REVELATION 8:1-5
INTRODUCTION
A Christian, as he entered a barbershop, heard a man say,
“I was born a sinner. It was no responsibility of mine. It would, therefore, be
unjust for God to judge or condemn me for that in which I had no responsibility
whatever, no matter what the Bible or preachers say!” The Christian pointed out
that the Bible does not say God will condemn us because we are born sinners,
but that He will do so if we remain sinners, rejecting the Savior, by whom He
has opened the way of escape for us. He used this illustration: “Suppose
someone has occasion to pass your door at midnight ,
and notices that fire has broken out in your house. You are asleep, unaware of
the danger you are in; the alarm is given and you are awakened. In this
circumstance, what would your responsibility be?” “Well,” the man answered,
“surely I would be responsible to heed the warning and escape as quickly as
possible.” But supposing you were to answer the one who warned you, “I didn’t
set this building on fire, and have no responsibility for it,” and so remain in
the house. What then? “In that case,” he said, I would be a fool and
responsible if I lost my life.”
We conclude our series on the breaking
of the seven seals today. Today we are looking at the seventh seal. If you
recall the sixth seal was broken in Revelation 6:12. Revelation 7 deals with
the sealing of the 144,000 and the countless multitudes of believers from every
tongue and every nation in the world. What the seventh chapter reveals is that
before the judgment of God falls on the wicked people who rebelled against Him
by rejecting His Son Jesus Christ, He seals those who belong to Him. The seal
in this chapter is to protect the believing community from the wrath and
judgment of God that is going to befall the wicked and lost people of the
world.
I. THE BREAKING
OF THE SEVENTH SEAL V. 1
When the seventh seal is broken, there is an
impressive silence in heaven, which we cannot help but to think that it
portends (symbolizes) the end. To be precise John states that the silence in
heaven was about half an hour or thirty minutes. Recall that the sixth seal was
opened in Revelation 6:12 so there has been quite an interval. This was clearly
a solemn and impressive moment. The silence in heaven represents an attitude of
trembling suspense on the part of the heavenly hosts (angels) in view of the
judgments of God which are about to fall upon the world. It is the silence of
dreadful anticipation of the events that are about to happen, now that the time
of the end has come.
All along, we have witnessed the
singing of songs in heaven by the four angels, hosts of angels, and the
twenty-four elders. However, now there is no new song, no rumbling of thunder
from the throne of God, and no roaring acclamation of the Lamb. Heaven is
deadly silent. Awesomely, fearfully, and pregnantly silent!
When people are living in sin and
rebellion and heaven is silent, it does not mean that God does not care. God’s
pause in judgment is like the eye of a hurricane, a lull that gives the world
time to reflect on its rebellion, blasphemy, sin, and evil actions. God gives
the human race time to think things over. Therefore, when you are living in sin
and God’s discipline has not come upon you that is not an indication that there
is no God as some insist or speculate. The silence of God may be His way of
telling you to think about the way you are leading your life and repent before
it is too late. Has God paused in your life? In the midst of all your health
problems, do you find you are feeling better? In the midst of all your
financial struggles, do you feel you can now make ends meet? After the cycle of
difficulties, problems, and disasters has repeated itself in your life, are you
able to cope today? What is your response to God’s pause in your life? Perhaps
the pause also gives time to believers to read our Bibles and come to an
understanding of what is taking place.
Could it be the prayers of the saints
that have caused silence in heaven? The Bible says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James
5:16 ). From the time of John
and the Apostles, Christians appeared insignificant in the eyes of the world.
Even today, Christians are ridiculed and often misunderstood, but in the sight
of God, we matter. We are special in the sight of God. Our prayers move Him to
act on our behalf and in the world. Even great cataclysms are held back while
we pray. If it were not for the presence of Christians in the world, this
sinful world certainly would have come to a cataclysmic end. Besides, God is
also patiently waiting for some to be saved, who are now living in rebellion.
Could it be that the heavens are silent because God wants you to turn away from
sin and turn towards Him?
It could also be that God wants Christians
to pray before His judgment falls on the unrepentant people of the world, who
persecute them. On the day of Pentecost, the fire of God fell when the
believers had prayed. In the last day, the fire of God will also fall in answer
to prayer.
II. THE BUSINESS
OF THE ANGELS VV. 2-3
In verse 2, it reads, “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets
were given to them.” The definite article “the” that precedes the angels shows that a specific seven are in
mind. When John says that these angels were standing before God, it means they
were serving Him, who alone is worthy of service. These angels were given seven
trumpets. Trumpets feature prominently in the Bible, both in the Old and New
Testaments. Trumpets were known as “war horns.” The trumpets were sounded
during the time of war or when an enemy invaded the land of Israel 15:52 ; 1
Thess. 4:16 ). The angels
are given the seven trumpets but they do not sound the trumpets immediately.
The sounding of the trumpets will be the prelude to the coming judgments of God
upon the unrepentant and wicked people of the world.
The same John who witnessed the fire
fall from heaven at the day of Pentecost is the same John who saw another
angel, with a golden censer, [come] and stand at the altar. Many have
speculated that this angel is Christ but the Bible does not specify. Therefore,
I simply conclude that we do not know the identity of this angel. Even the
seven angels are not named. This angel was given much incense to offer with the
prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of
the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from
the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the incense, filled it with fire from the
altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings,
flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
The mixture of the golden incense and
the prayers of all the saints are symbolic of the unity of worship of heaven
and earth. I have said many times that if you are a Christian and you are not
praying then you are missing so much from God. The reason is simple. Many of
God’s blessings upon the people of God come in answer to our prayers.
