Revelation 8: The Sounding of the Trumpets

Revelation 8

Snug Gospel Chapel: May 22nd, 2016

Good morning!
Were continuing our series in Revelation this morning, and weve reached chapter 8.

Last week, we looked at the Seventh Seal, described in Revelation 8 verse 1 as silence in heaven for about half an
hour. We saw that the silence in Heaven represented a period of almost three and a half years in which the Lord
withheld further judgment in order to allow for as many people as possible to come to repentance. We saw through
the prophet Amos that there was a precedent to the idea that the Lord would use judgment and suffering to draw
people back to Himself and thats exactly what the first six seals accomplished. They opened the eyes of unbelieving
man to the supremacy of Almighty God, and brought an innumerable throng out of the Great Tribulation through faith,
by grace. The Seventh Seal, then, is demonstrated as the great restraint of a Holy God, who, despite being utterly
justified in His judgment, still remains, even in the last hours of this age, One who so loved the world that He was
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and so He waits. He waits, in grace and
such great patience, to bring a great multitude to salvation, to the glory and praise of the Lamb.

With that in mind, Revelation 8 represents another seismic shift in this book. Where the seal judgments were marked
by a sense of restraint, even amid judgment, and demonstrated the grace of God even in tribulation, the seal
judgments are something different entirely.

Before we open our Bibles to see these things for ourselves, lets pray.

Father, weve come once again to deep things in your Word. Serious things. We pray this morning that as we study,
you would open our eyes to see and understand your judgment, and your justice, upon this fallen world. We thank
you, Lord, that youve chosen to reveal these things to your servants, through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We
thank you that despite all the turmoil and tribulation, we know that your great plan is that through your Son, in whom
all the fullness of the Godhead dwells, you should reconcile all things to yourself.

Lord, I thank you that all things, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, point to you. I praise you as the God of
Creation, the Author of Redemption, and the King over all the ages. I thank you that you are so infinitely greater and
purer and brighter and more glorious than anything we could ever possibly think or imagine, and that youve chosen
nonetheless to save sinners like me. I thank you that I have a place in your Kingdom, not through any merit of my
own, but entirely through the merit of the Lamb; the One who was slain before the foundation of the world.

Let the revelation of Your King be a blessing to us this morning, Father, as we seek to worship you in Spirit and in Truth.

Amen.

Turn with me in your Bibles, please, to Revelation chapter 8.

Well only have time to look at the first of the seven trumpet judgments today, but well read the whole chapter for
the sake of context.

Revelation 8, beginning at verse 1.

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who
stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and
stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with 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, ascended before God
from the angels hand.5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And
there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck

7

The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a

third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck

8

Then 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. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were
destroyed.

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck

10

Then 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 water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many
men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck

12

Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so

that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.
13

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to

the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to
sound!

I mentioned a moment ago that we learned last week that the silence in heaven of chapter 8 verse 1 represented a
little over 3 years of Gods restraint from judgment a restraint demonstrated in grace, that as many as possible might
be saved. Its important, in terms of context, however, that we recognise that the implication of the half an hour of
silence in heaven is that the events were about to read occur after the mid-point of the Tribulation. This will make
sense as we read, both in terms of the severity of the judgments, and certainly in terms of the need for them at this
point in the timeline. Id like you to see both the beginning and end of this time period, however, so turn with me very
briefly to Revelation 11 and verse 15.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying The kingdoms of this world have
become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!

That should place chapters 8 through to 11 in some context for you. What were dealing with here is the latter half of
the Tribulation, which we identified last week as The time of Jacobs Trouble, and what Jesus termed as great
tribulation, such as has never been seen before, no, nor shall be again.

Now, you might wonder how on earth were at the end of the story already, when the trumpet judgments end in the
middle of the book. Theres a simple reason for this, and its one that presents a challenge for many people. You see,
Revelation isnt strictly written as a chronological series of events. It is roughly chronological, but the events detailed
within this book are often grouped thematically, rather than sequentially.

So, bear that in mind: particularly once we move beyond the trumpet judgments, well see Revelation presenting to
us a series of overlapping events, each with a different focus. I wont go further into that today, but well continue to
see that theme play out as we progress.

What Id like to do, before we move on to the trumpet judgments themselves, is establish a context for you. We need
to understand first of all what is happening here in heaven, the scene that weve entered in to, so that we can then
see the escalation of these events, and the severity of the judgment that is about to occur. Were going to look at
three points in particular today: The Angels Before the Throne, The Angel and the Censer, and finally, the First Trumpet
Judgment, before drawing all those things together in conclusion.

So, lets start by looking at the scene in heaven. Verse 2.

