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In the following article, the biblical text is in CAPS, while commentary is in lower case.

Studies in Revelation

by Dr. John H. Roller

Chapter 8

Introduction

In his letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2-3), Jesus didn’t mention the Second Coming as an event that would take place during one of the church ages. The last letter simply concluded with the last church age and the statement, “If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” That closed the vision; there was no mention of the Second Coming; John went on to tell of another vision (the vision of the seven seals). Now, in this second vision (the vision of the seven seals), when John reaches the seventh seal, he gives us just the briefest little hint of the Second Coming. As we go through this book, we will see that, cycle after cycle after cycle, each time we build up to the Second Coming, he gives us a bigger picture of the Second Coming, until, finally, in the last vision, it all sort of bursts through, and he devotes a whole chapter to telling us what that Coming itself will be like, and then he goes on to tell us what will happen after it. But, in Revelation 8:1, for the first time in the book, we have a hint being given. We will see a very strange, kind of anticlimactic, kind of suspenseful way of putting the Second Coming of Christ, because John really isn’t ready, at this point in his book, to unload the whole picture of the Second Coming for us.

Revelation 8:1

WHEN HE (Jesus) OPENED THE SEVENTH SEAL, THERE WAS SILENCE IN HEAVEN (because all the “action” is on Earth; when this prophecy is fulfilled, Jesus will have left the heavenly scene and returned to Earth, and the important things that will be happening then will be happening on Earth, where He will be, not in Heaven) FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR (1 Corinthians 15:52 describes this same “time period” using the expression “in the twinkling of an eye” – in either case, I’m not sure that the expression should be taken literally; in both cases, I believe, the point is that the Second Coming will take place very quickly – we have similar expressions, like, “in no time at all” and “it’ll all be over before you know it”). This verse marks the end of John’s vision of the seven seals. Revelation 8:2 begins another vision (note the words, “I saw,” which often mark the beginning of a new vision). Like the vision of the seven seals, this vision of the seven trumpets will portray events that take place on Earth between the time of the first coming of Jesus and the time of the Second Coming.

Revelation 8:2

I SAW THE SEVEN ANGELS WHO STAND BEFORE GOD (I am not aware of any other reference in the Bible to these “seven angels who stand before God,” but there is a reference to them in one of the books of the Apocrypha – see Tobit 12:15, where Tobit, the main character of that book, encounters an angel named Raphael, who says that he is “one of the seven angels who stand before God” – evidently, that “bit” of information happens to be true, since John refers to it as true in Revelation 8:2, even though we wouldn’t be able to know if it were true or not based only on our finding it in a book that wasn’t inspired by God, as Revelation was), AND SEVEN TRUMPETS WERE GIVEN TO THEM. In this vision, the angels themselves aren’t of much interest; it is the trumpets that are of interest, particularly, what happens on the Earth when the angels blow them. In biblical prophecy, trumpets are often used as symbols of judgment, because trumpets would be sounded before a battle, and a battle was often viewed as a judgment of God, the outcome of the battle being determined by God, not by the relative strengths or weaknesses of one or the other of the battling armies. So these seven trumpets will represent seven judgments of God that were predicted to come on the Earth during the Church Age.

Revelation 8:3

ANOTHER ANGEL CAME AND STOOD OVER THE ALTAR (in front of God’s throne in John’s vision of Heaven), HAVING A GOLDEN CENSER (incense container). MUCH INCENSE (which was used in Old Testament temple worship services as a symbol of prayer, because, as is easy to see, the rising toward the sky of the smoke produced by burning the incense was a visual representation of the rising toward God of the prayers being spoken by His people on Earth) WAS GIVEN TO HIM, THAT HE SHOULD ADD IT (the incense) TO THE PRAYERS OF ALL THE SAINTS (believers in Jesus) ON THE GOLDEN ALTAR WHICH WAS BEFORE THE THRONE (of God).

Revelation 8:4

THE SMOKE OF THE INCENSE, WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS, WENT UP BEFORE GOD OUT OF THE ANGEL’S HAND. The idea is that God’s people, experiencing all kinds of trials and persecutions at the hands of their enemies here on Earth, respond to those trials and persecutions by praying to God, and their prayers come to God’s attention, and the judgments that He pours out of the Earth are His way of answering those prayers.

