And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
The Seventh Seal. Chap. 8 Rev 8:1
1. there was silence ] All the promised signs of Christ’s Coming have been fulfilled everything has, apparently, been made ready for it: and we expect Him to come, and the world to come to an end: but the series of signs concludes not with a catastrophe but in silence. The same is the case, though less markedly, after the seventh trumpet in ch. Rev 11:15; and in fact, similar cases occur throughout the book. We have the choice between three explanations of this phenomenon. (I.) The preceding series of visions does describe the events leading up to Christ’s Coming: when they are ended, He does come, but His Coming itself is not described. Here, it is passed over in silence, or only symbolised by the opening of the seventh seal: the half-hour’s silence is, as St Victorinus grandly says, “ initium quietis aeternae.” (II.) The previous series of visions describes events preparatory, indeed, to Christ’s Coming, but not leading directly up to it: the events symbolised by these visions have been fulfilled, but those of the rest of the Book must be fulfilled also, before He really comes. (III.) These visions represent, on a smaller scale, the preparations for Christ’s final Coming and Judgement: but they do not wait for their fulfilment till then, but have their proportionate fulfilment in any anticipatory judgement which He executes on one nation or generation. The similar series of visions which follow are therefore not parallel with this, but successive: again and again God executes His Judgements, foreshadowing the last Judgement of all, and leading men to expect it: and at last He will execute that also. The last view is the one generally taken in these notes: see Introduction, p. lv. On any view it is a pity that this verse is joined with this chapter rather than with the preceding: the blowing of the seven trumpets can hardly be regarded as the effect of the opening the seal.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And when he had opened the seventh seal – See the notes on Rev 5:1.
There was silence in heaven – The whole scene of the vision is laid in heaven Rev 4:1-11, and John represents things as they seem to be passing there. The meaning here is, that on the opening of this seal, instead of voices, thunderings, tempests, as perhaps was expected from the character of the sixth seal (Rev 6:12 ff), and which seemed only to have been suspended for a time Rev. 7, there was an awful stillness, as if all heaven was reverently waiting for the development. Of course this is a symbolical representation, and is designed not to represent a pause in the events themselves, but only the impressive and fearful nature of the events which are now to be disclosed.
About the space of half an hour – He did not profess to designate the time exactly. It was a brief period – yet a period which in such circumstances would appear to be long – about half an hour. The word used here – hemiorion – does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It is correctly rendered half an hour; and, since the day was divided into twelve parts from the rising to the setting of the sun, the time designated would not vary much from half an hour with us. Of course, therefore, this denotes a brief period. In a state, however, of anxious suspense, the moments would seem to move slowly; and to see the exact force of this, we are to reflect on the scenes represented – the successive opening of seals disclosing most important events – increasing in interest as each new one was opened; the course of events which seemed to be leading to the consummation of all things, arrested after the opening of the sixth seal; and now the last in the series to be opened, disclosing what the affairs of the world would be at the consummation of all things.
John looks on this; and in this state of suspense the half hour may have seemed an age. We are not, of course, to suppose that the silence in heaven is produced by the character of the events which are now to follow – for they are as yet unknown. It is caused by what, from the nature of the previous disclosures, was naturally apprehended, and by the fact that this is the last of the series – the finishing of the mysterious volume. This seems to me to be the obvious interpretation of this passage, though there has been here, as in other parts of the Book of Revelation, a great variety of opinion as to the meaning. Those who suppose that the whole book consists of a triple series of visions designed to prefigure future events, parallel with each other, and each leading to the consummation of all things – the series embracing the seals, the trumpets, and the vials, each seven in number – regard this as the proper ending of the first of this series, and suppose that we have on the opening of the seventh seal the beginning of a new symbolical representation, going over the same ground, under the representations of the trumpets, in a new aspect or point of view.
Eichorn and Rosenmuller suppose that the silence introduced by the apostle is merely for effect, and that, therefore, it is without any special signification. Grotius applies the whole representation to the destruction of Jerusalem, and supposes that the silence in heaven refers to the restraining of the winds referred to in Rev 7:1 – the wrath in respect to the city, which was now suspended for a short time. Prof. Stuart also refers it to the destruction of Jerusalem, and supposes that the seven trumpets refer to seven gradations in the series of judgments that were coming upon the persecutors of the church. Mr. Daubuz regards the silence here referred to as a symbol of the liberty granted to the church in the time of Constantine; Vitringa interprets it of the peace of the millennium which is to succeed the overthrow of the beast and the false prophet; Dr. Woodhouse and Mr. Cunninghame regard it as the termination of the series of events which thee former seals denote, and the commencement of a new train of revelations; Mr. Elliott, as the suspension of the winds during the sealing of the servants of God; Mr. Lord, as the period of repose which intervened between the close of the persecution by Diocletian and Galerius, in 311, and the commencement, near the close of that year, of the civil wars by which Constantine the Great was elevated to the imperial throne.
It will be seen at once how arbitrary and unsatisfactory most of those interpretations are, and how far from harmony expositors have been as to the meaning of this symbol. The most simple and obvious interpretation is likely to be the true one; and that is, as above suggested, that it refers to silence in heaven as expressive of the fearful anticipation felt on opening the last seal that was to close the series, and to wind up the affairs of the church and the world. Nothing would be more natural than such a state of solemn awe on such an occasion; nothing would introduce the opening of the seal in a more impressive manner; nothing would more naturally express the anxiety of the church, the probable feelings of the pious on the opening of these successive seals, than the representation that incense, accompanied with their prayers, was continually offered in heaven.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 8:1-13
The seventh seal silence in heaven.
The silence of heaven
I. The silence of meditation. There is a blessing, which we know not yet, in thought. In this busy human life it is hard to think. The world is too much with us. It drowns the still small voice of God. But in heaven thought will no more be disturbed. There will be no unsolved perplexities, no distracting fancies. The plan of Creation and Redemption will be unfolded. The discords of earth will be resolved in the celestial harmony.
II. The silence of adoration. When we see God as He is, we shall praise Him as we ought. The cloud which spreads between Him and us shall be done away. We shall enter into that rapture of worship which finds no voice in words. Our soul will lose itself in the infinite bliss of communion with Him who is its Father and its God.
III. The silence of fruition. All the voices of earth are only so many cryings for something that is not of earth, but of heaven. They are expressions of a Divine dissatisfaction with the limitations of our human life. Is there not something that we all desire and cry out for–to be rich, perhaps, or successful, or happy, or good? And will it not always be a desire, never fulfilled? Could the dearest wish of our heart be granted to-day, another wish, still dearer, would arise to-morrow. Every new day dawns with a fresh purity upon our lives, but in the evening it is stained with failure and sin. We are always sighing for a holiness which is always unattained and unattainable. Nay, the blessings which God gives us do not last long. Over all our life there hangs the shadow of death. We are always dreading to speak that saddest, tenderest word on earth, Farewell. There is silence in heaven, because there is no loss nor any boding fear of parting still to come. They who live in the Divine Presence are sheltered from the storms of time. They are safe for ever and ever. (J. E. C. Welldon, M. A.)
Thirty minutes in heaven
I. God and all heaven then honoured silence. The full power of silence many of us have yet to learn. We are told that when Christ was arraigned He answered not a word. That silence was louder than any thunder that ever shook the world. Ofttimes, when we are assailed and misrepresented, the mightiest thing to say is to say nothing, and the mightiest thing to do is to do nothing.
II. Heaven must be an eventful and active place. It could afford only thirty minutes of recess. The celestial programme is so crowded with spectacle that it can afford only one recess in all eternity and that for a short space.
III. The immortality of a half-hour. Oh, the half-hours! They decide everything. I am not asking what you will do with the years or months or days of your life, but what of the half-hours. Tell me the history of your half-hours, and I will tell you the story of your whole life on earth and the story of your whole life in eternity. Look out for the fragments of time. They are pieces of eternity.
IV. My text suggests a way of studying heaven so that we can better understand it. The word eternity that we handle so much is an immeasurable word. Now, we have something that we can come nearer to grasping, and it is a quiet heaven. When we discourse about the multitudes of heaven, it must be almost a nervous shock to those who have all their lives been crowded by many people, and who want a quiet heaven. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Silence in heaven
Are such seasons of quietude–of calm and holy anticipation–needful to be observed there–and shall we wonder that they are appointed unto us here? You will observe that to almost all things there are these parentheses. Nature very seldom does her work without a cessation, where all seems lost and dead. A winter always lies between the autumn sowing and the spring-time shooting. There are very few providences which happen to man without delays, which seem as if they had broken their courses. Promises seem very slow of foot in their travel. And it is generally long to our feelings–after the prayer has gone up–before the answer falls. Peace does not always come quickly–even to the strongest faith. And grace does not succeed to grace–nor to joy–in one unbroken series. Life is full of pause. And these prefaces of Gods works–these introductions–these heraldings of the great approaches–these subduings of soul–these times to make ready: they are only the reflections of that which St. John saw passing within the veil: There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. Let us cultivate the heavenly power of silence. Let us pray for the angelic gift of silence. It is what we all want. There are many voices–in continuous stream–speaking in the world; some from within, some from without; voices in the sublime and in the lofty things around us; voices in very common things, and every little passing event; but you do not hear them. Why? There is not silence enough in the breast. Be more still. Listen for the whispers of God, and ice whether earth, and heaven, and your own heart also, do net talk sweetly to you all the day, and all the night, about spiritual things! I advise every one–who wishes to be a true worshipper, and to improve his communion with God–to exercise complete silence. The spiritual life would often be much the better for more of a devout silence. May it not be that there is, sometimes, more filial love and confidence in the prayer that does not speak, and cannot speak, than in any oral prayer? And there are some seasons which specially invite the piety of silence. Such a time is those early days of deep sorrow: I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Such a time is the waiting, before we begin some work that God has given us to defer Him–like the wilderness to Moses, or Elijah in Horeb. Such a time is the moment spent with God before we make an answer. Such a time is the few minutes before prayer; or before a service here; or before the Holy Communion. Such a time may be at the gates of glory. For it is a pleasant thing to pass the threshold of eternity silently. Does not God–for this very reason–make His children go through–one after another–alone? (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Soul-silence
I. Soul-silence often follows great excitement. From the storms of remorse, secular anxieties, arid social bereavements, the soul of the genuinely Christly arises into a peace that passeth all understanding.
II. Soul-silence is often found absorbing worship.
1. The prayers of saints on earth are of great practical interest in the spiritual universe.
(1) They are offerings that are acceptable to its Supreme Ruler.
(2) In rendering them acceptable to God, His highest spiritual ministers are deeply engaged.
2. The prayers of saints on earth exert an influence on the things of time.
III. Soul-silence often springs from high expectancy. What wonderful things are before us all! Were we earnestly waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, waiting the advent of Him who is to wind up the affairs of the world, how silent should we be! (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Silence
I. The silence of suppression. While I kept silence, David says; that is, while I suppressed my sense of sin, and sought to check and coerce the tide of free confession. This is the silence of our fallen nature; our abuse of Gods gift, bestowed upon us for a very different end. If any of us are thus silent to God, let not night close upon us without breaking that silence: if conscience accuses us of sin, let it be heard while it may: if any iniquity of ours is separating between us and God, bring it to Him, and spare it mot, that it may be forgiven for Christs sake, and its chain removed from us by His Holy Spirit.
II. The silence of conviction. First there has been that sullen silence of which we have spoken; the heart locked up, and refusing to empty itself of its secret. Then, many times, the first silence has been broken by prevarications, excuses, and self-justifications, going perhaps even to the length of direct falsehood. Then, in process of time, by patient hearing and inquiry, these also have been broken down: the false tongue has been confuted by the force of truth, and every refuge of lies has at length been swept away. When this is so, then at last there is silence; refreshing by comparison, and, in this life, certainly in young life, hopeful; till it comes, there is no hope, because the soul is still trying to say Peace to itself fallaciously. But now there is silence: now may punishment try its remedial power, being accompanied, as it ever ought to be, with a fall forgiveness. Now, too, may the sinner, humbled in himself, before others, and before God, listen with livelier interest to the assurance of Gods forgiveness, to the comfort of the blood of sprinkling which speaks not to reproach but to console.
III. The silence of preparation. Every real, certainly every great, work of man is prefaced by a long silence, during which the mind is concentrated upon the object, and possessing itself with that which is afterwards to be produced. What is all study but the preliminary to some work, or else to ones lifes work? It is not in man to be capable of always giving out, without long processes of taking in. This is the secret of so many barren and unfruitful ministries, that men are trying to dispense with silence: they are altogether in public, never in solitude: they are counting their exertions, instead of weighing them, satisfied if they are always labouring, without forcing themselves to prepare for labour by silent study, by silent meditation, by silent prayer.
IV. The silence of endurance; that of him who with a noble self-restraint refuses to avail himself even of a plea which might avail for his deliverance. He is following the example of One who Himself in the very crisis of His earthly fate exhibited in its fullest glory the dignity and the majesty of silence.
V. The silence of disapprobation; that silence by which, perhaps most effectively of all, whether in the society of the young or of the old, a Christian enters his protest against wrong, and acts as a witness for the truth. Who has not seen the effect of silence, of a Christian, a consistent silence, upon uncharitable or wicked conversation? Before the presence of disapprobation, however unobtrusive, evil soon shrinks, cowers, and withdraws itself.
VI. The silence of self-restraint, general and habitual, or else special and particular.
VII. The silence of sorrow, and of sympathy with sorrow.
1. Grief may forget itself (as it is called) for the moment in society, and sorrow for sin may spend itself–alas! it often does–in fruitless and only half-explicit confessions and lamentations to man: but these are dangerous as well as vain remedies. In either case, be silent; only add the words, silent before God. Let Him hear all from you, and, to speak generally, none else.
2. I spoke, too, of the silence of sympathy. Who has not suffered from the officiousness of a talking sympathy?
VIII. The silence of awe, the silence of meditation, the silence of prayer, yes, the silence of praise.
IX. The silence of death. The silence of death may reign around the bed from which a living soul has departed and on which a dead body lies alone. But it reigned first in the departing soul itself. At what particular point in the illness isolation began, and the presence of friends was no longer felt in the dying, varies no doubt with the nature of the disease, and certainly can by none be defined: but well may it be seen that after a certain point silence and solitude have taken possession, that there is, to all intents, an abstraction from things around, and an absorption in things within. (Dean Vaughan.)
Silence
What is silence? Not the absence, the negation of speech, but the pause, the suspension of speech. Speech is, we all admit, one of Gods choicest gifts to man, for the employment of which man is specially and awfully responsible. Must not something of the like sacredness and responsibility belong to that correlative power–the power of silence? As if to impress this truth upon our minds, Scripture invests silence with circumstances of peculiar interest and awe. Thus, when Solomon dedicated the Temple to Jehovah, after that the priests had arranged all the sacred furniture, and completed the solemn service of consecration, there was silence, and during that silence the glory of the Lord, in the form of a cloud, so filled the whole building that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud. Thus, again, in the text, when the angel had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. Very wonderful and mysterious is this instance of silence. It was as though, upon the opening of the mystic seal, events so strange and amazing were to follow throughout the universe, that the very hosts of heaven were compelled to suspend their worship and adoration in order to behold and listen! Now, the first sort of silence to which I would call your attention is the silence of worship, of awe, and reverence. The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him. Such is the canon for worship laid down by Habakkuk; and it is a canon as much binding upon us as upon those to whom it was originally addressed. When we come up to the house of prayer, there to meet Christ upon the mercy-seat–there to hear His voice speaking to us in the read and spoken Word–there to receive Him into our very souls in the Sacrament of His broken Body and shed Blood–we are bound to observe the silence of awe and reverence. Except when we open our lips to join in prayer and praise to God, our attitude within these hallowed walls should be that of silence, of those who are impressed with the sanctity of the place, and who know and feel that the Almighty God is indeed in their midst. Yes; and it would be well, could we put more of this holy silence into our religious acts. Our religion shares too much in the faults of the age in which we live. It is too public, too outspoken, conducted too much as a business; and so the inner and contemplative element is too much lost sight of. The silence of self-examination, the silence of the hearts unsyllabled supplication, the silence of meditation on the mysteries of redeeming love–these are forms of silence which every one must observe often who would have the flame of spiritual life to burn bright and clear in his soul. Then, again, there is the silence of preparation. Every great work that has ever been achieved has been preceded by this-the doer making himself ready, by thought and study, for action. Every great achievement, whether in the moral or the intellectual world, has been in a sense like Solomons temple–it has risen noiselessly, silently, without sound of axe or hammer. Therefore is that great primary act in religion–the conviction of sin–invariably preceded by deep and solemn silence, while the sinner stands before God self-accused and self-condemned. Therefore, also, is silence ever present at all the more solemn passages of our life. Sorrow–real, genuine sorrow–is ever silent. A cry–a tear–what relief would these be; but they must not intrude into the sacred ground of sorrow, the sorrow of the just–bereaved widow or orphan. And so, too, sympathy with sorrow is ever silent. Idle words, or still idler tears–these are for false comforters, like those who troubled the patriarch Job; the true sympathy is the sympathy of a look–of the presence of silence, not of uttered consolation. And now think of that last silence–a silence that we must all experience, and for which, by silence, we must prepare now–the silence of death. What exactly the silence of death is, none but the dying can know. May we have known what it was, day by day, to be many times alone with that God who must then be alone with us, to judge or else to save. (Charles H. Collier, M. A.)
Silence in heaven
Whatever judgments come down upon the region below, they are seen by the apostle to be the consequences of activities in the region above. No stroke falls on earth that is not directed in heaven. The two worlds move in concert. The time-accomplishments of one world correspond to the time-appointments of another. We have set before us, in unmistakable symbolism, this truth–That in the developments of Gods plans in providence, there are times of comparative quietude, during which it seems as if the progress of things was stayed awhile.
I. What is intended when we speak of progress being apparently stayed? There are in the Word of God great promises and prophecies which open up a glorious vision for the future days. There have been also great events which have excited in the Church of God the strongest hopes, and which ever and anon form a restful background. To such periods there succeed long years in which either no appreciable advance is made towards the inbringing of the new heavens and the new earth; or if in one direction some progress appears, in another the cause of righteousness seems checked afresh by new developments of error, folly, and sin. The prophets of God are crying, Flee from the wrath to come. They long for some manifestation of Divine power to startle man. But no. Man goes on sinning. And our God seems a God that does nothing (Carlyle). The thunder is rolled up. The lightning is sheathed. There is a prolonged lull. There is silence in heaven. The sceptic makes use of the quietude to ask, Where is the promise of His coming? The careless one settles down at his ease, and cries, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come. Hollow professors desert in crowds, and go over to the ranks of the enemy. And still–still there is silence in heaven. No voice is heard from the invisible realms to break in upon the steady course of this earths affairs, or to arouse and convict a slumbering world!
II. What does this silence mean? What does it mean?
1. Negatively.
(1) It does not mean that this world of ours is cut adrift in space, or that the human family are left fatherless and lone.
(2) Nor does it mean that time is being lost in the development of the plans of God. Catastrophes are not the only means of progress.
(3) Nor does it imply that God is indifferent to the sin which He is ever witnessing. The Lord is not slack, etc.
(4) Nor does it imply that God is working on any other plan than that which He has laid down in the book.
(5) Nor does the silence mean that God will ultimately let sinners escape with impunity (Rom 2:8; Rom 2:4).
2. Positively.
(1) We are not to expect startling providences at every turn of life.
(2) We are to he guided more by what God says than by what we see before our eyes. The book gives principles which are eternal.
(3) There are other sides to, and other forms of, Gods working than those which startle and alarm.
(4) By the silence of heaven God would test His peoples faith, and quicken them to more fervent prayer.
(5) God would thus teach us to study principles rather than to gaze on incident.
III. What should this silence teach us? And what effect upon us should it have?
1. Let us learn anew to exercise faith in the spiritual power which God wields by His Spirit, rather than in the material energy which shakes a globe.
2. Let us use heavens time of keeping silence as a time for breaking ours (Isa 62:1; Isa 62:6-7).
3. Let the ungodly make use of the space given for repentance, by turning to the Lord with full purpose of heart.
4. Let us lay to heart the certain fact, that, although judgment is delayed, come it will. (C. Clemance, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER VIII.
The opening of the seventh seal, 1.
The seven angels with the seven trumpets, 2-6.
The first sounds, and there is a shower of hail, fire, and
blood, 7.
The second sounds, and the burning mountain is cast into the
sea, 8, 9.
The third sounds, and the great star Wormwood falls from
heaven, 10, 11.
The fourth sounds, and the sun, moon, and stars are smitten;
and a threefold wo is denounced against the inhabitants of
the earth, because of the three angels who are yet to sound,
12, 13.
NOTES ON CHAP VIII.
Verse 1. The seventh seal] This is ushered in and opened only by the Lamb.
Silence in heaven] This must be a mere metaphor, silence being put here for the deep and solemn expectation of the stupendous things about to take place, which the opening of this seal had produced. When any thing prodigious or surprising is expected, all is silence, and even the breath is scarcely heard to be drawn.
Half an hour.] As heaven may signify the place in which all these representations were made to St. John, the half hour may be considered as the time during which no representation was made to him, the time in which God was preparing the august exhibition which follows.