Setting the Scene: The Angels Before the Throne

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

First, Id like you to notice that even after all this time, we are still in the throne room of heaven, still in the presence
of the Lamb, and still viewing earthly events from a heavenly context. What is new here, however, is the characters

in this scene. Johns first detail in this passage is seven angels that stand before God Himself, bearing seven trumpets.
There is something a little unusual in this verse, and Id like to highlight it for you. When talking about these angels,
John talks about them so casually that its almost as if he thinks we should already be aware of who they are. As
gentiles, that can seem foreign to us, but there is a good reason for it.

If we look at historical Judaism, we find that there was already an established belief in a group of seven angels that
stood before the throne of heaven. We find several of these angels in the Apocrypha, some of whom are explicitly
named, and their ministries detailed. While these books are not Scripture, they do reveal the a historical belief in the
existence of seven angels that stand before the throne.

In the Apocryphal book of Tobit, for example, we read the following:

I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of God As for me, when I was
with you, I was not acting on my own will, but by the will of God. Bless him each and every day; sing his praises.
Although you were watching me, I really did not eat or drink anythingbut what you saw was a vision. So now get up
from the ground, and acknowledge God. See, I am ascending to him who sent me. Write down all these things that
have happened to you. And he ascended. Then they stood up, and could see him no more.
(NRSV, Tobit 12: 11, 18-21)

Likewise the Book of Enoch contains an explicit reference to these seven angels, whom he names as Raphael, Uriel,
Raguel, Michael, Sarakiel, Gabriel and Phanuel.

While neither of these texts can be considered inspired, and while I wouldnt for a moment suggest to you that the
names of these angels are necessarily correct, or that the writers of these texts were accurately representing what
occurs in heaven, they do nonetheless demonstrate that by the time of the apostles, the ancient Jews were already
well acquainted with the concept of seven angels standing before the throne of God. This explains why seeing such
things appears to come as little surprise to John.

I do find it telling to note that John neither names, nor seems to consider it necessary to name those angels, if indeed
he recognised them for who they were. That in itself is not unusual in Scripture, however. Angels feature prominently,
but only two are ever named: Gabriel and Michael. I suspect theres a reason behind this: given mans tendency to
worship the creation rather than the creator, I believe the Holy Spirit consciously chose to leave most angels
anonymous; and no doubt wisely so.

Whether or not we know the specific identities of these angels, however, we can find enough information here in the
text to understand something about their nature, and their ministries.

John makes a real point of stating that these angels stand in the presence of God Himself. This isnt necessarily unusual
for an angelic being we see in the book of Job, for example, that even Satan has entered into the presence of God
(thats chapter 1 verse 6), while the angel Gabriel identified himself to Joseph as Gabriel, who stands in the presence
of God - which may very well imply that he is one of these seven - in Luke 1:19. So, we know that the angels generally
have the right to appear before the Lord but thats not what is happening in this passage. The word used for stand
here in the Greek suggests that this is no mere visit to the throne. This verb, stands is in the perfect active indicative
tense, which means not only that these these angels currently stand in the presence of God, but that they will continue
to do so. There is an implication here, which ties in to the severity of the judgments were about to see. These angels
belong in the presence of God, and it is a part of their role, and their ministry that they should stand before Him
continually. Now, we could easily do a greater study here on the nature, ranks and ministries of the various types of
angels and perhaps someday well look at that, but for now, Ill just share with you my own conviction: the angels
that John is introducing to us here are a particularly powerful class of angel. Well see this as we progress, too: their
task is a significant one, and their judgments are terrifying. More on that in a moment.

What we see next is that these angels were given seven trumpets. Verse 2 again.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

Now, that might not seem like a particularly deep idea, but there is (as there always seems to be, with the Bible) a
consistent Scriptural application for the concept of trumpets. By now, it shouldnt come as any surprise to you that
there are in fact seven distinct purposes for trumpets that are detailed in Scripture. These arent all important for our
purposes today, but theyre worth investigating regardless, so let me break them down for you:

First:

To summon the people of God:

when the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain (Exodus 19:13)

Second:

A representation of the voice of God Himself:

there were thunderings and lightnings, a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet
was very loud (Exodus 19:16) Also: Revelation 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 4 (at the Rapture)

Third:

To signal the commencement of the Feasts of Israel:

In your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets
(Numbers 10:10)

Fourth:

To signal movement, or assembly for war:

You shall use them for calling the congregation, and for directing the movement of camps.
(Numbers 10:2) / When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you
shall sound an alarm with the trumpets (Numbers 10:9)

Fifth:

In praise and worship of the King:

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the lute and the harp! (Psalm 150:3)

Sixth:

To declare the coronation of the King:

Then the seventh angel sounded [His trumpet]: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying The
Kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign
for ever and ever! (Revelation 11:15)

Seventh:

To announce judgment:
And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark. But the seventh day you
shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. (Joshua 6:4)

Of course, the last of these is obviously the most immediately relevant to us today, but Id suggest to you too that
there is at least one instance of every single type of trumpet blast recorded for us in the time period were studying
today, and that if you seek them out in Scripture, youll be rewarded with some wonderful discoveries.

