Revelation 8

Revelation 8:1

As the prayers of the saints, mixed with the incense of Christ’s intercession rise to the ears of the Father, God silences everything in heaven to zero in on the prayers being offered to Him. The Hush of Heaven A Topical Study of Rev_8:1 The apostle John is writing to a group of people who are picked on, put down, beat up, and persecuted as they are fed to lions, crucified upside down, and ignited as candles by the hand of the Roman Empire. As you read the Book of Revelation, keep this backdrop in mind. The temptation is to view this book only in the context of current events and eschatology. Although current application is important, we must listen to John’s heartfelt words to his readers in A.D. 96people who had no prestige, power, or prominencepeople who perhaps wondered if they even had a prayer. “Yes! You do!” John would say resoundingly. “These winds of persecution do not have to blow you away because you do have a prayer.” I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…Rev_1:10 (a) “I was on the island of Patmos due to persecution,” writes John, “but I was in the Spirit. Ginomai en pneuma in Greek translates literally “I came to be in the Spirit.” Not, “I was sitting in a pew, when I suddenly found myself in the Spirit"but “I came to be in the Spirit. I actively pressed in.” How did John press in? He prayed. The entire Book of Revelation is a mixture of vision and prayer. And here in chapter 8, John deals with this issue in a most powerful, picturesque, practical way as he reminded his persecuted people to pray. According to church historians, the distinctive feature of early Christian prayer is the certainty of being heard. In other words, when the early church prayed, they believed God was actually listening. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.Rev_8:1 Commentator after commentator will tell you the silence in heaven of Rev_8:1 is a mystery. But I suggest to you our text indicates that as the prayers of the saints ascend before Him, it’s as though God says, “Hush.” To the living creatures who cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” He says, “Hush”; to the twenty-four elders who praise Him continually, He says, “Hush”; to the thousands of angels who serve Him perpetually, He says, “Hush"rendering heaven completely, totally silent. It’s as though God says, “At this moment in time, nothing else has My attention like this prayer being offered to Me. I don’t want to miss a single word.” Because our days are filled with a cacophony of noise, we don’t hear each other very well. We talk, but we don’t listen. We converse, but we don’t understand. There is, however, one exception: Two people who are totally in love can sit in a crowded, noisy restaurant and converse as though there’s no one else around. And that’s the idea here. “I am passionately in love with the child speaking to Me,” says God, “and I don’t want to miss a word he’s saying.” So, like a laser, fixing His full attention on the person offering even the simplest of prayers, God listens. People spend thousands of dollars on psychiatrists, or months waiting for a pastoral appointmentyet God gives His undivided, complete, total attention to the prayers of anyone going through tribulation or trouble. The key is simply to pray. 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.Rev_8:3 The prayer that causes silence throughout heaven is mixed with much incense. Throughout Scripture, incense speaks of intercession. Heb_7:25 says that Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, ever lives to make intercession for the saints. In other words, the incense of Jesus’ intercession on our behalf sweetens our prayers. You see, my prayers stink because they’re tainted by my flesh. I ask for something I think is good, but Jesus, knowing my request would have disastrous results says, “Father, this is how Jon is praying, but what he really means is…” Knowing our hearts, Jesus perfumes our clumsy and faulty prayers through His intercessory ministry. 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.Rev_8:5 The angel takes the censer of prayer, perfumed with intercession, and casts, or literally “hurls” it back to earth. As the answer reenters earth’s atmosphere, the whole world is shaken with incalculable effect. These guys being beat up and persecuted are told through this prophecy that their prayers are heard, and that, in due season, the answer will shake their world. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.Rev_8:6 What was the answer? It was music to the ears of the persecuted, for when these first-century believers studied the Bible, they studied the Old Testament. And when they did, they read of trumpets… The blast of seven trumpets preceded the collapse of the seemingly impregnable walls of Jericho (Joshua 6). The alarm of two trumpets reminded the children of Israel that the Lord their God would bring them victory (Num_10:9). The sound of the trumpet signaled the year of Jubileein which all debts were canceled, all slaves set free (Lev_25:9). Thus, the answer to their prayers was truly music to the ears of John’s congregation, for the sound of the trumpet promised victory, liberation, and the collapse of a city stronger even than Rome. “Interesting study,” you may say, “but I’ve been saved for a while, and I know differently. Oh, I’m not saying God doesn’t listen to prayer generallyjust that He doesn’t hear My prayer specifically. My marriage was on the rocks,” or, “My daughter had cancer,” or, “My business was going bankrupt, so I prayed and prayed and prayedand nothing happened. You talk about blaring trumpets, about a fireball of an answer hurled from heaven. That’s fine theoretically, but it doesn’t play that way for me personally.” If you feel this way, you’re not alone… There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.Luk_1:5-7 Because barrenness was considered a curse, Zacharias and Elisabeth were considered sinful in the eyes of their community. Although God deemed them righteous, others believed there was a defect in their piety. This being the case, perhaps Zacharias and Elisabeth lived their lives brokenhearted, wondering what was wrong. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.Luk_1:11-13 “What prayer?” Zacharias must have asked. “Prayer for a son? I stopped praying for a son thirty years ago!” Do you understand the implication? This verse tells us that God remembers even the prayers we forget. “Give us a son,” prayed Elisabeth and Zacharias. But they heard nothing day after week after month after year because God wanted to give them more than just a son. His plan was to give them the herald for His own Son (Mat_11:11). Slowly, I begin to understand that my prayers remain in the Lord’s “To Do” box, even though I may have given up hope long ago. Mixed with the sweet incense of Christ’s intercession, they simmer on the altar until God answers them in a way I would never have dared dream (Eph_3:20). Thus, the delay in answered prayer is not due to God’s procrastination, but to His desire to exceed even our wildest imagination. “Shhh,” says God. “My child is praying.” And at the right timemaybe that day, maybe next week, maybe ten years down the road, maybe half a century laterthe answer will quake his world. Every time you pray, dear saint, you have your Father’s full attention. And one day, trumpets will sound; walls will fall; debts will be canceled; victory will abound. May God help us to be people who pray.