There is here, and in the following verses, a strong allusion to different parts of the temple worship; a presumption that the temple was still standing, and the regular service of God carried on. The silence here refers to this fact-while the priest went in to burn incense in the holy place, all the people continued in silent mental prayer without till the priest returned. See Lu 1:10. The angel mentioned here appears to execute the office of priest, as we shall by and by see.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And when he; that is, the Lamb, mentioned Rev 5:7, who took the book out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne, the book of Gods counsels, and had now revealed mysteriously to John what should come to pass (under all the pagan emperors) to the church of Christ, until the time of Constantine the Great, who, (as was said), about the year 325, had settled the Christian religion, and shut up all the idols temples, having conquered the apostate Licinius.
Had opened the seventh seal; he cometh now to open the seventh seal, that is, to reveal to John what should be in the succeeding time of the church to the end of the world.
There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour: but before the great evils should break out, which were to come to pass in this time, there was in the church a rest for a small time; for from the year 317, when Constantine bare the greatest sway in the empire, or 325, when he had got a full victory over Licinius, the church had a great peace for a little time, till 339, when the empire being divided, and Constantius having the eastern part, and Constans the western, (both sons of Constantine), Constanius, being an Arian, (who denied the Godhead of Christ), began again to persecute the Christians; and after him Julian, who apostatized to paganism. But after him they had a little further respite to the year 395, when Theodosius died, and the Christians quiet died with him. I rather choose to interpret this thus, than with those who understand the
silence in heaven, of a silence in the third heavens, in allusion to the Jewish order; who, though they sung during the time of the sacrifice, and played upon instruments of music all that time, yet kept silence while the incense was offering. For (as divers have noted) it seemeth hard to judge, that in this Revelation there should be no mention of that short truce which the church had during the reign of Constantine, and for a small time after.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. wasGreek, “cameto pass”; “began to be.”
silence in heaven about . . .half an hourThe last seal having been broken open, the book ofGod’s eternal plan of redemption is opened for the Lamb to read tothe blessed ones in heaven. The half hour’s silence contrastswith the previous jubilant songs of the great multitude, takenup by the angels (Re7:9-11). It is the solemn introduction to the employments andenjoyments of the eternal Sabbath-rest of the people of God,commencing with the Lamb’s reading the book heretofore sealed up, andwhich we cannot know till then. In Re10:4, similarly at the eve of the sounding of the seventhtrumpet, when the seven thunders uttered their voices, John isforbidden to write them. The seventh trumpet (Re11:15-19) winds up God’s vast plan of providence and grace inredemption, just as the seventh seal brings it to the sameconsummation. So also the seventh vial, Re16:17. Not that the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and theseven vials, though parallel, are repetitions. They each trace thecourse of divine action up to the grand consummation in which theyall meet, under a different aspect. Thunders, lightnings, anearthquake, and voices close the seven thunders and theseven seals alike (compare Rev 8:5;Rev 11:19). Compare at theseventh vial, the voices, thunders, lightnings, and earthquake, Re16:18. The half-hour silence is the brief pause GIVENTO JOHN between thepreceding vision and the following one, implying, on the one hand,the solemn introduction to the eternal sabbatism which is to followthe seventh seal; and, on the other, the silence which continuedduring the incense-accompanied prayers which usher in the first ofthe seven trumpets (Re8:3-5). In the Jewish temple, musical instruments and singingresounded during the whole time of the offering of the sacrifices,which formed the first part of the service. But at the offering ofincense, solemn silence was kept (“My soul waiteth uponGod,” Ps 62:1; “issilent,” Margin; Ps65:1, Margin), the people praying secretly all the time.The half-hour stillness implies, too, the earnest adoringexpectation with which the blessed spirits and the angels await thesucceeding unfolding of God’s judgments. A short space isimplied; for even an hour is so used (Rev 17:12;Rev 18:10; Rev 18:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when he had opened the seventh seal,…. That is, when the Lamb had opened the seventh and last seal of the scaled book:
there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour; not in the third heaven, the seat of the divine Being, of angels and glorified saints, where are hallelujahs without intermission; but in the church, which is oftentimes signified by heaven in this book, and where now the throne of God was placed, in that form as described in Re 4:4, or rather in the Roman empire: nor is this silence the sum of this seal, or the only thing in it; for it includes the preparation of the seven angels to take their trumpets, though none of them were sounded during this period. This space of time some think refers to the time which elapsed, while the angel, who had incense given him to offer it with the prayers of saints, did so, and took fire off the altar with his censer, and cast it on the earth: and while the seven angels had their trumpets given them, and they were preparing to sound. Others are of opinion that this was only a pause, a breathing time for John between the former visions and seals, and the following; nothing being said or done, or anything exhibited to him during this interval; but he was at leisure to reflect on what he had seen, and to prepare for what was to come. Others understand it of the amazement of the saints at the judgments of God, which were coming upon the Christian empire, and of their quiet and silent preparations for these troubles and combats, both within and without, they were to be exercised with; see Zec 2:13. Others have thought that this refers to the state of the saints after the day of judgment, when there will be an entire cessation from persecution and trouble, and when the souls under the altar will have done crying for vengeance; but this will be not for half an hour only, but to all eternity; nor will angels and saints be then silent. Rather this is to be understood of that peace and rest which the church enjoyed upon Constantine’s having defeated all his enemies, when he brought the church into a state of profound tranquillity and ease; and this lasted but for a little while, which is here expressed by about, or almost half an hour, as the Syriac version renders it; for in a short time the Arian heresy broke out, which introduced great troubles in the church, and at last violent persecutions. The allusion is, as in the whole of the following vision of the angel at the altar, to the offering of incense; at which time the people were removed from the temple, from between the porch and altar l, to some more distant place; and the priest was alone while he offered incense, and then prayed a short prayer, that the people might not be affrighted lest he should be dead m: and who in the mean while were praying in a silent, manner without; see Lu 1:9; hence the Jews say n, that the offering of incense atones for an ill tongue, for it is a thing that is introduced
, “silently”, and it atones for what is done silently, such as whisperings, backbitings, &c. and they call o silence the best of spices, even of those of which the sweet incense was made.
l T. Tab. Yoma, fol. 44. 1. Maimon. Hilchot Tamidin, c. 3. sect. 3. m Misn. Yoma, c. 5. sect. 1. n T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 44. 1. & Zebachim, fol. 88. 2. o T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 18. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Seven Trumpets. | A. D. 95. |
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half a hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 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. 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. 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. 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
In these verses we have the prelude to the sounding of the trumpets in several parts.
I. The opening of the last seal. This was to introduce a new set of prophetical iconisms and events; there is a continued chain of providence, one part linked to another (where one ends another begins), and, though they may differ in nature and in time, they all make up one wise, well-connected, uniform design in the hand of God.
II. A profound silence in heaven for the space of half an hour, which may be understood either, 1. Of the silence of peace, that for this time no complaints were sent up to the ear of the Lord God of sabaoth; all was quiet and well in the church, and therefore all silent in heaven, for whenever the church on earth cries, through oppression, that cry comes up to heaven and resounds there; or, 2. A silence of expectation; great things were upon the wheel of providence, and the church of God, both in heaven and earth, stood silent, as became them, to see what God was doing, according to that of Zech. ii. 13, Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord, for he has risen up out of his holy habitation. And elsewhere, Be still, and know that I am God.
III. The trumpets were delivered to the angels who were to sound them. Still the angels are employed as the wise and willing instruments of divine Providence, and they are furnished with all their materials and instructions from God our Saviour. As the angels of the churches are to sound the trumpet of the gospel, the angels of heaven are to sound the trumpet of Providence, and every one has his part given him.
IV. To prepare for this, another angel must first offer incense, v. 3. It is very probable that this other angel is the Lord Jesus, the high priest of the church, who is here described in his sacerdotal office, having a golden censer and much incense, a fulness of merit in his own glorious person, and this incense he was to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, upon the golden altar of his divine nature. Observe, 1. All the saints are a praying people; none of the children of God are born dumb, a Spirit of grace is always a Spirit of adoption and supplication, teaching us to cry, Abba, Father. Ps. xxxii. 6, For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee. 2. Times of danger should be praying times, and so should times of great expectation; both our fears and our hopes should put us upon prayer, and, where the interest of the church of God is deeply concerned, the hearts of the people of God in prayer should be greatly enlarged. 3. The prayers of the saints themselves stand in need of the incense and intercession of Christ to make them acceptable and effectual, and there is provision made by Christ for that purpose; he has his incense, his censer, and his altar; he is all himself to his people. 4. The prayers of the saints come up before God in a cloud of incense; no prayer, thus recommended, was ever denied audience or acceptance. 5. These prayers that were thus accepted in heaven produced great changes upon earth in return to them; the same angel that in his censer offered up the prayers of the saints in the same censer took of the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth, and this presently caused strange commotions, voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake; these were the answers God gave to the prayers of the saints, and tokens of his anger against the world and that he would do great things to avenge himself and his people of their enemies; and now, all things being thus prepared, the angels discharge their duty.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
And when he opened ( ). Here modal is used with (used about the opening of the preceding six seals), but is not here rendered more indefinite, as is sometimes true (Mark 3:11; Rev 4:9), but here and possibly (can be repetition) in Mr 11:19 it is a particular instance, not a general rule (Robertson, Grammar, p. 973).
There followed a silence ( ). Second aorist middle of . “There came silence.” Dramatic effect by this profound stillness with no elder or angel speaking, no chorus of praise nor cry of adoration, no thunder from the throne (Swete), but a temporary cessation in the revelations. See 10:4.
About the space of half an hour ( ). Late and rare word (, half, , hour), here only in N.T. Accusative of extent of time.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
When [] . Read otan, the indefinite particle with the indicative mood. For a similar construction, see Mr 11:19 (correct reading). Alford observes that it occurs in the opening of this seal only, giving it an indefiniteness which does not belong to any of the rest.
There was [] . More literally, come to pass. Rev., there followed. About [] . A usual form of expression with John. See Joh 1:39; Joh 6:19; Joh 11:18.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
THE SEVENTH SEAL BRINGS FORTH SEVEN TRUMPETS (Ch 8:1-11-19)
Note: see also Introduction Revelation
1) “And when he had opened the seventh seal,” (kai hotan enoiksen ten sphragida ten hebdome) “And whenever (at the moment) he opened the seventh (of the seven) seal; It was “the Lamb”, the Son of God, the Redeemer, who took the book from God (his Father), and was accounted worthy to open the seals and disclose the contents of the book. The seventh seal is now being opened, Rev 5:5-10.
2) “There was silence in heaven,” (egeneto sige en to ourano) “There became, occurred, or existed, a silence in the heaven; where the central throne, the four living creatures, the twenty and four elders, the good angels, the church, and souls of the redeemed of the ages had taken their abode. When all these saw the contents of judgments and plagues and woes and torments they were frozen in silence, Zec 2:13.
3) “About the space of half an hour,” (hos hemioron) “(For) about an half-hour,” a period of time of about an half hour in duration. There was no “come and see”, invitation, at the opening of this seventh seal as in Rev 6:1; Rev 6:3; Rev 6:5; Rev 6:7: for all seem to have beheld what judgment was ahead, and together they bowed in stone silence. All the creatures of heaven seemed as if called to silence in his presence, Hab 2:20; Zep 1:7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL
Rev 8:1 to Rev 11:19.
WE concluded the last talk by an appeal that men surrender their souls to the Son of Man before the day of His wrath come. The Opening of the Seventh Seal will add emphasis to that entreaty. We read that when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour.
When the coming birth of John the Baptist was announced to Zacharias, the priest, whose lot it was to serve in the Temple at that time, the angel confirmed the promise by paralyzing the priests tongue, and when he came out and could not speak unto them, the people perceived that he had seen a vision in the Temple. If the dumbness of a single servant of God excited the wonder of the multitude, what a portentous event when every angel in the whole heavenly host shall find his tongue suddenly tied, and turning his dumb eyes to the Father upon the throne, and to the Son sitting at the right hand, shall see them as silent as themselves, and a stillness, like that which must obtain in the deepest depths of ocean, reigning in a world where for millenniums silence has been a stranger. Would it not necessarily mean the awful calm prophesying some unthinkable catastrophe? The effect of this silence would be heightened by the sight of seven angels standing before God, their trumpets at their lips; and augmented still more by the event of another angel bending over the altar, holding in his hands a golden censer in which was mingled the prayers of all the saints, while the smoke of the same went up before God out of the angels hand. The very fact that these prayers were being presented would signify the portentousness of the coming storm, and would seem to show that up to the very time when judgment beginsChrist, Heavens chief angel, and mans intercessor, will be pleading with the prayers of all the saints, that the storm of justice be yet a little withheld, and man offered further opportunity to repent.
But at the very time while this silence reigns in Heaven, sin increases on the earth. Calmness there, confusion here; overwhelming anxiety there, riotous indifference here. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets, seeing the increased sin, prepare themselves to sound.
THE TRUMPETS OF JUDGMENT
At the blast of their trumpets judgment begins.
This judgment will involve nature first.
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up, etc. (Rev 8:7-12).
Have you never noticed how when mans sin necessitates the exercise of Divine justice, God approaches mans judgment by the way of mercy? He smites first of all the inanimate world, where His blow will fall upon unfeeling grass, trees and flowers, but at the same time prove conclusively His power, and call mans attention to the occasion of His anger.
When Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let Gods people go from Egypt, the Lord smote the waters which were in the great river Euphrates, and turned them to blood (Exo 7:19-21). Afterward, you remember, He sent frogs over all the land, and still later turned the dust into lice, and followed that with the plague of flies; and when the judgment against the inanimate world would not suffice, He brought the murrain upon the beasts and that was succeeded by the hailstorm, which smote the cattle; and that by the swarms of locusts which devoured the crops, and so on. It was Gods attempt to teach Pharaoh and the people, without having to touch their persons with the hand of judgment. And to this hour the Divine method of judgment is always in mercy. Almost every man who sins against God will find himself corrected a hundred times, and in as many ways, before any wrath is executed against his person. So in the sounding of the trumpets of judgment, when the four against the natural world were finished, and evil men were waxing worse and worse, a significant thing occurred. John saw an eagle, not an angel, but an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with great voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound (Rev 8:13, R. V.)
If you will consult your Scripture you will find the saints often likened to eagles (Luk 17:34-37; Mat 24:26-28; Isa 40:31).
The announcement is succeeded by the blasts of the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets. When the fifth sounds the star falls from heaven unto the earth. That this star is simply the messenger of judgment is evidenced in that it says, to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit, etc. Read Rev 9:1-6. That was the beginning of Gods judgments upon the sinner. Again, judgment is tempered with mercy; all men are not destroyed in a moment, but only a portion of them; the baser portion we may believe. And in that very destruction the remainder are again called to repentance. People often ask the question why God permits sin to go on; and why He privileges gross sinners to live, saying that they are cursing themselves and destroying others. Peter has answered that, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2Pe 3:9).
But the five woes will no more suffice to change the course of men whose hearts are set upon sin, than the five plagues of Egypt sufficed to turn Pharaohs feet into paths of righteousness. And scarcely will this woe have passed when the sixth angel shall sound. Read Rev 9:14-19.
The man who makes a practice of preaching a gradual improvement in the world, which by the product of evolution, will finally bring in the Millennium without the Master, the Kingdom of God on earth without the King; must find it difficult to interpret what follows,
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts (Rev 9:20-21).
It necessitates the sounding of the seventh trumpet, bringing the end. As Pharaoh went down before the tenth plague, never to rise again, and sinful Egypt was left without a king, so the nations of the world, forgetting God, shall one day hear the trumpet sound that shall unseat every ruler and bring an end to every government, whelm every rebellious people as effectually as the Red Sea buried Pharaoh and his wicked followers. I suppose there are those who regard this as an awful fate for the world, and so it is; and yet, no worse for the unregenerate than the natural death that sweeps its every generation. The end of all sin is awful! But if righteousness succeed judgment, how desirable!
Have you ever stopped to think what it would mean to have wickedness removed from the whole realm, one righteous sovereign reigning from sea to sea; and from the rivers unto the ends of the earth? Then jealousies between peoples would be at an end; boundary disputes would cease; unjust restrictions in trade would be lifted; wars of greed and conquest come to an end; slavery and pauperism pass forever; famine and pestilence be obsolete words; the gates of the cemeteries would rust upon their hinges; hearts cease from sorrow; and tears from touching the cheeks of men; the brotherhood of man would find its first open field for exercise; and the Fatherhood of God become a blessed fact, instead of being as now, a theological vagary. John was not wicked but wise when he prayed for this consummation, and I believe that it is only needful for men to understand the issue, to join in the prayer of the seer.
THE INSTRUMENTS OF DESTRUCTION
Going back over these four chapters it is interesting to study the instruments of destruction that will be employed.
When God is smiting nature He employs natural forces. Hail and fire mingled with blood burn up the third part of the trees and all green grass; a burning mountain turns the third part of the sea into blood; destroys the third part of all creatures, and whelms the third part of all the ships; the blazing star, or as the original word suggests, the great light, like unto a lamp or torch, turns the three parts of the rivers into wormwood, and men drinking therefrom die of the bitterness; while at the sounding of the fourth angel the great luminaries are smittenthe third part of the sun, the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; light is shortened and darkness increased. If any man imagine that these figures of speech are enormously overdrawn he must be poorly impressed with the power of those natural forces which are eternally subject to the manipulations of Gods mighty hand. If he doubts Gods ability to so loosen the winds and storms of heaven as to make hail and fire mingle with blood, a medium of judgment to a world that had rejected mercy, he has never seen, or even given serious consideration to the reports of a single cyclone. Once in a while God gives us a hint of what He can do with the lightnings of heaven; once in a while God permits us to see what the gentle wind that daily kisses our cheekscan easily accomplish for the mightiest structures of earth; once in a while God permits a single mountain in the midst of the sea to break its crust and send its flames and lava into the waters while the shock thereof rolls landward a thousand miles. All these things are but gentle warnings, and like the little light that was seen for days by the inhabitants of Pompeii who looked Vesuvius-ward; they speak eloquently to men, pleading that they escape, while they can, from the coming doom. He who can bind the sweet influence of the Pleadies, can also loose the bands of Orion.
But to natural forces He adds supernatural creatures. When men have disregarded the judgments against Nature, and He must punish them in their own persons, He employs agents, not instruments, in the work. These agents
the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
And they had hair as the hair of Women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months (Rev 9:7-10).
I see no necessity of holding this language to be figurative. The pit is filled with fallen spirits which kept not their first estate, and if Satan assumes the form of a great dragon and the serpent, why should not his subjects and emissaries assume the forms here suggested, forms of power, forms of intelligence, forms of mighty malignance, forms, the very sight of which, superinduces fear, and speak of tremendous power. We saw in our last study that there were supernatural creatures about the throne who had the faces of a lion, symbol of courage; of an ox, likeness of faithful endurance; of a man, indicative of intelligent action; and of the eagle, speaking of alacrity in obedience.
Why then should hell not have its antipodes of these living ones, in the form of infernal tormentors, whose pleasure would accord with their office? Already science is beginning to confirm this suggestion of Scripture. Only a few years ago the most advanced physician among us would have laughed to scorn the present theory of disease, namely, that mens bodies and even their every drop of blood, was crowded with living creatures and that fever is only the expression of the destructive work of these Satanic myrmidons. If in these days the devil is able to smite men with such a multitude of his servants, as Dr. Simpson has said, How much more may this become the case when all the restrictions of this age shall be let loose.
Eventually the Son of Man Himself appears in judgment. One might think that this was a modification of justice and gave the promise of mercy; but not so! On the contrary, the part that Jesus Christ, the merciful, shall play, will prove the consummation of judgment against impenitent men. You go but to the second Psalm and you read words that illuminate all of this Scripture, for even there the Psalmist is speaking of the final contest between the heathen and the Lord of Heaven ; the former shall rage.
The kings of the earth shall set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying,
Let us break Their bands asunder, and cast away Their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. * *
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessel.
No wonder the Psalmist concluded with that cry,
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him (Psa 2:1-12).
Dont you remember that George Elliot makes Baldasar put his very life in pawn for the sake of Tito Meleme, the boy who so excited his ardent love? For him he makes all possible sacrifice! But when Tito proved himself unworthy, played traitor, it was that very man who had shown him such mercy and grace, that eventually exercised against him direful judgment.
It is significant that this Book of Revelation speaks of the Lamb as one whose wrath shall fill the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the chief captains, the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free-man with such fear that they shall hide themselves from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and shall say to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us * * from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand!
THE DESCENT OF THE SON OF MAN
And I saw another mighty Angel come down from Heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon His head, and His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire:
And He had in His hand a little book open: and He set His right foot upon the sea, and His left foot on the earth,
And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when He had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices,
I was about to write: and I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up His hand to Heaven,
And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created Heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when He shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the Prophets (Rev 10:1-7).
Three plain suggestions here:First the personal Coming of Christ. The strong Angel coming down out of Heaven is Jesus. That is suggested not alone by the fact that He is designated as the strong Angel, but by the more definite testimony, the rainbow was upon Him.
That could never crown another than this minister of Gods mercy. His face was as the sun. That is the same description of the Son of Man given in the first chapter.
And His feet as pillars of fire. Those are the feet which were described in the first chapter which were like unto burnished brass.
And He had in His hand a little book open, and He was the only One found that could break the seals of the Book, and open it.
He set His right foot upon the sea, but His left foot on the earth. The Lord has promised to Him as He had to the Israelites of old, possession of every place upon which He should set His foot, so now He comes to claim the sea and the land as His very own.