The seventh purpose itself hides a particularly deep vein of Biblical symbolism. Im not going to go into it in any great
depth today, but there are significant parallels between the book of Joshua and the book of Revelation. If you study
these two books side-by-side, you will find the comparison startling. Some of those things are already fairly selfevident: for example Joshua is not only a type of Jesus, but quite literally bears the same name the Hebrew Yeshua.

Upon arrival at the city of Jericho, Joshua sent two spies two witnesses in to the city. Why? God had already given
him the battle plan, he didnt need the military intelligence! They were sent to save a gentile woman; not out of, but
through the destruction to come. but theres more than that, too: Joshua led seven priests at the forefront of the
children of Israel, as they marched around Jericho; those seven priests announced Gods judgment on that city by
blowing their trumpets; the children of Israel were silent before they blew the trumpets, just as we saw in Revelation
8 last week; and likewise when the trumpets were blown, the city was destroyed and control was handed over to the
Gods anointed one. Even that isnt the end, however, because its after the conquest of Jericho that we see the
institution of the first Jubilee Year a year signalled by the blowing of trumpets in which all debts are cancelled, all
slaves are set free, and creation is given peace from its bondage.

and if all of that isnt enough, the Jubilee Year doesnt commence with the first day of the year Rosh Hashanah,
but with the Day of Atonement; the day in which all Israel is judged, and restitution is made once, for all, for sin. You
see, it all points back to Christ. It all points back to the sinless, spotless Lamb; the Lamb that was slain before the
foundation of the world. As Ive said before, and Ill say again: every page, every line, every word is His, and its all to
the glory of the King.

Hopefully that intrigues you enough to consider doing your own study on the matter, and Id certainly encourage you
to do so. For our own purposes today, however, what we need to understand is that the primary purpose of each of

the seven trumpets were about to see is to announce the judgment of a Holy God on a sinful world. Where weve
seen grace and restraint in this book up until this point, today we see something else entirely. Where the seal
judgments and certainly the silence from heaven could be described as judgment, mingled with grace, there really
is no such restraint here. The trumpet judgments represent the fullness of the wrath of God, and the utter destruction
of the systems and patterns of this world. Revelation 15 verse 1 describes the bowl judgments (which occur prior to
the completion of the seventh trumpet) as being judgments in which the wrath of God is complete and so it is.

Lets move on, and look at the Angel with the Censer. Revelation 8, verse 3.

The Angel with the Censer

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should
offer it with 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, ascended before God from the angels hand.

What were seeing here is a picture of the tabernacle and the temple. Weve already looked at this in some measure
throughout this series, but Ill elaborate for you.

In both the temple and the tabernacle, we had three distinct sections: The Holy of Holies, The Inner Court, and The
Outer Court. Each of these sections were reserved for specific groups of people: The Outer Court was for all Israel to
come and offer sacrifices to the Lord. This area was for ceremonial washing, and for the actual sacrifices themselves;
and the Lord gave specific commandments to the children of Israel regarding what needed to be offered, when, and
for what purpose.

The Inner court was reserved for priests alone and it was in this section that the golden altar stood, together with
the Menorah, the seven-branched candlestick, and the Table of Showbread.

The third section was the Holy of Holies. This area was highly restricted; it was sectioned with a huge, 40-foot veil
made of thick material, and could be entered only once a year, and then only by the High Priest. The Holy of Holies
contained the Ark of the Covenant, with the Mercy Seat on top: the place in which the Shekinah Glory, the visible
manifestation of the presence of God, could be seen.

So what we have pictured here in heaven in Revelation is the reality of those things that were merely being
represented by earthly copies in the temple and the tabernacle. This is an important concept, so Id like to frame it
for you a little better.

Turn with me to Hebrews, chapter 9.

Hebrews chapter 9, beginning at verse 1.

Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was
prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and
behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called The Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and
the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold.

Look now at Hebrews 9 and verses 23 and 24.

