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A Study of Revelation

Chapter Eight

May 02, 2007

Bob Bradley

_________________________ 

Rev. 8:1-13

 

1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of 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 the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of 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; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

  

In review, in Revelation chapter six, we learned about the white horse and we learned that he is the anti-christ; not the Christ.  It cannot be Christ if you look at the things that he does and what Christ is doing at this time.  We know that this is the dictator; the anti-christ that comes on the scene.  We know that it is not going to take him long to subdue the earth.  He is going to convince the world, in a very short time, to follow him. 

 

The second seal is opened and the red horse comes on the scene.  We learned that peace will be taken from the earth. 

 

When you look at Ezekiel 38 and 39 and when you read the prophecies of Daniel, we do not know how much time is going to pass from the time the rapture of the church occurs and the time the anti-christ is to come on the scene.  However, there are some hints.  We know that when Noah and his family went into the Ark, the Ark sat there for seven days before the judgment starts.  We also know that the day that Lot left Sodom, God reigned fire and brimstone on them.  I do not think that it will be long, but I do not have any scripture to show us the timeframe from the rapture until the anti-christ comes on the scene. 

 

When the second seal opens, we see peace taken from the earth.  I think that what we are seeing is the fulfillment of what Ezekiel talked about in chapters 38 and 39 about Russia and her Arab allies invading Israel.  The reason that I say that is because if you read Daniel chapter nine, we will learn that anti-christ is going to sign a peace treaty with Israel for seven years.  For Israel to be able to sign a peace treaty with anti-christ (they do not know, nor will they understand that he is the anti-christ) they are going to sign a peace treaty for seven years.  That means that Israel is going to be protected. 

 

Even today, they are being bombarded from every side.  They have the Mediterranean Sea on the West side of them and they have the Arabs all around them.  The Arabs want to destroy them and that is all that they have on their minds.  That is what Russia is going to try to do and its Arab allies, but we know that is not going to take place.  When they do come and have a war, it is going to force Israel into signing this treaty for protection.  The allies are saying if you will allow our troops to stay here and allow us control of your military forces, then we will protect you.  We will not allow the Arabs to overrun you.  You will be able to live here in peace and your children will be safe.  Israel is going to sign the peace treaty.  For them to be forced to do that, I think that they have to be invaded.  I think that there are going to be a lot of the Jews that will die in this war that Ezekiel talked about.  I think this has to do with the second seal that is opened.

 

The third seal opens, and we talked about the black horse.  The economic system is going to collapse.

 

The fourth seal, which is the pale horse brought death and famine.  We talked about epidemics, civil war and violence as we have never saw on planet earth.

 

The fifth seal is opens and persecution is going to take place during the tribulation period.  A time of persecution for those who are being saved like we have never saw before.  People are going to shed blood because of their testimony for Jesus Christ. 

 

When opening the sixth seal, we see the nuclear exchange by the major powers.  I believe that we are seeing a nuclear war take place. 

 

We get to the seventh seal and something happens.  The Bible says in chapter eight verse one:

 

1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

 

Did you ever think much about that? 

 

If you read chapters four and five, we, the elders, are worshiping and praising God.  The angels, the untold millions and millions of angels, are worshiping and praising God.  The four beasts are worshiping and praising God with loud voices.  It would be a very vocal time, at this time, but the Bible says that there is silence for a half an hour.  To be able to picture that in our minds, the untold millions of individuals that are going to be there and you are going to be there if you are saved.  You are going to be there when there will be silence for a half an hour.  To be silent for a half an hour, complete total silence; most of us cannot be silent for fifteen minutes even if we are by ourselves. 

 

This is an awful time and a solemn time.  God is going to judge this world and the unbelieving because they have rejected Him.  However, He is still yet giving people time to repent.  I know that God is a gracious God.  God is a loving God.  His grace goes farther than we will ever know.  He is giving people time to repent.  The silence has to do with what is about to take place. 

 

Billions of people have already died through nuclear war, famine and disease.  However, we have not seen anything like what will happen when these seven angels blow their trumpets and the trumpet judgments begin.  It is going to be a horrible time.  The judgments from the first six seals that already happened is not going to compare to what is going to happen when the seventh seal is opened and the seven trumpets begin to sound.

 

The Bible says:

 

2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

 

Go to the Old Testament and see what the high priest did.  The high priest used a golden censer and it had to do with prayers and incense being offered up before God.  The angel is offering up prayers before Almighty God because of the suffering that was going on by folks here on planet earth.