I should like to talk to you about His rightful inheritance. When He poured out His Blood on Calvary He bought back the sea and the land, as well as the souls thereof; they are His, and when He comes He will claim them to do with them as He pleases.
But by far the more important lesson of this tenth chapter is found in the circumstance that His descent will bring an end to the probation period.
And the servants who have been wicked and slothful in the Masters business will find His return to the earth the occasion of their distress; and it will result in their being cast into outer darkness, to weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Oh, that I could properly impress the object of this probation period! Oh, that I could burn into the hearts of men the importance of making the right use of it! Oh, that the parables of the talents, the pounds, the wise and foolish virgins, might compel us to attend upon the injunction, Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.
Henry Van Dyke says, This world is not the place of judgment, but the place of probation, in which the good and the evil are working side by side, not only in the same community, but in the same character; and not to be finally separated until they have produced their fixed and final results. And he goes on to show that while men are wrestling with the question of whether they shall do right or wrong, the trial period continues, the days of life are vouchsafed, the sun still shines and the rain still falls. Man may be deeply sunk in evil and have hope, for God is still saying, I do not judge thee yet. How solemn the sweet assurance; but how clearly the fact that God does not now judge, reveals the certainty that God will judge hereafter. If this world be only the place of probation, then beyond it there must be a place of judgment. The sun will not shine forever, and the rain will not always fall upon evil-doers. How precious then, how costly and invaluable is every day and hour of this immortal life, in which the welcome sunlight, the gentle rain, assure us that the upward way is still open to us. But how long for you and me; how long shall this time of hope endure? Who can tell when the night cometh?
The eleventh chapter is given to the testimony of the two witnesses and to the beginning of the Millennium reign.
THE TESTIMONY OF THE TWO WITNESSES
Three questions I want to raise with reference to these witnesses and let the Scriptures answer them; three statements I want to make with reference to the Millennium reign; then we shall leave these four chapters with you, trusting that God may instruct you out of them, and if any one be without Christ, make them the means of his conversion.
My first question is, Who are these witnesses? Various and conflicting answers have been given to that question, and upon careful consideration of these, I am compelled to select that one put forward by Dr. Seiss, namely, that Enoch and Elijah are the two witnesses who shall return to the earth and prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. I maintain this substantially for the same reason which he assigns. First of all Enoch and Elijah are the only ascended saints whose bodies are subject to the first death, they having escaped that by translation. In the next place Enoch and Elijah were both famed when they were here in the world, for the word of their testimony to an unbelieving generation. But far above and beyond all these considerations is the fact that the Scriptures promise the return of Elijah, while the Apocryphal Books and the ancient fathers always associated with his coming, a similar ministry for Enoch. After John the Baptist was dead, Christ still affirmed, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. And even in the time of the Acts, Peter referred to this restoration or restitution, as associated with the Second Coming of the Lord (Act 3:19). It is also significant that when Elijah was in the world he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months, and here it is prophesied that when he shall come again he shall have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecythree years and six months.
Dr. Dowie declared himself to be Elias, but he didnt shut the heavens for the space of three years and six months!
What is the object of these two witnesses? is my next question. The text answers that. The very fact that they were witnesses shows their object; and the additional fact that they are spoken of as the two olive trees and two candlesticks, reminding one of the vision of Zachariah, a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. The Prophet asked, you remember, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? and again, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And the answer was, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. And how much that antediluvian world needed the burning and shining light of Enochs life; and how much degenerate Israel, and drunken Ahab and his hosts, had the same need. And how truly it might have been said of these men of the olden times, as of John the Baptist, They were burning and shining lights. And how wonderful the mercy of God that will bring them back again to witness with greater fervor; to speak forth more luminous truth when we shall be coming into the end of the age.
My third question is, Why were they slain? I believe the Scriptures clearly indicate the reason: the beast that cometh up out of the abyss cannot endure to have faithful men live. There are those who think the time of persecution is over; but if so, only because the time of faithful preaching is so far passed. You bring back an Enoch to the world and nothing but a new translation would save him from crucifixion. You bring back to the world an Elijah, and an Ahab will be found in some new potentate.
I have just ridiculed Dr. Dowies pretentions of being Elias, but I am profoundly convinced that the hate of the world against him was not because of his assertions; not because of the pompous pride which he put on; nor because any man proved him to be dishonest in his business methods, but more largely because he uncovered sin.
If any man imagine that civilization has brought us to the point where the witness of a new Elijah and a new Enoch would be acceptable, he does not understand his own mind, nor has he ever seen the pictures that the Scriptures present of the times to come. He that would live godly in Christ Jess must suffer persecution.
The verses that remain touch the subject of
THE MILLENNIAL REIGN
What comfort! After hearing this judgment; after witnessing the writhings of the earth; after looking upon the smitten sea; after having beheld the very luminaries of heaven partially blotted out; after having heard the moans of men who sought death without being able to find it, and desire death, only to see their decease flee from them, what blessing to turn from it all, and look full into the face of Him who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and who shall reign forever and ever. No wonder the four and twenty elders which sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast; and mark you that they did not say, and which is to come as heretofore, for lo, He is present already, and has taken the great power and is reigning. With that reign is associated resurrection and rewards for Gods own. He will not forget them. When He comes it will be the day of victory for them everyone; and all their rewards, their joys, all the glorious prospects of Millennium here, and ages on ages beyond, spent in the rapture of His presence, and in the benediction of His praises, in the sweetness of His service, in the salvation of His everlasting power, shall be in exact accordance with the promise of His Word, for lo, the Temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in His Temple the ark of His testament. Blessed Vision! That ark contained the will and testament of God toward His own. Happy is the child who has laid up in some place of safe keeping the will of a wealthy father, reminding him every time he turns toward it that it is to him a pledge of all the property mentioned therein, and that the justice courts of the earth will grant his claim, in accordance with the provisions thereof.
With faltering footsteps, I will journey on, Watching the stars that roll the hours away, Till the faint light that guides me now is gone, And, like another life, the glorious dayShall open oer me from the empyrean height, With warmth, and certainty, and boundless light.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
FOUR TRUMPET VOICES
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Rev. 8:1. Seventh seal.The main visions give us more external aspects; the interposed visions show the inner and more spiritual aspects. The main visions give us the trumpet voices of Gods manifold providences, summoning the world to surrender to Him; the subsidiary visions point to the witness and work of the true children of God in this world, and the more secret growth of the Church of Christ.
Rev. 8:2. Seven angels.There was a popular Jewish belief in seven special angels as attendant on God (Tob. 12:15). They may be taken as representing the complete circle of Gods power in judgment. Symbols of that complete and varied messenger force which God evermore commands. Seven trumpets.The usual emblems of war and bloodshed; they are emblems of the series of judgments now to be inflicted. Godet regards the trumpet as something more than the mere revelation of an event that is to happen in the future; it is a manifestation of Will, which calls for a speedy realisation.
Rev. 8:3. Altar.In the Jewish Temple the priest was wont to burn incense, while the people outside were praying (Luk. 1:8-11). Offer it with.Lit. give, or add, it to the prayers. To use a phrase of modern Church life, the prayers are on the altar, and the angel-priest censes the holy things.
Rev. 8:4. With the prayers.Better for the prayers; i.e., to ratify and consecrate them.
Rev. 8:5. Cast it.The burning incense may denote Christian worship. Then that which was pure worship, if defiled and degraded by human corruptions, becomes the instrument of discord and violence (compare Exo. 9:8-10). The hot ashes are the token of coming judgments; the ashes fall, to indicate that the judgments are at hand.
Rev. 8:7. First angel.This is the aggravation of the judgments of the third sealfamine. Blood.Here coloured rain, which dues sometimes fall, and is regarded as a sure sign of coming agricultural evils.
Rev. 8:8. Second angel sounded.The sea is smitten; its inhabitants perish; commerce is interrupted. Addition to previous calamity in the ocean sphere. Mountain.Volcano. Bursting of volcanoes always affects the sea and shipping. Volcanoes are almost always near the sea.
Rev. 8:10. Third angel sounded.See the fourth seal. Star.Compare what we call shooting stars. Fatal results follow from the defilement of the waters men drink. Illustrate how civilisation tends to corrupt rivers, and springs, and induce pestilential disease. A terrible mortality seizes mankind.
Rev. 8:12. Fourth angel.Judgment affecting the atmosphere. Note how dependent human health is on atmospheric conditions. (Illustrate by the plague of darkness in Egypt, Exo. 10:21-23.) The moral influence of eclipses, and other sky-portents, on the ancient mind must be taken into full account. These various plagues need not be understood in any allegorical sense; they represent the various distresses attendant (partly) on the sins of advancing civilisation, in the very midst of which, and even suffering under which, the Church of Christ has to live and labour.
Rev. 8:13. Angel.Or eagle. This is introductory to the last three, or woe, trumpets. The three last trumpets are called the three woes. The difference between the first four trumpets and three last appears to be this: the first concern the sphere of nature, the last the sphere of humanity. This eagle-angels sight of woes that were coming suggests the eagle-like judgments which fall upon the carcase of dead nations, or a dead Society.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Rev. 8:1-13
Judgments Affecting Nature.The servants of God being now secure against impending destruction, all things appear to be in readiness for the execution of justice upon the persecutors of the Church. One seal, and one only, remains to be broken of the volume in which their destiny is inscribed; and it seems as if this must introduce the consummation. It is evident that such is represented to be the impression on the great multitude who encircle the throne of God. They stand in silent and awful expectation of the sequel which must take place when that seal is broken. But the Lord is slow to anger and of great mercy, not willing that any should perish, but that all should repent and be saved. Judgment is His strange work, and delay does not prove that any uncertainty attends the final event. Besides, it had already been declared (Rev. 6:11), that some delay would take place until more martyrdoms should be accomplished. Here, then, the writer introduces various circumstances by which this is aptly brought about. The breaking of the last seal, instead of presenting a single symbol of a single event, is followed by a new series of events which is disparted into seven gradations, or stages, of accomplishment; and these are presented as becoming gradually more and more annoying and destructive to the enemies of the Church. Trumpets, the usual emblems of war and bloodshed, are chosen as emblems of the series of judgments now to be inflicted. The first four trumpets affect the earth, the sea, the rivers with the springs, and the heavens. The remaining three indicate judgments that fall more immediately upon man. The present chapter comprises the first four trumpets, and the evils which they introduce occur in the order already named. But before any of the trumpets are sounded, symbols are presented in heaven of the judgments about to take place. The supplication of the saints for the relief of the Church comes up before God, along with the incense which is presented before His throne; and the answer which will be made to these supplications is symbolised by the action of an angel, who casts fire down upon the earth, which calls forth thunder, lightning, and earthquake, all indicative of future destruction to the enemies of the Church.Moses Stuart.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Rev. 8:1. The Way to Rest is Through Trouble.We reach, in the seventh seal, the eternal quiet of Gods presence. Through a series of visions we have been shown that the way to rest is not easy, that we must be prepared to see the great features of earths troubles remain till the close, and that the children of God must, through tribulation, and even persecution, enter the kingdom of Gods peace. The seals answer the question, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom? But the kingdom will be restored. The Church may find her way a way of difficulty, delay, danger; but it will be a way to triumph. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of the Lord. Let the people of God go forward; let their prayers be set forth as incense; let them blow the trumpet, and summon men to repentance. They are not alone; the Lord still fights for His Israel. This is the assurance which we gather from the trumpets. In all the wondrous providences which the history of the earth discloses, we may hear the trumpet-voice which heralds the kingdom of Christ, to which the Church is bearing constant and sufficient witness (Rev. 11:3-4). The seals close with peace; the trumpets close appropriately with victory (Rev. 11:15). The visions are not scenes of events which chronologically succeed one another. The one set shows us the way through trouble to rest; the other shows us the way through conflict to triumph: the one set shows us the troubles which befall the Church because of the world; the other shows us the troubles which fall on the world because the Church advances to the conquest of the world, as Israel to the possession of the land of promise.Bishop Boyd Carpenter.
Silence in Heaven.
This silence was
I. Wonderful.Wonderful, considering
1. The multitude present; they must have been under perfect control.
2. Their feelings. Joy and wonder yearned to express themselves.
II. Instructive.
1. Nothing done in haste, or in the heat of excitement.
2. Time for thought furnished to both friends and foes of God.
3. The shortness of the silence a sign that the work of God is not long delaying; the praises of saints are only temporarily interrupted.Anon.
CHAPTER 9
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Strauss Comments
SECTION 24
Text Rev. 8:1-6
And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets.
3 And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angels hand. 5 And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings and an earthquake.
6 And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Initial Questions Rev. 8:1-6
1.
What does the trumpet signify Rev. 8:2?
2.
What were trumpets used for in the New Testament world?
3.
Does Rev. 8:3-4 contain biblical justification for the Roman Catholic doctrine of the power of the prayers of the dead saints?
4.
What does the casting of fire upon the earth signify Rev. 8:5?
5.
Who prepared to sound the trumpets Rev. 8:6?
Opening of the Seventh Seal: The Half Hours Silence in Heaven; The First Four Trumpet Blasts
Chapter Rev. 8:1-13
Rev. 8:1
As with the seven seals (Rev. 5:8-10), before the trumpets sound there is an initial vision of the function of the prayers of the saints. Here we see the power of the pryaers of the righteous to avail Gods intervention in the events of history (Rev. 8:2-5), described in almost the same way as before.
The first four trumpet blasts are (Rev. 8:6-12) closely related as were the first four seals. (The figure of the trumpet is used by Paul see 1Th. 4:16). Johns imagery comes primarily from Exodus 10 :, the records of the Egyptian plagues.
John declares that when (hotan indefinite particle giving us a picture of indefiniteness) he opened the seventh seal there came silence (egento sig 2nd aor. middle voice) in heaven about (hs indefinite about) a half hour. Heaven was silent; there was no speaking or singing.
Rev. 8:2
John next saw the seven angels who stand (hestkasin perf. indicative) in front of (before) God. They receive the seven trumpets. A new period of woes begins.
Rev. 8:3
On (epi or above) the altar (thusiastriou). The problem here is whether this altar is the brazen altar (as Rev. 16:9) or the altar of incense (as Rev. 9:13). The angel takes the place of the priest at the altar in Johns imagery. The priest took fire from the brazen altar to light the censer. (See Swete, op cit., p. 108) for good discussion of this point; also the extensive discussion of Charles). The angel was given the incenses in order that (hina clause for the purpose) he will give (it) with the prayers of all the saints. . . . The imagery relates that the holy incense was to be added so the prayers to that they could both (incense and prayers) ascend before (or in front of) the throne of God. Note how the martyrs were praying in spite of their trials and martyrdom for the Faith. What can we learn from their prayer life?
Rev. 8:4
The smoke of the incenses went up (aneb) with the prayers of the saints.
Rev. 8:5
The angel cast (ebalen 2 aor. active ind. in a single momentary act the fire was cast!) The judgment of fire covers the entire earth (eis tn gn, Eze. 10:2); and there occurred (egenonto 2 aor. ind. middle voice) thunders, and sounds, and lightenings, and an earthquake. This same phenomenon occurred when the first four seals were opened (Rev. 6:12 ff).
Rev. 8:6
The angels have put the trumpets to the mouths (prepared themselves) in order that (hina clause for the purpose that) they might trumpet (salpissin 1st aor. subj.)
Review Questions for Entire Chapter 8
See Rev. 8:13.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Tomlinsons Comments
CHAPTER VIII
THE SEVENTH SEAL OPENED
Text (Rev. 8:1-13)
1 And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets.
3 And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angels hand. 5 And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
6 And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
7 And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9 and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; 11 and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner.
13 And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound.
INTRODUCTION
We have now arrived at the beginning of a new period in the history of the Roman Empire, the arena in which the history of the church is also unfolded. The saints having been sealed, the four agencies of destruction could no longer be held back. Let us say, in passing, there is nothing mysterious to be attached to this sealing of the saints. What Paul said of the Ephesians, could just as truthfully be said of the saints of this parenthetical period of time:
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory. (Eph. 1:13-14)
After the sealing of the saints, the seventh seal is opened and we read,
Rev. 8:1 There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
This silence comes as a sudden surprise. This comes in marked contrast with the rejoicings in heaven at the beginning of this series of visions, when the Lamb that was slain came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne. (Rev. 5:7).
This silence is too startling to be given over to conjecture in interpretation. Shall we let the scriptures help us. In Hab. 2:20, we read, The Lord is in His Holy Temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him.
These words are spoken in connection with the going forth of Almighty God in judgment. Hence, when He is about to visit the earth (the Roman Empire, as understood by John), with the awful judgments of the seventh seal, nothing could be more fitting than that heaven itself should stand breathless, awaiting the blowing of the seven trumpets of the seventh seal.
Another passage will suffice, In Zep. 1:7, in a passage which incorporates the judgments of God Almighty, we read these significant words: Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; for the day of the Lord is at hand.
The word, Hold thy peace here is identically the same as that rendered Keep silence in (Hab. 2:20).
In the light of these passages, it can be clearly seen the appropriateness of introducing the fearful judgments to follow with a half hour silence in heaven.
It is, as it were, the hush before the march of events about to begin; the calm before the storms of judgment break.
It doubtless, also is designed to give great emphasis to the events that follow.
Rev. 8:2-3 I saw the seven angels which stood before God. It seems that among angels there are ranks, degrees, dominions, powers. These are the seven who stand before God. In Mat. 18:10, we learn that those who believe in Christ have angels who stand before God and behold His face:
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, (In Mat. 18:6, Christ identifies one of these little ones as, one of these little ones which believe in me) for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
We even know the name of one of these angels, And the angel answering said unto him (Zacharias), I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God, and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad things. (Luk. 1:19).
And to them were given seven trumpets. The fact that the trumpets are committed to angels of the highest order indicates the importance in Gods sight of these trumpet judgments.
But before the first trumpet is sounded, Another angel came and stood at the altar. (Rev. 8:3). The scene is borrowed from the service of the Old Testament tabernacle. In the Holy Place, before the second veil, stood the golden altar . . . Morning and evening, fire was placed upon it from the altar of sacrifice, and upon the fire was poured the sacred incense. The incense that Moses was commanded to make was a most hallowed thingso hallowed that if any one should even attempt to imitate the fragrance, he was to be cut off from his people. (Exo. 30:34-38).
The cloud of perfume which rose and filled the sanctuary, was a symbol of prayer.
To this ministering angel was given A golden censor and there was given to him much incense. We have found that incense, in the Bible, is a symbol of prayer.
Here, however, another feature is added, or rather included. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which is before the throne.
Two things present themselves here. First, a ministering angel matches the prayers of petitioning saints. The more we pray, the more is prayer offered from the heavenlies. Yea, more, much incense was given him, as if to say, heaven more than matches the volume of earthly prayers.
Second. It would seem that the prayers of the saints become acceptable only when there is added to them the incense of the prayers of heaven, or in other words, there must be added the intercession of Christ and the effects of his atoning work.
This brings to our mind the inspired statement of Paul, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God, (Rom. 8:26-27).
Rev. 8:4 And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angels hand.
What a comforting thought! We can be sure that our prayers are acceptable to God, because of the added incense of the ministering angel. This gives us another insight of the work of angels. Paul said of them, Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Heb. 1:14).
But the symbolism suddenly changes. Rev. 8:5 : And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth. We have a similar instance in Eze. 10:2. And he spoke unto the man clothed with linen, and said, go in between the wheels, even under the cherub and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.
As here in Ezekiel, so in Revelation, the fire of God, like coals from the altar, is cast upon the earth.
And there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake, These symbolize the terrible things that will happen in the scenes to follow when the seven angels sound their trumpets. All things are now ready for the blast of the first trumpet.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
VIII.
(1) And when he had opened the seventh seal . . .Translate, And when he opened the seventh seal there took place a silence in heaven as it were for half an hour. It is greatly to be regretted that this verse should have been prefixed to this chapter. The section of the book with which it is connected is that which goes before, not that which follows. The second verse of this eighth chapter introduces a new series of visions: the first verse gives the close of the visions which follow the opening of the seals. But what is the meaning of this verse which describes a half-hours silence in heaven? It is a disputed point whether the book, or roll, fastened with the seven seals (Rev. 5:1-2) is ever really unrolled to view. Some have thought that as each seal is opened a portion of the roll is displayed, unfolding the vision of the seal: others have regarded the visions as mere accompaniments of the opening of the seals, and quite distinct from the writing on the roll; those who take this view are disposed to think that the roll never is read, for that when the last seal is broken, and all are expecting to hear what is written in the book, no reading takes place, but only a silence ensues. It does not seem to me that this latter view is altogether tenable. It appears a singularly harsh interpretation to say that the contents of the roll are never disclosed. The book of Gods purposes was seen in the hand of Him who sat on the throne. The Evangelist longed to know something of its contents; vain efforts were made to open it; the Evangelist wept with disappointment; he was then comforted in his sorrow by hearing that the Lion of the tribe of Judah had conquered to open the book; but then, after all this, not a line or word of the book, it is said, is ever revealed. The servant is waiting to hear the divine word; the seer is waiting to record what is unfolded; but though the seals are opened, we are told that the words he waits for never came. St. John himself gives no hint of so disappointing a conclusion. Later on (Rev. 10:4) he is told not to record the utterances of the seven thunders, but there the concealing of the utterances is clearly commanded. Here he evidently associates the visions of the seals with the contents of the roll. It is only a spirit in bondage to foolish literalisms which will ask how the visions can be the writing in the roll. The book represents Gods purposes and principles of His government in relation to the world-history; the seals show us some typical scenes in that world-history, and if not seen on the parchment of the roll, are yet unfoldings of principles and truths in the book. But it does not follow that all that is in the roll is ever unfolded. Such portions are made manifest as the seer could hear, and as the Church of Christ needed; and thus it may well be that the half-hours silence is significant that all Gods purposes and revelations are not exhaustedthat there is something behind which it is not well that we should knowthat prophecy as well as knowledge is partial. But the stillness of this half hour, if it reminds us of what is yet untold, yet proclaims to us a time of deep, unbroken tranquility, when the cries and groans of the earth, and even the grateful doxologies of heaven are hushed into calm. It is the silence which tells us that sorrow is ended, and eloquently tells us of heart peace. It is the rest of the troubled on the breast of God. All the earth, with her strife of tongues is still; all the cries of men (Rev. 6:15), of trafficker and warrior, of struggling wise, and suffering good, are stilled; all flesh keeps silence before Him; He gives His people peace.
