[Revelation 8]

We can pause for a moment and think of the harmony and melody in heaven – the sound of the heavenlies – in the unseen where we cannot experience it with human hearing. They are very pronounced and accompany the vision in every instance. John describes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, the angels with trumpets, the new song, the worship of innumerable saints, the voices of the martyrs and nature in active participation. It is “noise” that cannot be ignored. 

So often it is sound that catches our attention, causes us to look up and see something appearing on the scene. We build sound into our lives to alert us of things that need our awareness – people arriving at our door, robbers who trigger the alarm, telephones ringing to communicate.

Chapter 8 starts with silence and the breaking of the seventh seal. We have talked about the seventh seal in the previous chapter. It cannot be emphasized enough that the events as described and divided into chapters are not chronological and do not follow each other in strict succession. The opening of this chapter is meant to be further illustration of things already touched on in previous chapters.

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 angel’s 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.

The silence creates the theatrical introduction to a vital, significant continuing occurrence in heaven – the prayers of the saints. The sudden silence gives weight to the picture unfolding. More than sound, sudden silence is greatly effective in capturing attention, ceasing activity and drawing the focus to a particular point.

All of heaven is silent as the prayers of the saints arrive in the golden altar before God.  The saints are praying while the rest of the world is being judged.  

In the OT silence is associated with judgment and the Day of the Lord.

Habakkuk 2:20-3:15 (“But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”) – then the judgment follows in Chapter 3.  Also Zechariah 2:13-3:2.  (Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!”)  Then follows the vision of the new clothes for the filthy garments of the High Priest Joshua and the Branch – the Messiah.  The clothing of God’s priests is already discussed in 3:18)

God commands silence as the earth is judged.  The prayers of the faithful is being heard as the judgment commences.

Half an hour – hour is associated with suddenness and no postponement.  Half is associated with the “times” of Daniel. (7:25,9:27; 12:7)  it refers to a time of judgment (42 months) shortened by grace. 

One scholar is of the opinion that the needs of the saints are more to God than all the psalmody of heaven. All of heaven is completely silent so that even the faintest, whispered prayer of the humblest of saints is heard. I do not think it is necessary for God to have silence to hear our whispered sigh, but John describes it to us in human terms, to explain the importance of our prayers to our Father.

Andrew Murray writes this:

It is fellowship with the Unseen, most holy One. The powers of the eternal world have been placed at its [prayer’s] disposal. It is the very essence of true religion, the channel of all blessings, the secret of power and life. Not only for us, but also for others, for the church, for the world, it is to prayer that God has given the right to take hold of Him and His strength.

God hears all prayer. He is more ready to answer prayer than we are to pray it.

The angel is standing at the altar. The altar is mentioned often – (6:9,9:13,14:18). 

It is the altar of incense in the Holy Place before the entrance to the Holy of Holies, where the table with showbreads and the golden lampstand are. 

It is not the altar of burnt-offering as there is no sacrifice in heaven. The altar is described in Leviticus 16:12, Numbers 16:46, Luke 1:8-10. It depicts worship and prayer. It was made of gold, 50 by 50cm and 1m high. It was hollow with horns on the corners.  Covered over with a gold plate it had a little railing, a miniature balustrade, to contain the burning coals.

Prayer is a sacrifice, wrapped in a beautiful fragrance pleasing to God. No other sacrifice is necessary, only prayer, which are helped by angelic hands. 

Another angel – could be the Angel of God’s Presence or even Christ himself.  The prayers of the saints have direct access to the Presence of God.  

Much incense – the prayers of the saints rise up before God as a beautiful fragrance.  (Psalms 141:2) 

The image of live coals taken by the angel and thrown on the ground is the prelude to more revelation and happenings on earth. Prayer is the key to revelation and consequences of changed circumstances.  Fire is the Holy Spirit at work.  (Ezekiel 10:1-7)  Prayer directly impacts the earth by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The live coal from the altar touched Isaiah’s lips to prophecy – described in Isaiah 6:6. The cherubim scatters the coals of the altar over the city in Ezekiel 10:2.

The angel takes the live coals from the censor and hurls it to the earth (8:5). Prayer directly impacts earth.

Verse 2 belongs with the rest of the narrative on the trumpets.

⁶ 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.

A trumpet is a symbol of the intervention of God in history.  Judgment is associated with the sound of the trumpet. (Exodus 19:16,19)

It is warning to wake up, or a call to battle, or the announcement of royalty and celebrations. It was often used to announce the wrath of God: Zephaniah 1:14-16, Joshua 6:1-8.

The trumpet sounded:

•        when the law was given:       Exodus 19:16, 10.
•        to summon back the exiles:    Isaiah 27:13
•        the day of the Lord:      Joel 2:1, Zechariah 1:16,   9:14
•        the gathering of the elect:       Matthew 24:31.

Paul speaks of the day the trumpet shall sound. (1 Corinthians 15:52-53 & 1 Thessalonians 4:16) It is a day of great joy for the church, a day of revelation and reckoning on behalf of the faithful.

The seals and the trumpets are subdivided into units of four and two with a pause between the sixth and seventh that provides context and explanation. 

The first four trumpets announce the unleashing of the elements on earth to destroy. Nature takes part in the judgment of the world. Only a part of the world is struck. It is only a prelude to the end and not the final judgment.

A third depicts a significant minority. The detail of the sequence is given in the next verses:

First the earth (8:7), then the sea (8:8-9), then the fresh water and springs (8:10-11) and then the heavenly bodies (8:12), in other words every part of creation.

Origins of these afflictions on earth can be found in the plagues of Egypt – hailstones, water turned to blood, the fishes die, darkness. [Exodus 7: 17-21,9:23-25 &10:21-23] Zephaniah 1:3 talks about the birds and fish that are struck in judgment.

All these calamities are repetitive though history with acceleration and intensification in the last days. It gives us insight into the natural disasters and pollution these days that is hard to understand. In the light of these judgments, we as a church know that the earth groans under the consequences of sin.

Wormwood depicts the bitterness of the judgment. [Greek = apsinthos – a plant from which a bitter oil is extracted that is highly toxic to the nervous system.] The name “wormwood” comes from the fact that the oil was used medicinally to kill intestinal worms.

Rain that looks like blood has been reported in Italy and southeast Europe 1901. It was explained as the sand from the Sahara desert that is red being blown over the Mediterranean into the rainfall over Europe. 

A flaming mass falling into the sea sounds like a volcano, which is a well-known occurrence all over the world. In 79 AD Vesuvius destroyed the Bay of Naples and buried the city Pompeii under lava. Today it is a well-preserved tourist attraction to reveal life in ancient Rome.

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!”

The last verse in other translations mentions an eagle, not an angel, which utters three fearful woes, forewarning doom to come. An eagle in Jewish writing was very familiar as the king of the birds to carry prophecy and revelation.

During the first four trumpets, judgment fell on nature, but in the final three trumpet judgments (Revelation 9-11), unbelieving humanity will be directly punished through torment, death, and at last total destruction.

The world around us is a picture of this heartbreaking state of affairs. God’s judgment is the natural result of a sinful, evil-embracing world. His first gift to mankind was choice and He never revokes any gift ever (Romans 11:29). 

We, who are privileged to call ourselves children of God by repenting our sins and inviting Jesus into our hearts, are in a unique position to live in the embrace of redemption within the judgment.

“He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing his sheaves with him.”  (Ps 126:6)

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