Calamities

We've gone through six seals and now we come to the seventh seal. Out of the seventh seal we find the seven trumpets of judgments, and out of the trumpet judgments we find the seven vials of God's wrath. All this is contained in the seventh seal.

REVELATION 8:1-2

When he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour (Rev. 8:1).

What is the significance of the silence? We really don't know. It's interesting that explanations and commentaries have been written about this silence in heaven for the space of a half an hour. Man can't seem to be quiet about silence in heaven. But where the Bible is silent, it's best that we keep silent, too. Silence - that awe before this trumpet judgment of God comes forth.

"And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets" (Rev. 8:2). Some say that these "angels" are seven archangels.

Only one angel in the Scripture is referred to as an archangel - Michael (Jude 9). He's one of the leading angels. Gabriel called Michael "one of the chief princes" (Daniel 10:13).

Gabriel is another angel that stands in the presence of God. He came to Zacharias as he was ministering in the temple and announced that his wife Elizabeth was to bear a child in her old age. Gabriel told Zacharias to call his name John. Zacharias said, "How can I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years." The angel answered, "I am Gabriel, that stands in the presence of God; and am sent to show thee these glad tidings" (Luke 1:18-19). The angels Gabriel and Michael stand in the presence of God.

In the book of Enoch, one of the books of the Apocrypha, there are listed the names of six angels: Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raquel, and Sarakiel. The book of Enoch calls them holy angels. Whether they all stand in the presence of God we don't know; we do know that Gabriel and Michael are two of the angels standing in His presence.

REVELATION 8:3-6

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. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. 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. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound (Rev. 8:3-6).

Here we see the heavenly scene. We see again the golden censers with incense mingled with the prayers of the saints.

The people of biblical times were very familiar with the imagery in the book of Revelation. It is rather foreign to us. In the Old Testament the golden censer was used by the priest who daily went into the tabernacle. He'd take some coals off the altar, place them in this little golden censer, and add some incense to it. As the smoke of the incense rose, he'd enter the tabernacle and wave this golden censer before the altar. The smoke of the incense rising would be as the sweetness of the prayers of God's people. The priest would thus intone his prayers to God for the nation Israel.

It's important to realize that the actions of the priest, combined with the whole earthly tabernacle, were a model or a pattern of the heavenly things. Here in Revelation 8:2-6 we see the heavenly scene of which the earthly tabernacle was a model. We see the angel taking the coals from the altar and mingling it with the incense, the prayers of the saints.

REVELATION 8:7-11

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 the trees was burned up, and all green grass was burned up (Rev. 8:7).

The first of the trumpet judgments affects the earth and the vegetation upon the earth. If we're having difficulty feeding the people now, what will happen when one-third of the food supplies are wiped out by this trumpet judgment? The grass will be wiped out and one-third of all the trees. Hail and fire mingled with blood will be cast to the earth, and the trees and the green grass will be burned.

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; 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 (Rev. 8:8-9).

This great mountain of fire falling into the sea sounds like pollution. The earth will be so polluted that the trees will be dying. That is happening now. The strontium 90 from an atomic fallout in the atmosphere affects vegetation and greatly endangers our lives. That's why the atmospheric testing of atomic weapons was stopped. If an atomic war breaks out, the by-product of radioactive fallout will do tremendous damage to crops and the earth. It would become possible that the sea will become polluted, and the third part of the creatures die, and the third part of the ships be destroyed.

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; and the name of the star is called Wormwood... and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter (Rev. 8:10-11).

The third trumpet judgment affects the fresh water supply. One-third of the rivers and the fresh water supplies of the earth are destroyed. Imagine the thirst that will ensue when one-third of the fresh water supplies are destroyed. Already the environmentalist are rightly concerned about the pollution of our fresh water supplies that endanger mankind.

REVELATION 8:12-13

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. 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! (Rev. 8:12-13).

The first four angels have sounded, but then another angel came flying through the midst of the heavens, declaring with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe." These signs in the heaven are the fulfillment of the Scripture (Matthew 24:29).

The fourth angel darkens the sun and the moon so that they only shine for a third part. It is probably an atmospheric condition created as a result of these first three trumpets.

We do know that when Krakatua, the volcanic island in the South Pacific, erupted it just blew itself apart. The oceans went rushing into this crater as it exploded. It was a mighty convulsion. In fact, the explosion was heard two thousand miles away. The island was obliterated - it just disappeared. Sunsets around the world were colored by dust for two years as a result of that tremendous explosion in which at least one cubic mile of material was blown into the air.

In a recent winter we had extremely beautiful sunsets that resulted from the volcanoes erupting in Guatemala. These volcanoes gave us some very colorful sunsets because of the ash and suspended dust material that filled the atmosphere.

These plagues striking the earth, sea, and fresh water appear to have the effect within the atmosphere of darkening the sun and the moon and causing the moon to take on the appearance of blood.