Therefore, it is safe to say that if you are not praying as a believer, you are
not experiencing God’s blessings upon your life. Many Christians are
impoverished because they have neglected prayer in their lives. Many Christians
have become spiritually famished and anemic due to prayerlessness. Prayer is
the believer’s spiritual breath. The use of the golden censer and of the altar
of sacrifice points to the value of prayers. God values prayer that is why
Jesus took time to teach the disciples to pray. When Jesus walked with His
disciples, they did not ask Him to teach them to preach. They did not ask Him
to teach them to perform miracles. They did not ask Jesus to teach them to heal
people. But they asked Him to teach them to pray, because they saw the role
prayer played in His life. They saw how effective His prayers were. Prayer is
the most effective weapon in the universe. Prayer is more powerful than any
nuclear weapon that our human technology has created. However, many Christians
ignore this powerful arsenal instead of using it to bless and set the captives
free. If Christians know the powerful effects of prayer, we would not be more
afraid and worried about nuclear weapons or terrorist attacks. When we join our
hearts in prayer, God neutralizes the enemies, confuses, and confounds them and
releases His power in our lives. God did that in the lives of Moses, Joshua,
Elijah, Elisha, Jehoshaphat, and many more in both the Old and New Testaments.
The trumpet blasts have three
purposes: (1) to warn that judgment is certain, (2) to call the forces of good
and evil to battle, and (3) to announce the return of the King, the Messiah.
These warnings urge us to make sure our faith is firmly fixed on Christ.
III.
THE BELIEVERS’ PRAYERS AND THEIR
EFFECT VV. 4-5
The incense and the prayers of all the saints went up
before God. Notice that they went up from
the angel’s hand, which is probably a way of saying that heaven and earth
are at one in this matter. Prayer is not the lonely venture it so often feels.
There is heavenly assistance and our prayers do reach God. Prayer is not an
exercise in futility. It is a believer’s conversation with his/her heavenly
Father. God speaks to us primarily from His Word (the Bible). We as His
children speak to Him in prayer. Do you find your time of conversation with
your earthly father boring, or even useless? If children will give up
everything to have a five minute of fellowship and conversation with their
earthly fathers, why would they ignore their time with the heavenly Father? How
effective is your prayer life? There is something sacrificial in true prayer as
our service to Christ is also sacrificial. I hope after this message you are
going to take your prayer life seriously, because James says, “You do not have because you do not ask,” (James
4:3).
The Bible teaches that angels are
God’s messengers sent on behalf of God’s children. Earlier the angel had the
prayers of the saints for the purpose of intercession but in verse 5, he takes
it for purposes of judgment. “He filled
it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth.” When the angel
threw it, the result was “peals of
thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.” The fire proceeded from the very altar on
which the prayers of the saints have been offered. This surely means that the
prayers of God’s people play a necessary part in ushering in the judgments of
God. That is why Jesus told the disciples that He has given them the keys of
the kingdom and whatever they bind on earth would be bound in heaven and
whatever they loose on earth would be loose in heaven (Matt. 16:19). What are
the real master-powers behind the world and what are the deeper secrets of our
destiny? They are not the Domitians of the world who desire to be worshiped. They
are not the Osama bin Ladens of the world who use terror to have their way.
They are not the Hugo Shavis of the world, who use dictatorship to suppress
freedom of speech and the press. They are not the Mahmoud Aminedjaad’s of the
world who use intimidation and threats to have their way. On the contrary, the
astonishing answer is the prayer of the saints and the fire of God. When Moses
prayed the fire of God fell on Mount Sinai .
When Elijah prayed on Mount Carmel the fire of
God fell. When the disciples huddled together and prayed on the Day of
Pentecost the fire of God in the person of the Holy Spirit fell (Acts 2). The
prayers of the saints are more potent, more powerful, and more fearsome than
all the dark and mighty powers let loose in the world. More powerful than
anything else, is the power of prayer set ablaze by the fire of God and cast
upon the earth.
As the prayers rise to heaven from
believers who are being persecuted unmercifully on earth, the heavenly silence
and earthly stillness are broken by a terrifying, worldwide electrical storm.
The storm is the all the more shocking in its suddenness, contrasted with the
silence and stillness that had preceded it. It is as though God takes planet
earth by the shirt collar, shakes it, and shouts, “Wake up! Repent! If you do
not turn from your evil ways you will experience My wrath!”
When we hear of the evil actions of
others reported in the daily news or see wickedness on television, I wonder
what the impact would be if we spent as much time praying as we do clucking our
tongues, joining a demonstration, boycotting a product, or even writing a
letter to the editor! On earth, we are distressed by the evil actions of
others. When we get to heaven, will we be distressed over our own earthly
prayerlessness?
In response to the united prayer of
believers, God supernaturally intervenes in the rebellion of planet earth. Do
you know a family member, a friend, or a coworker who is hell bent for
destruction? Do you know someone who is in rebellion against God? If God would
move heaven and earth literally to warn planet earth, what will He do for your
loved one if you just pray? This scene in heaven reveals that in response to
the prayers of His people, God moves in powerful ways! This passage should
encourage you that Christians are the most powerful people on planet earth. The
sad thing is that many Christians do not know who they are and the authority
Christ has given to us in the world. I hope this message would revolutionize
your prayer life from today forth.
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