The Seventh Seal - Revelation 8:1-6
INTRODUCTION:
Several weeks ago we watched through the eyes of John the apostle as the Lord Jesus Christ, the central figure of this amazing book, the Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the only worthy One as He took from the hand of God the Father the seven-sealed scroll, the title deed of all creation, and we watched as He began to break the seals of judgment from the scroll, we saw the four horsemen of the apocalypse come forth from the first four seals, we saw the praying martyrs under the altar in the fifth seal, we saw the earthquake and all the terror that came with it as the creation of God was used in judgment against the earth and the question was asked concerning the wrath of Him who sits on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb, “…who is able to stand?” Last week in chapter 7 that question was answered, two groups will be able to stand; the 144,000 Israelites sealed for God’s service on the earth, to serve as God’s witness throughout the tribulation and they are protected by God and will live through the tribulation and usher in the earthly kingdom of Jesus Christ, and the multitude from every nation, from all tribes, peoples and languages who will put their faith in Jesus Christ, believing that His death on the cross paid the price required for their sins to be forgiven, that He was buried and rose from the dead three days later. This multitude will live into the tribulation, be redeemed during the tribulation and come out of the tribulation through death, mostly being martyred, hunted and killed by the Antichrist and his followers.
This morning we will see the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, break the seventh and final seal on the scroll and within this seal or possibly written on the scroll are the rest of the judgments that are to come, the seven trumpet judgments, with the seventh trumpet containing the seven bowl judgments. These last two sets of judgments will carry us to the end of the tribulation and bring us to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to set up His millennial kingdom and to destroy the Antichrist and His followers. Let’s pray and then get into our text for this morning.
--PRAY--
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Revelation 8:1-13 and we will see how far we get this morning. Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of God’s Word. Follow along as I read.
Revelation 8:1-13,
“When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 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. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. 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. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. 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 burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. 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 fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!’” (Revelation 8:1–13, NASB95)[1]
THE SEVENTH SEAL BROKEN (Revelation 8:1-2)
The apostle John’s eyes are again drawn to the Lamb and he watched as the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, broke the seventh and final seal from the scroll, the title deed of the earth, and John says that a hush fell over heaven, complete silence John says for about a half an hour. Up to this point there had been plenty of noise in heaven. Beginning in chapter 4 John had spoken of the sounds and peals of thunder coming from the throne, he spoke of the unceasing praise of the four living beings and the voices of the elders and the angels as they worshiped God on His throne and the Lamb just to name a few of the sounds that John heard, but now there is none of that as the seal is broken and the scroll unrolls and the judgment becomes visible, heaven becomes silent. All heaven faces the reality of the future destruction they see written on the scroll and they answer with the silence of foreboding and awe at what God is about to do. It is like the lull before the storm.
Understand that in eternity time does not exist, but for John who is seeing this vision in the eternal heaven time does exist, and for John as each minute of that half hour of silence ticked by it must have increased his sense of suspense. This vast crowd around the throne and the Lamb which had been filling heaven with loud praise had become strangely still. God’s direct judgment on sinful mankind is about to begin and all heaven is waiting silently in great expectancy. What thoughts filled John’s mind during this half hour of silence? As I read this verse I thought it would be an awful and terrifying thing to fall under the judgment of the righteous and holy God, who had been long-suffering as evil has prevailed on the earth. The time for judgment has come. With the breaking of the seventh seal, the rest of the book of Revelation unfolds, under the seventh seal or within the scroll lies the judgment of God. At the breaking of the seventh seal the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments come forth, they lie under the seal and are a part of it. With the breaking of the seventh seal final and complete judgment is brought forth.
Following that half hour of silence John says that he saw the seven angels that stand before God. John says this as if we should know that they are there. These seven angels seem to be set apart from the rest of the angels that are surrounding the elders and the four living beings and the throne and the Lamb. This group of seven seems to be a unique group. The Greek word translated “stand” indicates that they were in the presence of God and had been there for a time. Scripture describes various ranks and orders of angels it speaks of cherubim, seraphim, archangels, thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities and powers. I have listed some verses on your bulletin insert where these different ranks and orders can be found (Genesis 3:24; Isaiah 6:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9; Colossians 1:16; Ephesians 6:12). The seven mentioned here seem to be one such order of high-ranking angels. Possibly Gabriel is one of them, remember what he said when he appeared before Zacharias to announce to him the upcoming birth of John the Baptist? In Luke 1:19 it says, “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.’” (Luke 1:19, NASB95)[2] These angels are standing in God’s presence prepared to carry out God’s orders. As John watched these seven were given seven trumpets, in preparation for the trumpet judgments that would soon begin. As in the seal judgments and as we will see in the bowl judgments, angels participate in the judgments of God. Jesus taught through His parables that angels would have a significant role in His future judgments.
As we will see each of the trumpets will unleash a judgment of greater intensity then the six seals, but not as destructive as the seven bowl judgments. The first four trumpets unleashed on the earth will destroy the earth’s ecology. These first four may be related to the four winds being held back by the four angels in the beginning of chapter 7.
Having received the seven trumpets, the angels did not immediately blow them. Before they blow them, they must wait for another important event to take place.