O earth, so full of dreary noises!
O men with wailing in your voices!
O delved gold, the waiters heap!
O strife, O curse, that oer it fall!
God strikes a silence through you all,
And giveth His beloved sleep.
Only those who have been carried away by an over- refined philosophy or morbid sentimentalism can see anything selfish in longing, out of earths cares and injustices, for such a rest as this. It is surely not ignoble to pray
Vouchsafe us such a half-hours hush alone,
In compensation for our stormy years;
As heaven has paused from song, let earth from moan.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 8
THE SILENCE AND THE THUNDER OF PRAYER ( Rev 8:1-5 ) 8:1-5 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense that he might add it to the prayers of the saints on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the ground. And there were crashes of thunder and loud voices and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Before we begin to examine this passage in detail, we may note one point about its arrangement. Rev 8:2, which tells of the seven angels with the seven trumpets, is clearly out of place. As it stands, it interrupts the sense of the passage and it should come immediately before Rev 8:7 –probably a copyist’s mistake.
The passage begins with an intensely dramatic silence in heaven for about half an hour. The sheer stillness is even more effective than the thunder and the lightning. This silence may have two meanings.
(i) It may be a kind of breathing-space in the narrative, a moment of preparation before another shattering revelation comes.
(ii) There may be something much more beautiful in it. The prayers of the saints are about to go up to God; and it may be that the idea is that everything in heaven halts so that the prayers of the saints may be heard. As R. H. Charles puts it: “The needs of the saints are more to God than all the psalmody of heaven.” Even the music of heaven and even the thunder of revelation are stilled so that God’s ear may catch the whispered prayer of the humblest of his trusting people.
The picture divides itself into two. In the first half an unnamed angel offers the prayers of the saints to God. In Jewish thought the archangel Michael made prayer for the people of Israel and there was a nameless angel called The Angel of Peace whose duty was to see that Israel “did not fall into the extremity of Israel” and who interceded for Israel and for all the righteous.
The angel is standing at the altar. The altar in the Revelation frequently appears in the picture of heaven ( Rev 6:9; Rev 9:13; Rev 14:18). It cannot be the altar of burnt-offering, for there can be no animal sacrifice in heaven; it must be the altar of incense. The altar of incense stood before the Holy Place in the Temple ( Lev 16:12; Num 16:46). Made of gold, it was eighteen inches square and three feet high. At each corner it had horns; it was hollow and was covered over with a gold plate, and round it was a little railing, like a miniature balustrade, to keep the burning coals from falling off it. In the Temple incense was burned and offered before the first and after the last sacrifices of the day. It was as if the offerings of the people went up to God wrapped in an envelope of perfumed incense.
Here we have the idea that prayer is a sacrifice to God; the prayers of the saints are offered on the altar and, like all other sacrifices, they are surrounded with the perfume of the incense as they rise to God. A man may have no other sacrifice to offer to God; but at all times he can offer his prayers and there are always angelic hands waiting to bring them to God.
There is another half of this picture. The same angel takes the censer, fills it with coals from the altar and dashes it on the ground; and this is the prelude to the thunder and the earthquake which are the introduction to more terrors. The picture comes from the vision of Ezekiel, in which the man in the linen-cloth takes coals from between the cherubim and scatters them over the city ( Eze 10:2); and it is kin to the vision of Isaiah in which his lips are touched with a live coal from the altar ( Isa 6:6).
But this picture introduces something new. The coals from the censer introduce new woes. H. B. Swete puts it this way: “The prayers of the saints return to the earth in wrath.” The idea in John’s mind is that the prayers of the saints avail to bring vengeance upon those who had maltreated them.
We may feel that a prayer for vengeance is a strange prayer for a Christian, but we must remember the agony of persecution through which the Church was passing when the Revelation was written.
THE SEVEN ANGELS WITH THE TRUMPETS ( Rev 8:2 ; Rev 8:6 ) 8:2,6 And I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God, and seven trumpets were given to them; and the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to sound the trumpets.
These seven angels, known as the angels of the presence, were the same as the archangels. Their names were Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel ( Tob_12:1 ; Tob_12:5 ).
That they were called the angels of the presence means two things. First, they enjoyed a special honour. In an oriental court it was only the most favoured courtiers who had the right at all times to the presence of the king; to be a courtier of the presence was a special honour. Second, although to be in the presence of the king meant special honour, even more it meant immediate readiness to be despatched on service. Both Elijah and Elisha repeatedly spoke of “the Lord God of Israel before whom I stand” ( 1Ki 17:1; 1Ki 18:15; 2Ki 3:14; 2Ki 5:16); and the phrase really means, “The Lord God of Israel whose servant I am.”
The seven angels had seven trumpets. In the visions of the Old and the New Testament the trumpet is always the symbol of the intervention of God in history. All these pictures, and there are many of them, go back to the scene at Mount Sinai, when the law was given to the people. There were on the mountain thunders and lightnings and thick cloud, and a very loud trumpet blast ( Exo 19:16; Exo 19:19). This trumpet blast became an unchanging part of the apparatus of the Day of the Lord. In that day the great trumpet will be blown and it will summon back the exiles from every land ( Isa 27:13). On the Day of the Lord the trumpet will be blown in Zion and the alarm sounded in the holy mountain ( Joe 2:1). That day will be a day of trumpet and alarm ( Zep 1:16). The Lord will blow the trumpet and go out with the whirlwind ( Zec 9:14).
This picture passed into the New Testament visions of the last day. Paul speaks of the day when the trumpet shall sound and the corruptible will put on incorruption ( 1Co 15:52-53). He speaks of the trumpet of God, which is to sound when Christ comes again ( 1Th 4:16). Matthew speaks of the great sound of a trumpet when the elect are gathered in ( Mat 24:31).
It would be wrong to expect God literally to blow the trumpet; but none the less the picture has symbolic truth in it. A trumpet blast can be three things:
(i) It can sound the alarm. It can waken from sleep or warn of danger; and God is always sounding his warnings in the ears of men.
(ii) It can be the fanfare which announces the arrival of royalty. It is a fitting symbol to express the invasion of time by the King of eternity.
(iii) It can be the summons to battle. God is always summoning men to take sides in the strife of truth with falsehood and to become soldiers of the King of kings.
THE UNLEASHING OF THE ELEMENTS ( Rev 8:7-12 )
8:7-12 The first angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood and launched themselves on the dry land; and a third part of the dry land was burned up, and a third part of the trees was burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
The second angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and what I can only call a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third part of the sea became blood, and a third part of the creatures in the sea who had life died, and a third part of the ships were destroyed in wreckage.
The third angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and a great meteor blazing like a torch fell from heaven; and it fell on a third part of the rivers, and on the springs of water. And the name by which the meteor is called is Wormwood; and a third part of the waters became wormwood; and many of mankind died because of the embitterment of the waters.
The fourth angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and a third part of the sun was smitten, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of their light was darkened, and so that a third part of the day did not shine, and so with the night.
Here we have a picture of the elemental forces of nature hurled in judgment against the world. At each blast on the trumpet a different part of the world is attacked; the destruction that follows is not total for this is only the prelude to the end. First, the blast of destruction falls on the earth ( Rev 8:7); then it falls upon the sea ( Rev 8:8-9); then it falls upon the fresh water rivers and springs ( Rev 8:10-11); then it falls on the heavenly bodies ( Rev 8:12). The tide of destruction is unleashed on every part of the created universe.
We have further to note where John found his imagery. For the most part the pictures find their origin in the descriptions in Exodus of the plagues which fell on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to allow the people to go.
In John’s picture hail and fire and blood fall upon the dry land. In Exo 9:24 we read how there came upon Egypt fire mixed with a hail of unparalleled destructiveness. John to increase the terror adds blood, remembering Joel’s picture of the day when the sun would be turned into darkness and the moon into blood ( Joe 2:10). In John’s picture a third part of the sea becomes blood and the fishes in it die. In Exodus, when Moses lifted up his rod and smote the waters, the waters of the Nile turned to blood and the fishes in the river died ( Exo 7:20-21). In Zephaniah’s picture of the Day of the Lord the threat of God is: “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea” ( Zep 1:3). There is no parallel for the picture of the fall of the flaming star, but there are many to the ideas of waters turning to wormwood.
Wormwood is a general name for the class of plants known as artemisia whose characteristic is bitterness of taste. They are not really poisonous in the sense of being fatal, although they are noxious, but the Israelites dreaded their bitterness. Wormwood was the fruit of idolatry ( Deu 29:17-18). It was the threat of God through Jeremiah that God would give his people wormwood to eat and the waters of gall to drink ( Jer 9:14-15; Jer 23:15). Wormwood always stood for the bitterness of the judgment of God on the disobedient.
In John’s picture there came a darkening of a third part of the lights of heaven. In Exodus one of the plagues was a darkness that could be felt over the whole land ( Exo 10:21-23).
As we have so often seen, John is so steeped in the Old Testament that its visions come to him as the natural background of all that he has to say.
In this case it is by no means impossible that John is taking at least a part of his picture from actual events which he had seen or of which he had heard. A rain which looks like a rain of blood has more than once been reported from the Mediterranean countries. There is, for instance, a record of such a rain in Italy and all over south-east Europe in 1901. The reason for it is that fine red sand from the Sahara Desert is caught up into the upper air; and then when the rain comes it seems to be raining blood, as the rain and the fine red particles of sand fall together upon the earth. It may well be that John had seen something like this or had heard of it.
Further, he speaks of a flaming mass falling into the sea. This sounds very like a volcanic eruption. There was an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August Of A.D. 79 which decimated Naples and its bay. That would be within a very few years of the writing of the Revelation. The Aegean Sea has volcanic islands and volcanoes beneath the sea. Strabo, the Greek geographer, reports an eruption in the Aegean Sea, in which Patmos lay, in the year 196 B.C., which actually resulted in the formation of a new island called Pataia Kaumene. Such events also may have been in John’s mind.
In this picture of terror John has the vision of God using the elemental forces of nature to warn man of the final destruction to come.
THE FLYING EAGLE ( Rev 8:13 ) 8:13 And I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven crying with a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe! for those who dwell on the earth, because of what is going to happen when the rest of the trumpets speak, which the three angels are about to sound.”
Here we have one of the pauses in the story which the Revelation uses so effectively. Three fearful woes are to come upon the earth when the three angels sound the last blasts on the trumpets; but for the moment there is a pause.
In this pause the seer sees an eagle–not an angel as the King James Version has it. It is quite possible that the Greek could mean “one solitary eagle.” The expression “mid-heaven” means the zenith of the sky, that part where the sun is at midday. Here we have a dramatic and eerie picture of an empty sky and a solitary eagle winging its way across its zenith, forewarning of the doom to come.
Again John is using an idea which is not new. We have the same picture in Second Baruch. When the writer of that book has seen his vision and wishes to send it to the Jews exiled in Babylon by the waters of the Euphrates, he goes on: “And I called the eagle and spake these words unto it: ‘The Most High hath made thee that thou shouldest be higher than all birds. Now go, and tarry not in any place, nor enter a nest, nor settle on any tree, till thou hast passed over the breadth of the many waters of the river Euphrates, and hast gone to the people that dwell there, and cast down to them this epistle'” (Baruch 77:21-22).
The picture is not to be taken literally but the symbolism behind it is that God uses nature to send his messages to men.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
Seventh seal issues no revelation, but inaugurates the seven trumpets, Rev 8:1-6.
1. And The cycle of the six seals being finished, the office of the seventh seal is simply to inaugurate the next seven-series that of the trumpets.
Just so it is the office of the seventh trumpet to issue the seven-series of the vials, with all the events of which they are a central part. Again, as the purpose of the opening of the seals is revelation, so the sounding of the trumpets is proclamation. That is, the cycle of world-destiny, briefly disclosed by the seals, is, with a new round, enlarged and proclaimed by the trumpets. And thus the revealing part of the apocalypse is a double cycle, a lesser and a larger; the lesser is given in chapters vi and vii; the larger, commencing here, fills the rest of the book. The following tabulation will show this parallelism: These two columns verify each other, demonstrating that our interpretation must be generically correct. See further in note on Rev 12:1.
[* It will be noted that in both columns here is the changing point. Thus far the powers of evil are triumphant. Now commence the redemption and retribution.]
Silence in heaven The inauguration of this new seven-series opens with solemn ceremony. A dread silence, incense offering, fire casting, ominous soundings. This imposing prelude is based upon the scenes of the daily sacrifice offered at the temple, and familiar to every Jerusalemite. Morning and evening the people assembled at the temple, incense was burned on the incense altar, and then a lamb was sacrificed on the great altar. While the incense was burning, and its fragrant smoke ascending, there was profound silence, the people breathing their voiceless prayer without. Notes on Luk 1:8-10. Next, when the sacrifice was being offered, the trumpets were sounded, attended with Davidic instruments and with voices. See 2Ch 29:25-28.
Accordingly, it was during the silence in this theophanic or symbol heaven ( note Rev 4:11) that the incense of Rev 8:3-4 is burning, and the trumpeters of Rev 8:2 appear at their stand, and the trumpets are placed in their hands. The silence is broken by the detonations of Rev 8:5, followed by the trumpets, 6, 7. This plainly preludial character of 1-6, will, perhaps, clearly show that the passage belongs to the (so to speak) machinery of the panorama, and not to the predictive part of the work. To make it, as the ultra-historical interpreters do, represent and predict historical events, mistakes the frame for the picture.
Half an hour About the length of time of the incense burning.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
IV. THE SEVEN TRUMPETS, Rev 7:1 to Rev 20:10.
Of the trumpets, the first four are mundane, or earthly; each of the four blasts draws down a judgment upon some creational point, as earth, sea, fountains and rivers; firmamental luminaries. It is the sins of men that draw down these bolts of wrath, rendering every point of creation hostile to our peace. “Cursed is the ground for thy sake,” (Gen 3:17,) is the key-note. This sad status of humanity has existed through all past ages; but it is here represented to form a base from which the history of the renovation commences.
The first four the earthly trumpets are each brief as well as terrible; the spiritual, the fifth and sixth, expand into wider dimensions and rise to more spiritual interests; while the seventh trumpet rolls forth its series of events, through all the future scenes of retribution and redemption to the judgment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE SECOND VISION CONTINUED.
The Seventh Seal is Opened.
The First Six Trumpets ( Rev 8:1
‘And when he opened the seventh seal there followed a silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour.’
The seventh seal is chronologically parallel to the occurrences in the first six seals (as we have noted the sixth seal ends with the second coming and the final judgment. The seventh seal could not follow that). Its content thus occurs at the same time as the events in the first six seals, at the same time as the four horsemen are riding, (and they have ridden throughout history as ‘the beginning of travail’ – Mat 24:7-8). It helps to explain the meaning of the apocalyptic language in seal 6. We have no reason to doubt, and every reason to believe, that it occurs while the seven churches are on earth.
Here in Revelation we are seeing present history from heaven’s point of view. Dreadful things have happened throughout history and we now discover their source. While they are the result of man’s sinfulness, they are also the result of heavenly activity (compare 2Ki 6:17).
Each seal represents different aspects of the activities of men and of the judgments of God. They are opened one after another simply because there is no other way of opening them in a deliberate way, but what is in the seven-sealed book is an overall record of future history from the time of John onwards, seen as a whole, but leading up to the end. Thus most of what is presented occurs in parallel. The events are to a certain extent overlapping each other.
The silence in Heaven must probably be seen as one of trust and awe in the light of what comes from it. As Jeremiah says in Lamentations, ‘it is good that one should hope and wait in silence for the Lord’s deliverance’ (Lam 3:26, compare also Hab 2:20; Zep 1:7; Zec 2:13). God’s judgments are about to be revealed in fuller measure, and the prayers of God’s people are reaching their climax and are about to be answered. Thus Heaven waits in expectant and awestruck silence. The opening of the seventh seal results in the sounding of the seven trumpets. So the seven trumpets are contemporary with the seven seals.
The first five seals referred to man’s activity throughout history at the command of God, the latter fact reminding us that God is always in control. In the same way the first five trumpets represent the more specific direct judgments of God during the same period. History is full of God’s judgments, intended to bring men to repentance. The sixth seal and the sixth and seventh trumpets describe the consummation of the age.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Opening of the Seventh Seal The seventh seal serves as a prelude to introduce the seven trumpets. At this time the prayers of the saints rises up before the throne of God and the angel casts fire from the golden altar down upon the earth in order to bring about judgment upon those who have resisted God and persecuted the saints. Evidently, the prayers of the saints include pleas for God to vindicate them because of their persecutions.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Opening of the Seven Seals and the Sounding of the Seven Trumpets Rev 6:1 to Rev 11:19 records the opening of the seven seals and the sounding of the seventh trumpet that accompanied the seventh seal.
The Purpose of the Seven Seals and the Seven Trumpets – The opening of the seven seals by the Lamb of God and the sounding of the seven trumpets by the angels serve as the testimony of Jesus Christ to the world that He is the Son of God. Just as Jesus Christ has testified to John the apostle in chapter one, and to the seven churches in chapters 2-3, He now speaks to the rest of the world in the only language that corrupt and wicked world will listen, which is through calamities and tribulation. This is why it is called the Tribulation Period. We see God’s effort to bring people to salvation through these events because there are a number of verses in this section that say, “yet they repented not of their evil works” (Rev 9:20-21, Rev 16:9-11). However, the bright side of this Tribulation Period reveals that a multitude of people will be saved during this difficult seven-year on earth.
The Message of the Book The book that was in the right hand of God and taken by the Lamb contains a story. The opening of the book’s seven seals reveals this story as a series of events that are coming upon the earth to judge mankind for its depravity, which depravity was most clearly revealed by the crucifixion of the Son of God, who is thus described here as the Lamb that was slain. In other words, God will use these events to judge the earth, which events are consummated by the Second Coming of Christ described in the opening of the sixth seal. Therefore, the opening of the first seal ushers in these judgments
1. View of the Sevens Seals Representing the Entire Church Age – One popular view is to interpret the seven seals as the sequence of events that will take place during the Church age leading to its consummation, which would begin during the time of the early church. For example, Michael Wilcox compares the order of events described in this passage of Scripture to the Eschatological Discourse of Mat 24:1-31 by suggesting that Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 are the same discourse, with Matthew’s Gospel giving an earthly perspective, while the book of Revelation describes the same sequences of events from a heavenly perspective. [65] This view could be interpreted as such:
[65] Michael Wilcox, The Message of Revelation: I Saw Heaven Opened, in The Bible Speaks Today, eds. J. A. Motyer and John R. W. Stott (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, c1975, 1986), 74-77.
a) The First Seal ( Rev 6:1-2 ) – The first seal reveals the first church age in which the Roman Empire, and the Catholic Church that emerged out of this empire, were the primary persecutors of the saints of God (Rev 6:1-2). It is symbolized by the crown, showing its intent to conquer and rule over all peoples and places. Unlike the sword carried by the second horseman, the bow symbolizes its purpose to conquer, but not kill, those whom it dominates. The white symbolizes the color of the papacy.
b) The Second Seal ( Rev 6:3-4 ) – The second age of the Church saw the rise of Islam during the seventh century, with its symbol of the sword, showing its purpose was to kill men rather than to rule over them (Rev 6:3-4). This great persecutor of the Church initially targeted all Jews and Christians, as well as other peoples, but it has continuously killed its fellow Muslims throughout the ages. The red may symbolize the blood it sheds in behalf of its religion.
c) The Third Seal ( Rev 6:5-6 ) – The third age of the Church is capitalism, with its purpose of controlling the world’s economy by a few wealthy individuals (Rev 6:5-6). The scale represents its system of buying and selling to control men and nations. The black color is seen in the traditional black suit worn today by the leaders of businesses within this capitalistic system. This system arose with the rise of industrialization of western nations. All three of these systems, Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Capitalism, carry the spirit of anti-christ.
d) The Fourth Seal ( Rev 6:7-8 ) – The pale horse, with its riders Death and Hell (Rev 6:7-8) represent the fourth age, which immediately precedes the Great Tribulation Period. This is the period in which the earth enters into travail as birth pangs, which Jesus called the “beginning of sorrows” (Mat 24:8). This period takes place about one hundred years before the world enters into the Great Seven-year Tribulation Period. Perhaps this period began with World War I. It is a time when the three world systems of Catholicism, Islam and Capitalism are working in full force, and in conflict with one another, but all having the common mindset of hating the Jews and the Christians.
e) The Fifth Seal ( Rev 6:9-11 ) – The fifth seal reveals all of the saints slain during the Church age until its culmination, crying out for God’s vengeance (Rev 6:9-11). Their role in this series of events is to intercede in behalf of one another to move God to avenge them and bring judgment upon the earth.
f) The Sixth Seal ( Rev 6:12 to Rev 7:17 ) – The sixth seal clearly describes the seven-year Tribulation Period upon this earth, which culminates with Christ Jesus returning to earth to conquer and to rule and reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years (Rev 6:12 to Rev 7:17). It is during this period of Church history that many of the Jews will turn to Jesus Christ as their Messiah. God will seal them along with His saints to keep them during the Tribulation Period, described in Rev 6:17 as “the great day of his wrath” and in Rev 7:14 as “the great tribulation.”
g) The Seventh Seal ( Rev 8:1 to Rev 11:19 ) The seventh seal serves as a prelude to introduce the seven trumpets. At this time the prayers of the saints rises up before the throne of God and the angel casts fire from the golden altar down upon the earth in order to bring about judgment upon those who have resisted God and persecuted the saints.
