“HE WILL REIGN FOR EVER AND EVER”
Revelation 8:6-11:19
Revelation 8_6-11_19Slides
Key Verse: 11:15
“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
Now the revelation study turns to some mysterious scenes of tragedies and victories that we have a hard time understanding, even imagining. Several scenes with judgments and seemingly physical impossibilities, also angelic interventions only leave us amazed. Over the years scholars and leaders tried to explain all these things in so many different ways but they might all be wrong. After reading many interpretations it would be so nice if the idea that all these things are explained by Roman imperialist efforts against Jews of long ago were correct. That would mean the terrifying scenes will not literally occur and humans won’t have to suffer such horrors. On the other extreme however, if these things are yet to be, they describe supernatural, just judgments on the world as it goes farther and farther from God. In either case, thankfully, there are hopeful scenes, some who get the message and even victorious key verses declaring God and our Lord the winner and rulers over all. Let’s pray the scenes can inspire us to do what is right before God and in support of his Christ.
SLIDE altar and angels
The first part shows another scene in heaven. The seven angels receive their trumpets and one more angel conducts a worship offering. Thank God for two trumpeters and other orchestra members who make our worship service very happy thanks to the musical enhancements. I’m thankful their music is not causing havoc in the world yet too. The worship scene John describes seems very solemn, resembling a tabernacle sort of offering. The angel brings incense and offers it with the prayers of the saints. The prayers of the saints were heard and soon to be accomplished. According to the key verse, if this scene is the beginning of the end, then the prayers offered might be a culmination of countless saints praying many centuries and even singing Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let’s not think our prayers are meaningless rituals. They are rising to God’s throne and the angels are preparing them to accomplish his plan. We might expect the attendants to sound their trumpets after the offering so the worshipers might know they may head out now. But there was a strange change in plans.
SLIDE censer
The ministering angel proceeded to fill the censer with fire and hurled it to earth. As it appeared through the sky it caused an atmospheric disruption of thunder and lightning and an earthquake shook the earth. It seems to be a prelude, or wake up call to earth. Next, as the first four angels sound their trumpets, several very hard to imagine things occur. These cause devastating cataclysmic events that would make a dreadful mess of the world if they occur rapidly.
SLIDE forests
First hail and fire mixed with blood burn up one third of all trees and all the green grass of earth. I wondered if that is even realistic and asked google how much area those consumable spaces are. It was a surprise to see mathematically, a ratio of grassland + forested area could equal 1/3rd of the earth. When some wildfires burn now the effects are devastating. Property is ruined, natures critters suffer and die, and air quality becomes very dangerous. This kind of worldwide inferno would destroy and harm a huge amount of wildlife and the air all over the world would be affected.
SLIDE ship map
The second angel’s trumpet sent a burning mountain like object into the sea, turning 1/3rd of the sea to blood and destroying 1/3rd of all ships. It is hard to imagine what this might be like. There is an estimate that almost 300,000 ships are on the sea in a day. They are registered internationally with the intention of being tracked in case something goes wrong and other motives. Can we even imagine 100,000 ships destroyed in a single disaster? How is it even possible?
SLIDE Mountain description
Wikipedia thinks a small-size mountain is between 1000 and 1500 meters high. So this gives an idea to use for scale and think about. (SLIDE Asteroid) And there is an asteroid in our solar system that is estimated to be about 1300m wide. (SLIDE 100m waves) Estimates for damage caused by that rock hitting the Atlantic ocean guess it could send waves as much as 100m high to coasts of north and south America and Europe. (SLIDE Japan) A bad case in recent history hit Japan after a large undersea earthquake sent waves with a maximum 40m height. The damage was horrifying and many ships were sent inland and so much destruction followed. What could a HUGE mountain size object do? (SLIDE sandwich islands) Everest-sized mountains are more than 4500m high. So, almost three times the power. The waves produced by such an object falling from heaven to the sea would smash a lot of ships up against the shores of many places. Life as we know it would be very bleak. Possibly no port major port on the coasts could remain open.