Revelation 8:2

“Make everything according to pattern,” God told Moses concerning the tabernacle (Exo_25:9). It was imperative Moses followed God’s plan because the tabernacle was an earthly shadow of heavenly reality… Just as heaven has a door, so did the tabernacle. As heaven has a sea, the tabernacle had a brass laver, or “molten sea.” As heaven has a lampstand, the tabernacle had a candlestick. As heaven has an altar of incense, so did the tabernacle. And as heaven has a throne of grace, the tabernacle had a seat of mercy.

Revelation 8:5

We see the impact and power of answered prayer as the prayers of the saints are hurled back to earth.

Revelation 8:6

It is very possible that these trumpet judgments that include flowing blood, pelting hail, and consuming fire describe what would happen in a nuclear holocaust. Keep in mind, history verifies that weapon systems have never been developed that have not been used. Therefore, it would be an aberration of history if all of the countries that presently have nuclear weaponsincluding Russia, France, England, Israel, India, China, the U.S., and a host of othersfailed to use them. I am not saying this passage can only refer to a nuclear holocaust. However, the fact remains that upon the detonation of a nuclear warhead, two hundred fifty-mph winds of fire follow. In addition, aboveground nuclear tests on the island of Bikini caused the surrounding water to shoot thousands of feet into the air, where it froze and returned as hailstones big enough to destroy the equipment intended to monitor it.

Revelation 8:8

“As it were” is the operative phrase. Therefore, the text does not refer to a literal mountain, but to something that looked like a mountain. Again, it could be the mushrooming of a nuclear cloud. Water covers three-fourths of the earth, one-third being the Atlantic Ocean. Interestingly, one-third of the ships afloat today are in the Atlantic region. Thus, this passage may refer to one specific site where the firing of weapons causes ecological catastrophe. “Come on,” some say. “These judgments are allegories. You can’t take them literally.” In response, I challenge them to compare the trumpet judgments with the plagues that befell Egypt (Exodus 7-12). Were those plagues allegorical or literal? Ask Pharaoh.

Revelation 8:10

Aboveground nuclear testing has been banned largely due to the discovery of radioactive Strodium 90 in fresh-water supplies surrounding the areas of detonation.

Revelation 8:11

Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps notthe Russian word for “wormwood” is “cherynobyl.” “Wormwood” alludes to prophecy. But I believe it also speaks of Jesus, who became a worm as He became sin for you and me (Psa_22:6). After the Israelites traveled through the wilderness for three days without water, it is no wonder they dove into the first pool of water they encountered. But discovering it bitter, they called it “Mara” or “bitter.” To remedy the situation, the Lord directed Moses to cast a nearby tree into the waterwhereupon the water became sweet. It is interesting that in the Exodus 15 account it is a tree that makes the water sweet. The tree is always a picture of the Cross. When you add the Cross to the bitter water in your life, the result will be sweetness. In this passage, however, just the opposite transpires because those who reject Christ’s work on the Cross will drink the bitter water of the Tribulation.

Revelation 8:12

When Mount St. Helens erupted, the dust that shot into the air made the sky hazy for weeks. Can you imagine what would happen if nuclear warheads were being detonated all over the world? If a nuclear exchange took place in the summertime, scientists tell us the high temperature on the west coast of the United States would be fifteen degrees. Obviously, crops would not grow, and starvation would result. Thus, when Scripture talks about a thirty-three percent reduction in the light of sun, moon, and stars, it could be speaking of what scientists ominously term “nuclear winter.”

Revelation 8:13

In other words, the angel is saying, “The worst is yet to come because the last three trumpets are worse than the first four.” As we will see in chapter 9, the next three trumpets to blast judgment upon the earth are much more devastating than the first four. The first four trumpets dealt with the arena of the natural. The last three deal with the supernaturalspecifically demonic activity.