 

5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

 

It is going to be a horrible time when these seven trumpets and the judgments of these seven trumpets begin to sound.  It mentions thundering voices, lightings and earthquakes.  I don't think that we get the picture of what is going to take place here.

 

7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

 

Did you ever think about what would happen if a third of all the trees are gone and all the green grass is gone? 

 

He is talking about some kind of a nuclear weapon or bomb to be able to burn up one third of the trees and to be able to burn up ALL the green grass.  These bombs can contaminate and kill like this.  I think that it is describing it to a ‘T’ what radiation and nuclear blast does. 

 

Did you ever think about this? 

 

A third of the trees are gone and all the green grass is gone.  Did you ever think about the mud slides?  Did you ever think about the erosion?  Did you ever think about all the hydrocarbons that are produced by our automobiles and plants?  Our greenery absorbs the hydrocarbons, but if they are gone, they cannot do that.  It is going to be a horrible time and this is just the beginning.

 

 

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 the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

 

The Bible says that when the second angel sounded there was a great mountain here burning with fire and it was cast into the sea.  The third part of the sea becomes blood. 

 

This could be a meteorite.  We have smart people that have said that planet earth, in the past, has been hit with meteorites.  Some of the craters that we have today is proof of that.  I think what John is saying here is some kind of a nuclear explosion because of the destruction that it brings. 

 

When the third angel blows his trumpet, the sea becomes blood.  The one third, of the creatures in the sea, dies.  One third of the ocean vessels, the ships; no doubt has to do with military ships and with merchant ships, is destroyed. 

 

When the sea becomes blood and one third of the creatures in the sea die, think about the starvation and food shortage they will have because of this one simple judgment that God is bringing. 

 

Most of us probably don't eat much fish.  There are many people, of the world today, whose major food source comes out of the ocean.  In many places that is all they have. 

 

Also, think about our imports that come in on ships from other countries and what we export that go to other countries.  When it says here that one third of them are gone, not only is there going to be a shortage of food from the sea, but there is not going to be anyone to transport the food that is available.  It is going to be a horrible time.

 

10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of 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.

 

 

Not only is salt water going to be contaminated; not only is the third part of the creatures in the sea going to die; not only are the ships going to be blown up; but John also says he sees a great star falling as a lamp burning.  It fell upon the third part of the rivers and the fountains of water.  What John is talking about is upon fresh water, the water that we drink.  This judgment has to do with the water that men are drinking.  The name of the star is wormwood. 

 

If you look up the name wormwood it means some kind of very deadly poison.  He is talking about radiation.  Radiation poisons water.  Many men died of the water because it was made bitter.  Men are going to drink this bitter water.  If you get thirsty enough, you will whatever is available.  When this judgment comes, it is going to come up on the fresh water and make it bitter.  It is going to be poisoned and the Bible says that many men are going to die because of this judgment here when this angel sounds.

 

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; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

 

When the fourth angel sounds, the Bible says that the third part of the sun is smitten.  It goes on to the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars; so the third part of them was darkened.  The third part of the trees is gone.  All the grass burns up. 

 

There are going to be buildings that are going to be burning there are going to be all kinds of catastrophes.  In addition, in nuclear explosions much contamination goes into the air.  At noonday, it will look like dark.  The sun is not going to shine and the moon is not going to shine because of all the debris and contaminations that are going to be in the air. 

 

There is a book that makes mention of this judgment when it speaks of a nuclear war.  The fellow was a high-ranking official under one of our presidents, but I fail to recall which one.  He made the statement about nuclear war that with a limited nuclear war the northern hemisphere would drop seventy-two degrees.  In his report that he gave to congress and to the president, he stated that in America during nuclear war, the after effects of a nuclear war would cause the average temperature across America to drop to only fifteen degrees.  Because of the contaminations that will be in the air, the sun cannot warm the earth. 

 

What would happen?  There would be no food.  There would be starvation, and fuel shortages.  A third of the trees are gone and the grass is gone.  The fresh water is contaminated.  Now you have a nuclear winter where the temperature is at fifteen degrees.  The electric will be very limited because the utilities are destroyed.  People are going to kill one another, as we have never seen before.  Could you imagine what would happen in America if we would go to only fifteen degrees for three, four, or six months?  It would be an awful time. 

 

I hope we understand, when we read these things, the horrible suffering that will take place.  We think that God must be a horrible God, but He is not.  He has given men ample time to repent.  God's grace has gone beyond what our minds can comprehend.  There is coming a time that God is going to judge this world the un-repented and the unbelieving; because they have rejected Him.  He is a loving God, but He wants people to repent.  This place belongs to Him, He is going to take care of it, and things are going to come about exactly as He said.