Therefore, it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly
things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which
are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Im going to divert from my point a little here, because I cant let this pass without comment. Please understand the
weight of these words and I love this realization: that when Jesus Christ took the sins of the whole world, and bore
the weight of the wrath of God the Father against sin, he not only took it all away and nailed it to His cross, but He
declared Himself, by virtue of His own sinless perfection, to be a truly worthy offering. What Jesus Christ accomplished
on the cross, what He emphatically declared to be finished - an offering, once, for all, for sin - did not tear the veil in
the temple in Jerusalem. It tore the veil in the temple in heaven thrusting aside the weight of sin that kept us from
the presence of God the Father and providing entrance for us all into that Most Holy Place. It was in that scenario that
the veil in Jerusalem tore not as the primary event, but as a physical response to a new heavenly and spiritual reality,
brokered by the blood of Christ.

and it is in that context that Paul encourages us to come boldly to the throne of grace, and it is for that reason that
we see the elders standing around the throne in Revelation 4 and 5. The veil is torn; the elders stand in the presence
of God. Amen!

Its in this context, too, that the angel of Revelation 8 operates. Lets read those verses again:

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should
offer it with 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, ascended before God from the angels hand.

This angel, then, stands outside the Holy of Holies, to perform the function of a priest. In the context of the temple,
this golden censer was filled with frankincense, and was offered to the Lord, along with prayer, as intercession before
God. In heaven, it is an angel that fulfils this role, gathering the prayers of the saints. I suspect that these prayers are
an accumulation from the entire length and breadth of history, including the prayers of the martyred saints in
Revelation 6, and the bowls filled with incense in the hands of the elders in Revelation 5; and I say this because

Scripture consistently presents to us a God who keeps a record of our tears and answers our prayers. And so it is that
the Psalmist says,

You number my wanderings;

Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in your book?
When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me.

So we know that our God has stored all of these things. All of our sorrow, all of our heartache, all the injustice and
suffering and pain weve endured, every tear, every prayer, every cry to the throne of Grace, He has kept it all.

but now look and see what the angel does with these prayers:

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises,
thunderings, lightnings and an earthquake.

Understand what were seeing here. The implication of this verse is yet another expression of the greatness of the
grace of God.

What weve just witnessed is a God who, despite all his righteous anger, despite His wrath, despite His indignation and
His fury over sin, despite His commitment to justice and judgment and the promise to crush His enemies and make
them a footstool for His Messiahs feet

not only heeds, not only records, not only cares for the tears and sorrows and prayers of His saints
but acts upon them.

There is a God who answers prayer, and He will reign forever when all things are placed under His feet.

Thats the glory of Revelation thats the silver lining in all this judgment and in all this wrath, that the God who
answers prayer, the God who metes out judgment upon the earth not only for His own sake, not only in His own wrath,
but on account of the prayer and the suffering of His children will make all things new, after He has brought all things
into subjection to the King.

and this brings us to the voice of God, and the sounding of the first trumpet. Upon hearing the prayers of His saints,
offered up by the angel and declared before the throne itself, the One who loved us and gave Himself for us, the One

who calls us children of God, is so enraged is He breaks His own silence, and thunders in response to prayer. and it
is that voice that triggers the judgment to come.

The First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck

Verse 7.

The first angel sounded: and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a
third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

So the first trumpet results in hail and fire, mingled with blood. While this is a difficult thing to understand and
visualise, it isnt without precedent in Scripture. In fact, each of the three elements pictured here formed a part of the
Exodus Plagues. In Exodus 9, the Lord said to Moses,

Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt - on man, on beast, and on every
herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt." And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent
thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and
fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail
struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field.

So, we can see here that there is no reason to assume that these judgments are anything other than literal. Id also
suggest, however, that more than just affecting one third of the earth, there is a very specific target for this judgment.
In fact, Isaiah demonstrates for us that this first trumpet judgment is not at all random, but occurs for a specific purpose
and with a highly targeted focus.

These verses, Id like you to see for yourselves, as they clarify not only what is taking place here, but also the timing of
this event. Turn with me to Isaiah 28. Well begin at verse 2.

Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one,

Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm,
Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.

and verse 15:

Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death,

And with Sheol we are in agreement.

When the overflowing scourge passes through,

It will not come to us,
For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.

and verse 17:

I will make justice the measuring line,

And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
18

Your covenant with death will be annulled,

And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;

When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.

You can clearly see here that Isaiah is describing the same judgment as what weve seen from Revelation. The language
is the same, and the events clearly align with one another but he also provides some detail that isnt included in
Revelation. Where Revelation shows us that this is a wide judgment (falling upon 1/3 of the earth directly, and no
doubt effecting a far wider area than that ultimately), Isaiah reveals a specific focus at the heart of this broader event.
This judgment of fire, hail and blood falls upon the leadership of Israel, who have made a covenant with death. This
confirms the timeline, too: this first trumpet occurs after the establishment of the covenant with death, that is, the
covenant that Israel has made with the Antichrist.
Theres a second point to be made here, too. If you look at verse 15, we find an important clue about the covenant
being made. Lets read that again.