2. View of the Seven Seals Representing the Events of the Last Days Another view of the seven seals is to interpret them to symbolic the particular events that will take place during the period of time immediately preceding and including the Tribulation Period, rather spanning over a period of two thousand years. For example, John Ogwyn takes the sequence of events as a description of last days in Matthew 24 and makes them parallel to the sequence of events in Revelation. [66] This view could be interpreted as such:
[66] John H. Ogwyn, Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled (Charlotte, NC: Living Church of God, 2003) [on-line]; accessed 19 September 2010; available from http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/media/booklets/ru.pdf; Internet, 19-25.
a) The First Seal ( Rev 6:1-2 ) The opening of the first seal reveals a white horse and its rider that go forth with a bow to conquer. This event would parallel Mat 24:5, which refers to the many false prophets that will go forth during the period before Christ’s Second Coming to deceive the Church.
b) The Second Seal ( Rev 6:3-4 ) The opening of the second seal reveals a red horse and its rider that go forth to kill. This event would parallel Mat 24:6-7 a, which refers to the many wars that will take place immediately before the Tribulation Period.
c) The Third Seal ( Rev 6:5-6 ) The opening of the third seal reveals a black horse and its rider that go forth with a pair of scales. This event would parallel Mat 24:7 b, which refers to famines, pestilences and earthquakes in divers places across the world.
d) The Fourth Seal ( Rev 6:7-8 )
e) The Fifth Seal ( Rev 6:9-11 f) The Sixth Seal ( Rev 6:12 g) The Seventh Seal ( Rev 8:1
The Opening of the First Six Seals Rev 6:1-17 tells us of the Lamb opening six of the seven seals in the book of Revelation. The seventh seal will not be opened until Rev 8:1. It is important to note that Jesus Christ is identified as a Lamb that has been slain. Within these seals are going to be released four spirits that will go across the earth and slay the saints of God. This is why the fifth seal reveals these martyrs under the altar of God.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse The first four seals that are opened in Rev 6:1-8 describe the release four horses with their riders. These four horsemen are commonly referred to as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The number four signifies the work of man. Thus, these four horsemen represent four aspects of the antichrist to persecute the Church and bring destruction upon mankind.
We find a similar account of this same scene in Zec 6:1-8 in the Vision of the Four Chariots. In the account in Revelation there is a white, horse, a red horse, a black horse and a pale horse. In Zechariah there are red horses, black horses, white horses and grisled and bay horses. Zec 6:5 tells us that these horses represent “the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.” Thus, we can assume that the four horses in Revelation also represent these same four spirits that have been sent forth.
I discuss the views of several scholars below. Some scholars suggest that these four horsemen are to be sent forth upon the earth immediately after the Rapture of the Church. Others suggest that they have been sent out at different periods of Church history. My suggestion is to agree with this second view that these four horsemen represent four spirits that have been sent forth upon the earth during the last two thousand years of Church history. The white horse would represent the spirit of Catholicism, which began during the Christianization of the Roman Empire under Constantine. The red horse could represent the spirit of Islam, which began in the seventh century. The black horse would represent capitalism, which began after the Reformation when nations began to develop industry and strong economies; or the black horse could represent Communism, which had its roots in the teachings of Karl Marx and was instituted in Russia during the early twentieth century. The pale horse could represent the distress and travail that the earth will enter into prior to the Tribulation Period. All of these spirits have led to the persecution of the Church across the world. This is why the fifth seal reveals the martyrs who have been slain over this period of time. Note that the martyrs are crying out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” This suggests that they have not been slain since the start of the Great Tribulation, but perhaps during the last two thousand years of Church history.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Third Vision and the Opening of the Seventh Seal.
The preparation for the sounding of the trumpets:
v. 1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
v. 2. And I saw the seven, angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
v. 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.
v. 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.
v. 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.
v. 6. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The narrative at this point, with all its simplicity, is full of dramatic intensity: And when He opened the seventh seal, silence reigned in heaven for about a half-hour. It was a silence of strained expectation, of breathless suspense. The plagues that were about to be shown in symbols were the greatest, the most horrible of all, the tribulations which would strike the Church would be awe-inspiring in their intensity. It was an ominous period of direst portent.
After the half-hour had elapsed, an activity ensued which prepared for the coming events: And I saw the seven angels that stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. The use of trumpets is always associated in Scriptures with important announcements intended for great multitudes. Here the seven angels are mentioned, the spirits that were in the immediate service of the Lord, just as Gabriel calls himself one of those that stand in the presence of the Lord, Luk 1:19. They were His servants, to carry out His commands, and the trumpets were given to them in order that they might be the Lord’s heralds. They now stood ready, with their trumpets at their mouths, waiting for the signal to proclaim doom.
The idea that heaven is a vast temple now again comes to the foreground: And another angel came and stood next to the altar, having a golden censer, and to him was given incense in abundance, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. Here again everything points to the solemnity of the occasion. There is no hurry, no confusion: the act of worship is performed with all the impressiveness of holy dignity. Many commentators identify this angel with the one great High Priest of the New Testament, Jesus Christ Himself. Just as the high priest of the Old Testament took a golden censer to sacrifice incense in the Most Holy Place, so the prayers of the saints, a great mass of them, are here pictured as being offered up to God. This was acceptable to the Lord: And the smoke of the incense arose with the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the angel before God. The straight ascent of the smoke of a sacrifice signified that God looked upon it graciously, that the prayers of the saints met with His approval, as they are sure to do if made according to His will, for the sake of the precious merit and the powerful intercession of the great High Priest and Mediator Jesus Christ.
The last action of the angel was also significant: And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there occurred thunderings and voices and lightnings and an earthquake. The fire from the altar is a manifestation of the sevenfold Spirit in the Word. The proclamation of this Word is like thunder in shaking hard hearts, like a mighty voice in penetrating the minds, like lightning in revealing the innermost recesses of the heart and in working knowledge of divine things, like an earthquake in working mighty changes, not only in the heart and mind of the hearers, but in their entire life. These preliminary acts having taken place, everything was ready for the sounding of the trumpets: And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to trumpet.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Rev 8:1
And when. , instead of (as in the other seals), is read in A, C, and gives a certain indefiniteness which does not belong to any of the rest (Alford). is, however, found in , B, P, Andreas. He had opened the seventh seal; he opened. As in the case of the other seals, the silence accompanies the opening (see on Rev 6:1, Rev 6:3, Rev 6:5, etc.). This completes the number, and sets the roll free (Rev 5:1). The contents of the roll do not, however, become visible, nor are they portrayed otherwise than by the silence of half an hour (see on Rev 5:1). There was silence in heaven; there followed a silence (Revised Version); a silence became; i.e. where there had not been silence previously, owing to the praises set forth at the close of Rev 7:1-17. This image may have been suggested by the silence kept by the congregation without, while the priest offered incense within, the temple (cf. Luk 1:10). This thought, too, may have led to the following vision, in which the angel offers incense (Rev 7:3), and in this souse the vision of the trumpets may be said to have grown out of the seventh seal, though a similar act precedes the visions of the seals (see Rev 5:8). But in no other way is there any connection between the two visions; the events narrated under the vision of the trumpets are not an exposition of the seventh seal, but a separate vision, supplementing what has been set forth by the seven seals. The silence is typical of the eternal peace of heaven, the ineffable bliss of which it is impossible for mortals to comprehend, and which is, therefore, symbolized by silence. In the same way the new name is left unexplained, as something beyond the knowledge of man in this life, and reserved for the life in heaven (see on Rev 3:12). It is the sabbath of the Church’s history, into the full comprehension of which man cannot now enter. The interpretation of this seal varies with different writers, according to the view taken of the vision as a whole. Bede, Primasius, Victorinus, Wordsworth, agree in considering that it denotes the beginning of eternal peace. Those who take the preterist view variously assign the silence to
(1) the destruction of Jerusalem (Manrice);
(2) A.D. 312-337 (King);
(3) the period following A.D. 395 (Eiliott);
(4) the millennium (Lange);
(5) the decree of Julian imposing silence on the Christians (De Lyra), etc.;
Vitringa thinks it relates to the time when the Church will be triumphant on earth; Hengstenberg, the astonishment of Christ’s enemies; Ebrard, the silence of creation in awe at the catastrophes about to happen; and Dusterdieck, similarly, the silence of those in heaven, waiting for the same events. About the space of half an hour. Most writers are agreed that the half hour represents a short time. But if (as we have indicated above) the silence is typical of the eternal rest of heaven, how can it be short? Possibly the answer is that the shortness refers to the time during which the seer was contemplating this aspect of the vision. He had now arrived at the end; the fate of the Church had been in some measure foreshadowed, and the final assurance is peace in heaven. That part of the fate in store for the Church cannot be expounded by the seer. He is permitted, as it were, to visit the threshold for an instant, and then he is called away. His message is not yet complete; he is summoned to receive yet further revelations. But may not the half hour signify “a long time”? The seer, in his vision, after beholding a succession of events, experiences a pausecomplete silence for the space of half an hour. This time would appear almost interminable in such circumstances; and the phrase may therefore be intended to express “an exceedingly lengthened period,” such as a stillness of such a length in the midst of numbers would appear to St. John. Here, then, closes the vision of the seals. The first four, prefaced by the assurance of final victory, deal with events more immediately connected with this life, and explain to the suffering Christian of all ages that it is part of God’s eternal purpose that he should be exposed to persecution, trial, and temptation while in the world, and that such suffering is not the result of God’s forgetfulness or heedlessness. The last three seats refer to three sets of events connected with the life hereafter. The fifth shows the security of those who have departed this life; the sixth portrays the safe gathering of God’s own, and the fear and condemnation of the unjust at the judgment day; the seventh affords a prospect rather than a sight of the eternal sabbath of heaven, undescribed because indescribable. The whole is thus completed; the seer is called away to review the ages once moreto behold new visions, which shall impress more fully, and supplement, the truths which the visions of the seals have, in a measure, revealed.
Rev 8:2-6
Form a preface to the vision of the trumpets, and serve both to connect this vision with what has gone before, and to indicate the cause of this further revelation. The series of mysteries embraced under the seals is completed, and has so far accomplished its purpose, which is to fortify the patience of the saints by the assurance of God’s providence and their ultimate victory and reward. But this is only one part of the seer’s mission; there is not only a message of encouragement to the faithful, but a warning for the worldly and apostate. No doubt the same ground is covered to some extent by both announcements; since what is encouragement and hope for the righteous is judgment for the wicked. But whereas, in the vision of the seals, the punishment of the wicked holds a subsidiary place, being only introduced for the purpose of demonstrating God’s protection of the just, in the vision of the trumpets the destruction of the ungodly is the main theme, being intended, like the denunciations of the prophets of old, for a warning to those in sin, if haply any may yet be saved. It may, indeed, be said to be an answer to the cry in Rev 6:10, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” The same lout suffering delay of vengeance tempts the “foolish body” to say in his heart, “There is no God.” While by the vision of the seals God is careful not to break the bruised reed, in the vision of the trumpets he vouchsafes a call to those who are less deserving of his consideration and mercy.
(1) The trumpets then form a series of visions denouncing God’s judgments against the wicked.
(2) They form an independent vision, and do not grow out of the seventh seal, in the sense of portraying what is intended to be disclosed under that seal. The number seven, alike in the case of the seals and in that of the trumpets, indicates the complete nature of each series, which is moreover demonstrated by their general character.
(3) The incidents depicted are synchronous with those of the seals; that is to say, they relate to the history of mankind front the beginning to the end of time and the commencement of eternity.
(4) As in the case of the seals, they are general indications of God’s judgments; and though particular events may be partial fulfilments, the complete fulfilment is in all time.
(5) In their general features there are some points of resemblance and some of difference on a comparison with the seals.
(a) They may be divided into groups of four and three. In both visions the first group of four deals more immediately with the natural world, the last group of three has more connection with the spiritual life.
(b) They terminate in a similar way, in the victory of the redeemed, who sing the praises of God.
(c) In both, greater elaboration or episode occurs after the sixth revelation.
(d) The nature of the seventh seal is undisclosed, and this is to a certain extent paralleled in the trumpets by the silence concerning the third and last woe.
(e) In consonance with the general purpose of the trumpets, there is no preliminary assurance of victory as with the first seal; this is reserved to the end.
(6) Several reasons may be suggested for the employment of the figure of trumpets, by which to announce each vision.
(a) It was the instrument in use among the Israelites for assembling people, either for warlike or peaceful purposes (cf. Num 10:1, Num 10:9, Num 10:10).
(b) It was thus intimately connected with solemn proclamations or the delivery of God’s messages of judgment or warning, and is thus used in the New Testament in describing the judgment day (cf. Le 25:9; Amo 3:6; 1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16).
(c) The use of trumpets on seven days at the destruction of Jericho, the type of all that is worldly, may have suggested the form of the vision here, in the announcement of the judgment and destruction of the world.
Rev 8:2
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets; which stand (Revised Version). “And I saw” introduces the new vision, as in Rev 5:1; Rev 6:1, etc. Probably not during the silence (as Alford), but subsequent to it. “The seven angels” probably refers to a particular order of angels, or rather to those with a special mission; though, with our limited knowledge, it is impossible to determine exactly who they are or what their mission is. The passage in Tobit 12:15 is so similar as to be at once suggested: “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints.” But here the seven do not present the prayers of the saints, but another angel does so (verse 3). De Wette and others think the seven are archangels (cf. 1Th 4:16, “With the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God”). Arethas, Ewald, etc., identify them with “the seven Spirits of God” (Rev 1:4; Rev 4:5; Rev 5:6). Others incline to the opinion that the seven are only distinguished from the other angels by being the seven who sound the trumpets, just as four others are alluded to in Rev 7:1. (On the use of the number seven, see above; also on Rev 1:4; Rev 5:1, etc.)
Rev 8:3
And another angel came. No particular angel is specified. Some writers, unable to accept the passage as meaning that the Church’s prayers are offered by means of an angel, prefer to believe that Christ himself is indicated. (Thus Bede, Elliott, Primasius, Vitringa.) But, besides that the difficulty has no real existence, the same expression occurs in Rev 7:2, where there is no doubt of its meaning. Moreover, in no passage of the book is our Lord represented under the form of an angel. With regard to the office of the angels, Alford remarks (while supporting the view that the word here bears the ordinary signification), “They are simply , and the action here described is a portion of that their ministry. Through whom the prayers are offered, we all know. He is our only Mediator and channel of grace.” So also Wordsworth, “The angel is not here represented as giving efficacy to the prayers of all saints, but as taking part in them. There is a communication of prayer between all saints (namely, the saints departed, and the saints on earth), and the holy angels in heaven.” And stood at the altar. The Revisers, accepting the reading of , B, C, Andreas, adopt over the altar. The Authorized reading follows A, P, 1, 17, 36. Alford remarks, ” with genitive, not simply juxta, not ante, but super; so that his form appeared above it.” The altar has been already mentioned (Rev 6:9). If the view there taken be correct, and the brazen altar of sacrifice intended, the two altars mentioned in this verse are not identical; the second represents the golden altar of incense which stood before the veil (Exo 30:6), but which now stands before the throne of God, the veil having disappeared. This view seems to be the correct one. The second altar is distinguished from the first by the addition of the qualification, “which was before the throne,” as well as by the epithet “golden”facts which are not mentioned in connection with the throne alluded to in Rev 6:9. The order of events followed here, though not given in minute detail, resembles the ceremony of the Jewish worship. In the temple, the priest took burning coals from off the brazen altar, and proceeded to the altar of incense, on which to burn incense (Le Rev 16:12, Rev 16:13). There appears to be a kind of progression in the insight which the seer affords us of the heavenly worship. In Rev 4:1 a door is opened, and St. John sees into heaven; he is, as it were, without the sanctuary. In this place he is permitted to advance in his vision within the sanctuary, and to observe the golden altar. In Rev 11:19 and Rev 15:5 the most holy place is disclosed, and the ark of the covenant is seen. Alford and Dusterdieck believe only one altar is here mentioned, and identify it with that of Rev 6:9. De Wette, Hengstenberg, Wordsworth, think one altar only is intended, and that it is the altar of incense. Bengel, Ebrard, Vitringa, support the view given above. Bossuct says the altar is Christ, to whom the angel brings incense, that is, the prayers of the saints. Having a golden censer. The word is found only here and in 1Ch 9:29 (LXX.). In the latter place it is rightly rendered “frankincense;” but the meaning here evidently requires “censer.” It is described as of gold, in the same way that all the furniture of the heavenly realms is described in the Apocalypse. And there was given unto him much incense. Apparently following the analogy of the temple service, the first angel brings in his golden censer fire from the brazen altar of sacrifice, and now there is “given unto him,” by another angel, incense to burn at the golden altar of incense. (For incense, see on Rev 5:8.) That he should offer it with the prayers of all saints; add it unto the prayers of all the saints (Revised Version). The prayers are to be incensed, so as to (typically) render them pure and acceptable to God. Upon the golden altar which was before the throne. That is, probably, the altar of incense, distinct from the altar mentioned earlier in this verse (see above).
Rev 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; and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up, etc. (Revised Version). The prayers, accompanied by the incense, and typically purified by it, are received by God. He hears the prayers; and the judgments against the wicked, which follow in the trumpet visions, constitute the answer to them. This makes more probable the view that the following visions are judgments against the world, and not (like the seals) trials to the Church.
Rev 8:5
And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth; taketh the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth (Revised Version). The angel now returns to the altar of burnt offering, whence he takes fire, which he casts upon the earth. This action denotes that God’s judgments are about to descend on the earth, and it therefore forms the visible token of God’s acceptance of the prayers of the saints, and his answer to them. And there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake; and there followed thunders, and voices, etc. (Revised Version). The manifestation of God’s presence or of his judgments is continually accompanied by awe-striking phenomena, such as are here described (see on Rev 6:12).
Rev 8:6
And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. This verse takes up and continues the narrative of Rev 8:2; the intervening passage serves to indicate the immediate cause of the judgments now about to descend, viz. the “prayers of the saints” (Rev 8:4). (On the number seven, as signifying a complete number, see Rev 1:4; Rev 5:1, etc.) Cf. the sounding of the trumpets at Jericho, and the other passages quoted in the comment on Rev 8:2.
Rev 8:7
The first angel sounded; and the first sounded (Revised Version). The word “angel” should be omitted here, though found in the other trumpets. The first four are marked off from the last three (as in the case of the seals) by distinctive features. The first four refer to the natural life, while the last three are connected more closely with the spiritual life of man. The first four are connected and interdependent; the last three are distinct and more detached. The last three are specially marked off by the announcement of the angel in Rev 8:13. And there followed hail and fire mingled with blood; mingled in blood. The English Version is ambiguous, but the Greek makes it clear that it is the bail and the fire that are mingled, and that both together are sent in blood. There is an evident likeness between the judgments of the trumpets and the plagues of Egypt. The resemblance is only general, but it serves to corroborate the belief that the trumpets declare God’s judgments on the world, not the trials of the Church. The Church is the true Israel which exists uninjured by these manifestations of God’s wrath in the midst of the world of Egyptian wickedness. The question next naturally arisesWhat are the judgments referred to, which are thus to afflict the ungodly while leaving the righteous unhurt; and when and how they are to take place? The answer evidently isAll troubles of the wicked, which are the consequence of misdoing, whether these troubles overtake them in this life or in the life to come. In the words of Alford, “These punishments are not merely direct inflictions of plagues, but consist in great part of that judicial retribution on them that know not God, which arises from their own depravity, and in which their own sins are made to punish themselves.” This seems to follow from the view which we haw taken of the trumpet visions. They depict God’s judgments on the wicked in all ages. Just as the seal visions were found to relate to the trials of God’s people in all time, and the fulfilment is not completed by any one event or series of events, so now the seer is called upon to return, as it were, to his former starting point, and follow out a new path, where he would find displayed the troubles which have afflicted or shall afflict the ungodly. It is very doubtful how much of the imagery used in this series of visions is to be interpreted as applying to some definite event, and how much is to be considered merely as the accessories of the picture, necessitated by the employment of the symbol, and not needing particular interpretation. It is possible that the seer intended first to set forth the judgments which were to descend on those powers which, at the time of the vision, were pressing so heavily upon Christians, and among which the Roman empire held the prominent place. But it also seems probable that the woes symbolized are general types of the judgments in store for the wicked of all ages, perhaps in this life, certainly at the last day. The blood is not found in Exodus. It is mentioned in close connection with hailstones and fire in Eze 38:22, and a similar thought occurs in Joe 2:30. The passage may describe the ruin wrought by war; the consequences of fire and sword. Wordsworth sees the fulfilment in the Gothic invasion of Rome, which descended from the north, here typified by the hailstorm (but see on Rev 16:21). The vision would thus answer to that of the second seal, though with this difference, that under the seal war was permitted as a trial to the Church; here it is sent as God’s vengeance against the persecutors. And they were cast upon the earth. “That is,” says Wordsworth, “on the earthly power, opposed to Christ and his Church, which is the kingdom of heaven.” But the words seem rather to describe the destruction of inanimate creation, as in the seventh plague of Egypt. The punishment would undoubtedly fall upon mankind eventually, though immediately upon the earth and its productions. Vitringa says the earth denotes the Roman empire; the sea, the barbarous races. And the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. Insert and the third part of the earth was burnt up, as in the Revised Version. “A third of all the trees, etc., on the earth,” rather than “all the trees, etc., on a specified third part of the earth.” The third part is almost unanimously considered to represent “a large part, but such that the greater part was still uninjured.” We are reminded again of the seventh plague, where “the flax and the barley were smitten: but the wheat and the rie were not smitten” (Exo 9:31, Exo 9:32). Wordsworth interprets the trees to mean the “princes” of the Roman empire; the grass, the common people. So also Hengstenberg. Elliott thinks “the third part of the earth” denotes the western part of the Roman empire, the eastern and central parts at first escaping the visitation. Bengel sees here a type of the wars of Trajan and Hadrian. Vitringa considers that the famine under Gallus is signified. Renan points to the storms of A.D. 63-68 as the fulfilment.