 

13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

 

Another angel comes flying through.  When you read "woe, woe, woe" do you know what he is talking about?  When you think about the word woe, you think about tragedy, destruction, and suffering.  It is going to be a horrible time.  That is what the angel saying. 

 

Chapter nine:

 

1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose 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 there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

5 And to them it was given 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 he striketh a man.

6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

 

Does that sound like a good time to you?  That sounds like a horrible time. 

 

A scorpion never has bitten me.  I do not know what John is talking about here.  There are all kinds of speculation. 

 

However, I do know that the suffering, when this trumpet sounds, is going to be horrible. When this judgment comes, it is not going to be a judgment on the grass or trees that remain.  It is not going to be a judgment on those that are sealed by Almighty God.  It says here that this judgment has to do with only those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  It is talking about those that have received the mark of the beast, 'his number.'  They will be tormented five months. 

 

A scorpion has never stung me, but I have read medical articles about a scorpion’s sting, which stated that it is probably the most painful sting that we can have.  This is going to take place and it is going to happen for five months. 

 

Men here are going to seek to die and death is going to flee from them.  That tells me when this angel sounds his trumpet and this judgment comes forth it is going to be a horrible time upon earth.  Men are going to try to kill them-selves, but death is going to flee from them.  That does not register in our minds.  If you want to kill yourself today, you can do it, but during this time, there are going to be people that will try to kill them-selves because of the pain that they are going to be suffering but they are not going to be able to die. 

  

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the 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 running to battle.

10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

 

I have some ideas what John is seeing here.  It does not really matter whether we know what this judgment is, or what John is describing.  John is looking at stuff that is two thousand years advanced.  He is living two thousand years ago and he is looking at technology that he never saw before.  Therefore, he may be looking at helicopters. 

 

When you look at this and look at some of the helicopters that are in our military today, John may have been describing a helicopter.  When you look at what he is describing and picture some of these helicopters in your minds this could be very well what John is describing.

  

13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

and smoke and brimstone.

18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

  

We have had twenty-five percent of the population destroyed when we opened one of the seals.  One of the first seals now, the trumpet is sounding and one third of the people that are left are dying.  That is not going to leave a whole lot of people on planet earth.  There is suffering to the like of which, we have never saw before. 

 

I hope we understand how much God hates sin.  We want to dabble around in sin today.  We want to get real close to it and we want to do all kinds of things with sin.  I know that God loves us, but God hates the sin that we commit.  I do not care what you have done fifty years ago.  I do not care what you have done thirty years ago.  If we have departed from the living God and we are living that way today, we need to repent today and make things right with God.  God hates sin.  He will never allow sin to enter into heaven.  A third part of the men die here because of this plague. 

 

He mentions the four angels were loosed.  They were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.  The number of the horsemen was two hundred thousand, thousand: and I heard the number of them.  If you look at the river Euphrates, it is a big river.  If you see, where it is at and where it runs through, he is talking about what we call red china. 

 

Red china about fifteen years ago or more said they could put two hundred foot soldiers on the ground twelve or fifteen years ago.  Do you know how many two hundred thousand, thousand is?  It is two hundred million.  China made this statement fifteen years ago.  They could actually put two hundred million soldiers on the ground. 

 

Russia has already built a dam.  They could cut off all the water in the river Euphrates and dry it up in a very short time.  When you read about what Daniel said and what some of the other prophets said, there is no doubt in my mind when the king of the east comes towards Jerusalem he is going to be marching a good portion of the way right through the river bed of Euphrates.  The Bible tells us that everything there is going to be drying up. 

 

God is going to judge this earth.  God is going to judge the unbelieving in this earth because they have rejected Him.  They have ridiculed and mocked Him, but God is going to let men of this world know that He is God.

 

The Iran ruler today is a very brutal, dictator, bloodthirsty person.  We could look at many of our world leaders today and they do not believe that there is a God, as we believe that there is a God. 

 

They are gong to know one day that the same Jesus that came to and was born in the land of Israel, down in a little town of Bethlehem, who hung on a cross outside of Jerusalem and died; they are going to know that He is the creator.  They are going to see Him one day.  They are going to see and understand that He is the King of kings, He is Lord and He is in control.  They are going to have to recognize that one day.

  

19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

 

That is saying that even though these judgments are going to be horrible and even though these men are going to be suffering terrible, they still yet will not repent. 

 

We think that when a catastrophe happens, or people get sick then people repent.  However, that is not always true. 

 

Men are going to be suffering drastically and they still are not going to repent.  They still are going to do the same old things that they have been doing and that is continually living in their sin. 

 

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