If its not worth doing, then don't do it!
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If its not worth doing, then don't do it! |
    
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A Quartet of Trumpets Revelation 8: 1-11
Chapter eight is the beginning of the third section of the book of Revelation. Let us remember that each section pictures the entire millennic age between the first and final coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the opening section of chapters one to three, we saw our Lord in the midst of His Church. We hear His voice of admonition, reproof and promise for His Church in all ages. In the second section of chapters four to seven, we see the facts of the world's reactionary persecution of Christ's Church. Yet we are assured that eternal security lies in the Grace of God's providence and the atonement of Jesus Christ, whose return we must be prepared for at any time. Our third section of chapters eight to eleven, demonstrate God's hand in history to persuade us to put our faith in Jesus Christ. Our chapter begins with the opening of the seventh seal. Immediately there is a calm before the storm. See the silence of half an hour in verse one? This silence is in the sense of our theme verse today from Habakkuk 2: 20. "the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." This silence like our regular period of meditation before worship may be threefold in intensity. It may be a silence of awe before the Lord our God. In His divine presence what can we say. Would we be a bunch of chatterboxes, or should we rather come into His presence with fearful respect. It may be a silence of peace before God, where we acknowledge in unspoken words the Spirit given confidence of His guiding and saving hand upon us no matter what happens in our daily lives. It may be a silence of expectation before God, preparing us for the terrible character of the judgments that are about to be revealed. This last is particularly appropriate since the seventh seal being broken leads us to another series of seven related happenings. But before we hear the trumpets blow we are shown an important lesson about prayer. In verses three to five we note that the prayers of all of the saints are heard. That is the prayer of the whole Church, every single believer is heard. However, as in all things human, our prayers are imperfect. We must always be very careful that we do not get too smug about the effectiveness of our prayers. If prayers are shown to be answered it is a great blessing to discover that our prayers are within the revealed will of Christ our intercessor. For we see here that the incense of the sacrifice and offering up of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ must be mixed together with our prayers before our God and Father. Again we see our Reformed teaching that Christ must be not only in our salvation but in all aspects of our life and faith, even in our prayers. In this His Kingdom not only is He the Alpha and the Omega but everything. Or in the words of a hymn "He is all the world to me". If He is in our prayers we too will see answers to these prayers. In our passage here the Lord on the throne sees the sighs and sufferings, He hears the requests and the thanksgivings of His children who are in the midst of tribulation. The angel understands this; he realizes that the prayers are heard. So he takes the censer, now emptied of its incense, and fills it with fire from the altar, and empties it upon the earth. Our passage indicates that this action is accompanied with signs of God's divine approval. The seven angels prepare. As was the pattern with the seals, the first four are clearly related and there is another interlude between the sixth and the seventh. The trumpets, like the seals, relate to God's constant and continuing operations in the world that He has made and rules. The judgments represented by them grow stronger the closer in time they move towards the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The first four trumpets are less severe in their judgments than the last three. These four demonstrate the force and power of nature allowed by Almighty God. The first angel blows his trumpet and there is a storm of hail and fire. The destructive nature is noted in the presence of blood. However, the destruction is limited. And since the earth, trees and grass are indicated this image presents us with a picture of calamities to the earth as instruments to warn and to punish the wicked. Crops here are ruined, trees, and all types of vegetation. The environment is spoiled! These calamities are controlled yet still limited. The second angel blows his trumpet and this time it is the sea rather than the land that suffers. The mountain is symbolic. Just as a small pebble thrown into water makes small ripples, so this mountain thrown into the sea cause great trouble and commotion. These troubles calculated over time are Titanic in proportions. The Bermuda Triangle's reputation pales into insignificance in comparison to the sum total of all the disasters at sea that ever happened. Again, the calamities are controlled and limited. The third angel blows his trumpet and the inland waterways are stricken. Whatever the significance of the startling Wormwood, its effects afflict mankind commercially and bitterness is its fruit. The newspapers report floods worldwide. But never are these reported as warnings of God's coming judgment. The Trumpets blow, the water and the winds obey His voice,but few there be who repent of their wickedness. The fourth angel steps forward, his trumpet calls forth a more obscure phenomenon. Heavenly bodies are affected, yet the affliction is again limited. Today, we know that sun spots have a major impact upon weather patterns and such. The moon affects the tides and police report extra crime during the phase of a full moon. People who plan their lives and our government from the movements of the stars are willing captives to the darkness of their own minds. But, this may not be the picture John had in mind? The goal of this passage is to show us that the entire universe, including the sun, moon and stars, is used by our Lord as a warning for those who do not serve Him and who persecute His saints. Certainly, we live in the midst of the wicked who will not listen. Certainly, the saints have been caught up in natural disasters. Certainly, we may suffer with the wicked in the course of God's heavenly judgments upon the earth. But, in the midst of these sufferings and woe we are to point men and women to the Gospel of Grace found only in Jesus Christ. We are also to warn them to repent and believe while they have time. We see in the last verse here that worse things are in store. We hear the words of the eagle: "Woe! Woe! Woe! to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels." There is a little time yet to hear and to listen. There may come our way natural disasters to focus our hearts in the right direction. One fall one of my former students who lived in earth quake alley in California called me at home right after that World Series tremor. I was not at home and could not return the call until two days later. By then, the urgency had worn off, and he said he had just called to say Hello! I have heard from him every so often when things get rough, but each time he goes longer between calls. Each time, he falls further and further into the abyss of abnormal relationships! He thinks there is still time, he has not repented nor turned from his grievous sins. He has ignored a God's warning in nature that judgment is coming! What about you, what about those for whom you are praying? How much time remains? What must we be about in the time that remains to us? Turn back to verses three and five! There is the work of the saints! Let us be in constant prayer for the urgent salvation of those who know not our Lord and King! May this be an intense labor of love in the time that remains. Amen.
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