An unknown author wrote:
Dear God,
So far today, I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped. I haven’t lost my temper. I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or over indulgent. I’m very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed; And from then on, I’m going to need a lot more help. Amen. (Bill White, Paramount, California; www.PreachingToday.com)
We need to pray because as this chapter shows, prayer is important to God. God asks us to pray even though He, as the Lord of the Universe, has everything already planned out.
The last message I preached was about the opening of the seventh seal (8:1) resulting in a period of silence in heaven. This silence occurs in the context of worship to God that continues in Chapter 8. John wrote about worship since chapter 5 and continues into chapter 8. There are hymns of praise and adoration, a moment of silence and now prayers. Each of these acts are essential parts of worship.
When we worship God, we express our dependence on Him. Worship is an expression of our gratitude to God, and our reverence and admiration of God. A form of worship is our petitions to God. These acts of worship both individuals and corporate assemblies can do. When we worship we offer of ourselves to God. Worship is also a time when we open ourselves to the presence of God. It is a time to be directed by the Spirit of God, a time to be comforted by God.
In Revelation 8:1 The Lamb opened the seventh seal. This is the last seal left on the scroll that was given to Him back in chapter 5…
When Jesus broke the other six seals in chapter 6, there was increasing calamity on earth with each one. Now, with the final opening of the 7th seal, there is silence. “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” One commentator suggested, “It’s like the hush in a courtroom, right before the jury foreman announces the verdict” (Walvoord). Or the calm before the storm. Or better the calm in the eye of the storm.
Revelation 8:2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. (ESV)
The 7th seal brings the 7 trumpet judgments of the Tribulation. But before the angels sound these trumpets, something else takes place, something that is quite remarkable in the light of God’s sovereign plan. In verse 3, we see that…
- Prayers of the Saints are Part of God’s Sovereign Plan.
Revelation 8:3-4 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. (ESV)
Before the angels sound their trumpets of judgment, the prayers of God’s people drift up to God’s throne like a fragrant incense. These prayers are a form of worship to Him. When God’s people pray…
2. Our prayers are a pleasing aroma to God.
We should come to Him often with our requests, because our prayers are precious to the Lord. They are very special to Him. He enjoys them like the fragrant aroma of a special perfume. And our prayers are powerful. This passage implies that He allows our prayers to be part of His will on earth. When God’s people pray…
3.Our prayers make a difference.
In verse 5, the prayers of the saints are mixed with the fire from the alter of God and have power on earth.
Revelation 8:5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. (ESV)
God sent thunder and lightening and an earthquake to the earth. You would think that the last earthquake in chapter 6 would be enough to bring people to accept Jesus Christ, the Lamb and provider of Salvation. Yet…
4.Our prayers are part of God’s great and marvelous activity.
In verse 6, this thundering and lightening and earthquake are a warning to the people on earth to repent. We don’t know this for fact, but wouldn’t this be incredible that God allowed another warning because it was part of the prayers of the saints? Notice it is the prayers of the saints that precede the seven angels sounding their trumpet calls of judgement.
Revelation 8:6 “So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.”
When God’s people pray…
5. God listens to our prayers.
Prayers really do make a difference! God can use our prayers to change lives. God can use them to affect nations. God can use them to change the course of the world.
Now is our opportunity to make a positive difference in this world, through our prayers, when we come before God and ask Him to accomplish His will. Like Jesus taught us to pray, say to Your Heavenly Father, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
When in the course of life things need to be altered, when we see our nation headed in the wrong direction, or when the whole world seems to be on fire, commit these things to God in prayer. Ask God to intervene!
6.When God’s people pray there is action in heaven.
Beginning in verse 7, the angels sound their trumpets, and God dispatches them to carry out His plan. I believe that the purpose of these trumpets is not so much about retribution, but to lead people to repent. Trumpets were an instrument used in the Bible to warn others and for important announcements.
