, in the twinkling of an eye (and how long does it take to blink) in a moment, we will be transformed and we will be gone from the earth. And as soon as the church is gone, the judgments will begin to fall on the earth.

In Numbers 10 we see seven reasons why trumpets were used in the camp of Israel. We can relate those to the sevenfold trumpet here:

To summon the congregation (verse 2). To call the church to meet the Lord in the air.
To make the camps set out on a journey (verse 2). The last journey the church will make will be from earth up to the presence of the Lord in the air.
To blow an alarm (verse 5). To inform the world that something serious is about to happen.
To indicate that a war has begun (verse 9). The war between God and ungodly people (headed by the Antichrist) has begun.
To indicate a day of gladness (verse 10). The church is full of gladness because she is going to see her Lord face to face.
To proclaim a feast (verse 10). The marriage feast of the Lamb has begun.
To proclaim the first day of the month (verse 10). The church is making a new beginning.
Verses 3, 4: And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand.

We saw earlier in Revelation 5:8, about the prayers of the saints accomplishing something. We see it again here in Revelation 8:3 - especially this prayer, "Our Father, let Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven". People have prayed that prayer for hundreds and hundreds of years. It is now going to be answered.

Incense was added to the prayers of the saints. The incense is the Name of Jesus Christ. That Name is "like ointment poured forth" (Song of Solomon 1:3), like a sweet smelling incense. It is when that Name is added to our prayers that our prayers ascend before the Father and bring an answer. I am not referring to a meaningless repetition of the Name of Jesus, but a spiritual entering in, to the value and the worth there is in that Name, because of Who He is and what He has done for us on Calvary's cross. In that Name, we are acceptable to God.

By itself, our prayers cannot ascend before God. But when we come in the Name of Jesus Christ, our prayers are accepted by the Father - just as much as Jesus' own prayers were accepted by Him.

As soon as these prayers ascend - the multiplied prayers of millions of saints in thousands of years - the result is seen in Revelation 8:5. There is an immediate answer.

Verse 5: And the angel took the censer; and he 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.

This is symbolic language to teach us that although God waited for a long time to answer those many prayers of ours, when He does begin to answer them, it is going to be quick and powerful! And He will do a mighty job and a thorough job!

If He waits and waits, it is only because He is very patient with unrepentant sinners.

Verses 6, 7: And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. And 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 burnt up, and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up.

The first judgment destroys the greenery and the forests on earth, causing ecological and environmental problems for man.

Verses 8, 9: And the second angel sounded and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown down into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood and a third of the creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The second judgment pollutes the sea and kills millions of fish.

Verses 10, 11: And the third angel sounded, and a great star fell down from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters; and 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.

The third judgment poisons the water-springs and rivers on earth.

In Jeremiah 9:13-15, the Lord says,

Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after their idols, therefore I will feed the people with Wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink".
The reason for this judgment is man's stubbornness, idolatry and disobedience.

In Jeremiah 23:9-15, the Lord says,

As for the prophets....he land is full of adulterers....oth prophet and priest are polluted....mong the prophets I have seen a horrible thing....ommitting adultery, and walking in falsehood and they strengthen the hands of evildoers....herefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets, 'I am going to feed them Wormwood.'
The preachers were living in sin and not turning the people away from their sins. This is the condition of a lot of Christendom today. So God decides to feed them with Wormwood too.

This star could possibly also refer to a fallen angel, a demon named 'Wormwood' that is permitted to torture and trouble people.

Verse 12: And the fourth angel sounded and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten, so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

Here we see God's judgment preventing the heavenly bodies from giving light on the earth.

These four judgments that fall on the earth are similar in many ways to the plagues that God sent on Egypt. But notice here the fact that only one-third of each category is affected by the judgments. God is gracious. He is still waiting, hoping that some will turn from their sins. He does not want to bring a total end to everything in one blow.

Verse 13: And I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying 'Woe, woe, woe, to those who dwell on the earth, of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound.

Notice that the woes are pronounced on "earth-dwellers" - that is, on those whose minds are set on things below, whose interests are on this earth.

If you call yourself a believer, and yet your interests are on this earth, then this woe applies to you.

A true disciple of Jesus will have his mind set on the things above. This world is not his home and he is a pilgrim and a stranger here. The judgments of God are for those who have made their permanent home on this earth.





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