Revelation 8:5

THE ANGEL TOOK THE CENSER (incense container), AND HE FILLED IT WITH THE FIRE OF THE ALTAR, AND THREW IT ON THE EARTH (fulfilling the “wish” that Jesus had expressed in November of AD 29 – see Luke 12:49). THERE FOLLOWED THUNDERS, SOUNDS, LIGHTNINGS, AND AN EARTHQUAKE (generalized symbols of the approach of judgment).

Revelation 8:6

THE SEVEN ANGELS WHO HAD THE SEVEN TRUMPETS PREPARED THEMSELVES TO SOUND. As the angels blow the trumpets, we will see another series of historical events portrayed in symbolic form, just as we did with the vision of the opening of the seven seals. In this case, the symbols are not as obvious – not as easy to interpret – as were the symbols in the previous vision. I could certainly be wrong in my interpretation of them, but, to the best of my ability to do so, I’ll give you what I believe to be the correct interpretation.

Revelation 8:7

THE FIRST (angel) SOUNDED (his trumpet), AND THERE FOLLOWED HAIL AND FIRE, MIXED WITH BLOOD, AND THEY WERE THROWN TO THE EARTH (which is often used in biblical prophecy as a symbol for the land of Palestine, just as, in reverse, the land of Palestine is often used in biblical prophecy as a symbol for the whole Earth – in both Hebrew and Greek, the word translated “land” is the same word that is also translated “Earth” and you can only tell the difference by analyzing the context to see which translation makes more sense in a given passage). ONE THIRD OF THE EARTH (Palestine, representing, in turn, the Jewish people, who were living in Palestine at that time) WAS BURNT UP (destroyed), AND ONE THIRD OF THE TREES (often used in biblical prophecy as a symbol for national leaders) WERE BURNT UP (killed), AND ALL GREEN GRASS (often used in biblical prophecy as a symbol for the common people) WAS BURNT UP (killed). This verse speaks of a judgment against the Jewish people (as a nation) for rejecting Jesus as their promised Messiah. When Jesus stood before the Roman Governor of Palestine, Pontius Pilate, and was accused of leading a rebellion against Caesar because of His “claim” to be the King of the Jews, the Jews responded to a question from Pilate by shouting, “We have no king but Caesar!” Forty years later, in AD 70, God’s judgment fell upon them in the form of an invasion by Roman armies, led by a general named Titus (who would later become a Roman Emperor). Buildings, including the Temple in Jerusalem, were destroyed; leaders were killed or taken into captivity, and most of the population was either killed or scattered throughout the Roman Empire in what later became known as the First Jewish War (at the time, of course, it was simply called “the Jewish War” – just as what we now call “World War I” was called “the World War” at the time when it happened, and only became known as “World War I” when World War II happened, a couple of decades later). Much of what Jesus Himself had predicted in His “Olivet Discourse” (Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21) was fulfilled in AD 70 as well.

Revelation 8:8

THE SECOND ANGEL SOUNDED (his trumpet), AND SOMETHING LIKE A GREAT BURNING MOUNTAIN (the great mountain representing the entire Jewish community, worldwide; and the fact that it was burning representing another great judgment on them) WAS THROWN INTO THE SEA (the sea, in biblical prophecy, often represents the entire world of Gentile nations). ONE THIRD OF THE SEA (the scattered places in the world where Jewish people lived at that time) BECAME BLOOD (was affected by this judgment),

Revelation 8:9

AND ONE THIRD OF THE LIVING CREATURES (representing the Jewish people) WHICH WERE IN THE SEA (scattered throughout the world) DIED. ONE THIRD OF THE SHIPS (on which people traveled from place to place throughout the world in those days) WERE DESTROYED. I believe that this prophecy was fulfilled in the Second Jewish War of AD 135, in which 580,000 Jews (about 1/3 of the total world population of Jews at the time) were killed. This war was started when a man named Simon, who called himself “Bar-Kochba” (which means “Son of the Star”), claimed to be the Messiah (in fact, the leading Jewish Rabbi of the time, a man named Akiba, actually proclaimed Simon to be the Messiah, the only time in all of Jewish history when a leading rabbi proclaimed a man to be the Messiah) and led a worldwide revolt against Rome, which, of course, was completely smashed, and the Jews who survived the war were scattered so thoroughly that they never reorganized as a fighting force until after World War II, more than 1,800 years later.

