Sounding of the Seven Trumpets begins

Topic: Silence
Passage: Revelation 8:1–13

February 26, 2020

Commentary

This is a brief overview of what will take place in chapter 8.
      1.   The opening of the 7th seal                            (vv. 1-5).
      2.   A great silence in heaven (Interlude)             (v. 1) 
      3.   Another great earthquake                               (v. 5).
      4.   Then the first four of the trumpet judgments (vv. 6-13).
Chapter 8 begins with the breaking of the seventh seal (vv. 1-5). The importance of this event is confirmed by the fact that “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour after it was opened.” Dr. J. Vernon McGee says the silence marks the transition from grace to judgment. God has always been a gracious God offering salvation to all who would receive it through Jesus. At this point:
1.  The first trumpet sounds – hail and fire mixed with blood is cast down and a third of the earth is burned up (v. 7). 
2.  The second trumpet sounds – a third of the sea turns into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea die, and a third of the ships are destroyed (vv. 8-9). 
3.  The third trumpet sounds – a large star falls to the earth from heaven, turning the water into bitterness so that the people who drank it die (vv. 10-11).

4.  At the sound of the fourth trumpet the light of the sky is reduced by one third. Just as the first three trumpets deals with the earth the fourth trumpet deals with the heavens (vv. 12-13.

Application

God makes silence an important matter as he opens the seventh seal which leads to sounding of the seven trumpets. I must be silent if I am going to be able to hear what God has to say to me.

Revelation 8:1– 13 (NET)

1 Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 4 The smoke coming from the incense, along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

6 Now the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown at the earth so that a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, 9 and a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed.

10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky; it landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 (Now the name of the star is Wormwood.) So a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned.

12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. And there was no light for a third of the day and for a third of the night likewise. 13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying directly overhead, proclaiming with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them!”

Illustration: Einstein has nothing to say

Albert Einstein attended a dinner where he received an award. Although he was not scheduled to speak, the audience pleaded for him to do so. Einstein stood and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry, but I have nothing to say.” Einstein sat down, but rose a few seconds later and added, “In case I do have something to say, I’ll come back.” (Today in the Word, September, 1998, p. 1).

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