Rev 8:8, Rev 8:9
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. Jer 2:25 contains a somewhat similar description, with, however, a different meaning. There the mountain is the heathen power; here it is the instrument of the punishment of the ungodly world. Alford objects to calling the mountain a volcano, though that, or something of the same nature, seems obviously to be meant. The contiguity of such appearances to St. John in the Isle of Patmos may have suggested the idea. The judgments appear to increase in severity as we go on. The first affects vegetation, thus causing trouble, but not destruction to men; the second begins to affect animal life; the third causes many men to die; and the following ones affect men as direct punishments. The vision may be said generally to typify great trouble and commotion. The figure is used in other places to denote something remarkable and awe inspiring (cf. Mat 21:21; 1Co 13:2; Job 9:5; Job 28:9; Jdg 5:5; 1Ki 19:11; Psa 46:2; Isa 34:3; Isa 54:10; Eze 38:20; Mic 1:4; Nah 1:5). It is also the symbol of a great power. In Isa 2:2 it signifies the Church; in Amo 4:1 an earthly power; in Isa 41:15 the enemies of Israel. We may therefore conclude that a judgment of great magnitude and force is foretold; and though it is possible to point to particular events (such as the overthrow of Rome by the Gothic power) as a fulfilment of the prophecy, yet we must remember that the complete fulfilment will not he accomplished until “all enemies are put under his feet.” And the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed; even they that had life (Revised Version). (On the “third part,” see on Isa 41:7.) Whether one third part of the sea, separated in some way from the rest, and all the creatures in that third part, or whether a third part diffused over the whole extent, is meant, it is impossible to say. The whole is a vision, and not subject to natural laws. The meaning is evident. As before, a large part, but not the largest, is signified and this time the judgment is directed against another portion of creation. The sea, as well as the productions of the earth, can be used by God as his agent by which to punish and warn mankind. The attempt to press the vision into a particular application has led to a variety of interpretations. Wordsworth and Elliott both think that the destruction of Roman ships is foretold; the former pointing to the ships as the instruments of commerce and luxury, the latter referring to the destruction of the Roman navy. Bengel, Grotius, Vitringa, see here a vision of war’. Hengstenberg believes the sea to typify this world; the living creatures, mankind; and the ships, villages and towns. Those who place the fulfilment of the vision in time subsequent to the sealing of Rev 7:1-17. fail to see that the trumpets do not follow the seals in chronological order, but that both are being fulfilled side by side in the same epoch; viz. that of the existence of man.
Rev 8:10
And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp. In the Old Testament trouble is foretold under the symbol of darkened stars (cf. Eze 32:7; Joe 2:10). In Mat 24:29 the falling of stars is part of the general picture of the coming of the judgment day. The description here may therefore symbolize an act of judgmentone more of the troubles inflicted by God upon the guilty world. The frequent use of the symbol, star, as a type of one in an exalted position, has led most commentators to interpret the star of individual rulers, especially of those who poisoned the waters of Divine truth by heresy. But it seems more likely that the event here portrayed carries one step further the description of God’s vengeance on the wicked, which has been already partially set forth. At first vegetation, then the sea, now the land waters, are smitten. The star, as the means employed by God, is typical of the awe striking nature of the punishment, and is indicative of the fact that the judgment is the act of God, and proceeds directly from heaven, and is not to be attributed to merely natural circumstances. And it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. Not upon a third part of the fountains, but upon all fountains, just as in Mat 24:7 “all green grass” is visited with the plague. As stated above, another part of creation (and therefore another portion, of mankind) is afflicted. It is, of course, Impossible to point out the complete fulfilment of this judgment, Which is yet being fulfilled, but we may mention as illustrations the trouble caused to man by means of land waters, by floods, by drought, by pestilence. As before, only part suffers from this visitation; the greater part is spared.
Rev 8:11
And the name of the star is called Wormwood. The plant known to us under the name of wormwood is doubtless identical with the of this passage. The present English word is a corruption of wer-mod (equivalent to ware-mood), which may be rendered “mind-preserver,” a name given to the plant by the Saxons, on account of its fancied virtues; for it was believed to be a protection against madness. Such properties were formerly frequently ascribed to plants possessing bitter and nauseous tastes, such as that of the wormwood. Varieties of the plant are common in Palestine, and are widely distributed in the world. Among the ancients it was typical of bitter sorrow. Thus Lam 3:19, “Remembering my misery, the wormwood and the gall;” Jer 9:15, “I will feed them with wormwood.” Here, therefore, the name indicates the effect of the star, viz. to cause intense trouble and sorrow. And the third part of the waters became wormwood; that is, became bitter as wormwood, that is, charged with sorrow and disaster. The general effect of the incident is described in the name given to the chief actor, as in the case of the fourth seal (see Rev 6:8). And many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter; many of the men. Possibly (though not necessarily) of the men dwelling near the waters. For the first time mention is made of the death of men, though, doubtless, it is implied in the preceding judgments. We may notice the contrast in the miracles of Moses, who sweetened the waters of Marah (Exo 15:1-27.), and of Elisha (2Ki 2:22).
Rev 8:12
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars. Still the created universe is the direct object of these visitations. The planets were smitten, but we are not told with what instrument. As Alford points out, this may teach us not to lay too great stress upon that part of the visions which describes the means. Our attention is to be fixed upon the effect, the stroke, not upon the mountain or the star by whose means the result is attained. (For the signification of the third part, vide supra.) In the Bible, frequent use is made of this figure to express trouble and commotion (see Isa 13:10; Isa 24:23; Jer 15:9; Eze 32:7; Amo 8:9; Mat 24:29). The sun, etc., are also looked upon as examples of stability. Thus Psa 72:5, “As long as the sun and moon endure” (see also Psa 72:17; Psa 89:36). The vision may therefore be suggestive of God’s power over things the most permanent and stable, and thus demonstrate to Christians his ability to punish “the ungodly who prosper in the world.” Thus Job 9:7 attributes omnipotence to God, “which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and scaleth up the stars” (see also Psa 136:8; Jer 31:35). Thus, then, God can turn even the benign influences of the sun and planets into means for the destruction of man. In the countless evils which have their origin in the excess or defect of the power of the sun, we may see an illustration of the fulfilment of this judgment. We may point out that the very existence of such visitations as are here portrayed preclude the possibility of the fulfilment of the trumpet visions being subsequent in time to those of the seals. So as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner. Probably, total darkness for a third part of the day and night is meant; not a third of the usual amount of light during the whole day and night (as Bengel and others). Renan, as a preterist, sees the fulfilment in the eclipses of A.D. 68. De Lyra, Wordsworth, and others see in this judgment a symbol of the infidelity, heresies, apostasies, and confusions in the world in the seventh century and at other times. Vitringa, adopting the historical view, refers the fulfilment to particular periods of the Roman empire.
Rev 8:13
And I beheld, and heard an angel. “An eagle” (Revised Version) is read in , A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, etc., while “angel” is found in P, 1, 16, 34, 47, etc. One manuscript (13) has . St. John sees one eagle, the symbol of what is swift and unerring in swooping upon its prey. Thus Job 9:26, “The eagle that hasteth to the prey” (see also Hab 1:8; 2Sa 1:23). This is the meaning of the appearance of the eagle, which announces the swiftness and certainty of the coming woes. De Wette and others unnecessarily understand “an angel in the form of an eagle.” De Lyra interprets it as St. John himself. Wordsworth, relying chiefly on the force of , believes that Christ is signified; but it is extremely doubtful whether the force of the numeral can be pressed so far. Others see a reference to the Roman legions, etc. The figure may have been suggested by Mat 24:28. Flying through the midst of heaven; flying in mid heaven (Revised Version). Not “midway between earth and heaven,” but “in the direct line of the sun.” The word is found only here and in Rev 14:6 and Rev 19:17. In the former it is rendered as in this place, in the latter it is translated “in the sun.” The eagle is thus plainly visible to all. Saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth! “Woe” is followed by “inhabiters” in the accusative case, according to , B; though the dative is read in A, P, and some cursives. “The inhabiters of the earth” are the ungodly, the worldly, those on whom God’s wrath had been invoked by the saints at rest (Rev 6:10), whose prayer is now answered The triple denunciation renders the threatened judgments more emphatic and terrible. By reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound; Greek, out of the other voices (denoting front whence the woe proceeds) who are yet to sound. “Trumpet,” in the singular, because taken distributively”of each trumpet.” The three woes are described in
(1) Rev 9:1-11;
(2) Rev 9:12-21;
(3) Rev 11:15-19.
They perhaps refer to spiritual troubles. instead of being concerned (as in the case of the first four trumpets) with temporal judgments.
HOMILETICS
Rev 8:1
Silence in heaven.
“Silence in heaven”? and that for “about the space of half an hour”? What can this mean, or how can it furnish an expositor with material for instructive teaching? The question is a natural one, and it is capable of being answered. This verse is neither to be dismissed as if unintelligible, nor slighted as if unimportant. It is full of most intense significance, and will be found to illustrate the truth that some of the most obscure and unpromising verses of the Word of God do yield to the devout and careful student the most stimulating and helpful teaching. It will be remembered that the sixth chapter closed amid representations of gloom and tribulation; in which the alarm was so great that many would think the great day of God’s wrath was come. Yet in this supposition they would be wrong; for the seventh seal had yet to be opened. At the same time, so great was the trouble there depicted as to suggest the questionWho shall live when God doeth this? As a relief to the anxious one, the Apostle John bids us see the security of the Church of Goda part being on earth, sealed in the tribulation, and a part in heaven, caught up out of it. This cheering scene having been witnessed, the apostle beholds the opening of the seals resumedan indication of the coming of severer woes than any which have been yet recorded. At this stage, however, of the exposition it seems best to lay down the following principle: Whatever judgments come down upon the region below, they are seen by the apostle to be the consequences of activities in the region above. No stroke falls on earth that is not directed from heaven. The two worlds move in concert. The time accomplishments of one world correspond to the time appointments of another. Hence, if there should be a pause in the activities of the higher realm, that would bring about a pause in the movements of the lower. Such a pause in heaven John observes. This would indicate some intervening period of comparative quietude on earth. But what space of time in the revolution of earth’s ages those thirty minutes indicated, or what specific epoch of tranquillity upon earth was thereby set forth, it is not possible for us to say. We know only that, while the apostle notes silence above, there is a calm below; and that this calm is but the prelude to a more intense activity than ever. And thus we have set before us, in unmistakable symbolism, this truthThat in the developments of God’s plans in providence, there are times of comparative quietude, during which it seems as if the progress of things was stayed awhile. Respecting this, we will ask three questions, which we will endeavour also to answer.
I. WHAT IS INTENDED WHEN WE SPEAK OF PROGRESS BEING APPARENTLY STAYED? There are in the Word of God great promises and prophecies which open up a glorious vision for the future days. There have been also great events which have excited in the Church of God the strongest hopes, and which ever and anon form a restful background. In the retrospect of mighty wonders in days gone by, God’s people take heart and hope for the days to come (Isa 51:9-11). To such periods there succeed long years in which either no appreciable advance is made towards the inbringing of the new heavens and the new earth; or if in one direction some progress appears, in another the cause of righteousness seems checked afresh by new developments of error, folly, and sin. Years on years roll by, our towns and cities grow with accelerating rapidity, and a larger area of dense population becomes an area, so much the larger, of religious indifference. The prophets of God are crying, “Flee from the wrath to come.” They long for some manifestation of Divine power to startle man. But no. Man goes on sinning. And our God seems a God that “does nothing” (Carlyle). The thunder is rolled up. The lightning is sheathed. There is a prolonged lull. There is “silence in heaven.” The sceptic makes use of the quietude to ask, “Where is the promise of his coming?” The careless one settles down at his ease, and cries, “The vision that he seeth is for many days to come.” Hollow professors desert in crowds, and go over to the ranks of the enemy. Some faint hearted ones, if they do not hoist the white flag and capitulate, think perhaps their message is over weighted, and cast some of it away. Others, more loyal, continue to give out the message in its fulness, yet are beginning to tremble. Others, again, make the silence a plea for mightier prayer. They cry, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work;” “Arise, O Lord, plead thine own cause.” And stillstill there is “silence in heaven.” No voice is heard from the invisible realms to break in upon the steady course of this earth’s affairs, or to arouse and convict a slumbering world!
II. WHAT DOES THIS SILENCE MEAN? This “silence” is liable to be misinterpreted. Perhaps this is the one fact which is a sorer strain on the faith of believers than any other. As Faber plaintively moans
“He hides himself so wondrously
As if there were no God;
He is least seen when all the powers
Of ill are most abroad.”
What does it mean?
1. Negatively.
(1) It does not mean that this world of ours is cut adrift in space, or that the human family are left fatherless and lone. Our Lord Jesus has given us too many assurances to the contrary for us to come to such a conclusion.
(2) Nor does it mean that time is being lost in the development of the plans of God. Catastrophes are not the only means of progress. There is as real an advance when the tiny blade is making its way noiselessly through the sod as when the reapers cry, “Harvest home!”
(3) Nor does it imply that God is indifferent to the sin which he is ever witnessing. “The Lord is not slack,” etc.
(4) Nor does it imply that God is working on any other plan than that which he has laid down in the book. The revealed purposes of God as indicated in Scripture, and the plans of God as unfolded in providence, ran upon precisely the same lines (Psa 1:1-6 :21; Psa 74:11).
(5) Nor does The silence mean that God will ultimately let sinners escape with impunity (Rom 2:3, Rom 2:4).
2. Positively. It is intended that we should learn positive lessons from “silence in heaven.”
(1) We are not to expect startling providences at every turn of life. Now and then they may come, and do. But they are not the common methods of Divine working. The lightning flash which rends the oak comes occasionally as if to reveal the reserve forces in nature. But the light which falls so gently on the opening eyelids is new every morning.
(2) We are to be guided more by what God says than by what we see before our eyes. The book gives principles which are eternal. This or that event may be but a tiny point of detail, which can only be judged of by the larger whole. God’s Word is our only safe guide.
(3) There are other sides to, and other forms of, God’s working than those which startle and alarm. Over and above providential working among the nations, there is a living and life-giving Spirit- making all things new.” And it is this silent, secret working of God’s Spirit by which he will build up “the new Jerusalem.” The roar of the cataract startles the ear, but it is the gentler dew which renews the face of the earth. The thunder of the avalanche marks less advance than the silent ripening of the corn.
(4) By the silence of heaven God would test his people’s faith, and quicken them to more fervent prayer. There is “silence in heaven” that there may be less silence among the faithful on earth.
(5) God would thus teach us to study principles rather than to gaze on incident. The moment of an earthquake is not the time for the calm and accurate study of science; and times of intense upheaving are not those in which we can master principles; they are rather periods in which we need to put them out to use as the emergency requires. We can only study them when there is “silence in heaven.”
(6) Certainly, another reason is that the wicked may have space for repentance (cf. 2Pe 3:9). The most marvellous of all the Divine attributes is his patience.
III. WHAT SHOULD THIS SILENCE TEACH US? AND WHAT EFFECT UPON US SHOULD IT HAVE?
1. Let us learn anew to exercise faith in the spiritual power which God wields by his Spirit, rather than in the material energy which shakes a globe. The greatest work of God is that which is the most still. Newspapers chronicle incident; but who could write an editorial on the growth of a spirit? “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”
2. Let us use Heaven’s time of keeping silence as a time for breaking ours (Isa 62:1, Isa 62:6, Isa 62:7).
3. Let the ungodly make use of the space given for repentance, by turning to the Lord with full purpose of heart. Let them not wait for terrors to alarm. Ice may be shivered into fragments, but it is ice still. Better to let the warm beams of God’s love melt the icy soul.
4. Let us lay to heart the certain fact, that, although judgment is delayed, come it will. We know not when. We know not how. But “we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”
Rev 8:1-5
Prayer and fire.
For some time there had been “silence in heaven.” During this time there was a corresponding period of calm on earth. Then the prayers of the saints were rising to heaven, fragrant with the incense which mingled with them. As the sequel to these prayers, and as the answer to them, the angel takes fire in the censer and casts it on the earth. From that point a new series of activities unfolds. On these we shall touch in the next homily. Meanwhile we are detained by the thought of the connection between the prayers of the saints and the fire cast on the earth. As far back as the times of the Hebrew psalmist, the Church of God used such words as these: “By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation” (Psa 65:5). Our Lord himself declared, “I am come to send fire on the earth” (Luk 12:49, Luk 12:50). He yearned for the conflict to take place, which must inevitably comealbeit that, ere it should come, he would have to undergo a terrible baptism of suffering and of blood. So that we get revealed to us a wondrous unison of thought, as regards the Lord, and as regards his Church under the Old and New TestamentsThat “terrible things” on earth will mark the advance of God’s kingdom upon it, as the result of a Saviour’s sufferings and a Church’s prayers.
I. THE AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD TOUCH THIS EARTH AT EVERY POINT OF ITS CONCERNS. There are two common defects among Christian people in reflecting on the things of God. Some concern themselves almost exclusively with the outward development of God’s kingdom in national life. Others, again, are almost equally absorbed with the aspect of God’s work which concerns the salvation of the individual. Both should be included in one view. Each one may begin with himself in his religious concern, but no one may end there. We may, indeed, be thankful that, in the great affairs of worlds, God does not forget our small concerns; at the same time, we should often lose the thought of our own interests in our anxious care for the honour and glory of our Lord and for the growth of his kingdom. The pith of all the concentrated prayers of the saints is, “Thy kingdom come.” Earthly thrones, political parties, Church politics, are only of service as they are helping to fulfil the will of God. And never will Christian people attain to the glory of their grand confession till they have public spirit enough to lead them to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
II. IN THE DEVELOPMENTS OF GOD‘S KINGDOM THE UNFOLDINGS OF EARTH ARE AFFECTED BY AGENCIES ABOVE AND BEYOND IT. The main theme of our text presents us with the glorious and inspiring truth of an angelic ministry. That there should be one bond of moral sympathy uniting holy men and angels is not surprising when both are creatures of God. God uses us. He uses them. They are all ministering spirits. Among them there is no discord. They move in perfect accord with the will of him who sitteth upon the throne, wondering oft, perchance, as they look down upon earth, that it should harbour any treasonable revolt against the throne of God!
III. UPON THIS EARTH A CLAIM HAS BEEN MADE BY ONE IN HUMAN FORM, TO SUPREME SOVEREIGNTY OVER ITa claim that, as things are, produces violent disturbance. It is true he came “not to judge the world but to save the world;” yet, from the nature of the case, even that saving process involves “sending fire on the earth.” Satan is wrought up to fury when his subjects leave his bondage to serve freely their rightful Lord. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace, but when,” etc. Kings have risen in revolt against the doctrine that there is another King, one Jesus. Priests are indignant when told that the priesthood of believers renders official priests a sham. Mammon’s worshippers are wroth against the claims of Jesus. And, as the result of long, long ages of sin, huge ecclesiastical establishments, despotisms, international confederacies, vast hierarchies, great commercial concerns based on selfishness rather than righteousness, have taken usurped possession. And they must all be overthrown before perfect peace can be brought in. But how it is all to be done the great Lord alone can tell.
