01.08. CHAPTER 8.
CHAPTER 8.
Revelation 8:1. “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”
“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him,” though “God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.” The contents of the seventh seal, the emblems therein presented to the dwellers in heaven, take all heaven by surprise. There is “silence in heaven about the space of half an hour,” reminding us of Zechariah 2:13, Habakkuk 2:20. The choir of heaven can find no language worthy of the occasion; hence there are no symbols presented to the eye of man, no language spoken to his ear. These are among the “unspeakable words” (2 Corinthians 12:4). The opening of the sixth seal brought us to the signs as seen on earth immediately preceding the manifestation of the Son of Man (Revelation 6:12-17). The opening of the seventh seal brings us to the scenes which take place in heaven preceding His manifestation to the world. These scenes are described in Revelation 19:5-9—the marriage supper of the Lamb, with its glories and its joys.
Revelation 8:2. “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”
Angelic ministry is connected with God’s providential dealings with man. These seven trumpets show the providential judgments of God with the earth, during the first half of the last week of Daniel’s seventy weeks of years—preparatory and warning judgments, previous to the pouring out of the vials in which are filled up the wrath of God, and which take place during the last half of the week.
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.” The saints of God on earth during the seven years of Antichrist will be pre-eminently a praying people. A large portion of the Book of Psalms is the inspired expression of their thoughts and feelings Godward; and although these Psalms are adapted spiritually to the experience of the people of God in all ages, literally, as to their scenes and circumstances, they are designed and adapted in a peculiar manner to the wants of these servants of God, amidst the trials and persecutions of the latter days.
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 prayers of these saints, accompanied by the sweet savour of the name of Jesus, and in the value of His atoning sacrifice, ascend up and enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (Psalms 141:2).
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.” The fire of the altar — the emblem of the searching, testing righteousness of God—not only has tested the sacrifice and found all perfect, but the same holiness and righteousness deals with sin on the earth. So, in Leviticus 9:1-25, Leviticus 10:1-20. the same fire which consumed on the altar the ascending offering and the fat, devoured the offerers of the strange fire. And the same God who accepts the prayers and praises of His people in the name of Jesus, responds in execution of righteous judgment to the cry of His oppressed.
Read Revelation 8:6-13.
These seven angels are the representatives of God’s providential dealings with men in the way of judgment.
There is a striking similarity between the judgments under the first four angels and those inflicted upon the land of Egypt in the time of Moses; they are doubtless symbolic, yet they appear to be especially connected with the material elements of nature, as God’s instruments for inflicting judgments upon man.
These judgments are at first partial— “the third part”—though warning is given of still heavier woes to come; under the vials they will be full and final.