REVELATION LESSON 20

    We will begin this lesson in Revelation 8:1 "And when he had
opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space
of half an hour."

    There are many things in God's Word that there is no definite
explanation for, and this is one of those times. This "...silence in
heaven..." could mean so many things.  It could mean God has finished
dealing with His people.  Seven always stands for completeness, or
rest, or sabbath, or stands for something being finished.

    In the last lesson, we saw God rapture the Church into heaven and
hold them there safely and seal the 144,000 who would remain on earth.
I believe this silence is a good argument for the Christians being
carried away at the end of 3 1/2 years of tribulation before the 3 1/2
years of Wrath come. This silence could mean that these believers in
Jesus will rest quietly until it is all over on earth.  It, also,
could be a quiet time that indicates the peace and quiet forever in
heaven. I really believe that it has to do with the statement,
"...peace and safety; then sudden destruction..." I Thessalonians 5:3.
There will be a time like no other here on the earth.  When it will
look like real peace has come, but our Bible says soon after, there
will come sudden destruction.

    One more idea is that since this is the seventh seal, there is a
sabbath of rest here. As I said, we can guess all we want to, but only
God knows.  I really just gave you some food for thought here.  I do
not know for sure what it is.

    Revelation 8:2 "And I saw the seven angels which stood before God;
and to them were given seven trumpets."

    Whether this seven  is literal, or not, doesn't matter (in this
instance I believe they are literal).  These "...angels..." are
prepared to carry out God's orders. These "...seven trumpets..." were
to sound the alarm.  Trumpets are loud and send out a clear note.
There will be no question of the message.  The trumpet throughout the
Bible is used for two specific purposes: 1. To assemble the people for
worship. 2. To assemble the people for war. At any rate, this is to
alarm and prepare.

    This encourages the Christians and means judgement to the apostate
and worldly. The Wrath of God is here.

    Revelation 8:3 "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."

    We must realize that the tabernacle in the wilderness (with its
Holy place and most Holy Place) was a miniature of the arrangement in
heaven. When Jesus died on the cross, His blood had to be carried to
the mercy seat in heaven, just as the lamb in the temple had its blood
sprinkled on the mercy seat in the most Holy place.

    The very throne of God is the most holy place in heaven.  Jesus is
our High Priest forever, who intercedes for us at the throne of God.

    We need to understand the symbolisms in this verse.

    "...another angel..." just means that this angel is not one of the
aforementioned. This angel, under the directions of Jesus, has brought
this golden censer to the very throne of God.

    This vessel had to be made of gold to be in the close proximity of
God. Just as everything in the most Holy place in the Tabernacle in
the Wilderness had to be pure gold, or pure gold overlay.

    Some of the writers believe the word "...censer..." here should be
frankincense. That is not a terribly important point.  The
"...incense...", in V-3, probably does indicate frankincense.

    Notice that the prayers of the saints with their offering is upon
the golden altar at the throne of God.  Sometimes we feel our prayers
go nowhere, but here we see them at the throne of God.

    The golden altar, as well, was in the very presence of God and
thus had to be made of gold.

    We were not praying to the angel.  The angel's only job was to
transport them and keep them safe until they were received.  We must
never pray to an angel. In fact, we do not even pray to Jesus.  We
pray to the Father in the name of Jesus. The important thing, to see
here, is that our prayers go to the throne of God, to the most Holy
place.

    Revelation 8:4 "And the smoke of the incense, [which came] with
the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's
hand."

    The Bible speaks of this as a sweet smelling savour, Ezra 6:10.
The "...angel..." was the messenger who carried the prayers.

    Revelation 8:5 "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."

    Fire from the altar of burnt offering means that God accepted the
prayers of the saints. This "...fire taken from the altar and cast to
the earth..." is the fury of God. Our God is a consuming fire. God is
angered, and He has decided it is time to punish those on the earth
who have rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior.

    Just as God finally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah when they would
not repent, there is a time when the fire of God will descend upon
this earth in punishment.

    Throughout the Bible, all of these natural disasters mentioned in
V-5, "...thunderings...lightnings...earthquake..." are God dealing
with mankind. This is no different, and I believe these are literal. A
terrible storm takes place above ground and a terrible shaking beneath
takes place, as well. The Wrath of God has begun.

     Revelation 8:6 "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets
prepared themselves to sound."
    Revelation 8:7 "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."