IV. THERE ARE TWO POTENT FORCES AT WORK WHICH ARE TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD THE PLEDGE THAT ALL THESE CONFEDERACIES OF EVIL WILL SOONER OR LATER BE BROKEN UP. One of these is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, followed as it is by his reigning power. In thinking of all these forces which are set forth in the chapter before us, it would be strange indeed if we lost sight of “him who is in the midst of the throne” to direct and inspire the whole. Our Lord’s baptism of blood was but the earnest of his after-administrative sway. At his death the prince of this world was (potentially) cast out. “He must reign till he hath put all enemies beneath his feet.” And while there is this regal force working earthward from heaven, there is another force working heavenward from eartheven the prayers of the saints. Our Lord himself has revealed the law that prayer is one of the hinges on which the world’s movements turn. “Ask, and it shall be given you.” And, more than all, he has not only told us to pray, but he has set us a-praying by the energies of his Spirit. Pray we must; pray we will. We cannot help it. Nor will the prayer be lost. God has not vainly said to the seed of Jacob, “Seek ye me.”
V. IT IS THE DIVINE APPOINTMENT THAT, AS THE OUTCOME OF THIS DOUBLE FORCE, THERE SHOULD BE A DOUBLE SET OF RESPONSIVE PHENOMENA.
1. There is a new creating force of the Holy Spirit, slowly it may be, but surely, building up the new heavens and the new earth, which will emerge when all that must be shaken and overthrown is put away. This work is essentially and exclusively constructive.
2. There is another kind of agencythe providentialwhich is largely destructive, which clears the ground for a new advance. It is this overturning force which we have yet to see in action. The Jewish temple and nation had to be overthrown to prepare the way for a new step in advance. Struggle and bloodshed in Italy prepared the way for the downfall of the pope’s temporal power. The war in America proved the destruction of slavery. Thus, as we look back on them, we see how destructive action hastens the progress of the world. So it has been. So it will be.
VI. IT IS DISCLOSED TO US IN THIS BOOK THAT MANY OF THE MOST FIERCELY DESTRUCTIVE EVENTS BY WHICH THE ILL IS TO BE OVERTHROWN, are the Divine method of answering his people’s prayers. It is in response to prayer that the angel casts fire on the earth. Prayers sent up in calm are answered in storm.
“When we stand with Christ on high,
Looking o’er life’s history,”
thenthen shall we see more clearly than it is possible to do now, that the most “terrible things” have but prepared the way of the Lord. Difficulty: A difficulty may here suggest itself to some. The question may be askedBut are we to understand that God’s saints are expected to pray for, or even that it is right for them to pray for, terrible judgments? We replyNot so do we understand the matter; but thus: believers pray, “Arise, O God, plead thine own cause;” and then they leave it in the hands of God to answer the prayer in the way which seems best to him. Note: Do not let us be alarmed if, when God rises up, some tremendous shaking occurs. Such shakings must come. Empires, monarchies, kings, tyrannies, priesthoods, visible Churches, hierarchies, creeds, must be shaken. But why? “That those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” Let Christians hold fast, watch, pray, wait, in perfect calm. Finally, let all preachers and hearers summon each other out from the prayerless crowd, and gather in among the praying ones. History gives us many an instructive parable. There was once a little company in an upper roomnot more than a hundred and twentypraying. At that very time there sat on his royal seat a Roman emperor, surrounded with all the pomp and power of the world. In the little company in the upper room there was a seed of life and progress that has been fruitful ever since, and is more so now than ever. In the court of Rome there was a worm of corruption silently and surely gnawing all the splendour, and bringing it to utter ruin. If we court the world’s smiles and wealth and applause, we may make a show, but only for a time. If ours is the breath of prayer, we shall reign when the pomp of earth has vanished forever away!
Verse 7-Rev 9:21
The first six trumpets.
The eighth and ninth chapters are confessedly the most intricate part of the book. Yet they are full of Divine teaching which we could ill afford to loseteaching thrown into a form altogether peculiar to this Apocalyptic book, which will amply repay the closest attention which we can give to it. Here we have the sounding of the first six trumpets under the seventh seal. According to historical interpreters of the two main schools, their fulfilment was accomplished, at least in part, in the events indicated in the following table:(Fulfilment according to Archdeacon Farrar ; Fulfilment according to Rev. E.B. Elliott )
First trumpet
Hail and fire mingled with blood are cast upon the earth, and one third part of earth and trees and all green grass is burnt up.
FarrarYears of burning drought, rains of blood, disastrous conflagrations and earthquake, as those in Lyons, Rome, Jerusalem, Naples, etc..
ElliottThe invasion of the Roman empire by Alaric, King of the Goths.
Second trumpet
A great mountain is cast into the sea: one third part of the sea, of the creatures therein, and of the ships, is smitten.
FarrarGreat calamities connected with the sea and ships such as those of which the time of Nero furnished abundant instances.
ElliottThe invasion of the Roman empire by Genseric, King of the Vandals.
Third trumpet
A star falls from heaven: one third part of the rivers and fountains is smitten, and the waters are made bitter.
FarrarThe overthrow of Nero, the ominous failure of the Julian line, and the bitterness occasioned thereby.
ElliottThe invasion of the Roman empire by Attila, King of the Huns (A.D). 433 to A.D. 453).
Fourth trumpet
A third part of the sun, moon, and stars is smitten.
FarrarRuler after ruler, chieftain after chieftain, of the Roman empire, and of the Jewish nation, died by murder or suicide.
ElliottFinal conquest of Rome and the Western empire by Odoacer, King of the Heruli.
Fifth trumpet
A star falls from heaven: a great swarm of locusts from the abyss.
FarrarThe star = Nero. The host of locusts = demons. Stier is quoted as saying, “In the period between the Resurrection and the fall of Jerusalem, the Jewish nation acted as if possessed by seven thousand demons.”
ElliottThe star=Satan. The locusts = the sudden rise of Mohammedanism. The five months = a hundred and fifty years. In 612 Mahomet commenced his prophetic mission. In 762 Christendom was delivered from the terror and persecution of the Saracens.
Sixth trumpet
The army of the horsemen is seen, numbering two hundred millions, with fire-breathing horses.
Farrar“The swarms of Orientals who gathered to the destruction of Jerusalem in the train of Titus, and the overwhelming Parthian host which was expected to avenge the ruin of Nero.”
ElliottThe Turks from the Euphratean frontier, subverting the empire of Eastern Christendom, and taking Constantinople. The ensign of one, two, or three horsetails marks distinctively the dignity and power of the Turkish pacha. From the loosing the four angels to the slaying the third part of men was an hour, a day, a month, and a year; i.e. 396 years, 118 days, which is just the time from the loosing of the united Turco-Moslem power from the Euphrates to the fall of Constantinople.
That there is, in both the earlier and later series of events given in the above table, a remarkable correspondence between the symbolic pictures in the text and the recorded facts of history, no one who has studied the whole matter can question. Nevertheless, we cannot but agree with a remark of Archdeacon Farrar himself, who, after pointing out the incidents given in the centre column as a fulfilment of the Apocalyptic visions, says,” These vaticinations do not belong in the least to the essence or heart of the Apocalypse. They are but passing illustrations of the great principlesthe hopes and warningswhich it was meant to inculcate. So, also, it is remarked by another singularly able and luminous writer on this book, “The predictions of these two chapters are manifold, not single, in their fulfilment. Wherever war has been employed, under God’s overruling providence, to humble pride and to break up overgrown and overbearing powers, there have these chapters had an accomplishment again and again, and each separate accomplishment has been in its turn a prediction of the prognostication of the greatest accomplishment and of the last. Those hordes of invading barbarians which broke up the monster empire of Rome, and out of whose conquests modern Europe eventually grew, were one fulfilmentthey were not the only fulfilment of these prophecies. Never were the figures of the locust swarms, with their teeth as of lions and their hair as of women, more strikingly exemplified than in those irruptions. But they did not exhaust the prophecies before us. When the mighty power of the French empire at the beginning of this century was broken up by a coalition as of God’s hosts mustering for the battle against human pride and human ambition, then was there a new fulfilment, itself prophetic of another and another, till the last of all. The words of God are manifold in their application, just because they deal, not with instances only, but with principles.” It is also obvious that since there are given in the tabular form above at least two distinct series of events, illustrating and confirming the prophecy, it is not possible, in the face of such well-known historic facts, to regard the prophecy as fulfilled completely in either. We have deemed it needful, at least once, more fully than is our wont, to draw this out and set it before the eye, that the student may see that in the fact of several fulfilments being already accomplished, there is a distinct proof of the main thesis on which our homiletic exposition of the Apocalypse is basedthat we have before us a series of pictures and parables designed to set forth the principles and methods of the Divine government, and the varied fortunes through which God’s Church must pass on her way to the consummation of all things. These principles are indicated in the chapters before us, and we will now endeavour to set them forth.
I. THE WORLD IS HERE LOOKED AT AS BEARING A GREAT BURDEN OF SIN. (Rev 9:20, Rev 9:21.) And to such a height is sin seen to rise that it is as if the Most High were practically excluded from his own world. Two classes of evils are specified hereone in which that which is no god is worshipped; another in which the commands of God for the regulation of life are entirely ignored. And these are precisely the two forms in which in every age the claims, of God have been set at nought. That which we call idolatry is such whether man worships idols of wood and stone, or whether he regards matter and force as potentially adequate to all things. Yea, if there be a difference, the idolatry of the heathen is preferable to that of the materialist. For in pagan idolatries the worship is paid to that which is fashioned by the hand of manor to that which is brought into being by a Supreme Power, as representing the Power which is at the back of all. But in materialism there is no Being of any kind, no Power to which worship is paid. The Maker of all is ignored. Paganism worships that which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk, as representing that which can. But materialism knows no object of worship at all, and is chargeable with the supreme absurdity of attributing the evolution of sight, hearing, thinking, loving, from that which can neither love, think, hear, nor see! It is not, however, the absurdity of this which is noted in the text, but its sin. It is a robbery of God. “If I be a Father, where is my fear? If I be a Master, where is mine honour?” The second form of evil is immoralitymurders, sorceries, fornication, theftssufficiently suggestive of all the violations of the laws of morals under which this earth groans. And these two evilsirreligion or false religion, and immoralityare the sum of all ill in the world. Could we but see the whole mass of sin in its combination, it would be to us most amazing that the Most High God did not sweep away at once all these abominations. God’s patience is the most wonderful of all his attributes. “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.”
II. THE PERIODS OF QUIETUDE WHICH EARTH MAY WITNESS WILL NOT ALWAYS CONTINUE. (Rev 8:5, Rev 8:6.) We had occasion to observe in a previous homily that there are apparent lulls in the Divine procedure. God “keeps silence.” There may, for a while, be no “taste of thunder in the air,” nor any threatening sign of gathering hosts. Men may be reckoning, as in 1851, that a time of unusual peace is near. And to this conclusion they may come hastily, through forgetting that universal peace never can be assured till there is universal righteousness. Following in rapid succession on the apparent auguries of peace in 1851 were the Crimean, the American, and the Franco-German wars. The time will come when war shall cease unto the ends of the earth. But it is not yet.
III. THERE ARE PENT UP DESTRUCTIVE FORCES ONLY WAITING TO BE LET LOOSE. (Rev 9:1, Rev 9:14.) The “abyss” was full of “locusts;” the “four angels” were bound in the great river Euphrates. In both cases these were tremendous destructive forces, “shut up” or “bound” for a while. But they could only exert their power under Divine permission. Not till the command is given to loose them can they show themselves. No seal can be opened nor any trumpet sounded save under the direction of him who is in the midst of the throne. “The Lord reigneth,” and foresees all with exact precision, to the year, the month, the day, the hour.
IV. WHEN SUCH FORCES ARE LET LOOSE, THE EFFECT WILL BE STARTLING AS THE BLAST OF A TRUMPET. (Rev 8:2.) The imagery of the Apocalypse is gathered in the main from the Old Testament. Of old, trumpets were sounded, mainly, for one or other of two purposesthey marked an epoch for the Church; they proclaimed war upon the world. And we cannot but be struck with the variety of symbolism under which the effect of the trumpet sounding is set. But however great the variety in each case, there is indicated the smiting, even to its overthrow, of some great world power. By the first trumpet, destruction sweeping over the earth is shown. By the second, the downfall of some nation or empire. By the third, the overthrow of some sovereign. By the fourth, a widespread storm. By the fifth, a tremendous rush of evil, as if organized by the very devil himself. By the sixth, a succession of destructive plagues. And who can read history and not know that precisely such events are ever recurring again and again?
V. WHEN IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD SUCH DESTRUCTIVE FORCES ARE LET LOOSE, THEN THE MAIN FACTORS ON WHICH NATIONAL WEALTH DEPENDS INSTANTLY FAIL. (Rev 8:9.) How much is indicated in that symbolic expression, “a third part of the ships were destroyed”! If anything like this were to occur to British ships, a large portion of our material defences, and even of our supplies of food, would be in a moment withdrawn! Yes; we are absolutely in God’s hands. We hold the common blessings of life most entirely at his disposal. The world is governed for God’s purposes, and not for ours.
VI. HOWEVER ACTIVE THESE DESTRUCTIVE AGENCIES MAY BE, THEY HAVE THEIR LIMIT. (Rev 9:4, Rev 9:5.) Neither nature nor man can be injured beyond God’s permissive line. To the men who have not the seal of God on their foreheads, there should be distress and torment; but even their lives should not be at the mercy of others, but should be guarded by a higher Power. Albeit in some cases so great should be the distress that men should seek death and should not find it. But the text implies that to those men who have the seal of God on their foreheads no harm of any kind should come. In the worst of times there should be round them a special guard. Nothing will be lost or hurt that is God’s. The mightiest agents of destruction, though apparently uncurbed, yet have their curb. God girds them, though they do not know him. We have seen in the appalling wildness and savage grandeur of a mountain pass, when the wild winds were howling as if they would rend the very rocks in pieces, a tiny flower sheltered in its little nook, safe in its little bed of earth, turfed as richly as though on it God had spent special care; and the same wind that rent in pieces the rocks before the Lord, blew to that little flower the tiny morsel of soil that was wanted to nourish its roots, and the little drop of spray from the roaring cascade beneath that was needed to refresh its petals. Wild winds were roaring, torrents were rolling, dashing, and foaming, yet the little flower bloomed up on high, safe, serene, and calm. So shall it be in “the great tribulation” with those who have the seal of God in their foreheads. As Paul Gerhardt sings, in respect of the Thirty Years’ War, “As faithful mothers in severe storms on earth anxiously keep and guard their little ones, so also does God, when tribulation and distress arise, press his children to his bosom” (cf. Hengstenberg, in loc.).
VII. IT IS THE FUNCTION OF THESE WILD DESTRUCTIVE AGENCIES TO CLEAR THE WAY OF THE LORD. That is implied in the whole series of trumpets. In every case there is very much that is swept out of the way. As settlers in regions of forests have first to clear the ground, so is it with these overturning providences. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence a fire shall devour before him.” “I will overturn, and overturn, and overturn, till he shall come whose right it is.” This is the meaning of the whole.
VIII. THERE IS ONE EFFECT WHICH THEY WILL NOT ACCOMPLISH. (Rev 9:20, Rev 9:21.) They will not bring men to repentance. It is not by such judgments of terror that men will be converted. A thunder peal may alarm, but it does not cure disease. The earthquake may shake a house, but will not repair or cleanse. So the judgments of God may make the heart tremble, and yet not subdue it. Men who have resisted the gentler calls of God’s grace will steel themselves against the smart of his rod. Pharaoh’s plagues terrified him, but yet hardened him. We are often tempted even now to say, “Oh, if God would but break the awful stillness, or if he would show us in letters of flame that he ismen would hear!” No, they would not. They would begin to try to account for the sound and the flame By attributing them to some purely physical cause. “Lord, when thine hand is lifted up, they will not see.” “If one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
These truths, so clear amidst all the difficulty of detail, should lead us to ponder such thoughts as these:
1. If now, with us, it is a time of comparative calm, do not let us think God unobservant, nor reckon securely on a continuance of ease and quiet. Your home is peaceful just now, perhaps; you may be comparatively free from care. And because of this you may be at ease in Zion. But it will not always be a time of ease with you. The day of cloud and care will come.
2. Let us regard every common providential mercy as the voice of God. There is a sacredness surrounding us always. God is in the gentle light and dew, as well as in the lightning and the tornado. “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.”
3. Let us bless God that he speaks to us ever in the mild and gentle voice of the gospel. This is his sweetest, clearest voice.
4. It is by the Word of his grace that he will do his constructive work, and by the energy of his Spirit. The throwing down of obstructions may he effected by providential events. The building up of the new heavens and the new earth will be secured by his conquering love. “The Lord will send forth the rod of his strength out of Zion.” “The sword of the. Spirit is the Word of God.”
5. Then do not let us wait for God to thunder ere we listen to his voice. “One thing hath God spoken, yea, two things are there which I have heard: that power belongeth unto God; and that unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy; for thou renderest to every man according to his work” (Psa 62:10, Psa 62:11). If he repent, mercy will forgive. If he finally rebel, justice must condemn.
6. Seeing we know not when any of these trumpets may again be sounded, let us learn to hold everything we have at the Divine disposal, and to say,” If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Rev 8:1
Blessed silence.
“There was silence half an hour.” No one certainly knows what these words mean. Every one can see that they tell of a pause, an interval between the opening of the seventh seal and the sounding of the first of those trumpets of which this eighth chapter mainly speaks. It may beas one great expositor suggeststhat during that Lord’s day in which St. John was in the Spirit, and during which he saw in stately procession the series of magnificent visions, or heard, one following the other, the varied voices which spokeit may have been that for about half an hour of that thrice holy day no voice, whether from the throne, or from the living ones, or from the holy angels, or from the multitude of the redeemed, or from the distracted and despairing enemies of God, was heard. All was still, still as is often the half hour before the thunderstorm bursts. As before the rattling peal, and the lightning flash, and the tornado of rain and wind, there is a hush, the air all but motionless, no movement anywhere, not even the rustling of a leaf or the swaying of the corn, a solemn pause as if the elements were gathering up their strength preparatory to the rush and rage of the tempest that is so soon to break; so here, all that had preceded, the visions and voices of which the former chapters tell, so awful and soul subduing as many of them were, seem to have said to all the inhabitants of heaven, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Angel and the four cherubim, martyred saint and redeemed multitude,all are still. “There was silence in heaven.” We venture not to affirm what exact events in the history of the Church, or of the world as it affected the Church, are pointed at by this silence; conjectures, several most ingenious and interesting, have been made by this interpreter and that, but who out of them all is right? or if any of them be so, who can say? The key to the complete unlocking of the symbols of this book seems either to have been host, or at any rate put aside for the present. But we can readily see that there was good reason for the silence spoken of. As the judgments of God went on, blow after blow falling upon the cruel enemies of the Church; as the righteous wrath of God arose and overwhelmed the persecutors of his people;must not they who beheld all this have felt that in the presence of such manifestations of God speech and all utterance were out of place? What could they do but “be silent before the Lord, for he was raised up out of his holy habitation”? And besides this solemn awe, what wonder and amazement there must have been at the overthrow of their seemingly invincible toes! Think of the power of Rome only at this period. Her laws were administered from Britain to the Euphrates, from the Baltic to the equator. She was the incarnation of earthly power. And there would be also the silence of adoring, worshipful love. That amid all that wild fury of bloodshed and destruction God had known how to deliver and preserve his own. And there would be the silence of expectation, of eager intent, gazing forward to see what next would be revealed. As men hold their breath, and their hearts almost stand still, and their lips utter no word, in presence of some near anticipated terror, so herethere was silence like to that. And though we cannot explain it, yet is this silence in heaven very suggestive to us here on earth. Once and again, when our Lord marked some glaring fault in those about him, he would rebuke it by holding up the contrast which was presented in heaven. When, for example, the scribes and Pharisees murmured at his receiving sinners, our Lord told them that in heaven there was joy over one sinner repenting. And so amid the din and clatter of this noisy age, and men loving to have it so, it is well to be reminded that in heaven there became silence for a while. For that which had place in heaven has much need to have place here. We sing
“In sacred silence of the mind,
My heaven, and there my God, I find.”
But it is to be questioned if many believe this. Therefore they seldom cease what Carlyle calls “that chaotic hubbub, in which their souls run to waste.” “Out of silence,” he adds, “comes thy strength. Speech is silvern, silence is golden; speech is human, silence is Divine.” The absence of it causes much mischief. Therefore we plead for the following of the heavenly example here told offor intervals of quiet, for times of silence, for seasons of meditation, reflection, thought. It is well there should be the “Selah”the pause, which we so often are directed to in the psalms. Our Lord sets us the example. He was wont to secure such seasons by his retirement to mountains and groves, where all night he would commune with God. For lack of such silences moral fibre is weakened. If a locomotive is to do its work, it must cease its noisy letting off steam. Great talkers are rarely great doers. Words waste strength. How often our Lord strictly charged those whom he had healed not to go and talk about it! The temptation to do so would be great, but if yielded to all the spiritual blessing would be lost. Hence he so “straitly charged them.” Little goodso the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ tells uswas got out of the Mr. Talkative of whom the book tells. But silence stores up strength. And the Spirit’s work is hindered. How often the birds, which our Saviour said snatched away the good seed which had been sownhow often they take the form of idle foolish talk, which, entered into at the very doors of the sanctuary, render hopeless all prospect of holy impression being retained or good purpose fulfilled! The Lord was wont to take people aside when he would bless them. It is so now. And when men would resist the Spirit they shun these silent seasons. The accusers of the woman taken in adultery could not endure the Lord’s silence, his answering them not a word, and hence they heap their questions upon him, and demand an answer; for any answer would be less terrible than that dread silence. Would we grow in grace, such silences are essential. The habit of retreat, of quiet before God, must be cultivated. All growth is silent. Who hears the springing of the corn, the unfolding of the flower, the increase of the body in stature? And so is it with the growth of the soul. Like the noiseless building of Solomon’s temple, of which Heber sings
“No hammer fell, no ponderous axes rung;
Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung.”
