Revelation chapters 8 and 9 show the scroll being opened and seven trumpets of judgment being sounded.
Revelation 8:1 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 seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, 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.
6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the land. A third of the land was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky 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 turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, 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 turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the land, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”
Revelation 8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
The final seal has been broken and the contents of the scroll are about to be revealed. The worship service falls silent like the calm before a coming storm.
Have you ever had the opportunity to sit silently during a worship service? Can you imagine sitting silently in worship before God for three minutes, much less for half an hour? Probably not. The psalmist says, Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10. But we are so uncomfortable with silence before God that we fill even the empty spaces in worship with music to distract us, or we pull out the cell phones. Sadly, unlike heavenly worship, we leave little room for the awe and reverence of silence in worship. We often enter the sanctuary without any thought that we are coming before the Throne. We laugh, talk, joke, and check e-mail. When the worship starts we fill every moment with either speech or music. And often our songs are little more than truncated snippets of God’s Psalms, as if we are afraid, or too bored, or somehow beyond actually singing the Hymns that God has gifted to his Church.
“Music and silence, how I detest them. Noise defends us from silly qualms, scruples and Godly desires. The melodies and silences of Heaven must be shouted down.” C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters
Revelation 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
Seven trumpets were used in the Temple liturgy.This was so important that God even listed the seven Old Testament Temple trumpeters by name.
Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were to blow trumpets before the ark of God. I Chronicles 15:24
See also: Nehemiah 12:41
Revelation 8:3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, 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.
Every morning and every evening the Old Covenant priests would take fire from the altar and burn to the Lord burnt offerings and fragrant incense. II Chronicles 13:11
If you remember, the fire on the altar, the fire used for the burnt offering had originated in heaven. Leviticus 9:24 The priests were responsible for keeping the heavenly fire perpetually burning. Leviticus 6:13
That same heavenly fire from the altar was to be used in judgment. Deuteronomy 13:16
The incense burned by the priests symbolizes the prayers of God’s people ascending to the Throne of God. Here we are assured that our prayers have cosmic significance. When God’s Covenant people call upon God the world experiences God’s righteous judgment.
I called to the Lord in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the mountains trembled; they shook because He burned with anger.
8 Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; coals were set ablaze by it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down, a dark cloud beneath His feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His hiding place, dark storm clouds His canopy around Him.
12 From the radiance of His presence, His clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the Most High projected His voice.
14 He shot His arrows and scattered them; He hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
15 The depths of the sea became visible, the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. Psalm 18:6-15
Prayer is an awesome responsibility that God has granted his children so that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 We should heed the teaching of Paul and pray without ceasing, I Thessalonians 5:16-18, that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. But sadly the Church often overlooks the power that is at our disposal.
Now that all seven seals have been broken the scroll can be opened. The preview is over. In modern language, you have read the dust cover on the book and now you are ready to open the book to learn its content. It is time for judgment to begin.
Revelation 8:6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
The first four trumpets predicted the disasters that were to devastate Israel in the Last Days of the Old Covenant.
Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the land. A third of the land was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
Pulling together all of these images, God, in response to the prayers of his faithful people, mixes the blood of the martyrs with fire from the altar to bring His wrath down upon those who persecuted the believers. Throughout the Old Testament hail and fire are sent in judgment of the wicked. Recall Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:24-25, or God’s judgment when the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. Exodus 9:22-26
This judgment was fulfilled in the Roman scorched-earth method of warfare used against Israel.
“The countryside, like the city, was a pitiful sight, for where once there had been a multitude of trees and parks, there was now an utter wilderness stripped bare of timber; and no stranger who had seen the old Judea and the glorious suburbs of her capital, and now beheld the utter desolation, could refrain from tears or suppress a groan at so terrible a change.” Josephus, “The Wars of the Jews”, vi.i.1
Revelation 8:8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
In the Old Testament, Israel was called God’s Holy Mountain: his inheritance. Exodus 15:17
God had used the same mountain imagery to speak against Babylon:
“I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,” declares the Lord. “I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. Jeremiah 51:25&42
It was no coincidence then that Christ used this exact same image in speaking against Israel.
21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you… you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Matthew 21:21-22
Jesus instructed the disciples to pray imprecatory prayers, asking God to cast the mountain, apostate Israel, into the sea. And that is exactly what happened. The persecuted Church prayed, Revelation 6:9-11, for the mountain, Israel, to be cast into the sea. In response God, Revelation 8:3-5, directed his angels to throw down judgments to the land of Israel.
Remember, John was instructed to write this before the destruction happened, for the instruction and encouragement of the Church, the followers of the risen Christ. As he had told the readers in the beginning of Revelation, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of prophesy, keep the things that are written in it, for the time is near.”
Revelation 8:10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky 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 turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
The third trumpet combines the imagery from the fall of both Egypt and Babylon. Similar to the first plague on Egypt, the waters are to be made bitter. Exodus 7:21 The bitterness was caused by a star that fell from heaven, in other words in a judgment that came from God in heaven.
Wormwood is an Old Testament term used to warn Israel of coming judgments for apostasy.
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; 15 But with him that stands here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day: 16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; 17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:) 18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood; Deuteronomy 29:14-18
See also: Jeremiah 9:15, 23:15, Lamentations 3:15, Amos 5:7
Revelation 8:12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, 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 turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
Again, this is the collapsing-universe terminology often found in the Bible used to describe God’s judgment on the kingdoms of man. See for example:
The fall of Babylon to the Medes 539BC. Isaiah 13:9-10
The fall of Edom. Isaiah 34:4
The fall of Samaria. Amos 8:9
The fall of Jerusalem.
The sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood. Joel 2:28-32
Notice that Peter quotes this exact passage on the Day of Pentecost to describe to his contemporaries what they are witnessing. Acts 2:17-21
Christ uses the same language in describing the fall of Israel.
The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall. Matthew 24:29-31
As far as these wicked nations were concerned, and as far as Israel was concerned, their lights were about to go out.
“Ruler after ruler, chieftain after chieftain of the Roman Empire and Jewish nation was assassinated and ruined. Gaius, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, all died by murder or suicide; Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa, and most of the Herodian Princes together with not a few of the leading High Priests of Jerusalem, perished in disgrace, or in exile, or by violent hands. All these were quenched suns and darkened stars.” F.W. Farrar “The Early Days of Christianity”
Revelation 8:13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the land, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”
The Prophetic warnings of Israel’s destruction were often described as eagles descending upon carrion. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth as swift as an eagle…Deuteronomy 28:49, Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heavens; they pursued us… Lamentations 4:19
See also: Hosea 8:1, Jeremiah 4:13, Habakkuk 1:8, Deuteronomy 28:26, Proverbs 30:17
33 Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate. Jeremiah 7:33-34
Using familiar Old Covenant language that the priests clearly would understand the eagle announces the coming judgment.