ANOTHER ANGEL (Revelation 8:3-6)
John tells us in verse three that another angel came and stood at the altar of incense. This is not one of the seven, but another angel. Some identify this angel as Jesus Christ, fulfilling His role as high priest, but I find this unlikely for four reasons: (1) Jesus Christ is already identified in this heavenly vision as the Lamb; (2) Nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus Christ identified as an angel, He appeared this way in the Old Testament before His incarnation; (3) The angel in verse 3 is described as another of the same kind, like the seven angels in verse 2; and (4) Everywhere that Jesus appears in the book of Revelation He is clearly identified. If He were the One at the altar, He would have been specifically identified for us, and not just simply called another angel.
This altar before which this angel is standing is the heavenly counterpart to the altar of incense in the temple and in the tabernacle, which also was overlaid with gold, Isaiah saw the same golden incense altar in his vision of heaven. The fact that this altar is before the throne is further assurance to John’s readers that the altar of incense was the earthly counterpart to this heavenly incense altar, because the earthly incense altar in the tabernacle and the temple was the nearest thing to the Holy of Holies where God’s glory dwelt and here we find this heavenly altar of incense before God’s throne where God’s glory dwells. Furthermore, the fact that the angel is holding a censor or firepan of hot coals is consistent with the Old Testament where the priest two times a day would take fiery, hot coals from the bronze altar into the holy place and place them on the altar of incense. Then we are told that the angel was given incense that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar. Not one prayer has been forgotten, each one in its time will have its effect in bringing about the Lord’s return. The incense represents the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary which thus added to the prayers of the saints makes them well pleasing to God. John says that the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God from the angel’s hand. Those prayers were for Satan to be destroyed, for sin to be judged and defeated, for the deaths of the martyrs to be avenged, and for Christ to come. During Jesus’ earthly ministry His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he had given them a model prayer which we can use as an outline of how we pray, we call it the Lord’s prayer, but actually it would better to be called the model prayer for the disciples. In that prayer Jesus instructs us to pray for His return and for Him to establish His kingdom on earth, as it is established in heaven. These prayers are the prayers of the martyrs and the prayers of the believers in the great tribulation, praying that God would judge their persecutors and all who blaspheme God and Christ in that time. These are the prayers of all the saints down through the ages that have prayed for Christ’s return.
John then writes, “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.” (Revelation 8:5, NASB95)[3] This golden censer usually linked with the prayers of the saints, becomes here a symbol of divine wrath. This act of throwing the censer full of burning coals and incense from the altar to the earth reveals to us that God’s judgment on the earth will be in direct response to those prayers. The cumulative effect of the prayers of innumerable righteous men will be very powerful. James tells us in his epistle that the prayers of a righteous man can accomplish much (James 5:16).
John tells us that the immediate effect of this censer full of fiery, hot coals and incense as it bursts upon the earth are peals of thunders, sounds, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. The peals of thunder, sounds, and flashes of lightning are associated with the awesome majesty of God’s glorious throne in heaven. Remember John had told us in chapter four where he describes God’s judgment throne in verse 5 he wrote, “Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.” (Revelation 4:5a, NASB95)[4] This tells us that God’s wrath is about to be poured forth on the earth in righteous judgment. No specific details are recorded for us about the earthquake, but it was again a reminder to those who dwell on the earth that God is in control, they need to repent, or they will continue to experience God’s wrath against their sin.
John tells us in verse 6 of chapter 8 that the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. They lifted them to their lips now that God had heard the prayers of all the saints and was going to respond with His judgment. Everything is set, God in response to the prayers of all the saints is going to pour out His wrath against sin on the earth. The judgment of the trumpets and the bowls will be devastating and directed by God and the Lamb, the result of these judgments will be the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth where He will triumph over His enemies and He will set up His millennial kingdom and reign as King of kings over the earth from His throne in Jerusalem. The seven angels are poised to sound their trumpets.
I am going to stop here this morning. I know that this was a little shorter, I had hoped to get through the first 4 trumpets this morning as well, but there is no way I could cover them and do them well if I tried to now and they need to be handled as a set, so we will cover them next week.
This morning as we think back over what we have just heard in these first six verses from chapter 8, what is it that we can take home with us by way of application? There are two things that I would like to mention. As John watched the Lamb break open the seventh and final seal from the scroll, all of heaven fell silent for about a half hour. Those gathered in heaven around the throne and the Lamb understood the seriousness of God’s judgment and the wrath that He has toward sin. Brothers and sisters let us never take the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus lightly, as we see God judge the earth for sin in this book we realize how horrid and detestable our sin is in God’s sight, yet in His love He let His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. If we understand this, then we begin to realize how precious our salvation truly is and our study of the end times and how God is going to judge sin should cause us to seek to live pure and holy lives knowing that Jesus Christ can return at any time, at any moment. Consider that in everything you do this week, in every conversation you are in, in every thought that you allow your mind to take time to ponder. Maybe you have never experienced the wonderful salvation that is available to us from God, you can this morning, it is a free gift of God’s grace. It is yours when you agree with God that you are a sinner and you have nothing to offer God, but you believe that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross paid the price for your sin, you believe He was buried proving He was dead, and that three days later He rose from the dead, proof that He had conquered forever sin and death. If you believe this your sins are forgiven and you have the promise of eternal life, you have escaped the judgment of God that is coming.
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995