SLIDE wormwood
When the third angel sounded the trumpet the fresh waters that people drink were infected, becoming deadly. This scene is more difficult to imagine because getting one poison into all the fresh waters is not simple. Perhaps the only physical way this could play out is a leak into the sky of some chemical or pathogen that comes down in rain as fine dust, making 1/3rd of the waters deadly. In 2022 some scientist declared that rain all over the earth is already infected by chemicals that may accumulate in our organs that will likely have bad health effects in the future. The divine judgment version won’t be a slow infection though. Whatever lands in the waters will spread through a third of rivers and springs, so more like a bacterial pathogen or strangely fast spreading plant life that kills those who drink it. The slide shows a picture of a wormwood plant. In case anyone wondered what that is. It produces a chemical that can be poisonous if consumed in large quantities. It might be depicted in English bibles because the Greek word for the star seems to have a similar name with the scientific plant name (absinth).
SLIDE dark around earth
The fourth angel’s trumpet causes two very difficult to imagine phenomena. A third of day and night turn dark and an eagle is seen talking in the sky. If we imagine a yearly equinox when the day and night are each 12 hours long we can guess about 8 hours blackout, 4 daylight and 4 night sky. Something turns off the sun and stars or completely blocks them over a short time. If it represents a rolling blackout, the whole earth would experience total blackness from 2pm till 10pm hours of complete darkness as their part of earth moved into the obstructed zone. Or there would be an 8 hour span of darkness over the whole earth. The slide shows a shot of the recent eclipse where the moon’s shadow covers a small part of the earth. There is no natural or man made device that we can imagine now that could cover all the visible light for just a short time. So this scene is probably a glimpse of a supernatural event like the darkness that struck Egypt in a plague or the sun hiding as Jesus hung on the cross. Coming out of the darkness, we wonder if everyone will hear the voice of an actual bird or an advanced kind of flying machine or even a divine apparition. The message should give everyone a chilling wake up call though.
SLIDE 9v1
At this point earth must bear little resemblance to the thing we are living on. Mountains and islands have been moved and collapsed, then fires and tsunamis devastated the continents. Yet the time of God’s wrath is just getting started. When the fifth angel sounds the trumpet one of the heavenly stars that had fallen in chapter 6 unlocks the way to the abyss and a great amount of smoke again fills the sky. Considering the abyss is in a purely natural sense is difficult. Something like a sinkhole or supervolcano or an out of control oil field on fire comes to mind but they seem shy of the Bible concept of an abyss mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. In Luke’s gospel the demons were afraid of being cast into the abyss so it is commonly thought of as a prison-like situation where demons are corralled and restrained. So opening the way there is hard to imagine since it seems to intersect dimensions. (SLIDE locusts close up) The most inexplicable thing however, is that no natural explanation exists for the locusts that torment the people for five months. Perhaps in the future something like a failed genetic modification experiment might result in such a creature. Our technological skill is not quite there yet, but it is certain that we have imagined the possibilities of using insects in similar ways. (SLIDE divine locusts) Maybe it is better to consider these creatures an entirely unique creation sent by god as an utterly unmistakable sign of the times. The fact that an angel rules over them strongly hints toward a purely divine origin for this painful situation. Being stung, the people suffer agony for five months. They will have a miserable time trying to avoid getting stung and they will suffer terribly from complaining kids and grumpy friends who cry out in pain all day long. It says they would be wishing they could die but will be unable. That may be the strangest effect, as if the venom renders them incapable of dying from other means. Maybe they are even paralyzed so they cannot even commit suicide, and have to endure their agony. They might try starving to death by refusing to eat, but it sounds like it won’t work. It should be clear evidence of God’s prophetic plan in motion.