Revelation 8:7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. (ESV)
When God sent the plagues on Egypt in Moses’ time, the 7th plague was a horrendous hail storm. Exodus 9 says, “Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field” -Exodus 9:23-25.
That was pretty bad in Moses’ day, but it is worse when it happens again during the Tribulation. A third of the earth will be burned up. A third of the trees will be destroyed, and all of the grass will be scorched as well. We’re talking about hail storms unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, creating wildfires all over the world!
Our current storms and natural disasters help us see that it is no longer hard to believe the accounts of the storms and their magnitude told in the book of Revelation. The first angel sounds his trumpet, and there is a devastating hail storm.
Then the second angel sounds his trumpet, and there is a huge volcanic eruption.
Revelation 8:8-9 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (ESV)
Then the third angel sounds his trumpet, and a great star falls to the earth.
Revelation 8:10-11 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. (ESV)
This blazing star will turn a third of all the drinking water bitter. That is, it will make it unsafe to drink, killing people around the world.
People might laugh when God’s people warn others about the judgments described in the book of Revelation.
God will indeed “strike the planet” just as He said He would. When the 1st angel sounds his trumpet, there will be a great hail storm. When the 2nd angel sounds his trumpet, there will be a great volcanic eruption. When the 3rd angel sounds his trumpet, there will be a great star that falls to the earth.
And when the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, there is great darkness.
Revelation 8:12 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 their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. (ESV)
In February 15, 2013, a meteor streaked through the sky and exploded over Russia’s Ural Mountains with the power of 300,000 tons of TNT – essentially that of an atomic bomb. Its sonic blasts shattered countless windows and injured around 1,000 people.
Margaret Campbell-Brown, an astronomer at the University of Western Ontario, said that it was the largest impact on Earth since 1908. According to Sky & Telescope magazine’s Senior Contributing Editor, Kelly Beatty, “The meteorite may have been as large as 50 feet across and 7,000 tons when it came into the atmosphere.”
It broke up about 32 miles over the Chelyabinsk region, causing windows to shatter and leaving a crater about 20 feet across. Beatty commented, “We’re lucky that it didn’t hit a little bit lower down or over a truly populated area because the damage could have been much more substantial.” (WBUR: Here and Now, “Top Scientist: Russia Meteor Biggest Impact in a Century”, February 15, 2013, http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/02/15/meteor-explosion-russia)
Again, this is not too hard to see. A comet hitting the earth will not only blast a crater and spawn tidal waves. Scientists say, “It will cloud the atmosphere with sun-blocking dust” (US News & World Report, August 1, 1994, p.61).
The skies will indeed be darkened! We shouldn’t forget how fires burning in California blocked our sun.
There is world-wide “super-natural disasters” coming when the next three angels sound their trumpets. God has His entire universe to use as He wills.
However, until Revelation chapter 9, little death has happened even in these first four trumpet judgments. I know that is not by accident. God is full of mercy! These first four trumpets are directed at nature and are meant to capture human attention that now is the day to embrace Salvation! But the next three trumpets are focused on people who continually and stubbornly reject and scoff God’s gestures of mercy, His warnings and His grace!
Revelation 8:13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!” (ESV)
In the Greek language, this is called an onomatopoeia concerning the effect of this cry is chilling. Not only is the word repeated three times, it is a warning of woe and disaster. The Greek word for “woe” has the screeching sound like that of a wild animal screech. This call is heard around the world at the same time. (“ouai, ouai, ouai!” ) This eerie announcement is just a preview of what is to come, as well as serving as another warning to the inhabitants of the earth to repent.
What can we do about all this? The passage suggests to pray for God’s mercy and for people to repent!
I’ll close with the thought that God loves people and God does answer prayers. Jim Elliot a martyred missionary wrote many years ago, “God is still on His throne and man is still on his footstool. [But] there’s only a knee’s distance in between.” Let’s pray for people to repent. Let’s pray that we are faithful witnesses until our last breath, or until Christ returns.
Song “People need the Lord”