Revelation 8:10

THE THIRD ANGEL SOUNDED (his trumpet), AND A GREAT STAR FELL FROM THE SKY, BURNING LIKE A TORCH, AND IT FELL ON ONE THIRD OF THE RIVERS, AND ON THE SPRINGS (the sources) OF THE WATERS (water, in biblical prophecy, often represents the Bible itself – or, more exactly, the message that is found in the Bible – the “word of God” – Scriptural truth).

Revelation 8:11

THE NAME OF THE STAR IS CALLED “WORMWOOD” (sometimes translated as “Bitterness”). ONE THIRD OF THE WATERS BECAME WORMWOOD (bitter). MANY PEOPLE DIED FROM (drinking) THE WATERS, BECAUSE THEY WERE MADE BITTER. If water is a symbol for the truth of God’s word, then this bitter water is a symbol for the “poison” of false teaching. I believe that this “star” called “Wormwood” represents the rise of false teachings within the Church which took place around AD 300. Of course, there had been false teachers around ever since the first century. There were some even during the Apostle Paul’s lifetime, and there were even more after his death, before the death of the Apostle John. Cults continued to grow, and to spread false teachings, all during the second and third centuries, too, at times even seeming likely to overwhelm the true Church, so that more people in some areas of the world had received the false gospel than had received the true Gospel. But, throughout those times, the true Church had always rejected those false teachings and done what it could to combat them. Toward the year 300, though, something different took place. False teachers (most of them known as “Gnostics” – which, literally, means “people with special knowledge”) arose within the true Church, and the same false teachings that had been rejected by previous generations of Christians were now accepted by the generation living at that time, and “incorporated” into their view of Christianity. “Wormwood” was God’s judgment against the Roman Church of that time for accepting these false doctrines. Many (if not most) of the Christians in the Roman Empire “died” spiritually (lost their spiritual vitality) because they followed these false teachings. Many others literally died in the terrible persecutions of AD 303-313 (see Revelation 2:10).

Revelation 8:12

THE FOURTH ANGEL SOUNDED (his trumpet), AND ONE THIRD OF THE SUN WAS STRUCK, AND ONE THIRD OF THE MOON, AND ONE THIRD OF THE STARS, SO THAT ONE THIRD OF THEM WOULD BE DARKENED, AND THE DAY WOULDN’T SHINE FOR ONE THIRD OF IT, AND THE NIGHT IN THE SAME WAY. I believe that the “light” described in this verse (and the sun, moon and stars that “carry” that light) represents what was good about the Roman Empire: its ability to bring a measure of peace to the territories under its control, its provision of useful public works such as roads and aqueducts (which made spreading the Gospel easier than it would have been in a world without Roman leadership), and its eventual recognition of Christianity as its “state religion” (which at least made it easier for Christians to do the work that God had called them to do than it had been during the days of pagan persecution of the Church). But, under this trumpet, we are seeing God’s judgment against what was bad in the Roman Empire, in the form of a diminishing of that “light” (a diminishing of the Empire’s power). I believe that this “diminishing” took place between AD 410 (when the city of Rome was “sacked” by barbarians) and AD 476 (when the last Roman Emperor was replaced on his throne by a coalition of barbarian kingdoms).

Revelation 8:13

I SAW, AND I HEARD AN EAGLE, FLYING IN MID HEAVEN, SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, “WOE! WOE! WOE FOR THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH, BECAUSE OF THE OTHER VOICES OF THE TRUMPETS OF THE THREE ANGELS, WHO ARE YET TO SOUND!” This is a warning that we are stepping into an even greater phase of God’s judgment against wicked people than we have seen in the demolishing of the Jewish nation (under the first two trumpets) and in the demolishing of the Roman Empire (under the second two trumpets). The fifth and sixth trumpets, which contain much longer stories, are so intertwined that, in a sense, they have to be viewed almost as if they are one judgment that comes in two phases, and I believe that it refers to the Arab world (those people who occupied the Middle East after the Roman Empire was destroyed). What became of the lands of the Bible – the countries that are now Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and so on? What went on in those places during what we call the “Dark Ages” in Europe’s history? What went on is that the false prophet Mohammed claimed to receive the “revelations” from Allah that are recorded in the Qur’an, gathered a band of followers who not only supported his religion, but also his efforts to take control of that part of the world, and went out to conquer all of that territory. He and his successors built an empire that reached its peak right at the time when Europe was at its lowest point. Some of that is what is prophesied in Revelation 9.