LESSON EIGHT. CHAPTERS 8-9
Trumpets. Judging False Worship and False gods.
With the breaking of the last seal and the sounding of the trumpets John now witnesses the systematic judgment of each area of creation. The facets of creation and the devices of mankind that have been worshipped instead of the Creator are all now demonstrated to be unworthy of worship and subject to God's will. The judgments are shown to be a result of the "fire of the altar" (8:5). God should have been worshipped, not the creation, and that worship should have exhibited the value of the Lamb's sacrifice. The rejected altar, where grace was to be found, now becomes the source of judgment. The fire of the altar that was meant to consume the sacrifice, now paradoxically consumes that which was regarded as more valuable than the sacrifice provided by God, the Lamb. Chapter 8 focuses on the calamities that fall on the inanimate creation: earth, sea, fresh waters, luminaries; chapter 9 focuses on the judgments that fall on the devices of mankind.
Revelation 8
8 And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and there were given to them seven trumpets. 3 And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. 5 And the angel took the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
7 And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9 and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they who had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed. 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; 11 and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner. 13 And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for those who dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound.
The seventh seal, the altar and the trumpets.
When the seventh seal is broken there is silence in heaven. With the scroll now open and the beginning of the redemption now imminent, the heavenly host respond with reverential silence.
Trumpets are given to "the seven angels who stand before God," but they do not sound the trumpets until a ceremony is performed by another angel at the altar before God's throne. In this altar scene we are taught a connection between the prayers of saints and the judgments to come. The censer used by the angel to present the prayers of true worshippers is the same censer then used to throw fire from the altar to earth. The meaning here is not unlike that which we found at the scene of the saints "under the altar" (6:9-10) who cry out for vindication. Grace rejected becomes a demand for justice.
The ceremony at the altar before the sounding of the trumpets also brings to light the fact that the events of the trumpets amount to acts of worship by God's angels.
First Trumpet sounds
The earth, and the provisions for life from it, are first targeted. Mankind's ill-founded dependence on the creation, rather than the Creator, is now being judged.
Hail and fire mixed with blood are thrown to the earth. Some suggest that the "hail" is hail and the "fire" is lightning, but the word for "lightning" is not used here.89 It is true that hail and lightning occur together in weather disturbances, but they are not "mixed with blood" (8:7).90
The sense of what is happening here is better explained by the scene at the altar just observed. There, an angel threw "the fire of the altar" to the earth. Since the altar is the place where the sacrifice was burned, the burning remains on the altar are "mixed with blood." Therefore, (1) the meaning of the words and (2) the scene at the altar drive us to conclude that this is not hail and lightning mixed with blood-colored rain. This is apparently hail and the burning debris and remains from saints, now raining down through the atmosphere following their recent cataclysmic slaughter.91
As the contents of the altar are "thrown to the earth," a terrible fire results. "A third of the earth, ...a third of the trees, and all the green grass..." are consumed by fire. The fact that the judgments of the trumpets involve "thirds," is apparently explained later when we understand from chapter 12 that the saints initially slaughtered (chap. 6) amounted to a third of the living saints.92 God responds graphically in "kind" to the slaughter of His saints.
This first judgment targets the "earth" and the things of the earth. Here we see God systematically expressing dominion over His creation, while making it apparent that the creation is not worthy to be worshipped. "Those who dwell on the earth," earth-lovers rather than lovers of God, are in for loss of their gods.
Second Trumpet sounds
The ocean and the things of value related to it are now judged. Something like a great burning mountain is thrown into the sea. This may be John's description of a volcanic action, but if so, it is greater in magnitude than any volcano in history.
Mountains throughout the Bible are often synonymous with kingdoms.93 In this event God may be graphically stating that He establishes and brings down kingdoms. The kingdom that depends upon the commerce of the sea, rather than God, will be finally one with her god.
Third Trumpet sounds
John now sees a great burning "star" which "falls from heaven" and poisons one-third of the fresh water supply.
In this actual event, God is apparently again making a graphic statement about the source of mankind's life and the cause of his death. We are reminded here that another fallen "star," whose words we trusted instead of God, had poisoned the water of life and killed mankind.
The Lord Jesus had also used an incident involving water to teach that, "...whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst...[it] shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life" (John 4:14).
Fourth Trumpet sounds
John now observes that mankind's source of light is reduced by one-third. It seems likely that the calamities of the previous trumpets and sixth seal have had the effect of reducing by one-third the available light from heavenly bodies (sun, moon stars).
Those who had come to regard themselves as the evolutionary offspring of the stars, who failed to worship the Creator of light (Gen. 1:3), are now reminded that the stars are not God. The One who said, "...I am the light of the world" (John 9:5) now turns down the created lights to draw attention to the true light.
Following the sounding of the fourth trumpet, but before the sounding of the fifth trumpet, a bird of prey94 announces from mid-heaven three "woes" that are yet to come with the next three trumpets upon "those who dwell upon the earth" (8:13). We have previously noted that these earth-dwellers are a particular group, whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life (13:8, 17:8).
These coming "woes" are different than the preceding trumpets because the focus of judgment is now upon the devices of mankind that are worshipped by man.
