Revelation Study

Revelation Study — Chapter 8

The first six seals have been opened and take us into the "great tribulation" period. The seventh has several parts and will take us through the Roman-Jewish wars to the very end, the final destruction of Jerusalem.

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

Many of the commentaries speculate at length in regard to the meaning of this verse. I don't think it deserves all that attention. If we will just think a minute: we'll say in a big crowd of people all become suddenly quiet. Generally some momentous event is about to take place and that seems to be the case here. Remember the verse we read often and the song we sing; "The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him" (Habbakkuk 2:20), when the prophet foretold the woes of Israel. The great tribulation had come as foretold in Matthew 24:29 and now, the hosts of heavenly beings awaited the judgments to come and that the end of the nation of Israel was at hand. That which Daniel alludes to as the time of the end, not judgment day. No need to guess at how much time a half an hour indicates. It is a short time in comparison with other times that have been mentioned.

Vs 2 "And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 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. 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 only seven angels which have been mentioned before are the seven angels of the seven churches. I doubt very much that these are the ones mentioned here. There were many angels which were around the throne in other parts of the vision and these may have been some of them. The main point is that here, as in many other places, seven indicates completeness. These seven angels had a task to perform: the blowing of the seven trumpets. When they did that their job would be complete.

Another angel appears. Some would have this angel to be Christ since he takes the prayers of the saints to the throne of God but this angel does not to seem have any significance. Not one of the seven, but another of the same kind. These implements are prefigured by the implements of the Mosaic temple. Here, of course, it indicates something and the something is the prayers of the saints. In particular, it would be those martyred saints we read of in chapter 6.

Vs 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."

These signs are used in other places to indicate great upheavals in governments especially as brought to pass by conquering armies. Dire consequences are forthcoming.

Vs 6 "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound."

Trumpets, as our bugles, were used to make certain sounds in battle. These angels were ready to sound the trumpets. Remember that trumpets were sounded in various happenings to the Jews in the wilderness and afterward as well. They sounded for the new moon, the sacrifice proclaimed, the jubilee announced and probably other happenings, but here, it was the sound of war.

Vs 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."

The exact place "upon the earth" is not stated but since the Apocalypse has to do with the destruction of Jerusalem it is safe to assume that John is talking about Palestine and its environs. The four winds of chapter 7 had been restrained from "hurting" these things, but now it was different. This scene is the raging war fought by Vespasian and later, by his son, Titus, leading the Roman forces. A third of everything of the earth (Palestine) was hurt.

Vss 8-9 "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. 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."

Sometimes the word "sea" is used as an indicator of people, but here the figure is more or less explained as being literally, the actual sea. There were only four prominent seas that are mentioned in the Bible the Red Sea, the Sea of Galilee, the Mediterranean (Great) Sea, and the Dead Sea. The account of the sea disaster is a matter of record, especially as told by Josephus. He reports that after the Jewish defenders were defeated in the northern part of Palestine, they took to the sea. Some small battles were fought on the sea of Galilee but vicious battles were fought on the shores of the Great Sea and Vespasian drove them into the sea. There they were overtaken by monstrous storms that caused them to have many wrecks. Their navy, if it could be called such, was in disarray. Men were drowning rather than go back to shore to be captured by Vespasian. Many took their own lives. The carnage was so great that it is described by the figurative language as "a third part of the sea became blood."

Vss 10-11 "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; 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."

Powerful leaders are described as "stars" and the "heaven" from which they fall or rule is simply a designation of a high place of authority, not God's dwelling place. This is figurative language. Isaiah describes this kind of fall in Isaiah 14:12: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" The literal translation for Lucifer, son of the morning, is "morning star." This is talking about the fall of Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar and his fall from his powerful place among the nations. The fall of many people of high authority during the destruction of Jerusalem is described in Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."

We must be careful in designating some particular person that is described by figurative language but one man who fell from his high place in the midst of all this warfare fits the picture. Josephus was a leader of the Jews. In fact, he was regarded as their hero. He was reported as having been killed in battle and the people wept and mourned over his passing, but it was a false report. He was captured by Vespasian and became a great helper to him. His excuse was that he was working inside with favor from Vespasian to bring about peace thus saving many from being killed and taken captive. But the people then turned on him and from his lofty place he became as the filth of the earth as far as they were concerned. His name and the influence he had had, became "Wormwood" which indicates the bitterness that sprang forth from his betrayal and many people died because of their failure to accept what he called his mediation. Another third was affected.

Vs 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."

The Roman campaign in the north, the Galilean campaign was over. At least a third of Israel was completely in Roman hands. Remember, these numbers are figurative. The third part was the completion of the war in the north. Figuratively, the sun was going down on the great nation of Israel.

Vs 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!"

Here is a break in the action once again. Three angels were yet to sound their trumpets and when they do, the woe will be complete. There was a literal break in the action at this time. Vespasian had received word of the great upheaval in Roman government. Nero had been slain and there was controversy concerning who would take his place. He was the last of the lineage of Caesar. The army generals were in favor of a military man and had sent a message to Vespasian to be their leader. Some translations carry the word "eagle" rather than "angel." An eagle, I am told, was the ensign, the logo, of the Roman legions. The soldiers were dispatched to Roman strongholds to assist in Vespasian's promotion to emperor so the war was put on hold for a while but the eagle, the angel, let it be known that war was not over. There were woes yet to come. Perhaps, it was at this pause in the warfare that many Christians in Jerusalem saw the signs described by Jesus in Matthew 24 and fled to Pella in Peraea.