    We read here, as in V-2, of the seven angels that had been waiting
 orders to move. They now are released and told to do these things.
 Some religions will tell you that God never punishes, but this is not
 true.  This is punishment from God.  The devil is not doing this. It
 is done on orders from God.  Another place where this strange
 phenomenon of fire and hail mixed together falling is in Exodus 9:24
 "So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous,
 such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it
 became a nation."  Both were punishments from God.  The difference is
 that this one in Exodus was localized. The one in Revelation is more
 wide spread.  One thing very important to remember, is that the wrath
 of God falls on them of unbelief.

    Ezekiel 38:22 "And I will plead against him with pestilence and
with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the
many people that [are] with him, an overflowing rain, and great
hailstones, fire, and brimstone."

    It is the same God in Ezekiel that we see in Revelation.

    We see in all of this and the next few trumpets, probably, reveal
judgement and atomic war. The first trumpet is so bad that it kills
1/3 of all vegetation.

    Revelation 8:8 "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;"

    We see here such devastation.  One third of the sea is ruined.
Even now, we see that in many areas fish are dying and washing ashore.

    Revelation 8:9 "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."
    Revelation 8:10 "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;"
    Revelation 8:11 "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."

    All of this is speaking of terrible things associated with such an
upheaval in the earth that it is beyond our comprehension.  I believe
these Scriptures have a literal and a spiritual meaning attached to
them.

    From the spiritual standpoint:
    In recent weeks we have seen heavenly stars (famous television
ministers) falling.

    One really interesting thing from the physical standpoint:
        Chernobyl means wormwood.

    This accident that occurred a short time ago in Russia affected
mostly communist countries (those who deny God).  This had a terrible
immediate effect of fallout in many of the neighboring countries. Meat
was in edible, milk from animals could not be drunk.  Literally
thousands of people were filled with cancer causing fallout.  Twenty
years from now they will still be seeing the results from this
terrible accident. In some places the radiation was 1000's of times
the normal amount. "Wormwood" means bad water, and I guess if you
checked the water now, you probably would find that a large percentage
of it is bad.

    Revelation 8:12 "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."

    I believe this occurs when volcanos start to erupt and earthquakes
of great magnitude occur; the smoke from them would cut out the light
of the sun, moon, and stars.  In recent months, our weather has been
odd , and probably part of the reason is the eruption of Mt. St.
Helen.

    Revelation 8:13 "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!"

    As I have said in the lesson before, Revelation is not written in
 chronological order. I believe, just as the children of Israel were
 in Egypt when the ten plagues came, we Christians will be here on the
 earth for the beginning of the troubles. Thank God we will be spared
 the Wrath. It seems from the statement in V-6, the things which have
 already happened are probably during tribulation.  From the
 "...woes...", the wrath is about to come.

    Even the problems we have already heard about are terrible, but
they get even worse. Here again, notice the mid-time separation of
this, four angels have sounded, and three more are about to sound.

    Additional Scriptures to study: Genesis 19 and Joel 2:16.

    Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:3 and Ezra 6:10.
                      REVELATION QUESTIONS 20

1.  What happened when the seventh seal was opened ?
2.  Name three things this could mean?
3.  What does the author personally believe it means?
4.  What were the seven angels given?
5.  What were they to do with what they were given?
6.  What two things are trumpets used for throughout the Bible?
7.  In V-3, the other angel had what?
8.  Where was the golden altar?
9.  What in heaven reminds us of the tabernacle in the wilderness?
10. Who is our High Priest forever?
11. Where are the prayers of the saints?
12. How must we pray?  To whom?
13. What went up out of the angel's hand?
14. What do thunderings, earthquakes, and lightnings mean?
15. What is the fire cast to the earth?
16. Who prepared to sound in V-6?
17. What was the hail and fire mixed with?
18. What happened when they were thrown to earth ?
19. Name two other books in the Bible where fire and hail fell.
20. What is about to take place from all these trumpets?
21. How many ships were destroyed?
22. What Russian name means wormwood?
23. What does wormwood mean?
24. What could be the spiritual meaning of the stars falling?
25. What was the belief of most countries affected by the fallout from
    Chernobyl?
26. What was 1000's of times worse than normal?
27. When the fourth angel sounded, what happened?
28. What could this be?
29. The angel that was flying through the heaven said what?
30. The separation of the first four trumpets and the last three show
    us what?
31. Write 1 Thessalonians 5:3 .
32. Write Ezra 6:10.
33. What do you believe the silence in heaven is?
34. Do you believe that Chernobyl is the "wormwood" here?