SLIDE v13-16
The next scene occurring with the sixth angel’s trumpet is unusual like the locust but more severe because the creatures attack with deadly results. A voice called out to release four angels that were kept ready to kill a third of mankind. They command two hundred million mounted troops. (SLIDE mlitary numbers) This is almost inconceivable in comparison with modern military population statistics. Adding up a list of the 10 largest active & reserve militaries of our time is only just over twenty-five million troops. How about their mounts? (SLIDE horses) Even the estimated number of horses in the world is just 60 million. Who can feed 200 million horses? The size of the army is hard to consider. (SLIDE troops and motorcycles) Even more difficult might be the horses’ weapons and armor which seem impossible to imagine as actual living creatures. I wondered if they might be riders on motorbikes, if we could imagine them even existing. This could be close to a human powered army because there were estimated to be around 58 million motorcycles produced in 2022. 4x that and we have 200m. During Bible study I wondered if John may have seen some sort of terminator robots. (SLIDE BigDog) You may have seen some of the deer like products that were in the works for a few years. There were some big quadruped robots tested during the start. One called BigDog is around the size of a small horse or donkey. It’s been showcased moving things and dangerously flinging stuff. There are some cool videos on the link. (SLIDE smaller dog) The smaller versions are already deployed for many uses like watching property, searching disaster sites, even just as companion pets. They are not incredibly expensive and available now on Amazon. (SLIDE Ukraine drones) And checking the war advancements from Ukraine it is clear that drone weapons have become main actors, sinking ships and destroying infrastructure and people very effectively. Could we imagine any form of this being prepared somehow by humans, to be hijacked in some way for God’s judgment? If the price dropped enough, we might imagine 200 million ideologically aligned people spending a few thousand dollars for some murderous purpose. Last week a shocking weapon like this was announced on the market. (SLIDE therminator) It cost just around 10000 dollars. Still, the cost and material to fund two hundred million of those seems out of reach at current technology, though perhaps not impossible. (SLIDE Elisha) After all this consideration however, I started to wonder if the 200 million troops would be more similar to the chariots surrounding Elisha when under attack. His companion and the invaders could not see them, but they worked in an amazing way to blind the soldiers and deliver Israel from harm. In a similar way, these judgment troops might invisibly strike the people with the plagues, like other events where many, many people were struck down. When we think of these fiery plagues, sulfur and smoke, the judgment like that on sodom is horrifying. In this round a third of mankind are killed by the smoke, fire and sulfur the horses used to attack. This is also a staggering statistic. Imagining how to handle such huge casualties is very difficult. Yet it should also be an unmistakable sign, if there are any bible teachers left at the time.
SLIDE v20-21
Destruction of large parts of the earth, painful suffering and cruel slaughter are horrible to think of. We wish no person would ever experience such things. It is hard to understand how much they broke God’s heart and took his grace for granted to deserve such tragic situations. But maybe the worst news in this part of the visions is in verse 20 and 21. It says the 2/3rds who were not killed by the previous plagues refused to repent. This is a terrifying revelation about human hard heartedness and stubborn disregard for God our creator. They did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, the idols of silver, bronze, stone and wood–idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Some people in the world today openly identify as Satan worshipers. They deny God and promote human free will and sinful behavior that leads to many ungodly acts. They destroy the image of God in themselves and others. They are God’s enemies who worship everything else and provoke God to anger. God does not punish them right away. God is gracious, patient, kind, compassionate and merciful. Yet he cannot tolerate evil eternally. He gives many chances to repent. But they do not; in fact, they determine not to repent and to stand against God’s truth. Their evil scheming and ideology will bring on the end of the world situations but they will carry on toward destruction rather than do what is right. Don’t be like them. As long as we live, let’s repent and keep hope for others to seek God’s kingdom together. Let’s pray for success in harvesting the crop for eternal life all our days and pray we may not have to see any friends caught up in such disasters.
SLIDE 10v
Suddenly in chapter 10 there is a little respite and a quite different vision. A mighty angel comes down from heaven with a little scroll and shouting like a lion. Seven thunders replied, but John was forbidden to write what they said. Then the angel swore an oath, saying “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” The seventh trumpet prediction is very sudden. The mystery of God will be accomplished without delay. Some preparations for the seventh angel’s time are described next.
SLIDE scroll in hand
First John is instructed to take and eat the scroll from the angel’s hand. It was sweet for his mouth but gave him a stomach ache once ingested. Then he was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” This explanation helps understand the sweet and bitter scroll. It was God’s word which gives life for those who feed on it and obey, but also decrees destruction and sorrow for the disobedient. John tasted the life giving word and got good news, he would be set free from exile to prophesy for many people, languages and kings. It’s not clear, however, if it means some time soon after writing the letter or perhaps again at the end, when the seventh angel sounds the alarm. That might require resurrecting or re-appearing lille Elijah and Moses did to Jesus on the mountain. The easy idea is to think John would get out of exile and work for God again in the near future.
SLIDE 11:1-2
Next he was told to measure the temple and altar and count the worshipers. Here is a mystery. Did he stroll around the temple in heaven or was he somehow transported in a quantum phase to Jerusalem of his time or a future temple where there were some placeholder worshipers? We don’t know, but the awesome, inspiring thing is that there are some who worship God, even when the world is falling apart. Praise the Lord. Pray for each other, that we may be those who worship God and are numbered with the faithful in our day and forever.