Because you have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we are in agreement. When the
overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us

Whatever else this covenant that Israel brokers with the Antichrist may entail and there are good arguments to
suggest that the rebuilding of the temple is involved - this much is clear from Isaiah: the expectation of the Jewish
people is that the rampant military conquest that the Beast engages in is expected to pass over them. There may be
other aspects to the covenant, but it is quite clearly also a military agreement one in which Israel has exchanged a
guarantee of security for whatever the Beast sought to acquire.

Lets turn back to Revelation, and see the consequences of this judgment.
Revelation 8 verse 7:

The first angel sounded: and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a
third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

So we can see now that its not just Israel that suffers. This judgment may be the catalyst that breaks the covenant
brokered with the Antichrist, but its impact is felt far and wide. A third of all of the trees on earth are burned up, and
all of the green vegetation. I should clarify that: the Greek here isnt just a reference to grass, but to all green
vegetation that grows on stalks or stems.

So what could cause such destruction?

Well, as Ive just suggested, you can absolutely take these things literally, and at face value, and you will never be
made ashamed for doing so. The Lord keeps His Word; absolutely, eternally, and you will never need to apologise for
adhering to Scripture.

but Ive already suggested a possible explanation in this series. I outlined in a previous sermon that I felt that a
number of the judgments occurring both in the seal and trumpet judgments could potentially be explained by the
interaction between a comet and the earth. The sixth seal in particular fits well within this idea, as the earth is torn
open, meteors fall from the sky, and the planet and reels to and fro like a drunkard potentially from a close encounter
with a comet and its tail. This judgment falls into the same pattern. You may remember from our study in Revelation
6 that comets are composed primarily of ice and that any fragments of a comet entering our atmosphere would
likewise burn with fire. Should the earth pass back through the debris field of the comet encountered at the sixth seal,
it would certainly at least potentially explain the signs were seeing here. A meteor shower of sufficient scale and
severity would certainly bring with it the ability to destroy a third of all of the green trees on earth, and to burn up all
the green vegetation, as we see in the latter half of the verse, while the presence of significant quantities of iron oxide
in the debris could explain the presence of water that looks like blood.

Whether this is the case, or whether the judgment here is a of supernatural origin, the point remains the same. The
wrath of God has come, and the time for patience is past. Where at the seal judgments, God took away every excuse
for mankind to refuse belief in Him, now, He takes away every comfort, every need, every good and perfect gift that
has for so long been taken for granted. There is wrath here that is as terrible as it is just and while weve only
skimmed the surface of that wrath this morning, we will continue to see it as we progress through this book; through
the trumpets, through the bowls, and through the utter destruction of all that stands against the God of Heaven.

So weve flown through this passage this morning, and theres much that I dont have the time to share with you,
but lets take stock of what weve seen. Weve seen seven angels before the throne, prepared for judgment another,
whose ministry is to collect and offer the prayers of the saints before the throne; and weve seen, perhaps most
importantly, the Revelation of the God of all the Earth, who not only cares for His children, but loves them, and acts
in judgment on their behalf, in response to the prayers of all the long millennia. But what about us? What do these
things mean for us?

Well, I think the answer is clear but the book of Hebrews puts it better than I ever will. Let me read to you, in closing,
a few verses from Hebrews 12.

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much
more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but
now He has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. 27 Now this, Yet once
more, indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which
cannot be shaken may remain.
28

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God

acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

The Lord has spoken to you this morning. Through His Word, through His Son, through the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Throughout this series, weve seen grace such grace, even in Tribulation. Even here, even today, weve seen that
grace. Weve seen a King who listens to the prayers of His people, and acts on their behalf. but weve seen more
than that. Weve seen the first foray into these trumpet judgments, and a time of wrath so severe that Jesus Himself
said that if they were not cut short, no flesh would survive. For our God is a consuming fire.

What this chapter reveals to us, and what this book constantly comes back to, is the character of the King. He is
beautiful, He is mighty, He is righteous, He is just, He is powerful and glorious and selfless and holy and good but He
is also a terrible judge, and He will punish sin. More than that, we know from the signs all around us today that the
time is near. These things are not an allegory, they are a reality. The King is coming soon, and He brings judgment
with Him. If you havent entrusted your life to Jesus Christ, if you havent been washed in the blood of the lamb from
the sin that separates you from God

Dont delay.
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.

Lets pray.