Revelation 9
9 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen to the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. 2 And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3 And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a man. 6 And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it; and they shall desire to die, and death flees from them. 7 And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like to gold, and their faces were as men’s faces. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as teeth of lions. 9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war. 10 And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months. 11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to the sixth angel who had one trumpet, Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were released, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men. 16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceeds fire and smoke and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like to serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt. 20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk: 21 and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Fifth Trumpet sounds
As the fifth angel sounds, the focus shifts to a "star" which had "fallen"95 to the earth and received the key to the bottomless pit. The metaphor is presented in such a way as to suggest that the "star" is a fallen angel. In stark contrast to the light-bearing role of an angel in heaven, this one now opens a pit that brings forth a dense smoke resulting in darkness. It seems apparent that Satan is being described here. The smoke he releases from the abyss of the earth graphically portrays his deception. Paradoxically, the pit he opens will later become his prison for a thousand years (20:1-3).96
Out of the smoke come locusts that have a stinging power somewhat like scorpions. Their plague is not upon plants, but is directed toward stinging and torturing people.97
The length of suffering from the sting of these locusts is five months. This "five months" apparently represents another measure of one-third, as in the other trumpet judgments, but is expressed in this manner because the subject judged is the worship of longevity.98 The five months thus apparently represents one-third of their remaining lives.
Here we must stop and notice that although John is apparently describing actual living beings, these living beings are especially designed to teach the earth-dwellers the consequences of worshipping the devices of man rather than God. Each of their physical features exhibits something of mankind that has been valued above God. Their physical appearance speaks of (1) war-making ("horses prepared for battle"), (2) regal dominion ("crowns like gold"), (3) human ingenuity ("faces were like the faces of men"), (4) physical beauty ("hair like the hair of women"), (5) ferocity ("teeth were like of lions"), (6) military defense ("breastplates like breastplates of iron"), (7) fear-inspiring aspect ("sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle") (8) offensive ability ("tails like scorpions, and stings ... to hurt men for five months").
Review this teaching picture. The devices worshipped by earth-dwelling mankind rise as torturous vermin out of darkness, out of the pit of the earth, by the enabling hand of their false god to make men hate life and seek death. That which Satan had deceptively claimed would produce life, causes only pain and suffering.
The closing comment says it all.99 These suffering men chose the wrong throne, the wrong king. Their king is Abaddon ("destruction"), Apollyon ("destroyer").100 Life comes only from the throne of the Creator who redeems and provides for His own through the Lamb.
Sixth Trumpet sounds
At the sounding of the sixth trumpet John hears a voice from "the four horns of the golden altar which is before God" (9:13). Since "horn" is synonymous with "power" in the Bible, the voice that speaks, represents the power of the altar, sacrifice. The voice from the altar gives instructions to four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.
In order to understand the instructions to the four angels, we must first understand the symbolic role of the river Euphrates. The search for meaning begins in the book of Genesis.
The Euphrates River and Babylon
In Genesis, four rivers, including the Euphrates, are mentioned as branching out from the river that "flowed out of Eden" (Gen. 2:10-14). We learn that each river was related to a particular land, except the Euphrates river. Later, after the fall of man and his expulsion from the garden, the city of Babylon grows at the Euphrates. Early Babel, and later Babylon would subsequently become the type and "mother" of godless cities that represent the ungodly world. In Revelation, "Babylon the Great" is the name assigned to the godless institution of the city finally judged and destroyed by God (Rev. 17-18).
The great river, Euphrates, was the source of life for the ancient great city, Babylon. In Revelation, the Euphrates thus symbolizes that which gives life to the godless institution of the city which is symbolically named Babylon. Just as the altar supplies power for the holy city (the community of the saints), so the Euphrates supplies power to the great city (the community of the unholy).
Thus, the present scene only becomes sensible to us when we understand that the power of life for God's people, "the altar," is addressing judgment against "the Euphrates," the power of life for the ungodly nations.
Euphrates, brute force, "the sword"
In light of this explanation, notice that the Euphrates simply portrays the principle that brute force is the means through which men are able to live in community. The "Euphrates" says that the differences between the wills of different people are resolved by force. Thus when the four angels bound at the Euphrates are released, the picture is of brute force and its results, "...armies of the horsemen...two hundred million..." going out to kill a third of mankind (9:15-16).101
Opposite Powers: The Altar and The Euphrates
The godless nations of mankind have no ability to exist apart from the power of brute force. Whereas the community of God's people are held together by the Lamb's sacrifice and the continuing sacrificed lives of saints, the unholy community, living by the principle of selfishness and competition, must rely on the continual use of brute force.
Angels released by the altar.
John sees that the four angels bound at the Euphrates are released by a voice from the four horns of the altar. Thus, that which had bound the angels was the altar. The picture that began with the saints under the altar in the fifth seal, then developed further at the altar scene preceding the first trumpet, is now developed with more detail. We are brought to the understanding that the slaughter of the saints (lives placed upon the altar) has the net effect of releasing the messengers (angels) of the Euphrates to exercise their power, killing. The presence of the saints on the earth before their slaughter had restrained the messengers bound in the Euphrates. But now brute force has a free hand.
The fact that John sees the angels bound for "...the hour and day and month and year..." is simply notice that what he witnesses is inevitable, is inherent in the Euphrates. The Lord Jesus reported this very truth when He was arrested. There, as He prepared to demonstrate the power of the altar (at the cross), He had to rebuke Peter's attempt to live by the sword. The Lord Jesus said, "...all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword" (Matt. 26:52).
Now released, the armies of two hundred million kill one-third of mankind. John, writing at a time before gunpowder and modern weapons, uses his terms to describe warfare in our times (tanks and guns?).
Epilogue: No repentance from false worship
Following the sixth trumpet John simply observes that those who were not killed by the plagues did not repent of worshipping false gods.
Lesson Nine: The Two Witnesses