SLIDE two witnesses
Next he was told of two witnesses, described as olive trees and lamps standing before the lord of the earth. The witness’s identity is mysterious and subject to many assumptions. Some imagine previous prophets appearing, others some new prophets or angelic beings. Based on Paul’s comparison of an olive tree to the church and the lampstands representing churches in Revelation 1, some think these are two faithful churches. Maybe the groups of Jews and all others described in chapter 7. They will be prophesying for many days which seem like 42 lunar months in ancient style calendars. They seem invincible for those days and they cause trouble for the earth whenever someone attempts to silence them. Remembering how beat up the world must be after all the other violence it is really hard to understand how their witnessing gets transmitted to everyone. (SLIDE satellites) One idea could be use of the satellite networks that are being deployed these days by the tech industry giants. Somebody needs to fund the witness’s zoom account though. (SLIDE witnesses in the sky) Another possibility is God granting some inter dimensional visibility like the views old prophets had when certain angelic interventions occurred. In this idea they show up as needed anywhere, anytime and encourage believers and rebuke the sinners and hopefully invite everyone to repent and keep the faith. (SLIDE sackcloth witnesses) Another idea, if those witnesses are two groups, it might be their lifestyle to dress in sackcloth and recruit others all over the world until they gather in Jerusalem at the end of their prophesying. They would much resemble the old time prophets who did call down fire and do other remarkable things.
SLIDE v7-12
Verse 7 says when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the pit will overcome them and kill the two witnesses, leaving their bodies in the street for three days. All the earthlings will celebrate when they hear of this, thinking their troubles are over. But in three days they were shocked to see the witnesses rise from the dead and get invited up to heaven. It resembles what happened to Jesus although their prophesying reached a widespread audience much faster and they seem to ascend to heaven right after their resurrection. Interestingly they were killed in the same city as their lord (assuming Jerusalem) and they were seen by many rising to heaven.
SLIDE v13-14
Obviously, their resurrection and ascension put a sudden stop to their party. John saw an earthquake hit the city, killing 7000 revelers. It seems like a small tragedy compared to the billions of people already slaughtered, but there is a very surprising result in verse 13. It says, “… the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.” Some had a change of heart after enduring years of mourning and suffering. They admitted God is working in the world. They were the fruit of the witnesses. Hallelujah. A lesson to learn here is, never give up witnessing about the amazing grace of God that saves even the worst of sinners when they repent. Verse 14 indicates this is the end of the sixth trumpet events. It says the second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon (14).
SLIDE 11v15-19
In Chapter 11 verse 15, the seventh angel sounds the last trumpet. Let’s read that one together. 15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” At this moment the scenes turn briefly from cataclysms to something more like a worship service in heaven. The elders fell on their faces and worshiped God, giving thanks for accomplishing his plan. They declare it is time to judge the dead and reward the servants and prophets who reverence God’s name. With this scene John observed the most holy place in heaven, where God dwells. He was still in his earthly body so the heavenly weather partly obscured his observation. His limited view reminds us that we can’t see everything in heaven clearly, but we only need to simply trust the Lord and appreciate God’s authority and power over the earth and all mankind.
Studying seven trumpets is mostly terrifying because we have to imagine the real end of the earth as we know it, coming under divine retribution and people suffering almost incomprehensible tragedies because of their sinful behavior. We feel limited to even imagine how the destructive events and slaughtering sinful people might play out. We sincerely wish that nobody would be so hard-hearted and arrogant toward God, but we have to accept the fact that things will go all the way downhill eventually. At the same time we could see very hopeful, encouraging scenes. We were reminded that God hears every prayer and accepts them offered by the angel, we noticed God protecting his people and planning their steps, especially John’s future ministry and the witnesses testifying in the midst of chaos. We even got to celebrate God’s victory with the elders and heavenly beings. We can rest easy in any situation when we believe the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. We can look forward to his eternal reign and confidently keep on inviting others to repent. Sometimes, it may be hard to see what God is doing according to his great plan. We should know that the ultimate purpose of God’s judgments is not just the destruction of evil things, but to establish the kingdom of Christ, who shall reign for ever and ever. With this hope, let’s not give up or be discouraged, but keep praying, worshiping, sharing the good news and hoping always for his kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Let’s read the key verse once more. “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”