And so in the building up of spiritual character, in growth in grace, silence, stillness, must be secured. Spiritual worship is silent in its essence, though not in expression. Submission is silent. “I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it” (Psa 39:1-13.). So was it with Aaron, “the saint of the Lord;” when in one awful judgment stroke he saw his two ungodly sons smitten dead, it is told that he uttered not a word. Knowledge of God demands silence. “Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” We must be still would we know God to be God. He is not in the earthquake, nor the fire, but in the still small voice. O blessed silence, O grace and might of holy quietness, sweet stillness of the soul, in which the footfall of God is heard, and his voice speaks joy, and the angels of patience and hope visit us, and Faith renews her strength!
“Silent Spirit, dwell with me;
I myself would silent be.”
And to encourage us to seek these quiet hours, how often does God take us apart from the noise and rush, the everlasting din and bustle, of our common life! Seasons of sickness are designed to be such times of silent retreat, when we may “commune with” our “own heart upon our bed, and be still,” and so have leisure to attend to the life within. Sabbaths, these days of the Lord in which we should be, as St. John was, “in the Spirit,” are they not God’s messengers to us, saying, “Rest; be silent from thy common speech, thy common work; meditate on things eternal; let there be pause in the activities of thy daily life; imitate as best thou canst the season of silence of the saints in heaven”? And the unseen world, the place of the departed, that intermediate condition in which till the resurrection the souls of believers rest, this also is merely another divinely given retreat for the soula going down into silence, as the psalm calls it. White robes are theirs (see Rev 5:1-14.), which tell of the love of God to them, and that they are cleansed in the blood of Christ, and rest, quiet, calm, in the presence of the Lord. Sleep for all the bodily powers, but not for the soul. Thatnow that the once busy hands and feet are at rest, and the heart throbs no more, and the tongue utters no word, none, though often we here long
“For the touch of a vanished hand,
For the sound of a voice that is still”
that now lives unto God, where “he hath hid his beloved in his pavilion from the strife of tongues.” There, the Martha-like activity over, we may, like Mary, sit at the Master’s feet and share in that “good part,” as here on earth was but rarely possible for us. So great is the value of these silences, of one of which our text tells, and to which it has turned our thoughts, and not unprofitably, we trust, but so that it has been good for us to muse on the “silence” there was “in heaven for half an hour.”S.C.
Rev 8:2
The ministry of angels.
“And I saw the seven angels.” These holy beings are continually spoken of in Scripture, and in no book of the Bible more frequently or emphatically than in this. From their first mention in connection with the touching story of Hagar and her child, which we read of in Genesis, down to their constant ministry, now of mercy, now of terror, which we read of in these closing pages of the Bible, we are continually meeting with references to them. It, therefore, cannot but be important to us to understand what we may on this most interesting but most mysterious subject. For we cannot think that their work and ministry are finished, and that now they have nothing to do with us, nor we with them. We feel sure that the reverse is the truth. True, there has been much of mere imagination in the representations that have been given of angels by poets and painters both. They have been the makers of men’s common ideas concerning angels, and have caused not a little misunderstanding and misreading of the Scriptures on this theme. Jewish fables and legends of various kinds have been mingled with the plain teaching of God’s Word, and hence the whole subject has come to be wrapped in a haze of difficulty and doubt, leading, in many cases, to complete denial of the existence of angels at all. But a careful study of the Scriptures will show that the truth as to the angels is one full of consolation and of sacred impulse; of solemn warning also; in short, that it is part of that truth which is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof,” etc. Consider
I. THE REALITY OF THE ANGELIC WORLD. And there can be no doubt but that
1. The Scriptures plainly assert it. They are spoken of there in clear and positive manner as to their high dignity, their sanctity, their power, their blessedness, their heavenly home, their employments, their vast numbers, and their immortality. All this is told of the holy angels. But there are evil angels likewise, who are represented as serving under their prince Satan, as the holy angels serve under God. They are evil and wretched, and full of all malignity and wickedness.
2. And all this is not mere accommodation, on the part of the Scriptures, to popular ideas and beliefs. This has been long and loudly asserted. No doubt there were all manner of strange beliefs on the subject of the spirit world. The ancients peopled the universe around with all kinds of strange inhabitants, and the Jews were only less credulous on these matters than the heathen around. Hence it is said that our Lord and his apostles accommodated themselves to these ideas, and represented the various facts of nature and providence as if angels or demons were employed about them, but not teaching that such actually was the case. But this theory has only to be stated for its untenableness immediately to appear. And the plain teaching of Scripture would have been more readily received had not poets and paintersthose mighty manufacturers of so much, and manifold, and often mischievous mistakepersisted in always representing angels in one waybeautiful youths with wings. Milton is very great upon their wings. But the result of this has been to relegate the whole doctrine of angels to the region of myth and imagination, and to rob the Church of the comfort and help the real truth as it is given in the Bible would afford. The fancies and fables of heathendom were but one more out of the many instances in which, as St. Paul describes them, they were feeling after the truth.
3. And why should there be any doubt as to the reality of angels? Is not all life, from the lowest zoophyte up to the most gifted of the sons of men, one continual ascent? But why should the progression halt with us? why should there not be an ascent beyond, as there is up to, ourselves? All analogy leads us to think there is, and to be on the look out and expectation for orders of beings that may span the vast distance which must forever separate us and God. The Bible and analogy confirm one another. But a more important and difficult inquiry relates to
II. THEIR NATURE, ORIGIN, AND HISTORY. Who and what are they?
1. Much has been assumed concerning them, but resting on very slender foundations; as:
(1) That they existed long before the creation of man, in vast throngs, sinless and blessed, in attendance upon God.
(2) That they were altogether different in nature from man.
(3) That some of them kept not their first estate, and hence are reserved in chains unto the judgment of the great day.
(4) That Satan, their chief, dared to rival God, and with his confederates to “defy the Omnipotent to arms.” Milton represents Satan as telling how God
“… to be avenged,
And to repair his numbers thus impaired,
Whether such virtue, spent of old, now failed
More angels to create (if they at least
Are his created) or to spite us more,
Determined to advance into our room
A creature formed of earth, and him endue
With heavenly spoils (our spoils).”
But may it not be that:
2. Angels are perfected men” the spirits of the just made perfect”? Young, the author of the ‘Night Thoughts,’ thus sets forth this belief
“Why doubt we, then, the glorious truth to sing?
Angels are men of a superior kind;
Angels are men in lighter habit clad,
High o’er celestial mountains winged in flight,
And men are angels loaded for an hour,
Who wade this miry vale and climb with pain
And slippery step, the bottom of the steep.”
But on such a theme as this we want Scripture, and not poetry, to tell us what we are to believe; and from Scripture we gather:
(1) That there is no being higher in nature than man except God himself. For man was created in the image and likeness of God. Now, is an angel more than this? Could he be more without being God? Hence, however blessed and glorious the condition of angels may be, in nature they are not and cannot be higher than man.
(2) And if they be a different order of beings from men, beings of another nature and kind, why, then, were men created at all? If the motive of our heavenly Father in creating man was, as we believe it to have been, to gather round him a race of pure, holy, happy beings, his children, on whom he might lavish his love, and in whose blessed companionship he might forever rejoice; if there were already such a race of beings in existence, why was man formed? Why was he made to pass through all the manifold miseries of this life, its unnumbered sins and sorrows, if already there were an infinite host who from the first were already what man can only become after so many and so great struggles and trials and cares? If all the sanctity and blessedness of the angelic character could exist without all man’s preliminary sorrow, for what reason, then, was unhappy man created? But if, on the other hand, it be true that there is no other entrance to the angelic state than this weary life of ours, and if in order that we may be angels it is necessary that we first be men, then the mystery of life, often so mournful a mystery, has some light shed upon it, and we can bear it more patiently. But if all that man is to be could be attained without his trials, as on the common belief in regard to angels it could, then, may we not ask, “To what purpose is this waste?”
(3) These angels are in Scripture called men. See the angel that wrestled with Jacob; that appeared to Joshua, to Manoah; the three angels that came to Abraham, are called “the three men;” the angel that appeared as a writer to Ezekiel and passim both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
(4) And there is no proof that they were only men in appearance and not in reality. Why should they not be what in appearance and name they seem to be?
(5) And our Lord said that in the resurrection we shall be “as the angels.” And in the Epistle to the Hebrews we are said to have “come to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, and to the spirits of the just made perfect.” But do not these three expressions tell of different facts in connection with, not different, but the same persons? Certainly “the spirits of just men made perfect” are the same as “the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn,” and if so, they are the same as the “myriads of angels.”
3. And all this is not set aside by the statements in 2 Peter and in the Epistle of Jude. In both these Epistles it is said that God “spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down into hell.” It is on these statements, amplified and enlarged by Milton and others, that the popular belief is based. But it is to be noted that the two statements in these Epistles are but copies one of another or of some common document. Place the passages side by side, and this will be evident, the writer of 2 Peter probably copying from Jude. And it is not to be forgotten that the canonical authority of these two Epistles is the least and lowest of all the Scriptures. But even were it not so, the source whence their statements on this question are taken is well known. They are a quotation from the apocryphal Book of Enocha book of no authority and little worth, but which was familiar to those to whom these Epistles were written; and, hence, illustrations drawn from it, whether true or not, would serve the writers’ purpose, and are therefore made use of. It therefore cannot be allowed that these two isolated statementsthough they are one rather than two, and of such doubtful authorityshould set aside what Scripture and reason alike teach on this most interesting theme.
CONCLUSION. See some of the consequences of this understanding concerning the angels.
1. The future life becomes far more real to us. For now that we have identified the angels, as we think has been done, with “the spirits of just men made perfect,” we are delivered from that vagueness of idea as to those who have gone away from us through their having died in the Lord. They are no longer formless, incorporeal, unimaginable beings, mist and cloud-like rather than human, but we know that it is as the disciples believedthe angel, the spirit of their Master resembled him. His resurrection body did resemble his former material body so that he could be recognized as we know he was.
2. And we know some of the occupations of that heavenly state. So long as we regarded angels as a different order of beings from redeemed men, we could not regard their work as that which one day shall be ours. But looking upon them as ourselves as “we shall be,” we can see what vast store of holy employ and sacred service awaits us. See their manifold service as shown in this chapter only. Heaven is not an everlasting sitting on “green and flowery mounts,” an “eternity of the tabor,” as one has described it, but a life of holy and blessed service for God and for man.S.C.
Rev 8:2
The trumpet-symbol.
“To them were given seven trumpets.” Many instruments of music are mentioned in the Bible, but the trumpet is the one that stands out prominent amidst them all. There are stringed instruments, of which the chief is the harp; and there are those whose sound is produced by striking the stretched skin of which they are made, as the cymbals; but none are named so frequently as the trumpet. In Num 10:1-10 there are given express commands for their construction, and throughout the Bible, from the giving of the Law at Sinai down to the sounding of the last trump, and this vision of the seven trumpets, we continually meet with them. We are, therefore, justified in attaching significance to them and regarding them as symbolizing truths God would have us learn. For he commanded both their making and their use. They played a prominent part in connection with the divinely ordained worship both of the tabernacle and the temple, and the whole land of Israel echoed at divinely appointed seasons with their spirit-stirring notes. A glance at a concordance will show bow constantly and on what occasions they were used. What, therefore, may we learn from them? They teach
I. GOD HAS A MESSAGE FOR US. Had they been a merely man-devised instrument, we could not have said this; but when we find that they were adopted by God in his service, we cannot err in regarding their clear, loud notes as telling of his message and will. And, in fact, they were used to indicate to Israel the advent of seasons of worshipthe new year, the new moon, the jubilee, and other occasions when God commanded his people to render special service. And these special messages remind us of God’s great message to mankind, which he has given to us in his Word. He has not left us unthought of, uncared for, uninformed. It was not likely that he would. He has made known to us his will.
II. THE MANNER OF THAT MESSAGE. Such truths as these are suggested by this trumpet-symbol.
1. How urgent! The trumpet blast was startling, arousing; its clear, loud note penetrated the dullest ear, and reached those afar off, and forced all to listen. And such message of urgency God’s Word brings to us. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead!”so it speaks to us. “How shall we escape if we neglect,” etc.? It is no mere matter of indifference, but life and death hang upon it. And:
2. How warlike! The trumpet note was emphatically the music of war. Jeremiah (Jer 42:14) represents as a blessed condition not then attainable, and a land all unlike his own, “where we shall hear no sound of trumpet.” And in this vision of the seven trumpets war is their most prominent meaning. And thus we are reminded of our Lord’s words, “I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.” God’s Word is a battle summons, a call to “fight the good fight of faith.” It is what we do not like, but which we must accept, would we share those rewards which are given “to him that overcometh.”
3. How terrible! The hosts of Midian fled in dismay when the blast of Gideon’s trumpet burst on their startled ears. Terror seized on them and made them an easy prey. And in this chapter it is the terribleness of the judgments of God upon his enemies which the seven trumpets tell of. And God’s Word is terrible to those who know him not. The Bible is a dreadful book to the impenitent man when awakened, as one day he will be, to his real condition before God. It is like the prophet’s scroll to him, written within and without, of sorrow, lamentation, and woe. To the froward it shows itself froward. But:
4. How animating to the hearts of the people of God! The trumpet, like the loud cheering of troops as they dash forward in the fight, heartens them; and the trumpet sound was designed to do this. And God’s Word is full of heart-cheering truth to all them that trust in him. And:
5. How joyful was the sound when it proclaimed, as so often the trumpet did, the advent of some glad festival, some “acceptable year of the Lord,” the jubilee especially! And in the Feast of Tabernacles the general hilarity was heightened by the frequent sounding of the silver trumpets by the priests. “Blessed are the people that hear the joyful sound”this is said of God’s message of grace, and such joyful sound is the characteristic note of the gospel. And:
6. Flow irresistible is the trumpet sound! The lofty massive walls of Jericho fell down fiat before the trumpet blast. The dead, so insensible to all else, shall hear that call; “for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised.” “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.” And so today where God’s Word comes in power, dead hearts are roused and sleepers awake. O blessed power of God’s Word, that it will, it must, have obedience rendered to it! “He speaks, and it is done; he commands, and it stands fast.” But if resisted nowas too often it isthe obedience that will have to be rendered at the last will be to the word, “Depart, ye cursed!” But now it bids us “come.” Let us hear that.S.C.
Rev 8:3-6
Prayer.
The vision of the opening of the seven seals is completed. We are not told what took place when the seventh seal was opened, only that then there was a solemn pause” silence in heaven for half an hour.” Alter the opening of the sixth seal the progress of events was interrupted, that the mark and impress of God might be put upon the Israel of Godthose out of the Jewish nation who were to be delivered out of the impending judgments. Then was shown, also, the beatific vision of the great multitude of the saved out of all nations. Then comes the opening of the seventh seal (Rev 8:1); but of its contents we have no record; perhaps in this world we never shall have. We are told only of the “silence” that ensued. That silence may point to the blessed calm of heaven, where God hides his people “in his pavilion from the strife of tongues.” And also to the amazement and fear which had fallen on the foes of the Church, a little while before so loud and fierce, now so still in awful fear. And now begins a new series of visions, not succeeding the former in order of time, but parallel and simultaneous, and running up to the same issue. This new series is that of the seven trumpets. Seven angels are seen to whom the trumpets are given, but ere they sound there is seen that of which these verses (3-6) tellthe angel at the golden altar, the altar of incense which stood before the throne. To this angel is given much incense, which he mingles with that which is already on the altar. This vision is not alone mysterious, but full of interest and instruction. It teaches us much concerning prayer.
I. THAT IT IS CHARACTERISTIC OF ALL SAINTS. God’s holy ones, his saints, all of them pray. Their prayers are represented as being on the altar before the throne. There are none of the holy ones whose prayers are not there. Prayer is common to them all. “Behold, he prayeth,” was the Lord’s unanswerable argument to Ananias, that Saul the persecutor was really converted. And it is ever a sign that a man belongs to the company of the “holy ones,” the saints.
II. THEY ALL PRAY IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Their prayers are on the altar. The altar sacrifice ever tells of Christ and of his perfect sacrifice, the ground of all our hopes, the source of all our salvation, and the basis of all our prayers. And hence the prayers of all saints are represented as resting on the altar, as the incense, type of all such prayers (Rev 8:8), rests thereon. The name of Christ may not be uttered in word, but when any appeal to God as he is made known to us only in Christ, and especially in Christ on the cross, and when they pray in the spiritthe lowly, meek, trusting spiritof Christ, then, though his blessed name may not be mentioned, their prayers are really in his name, and find acceptance thereby. The Lord’s prayer does not name Christ, but assuredly it is a prayer in his name. And thus all true prayer is in him, and rests on the altar of his sacrifice.
III. THAT THE BLESSED ONES IN HEAVEN JOIN THEIR PRAYERS WITH OURS. There is a communion of saints. Great question has arisen as to who the angel was that is seen in this vision, standing at the altar with much incense. Some, as Hengstenberg, affirm that he represents no one; that he is to be regarded as having no symbolical significance, but as only belonging to the form, not the substance, of the vision. Others, the Church of Rome, that he is one of the angel intercessors; and hence is deduced that Church’s doctrine of the worship of angels and saints. Others again, Protestants, in order to avoid this doctrine, say the angel is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ; that he is here interceding for his people as he is wont to do. But in this book the Lord Jesus Christ is never called an angel, nor represented as taking the place or form of an angel. Further, the “much incense” is said to be “given to” the angel, just as the trumpets were given to the seven angels. But the Lord Jesus Christ intercedes for us, not on the ground of any excellence that is given to him, but on the ground of his own inherent worth, and what he himself has done and suffered on our behalf. He has redeemed us by “his own blood.” Furthermore, it is to be noted that that which the angel brings to the altar is the same as that which is already there. Incense is “the prayers of saints,” and their prayers are incense. That, therefore, which the angel brings is not something different from what is on the altar, but merely an addition of the same kind. But that which Christ gives to our prayers is a worthiness and acceptableness such as they have not of themselves, and cannot have until given by him. It is by no means the same, but far other as the angel’s was not. And the angel brings his incense to the altar, as do the saints themselves; his prayers and theirs are accepted on the same ground. Hence, for these reasons, we cannot regard the angel spoken of here as being the Lord Jesus Christ. But we regard the angel as one of the blessed in the presence of God, one eminent in prayer, one to whom the spirit of grace and supplication had been given in large measure, and so he had “much incense.” And he joins on his prayers, unites them with the prayers of all saints. No doubt he had often done so when on earth, and now he does so in heaven. There he had with them besought God to bless and keep his Church in sore peril and distress, and this prayer he continues. Why should this not be? We know the angels sympathize with the people of God on earth. There is joy amongst them over every sinner that repenteth. They, therefore, must know what transpires here, and how can they do otherwise than be in fullest sympathy with the “prayers of all saints”? Can we think that they cease to care for those they loved on earth now that they themselves are in heaven? The mother in heaven for her children left here? Do those who loved on earth lose that love yonder? God forbid! Hence we look on this “angel” as one of the blessed ones who is uniting his much prayer together with that of all saints, and together their prayers, as the streaming cloud of fragrant incense, a sweet odour of acceptableness, rise up before God.
“The saints on earth and all the dead
But one communion make,
All join in Christ their living Head,
And of his grace partake.”
IV. SUCH PRAYERS MOVE THE HAND THAT RULES ALL THINGS. The answer of these prayers comes in the form of commandfor we must assume such commandto sprinkle the enkindled incense on the earth. Hence the angel takes the golden censer and “fills it with the fire of the altar, and casts it upon the earth.” And then at once are heard voices and thunders, and the lightning flash, and earthquakes are seensigns similar to those with which God came down upon Mount Sinai. So now he is about to interpose in response to the prayers which have been presented to him. And the seven angels prepare themselves to sound, lift their trumpets to their lips, and are about to peal forth their terrible blasts. It is all a vivid picture of the prevalence of the prayers of the people of God. Mighty things are these prayers, weapons of resistless force, fearful for the ungodly when their answer involves the sinner’s doom, but blessed always for those who pray. Why do we not avail ourselves far more than we do of this Divine force? This vision bids us pray, pray perseveringly and unitedly, pray in Christ’s name; and it shows us the holy ones in heaven praying with us, and how our prayers prevail. Who, then, would not pray?S.C.
Rev 8:6-13; Rev 9:1-21.; Rev 11:14-18
The war trumpets.
I. ALL THESE TRUMPETS TELL OF WAR. The first six are proclamations of war, and the symbols that follow on their sounding set forth varied aspects of war. The last proclaims war ended and victory won.
II. BUT WHAT WAR? There can be little doubt that, as in all prophetical writings, facts within the immediate or near horizon of the writer form the basis of his predictions, and furnish the groundwork of the great moral and spiritual truths, and of the future historic facts to which, by way of resemblance, they direct our thought. Therefore:
1. The wars of the period in which the writer lived and wrote must be looked to”the things which are and which are about to happen” (Rev 1:19)for the primary explanation of the vivid, mysterious, and manifestly applicable symbols which the visions connected with these seven trumpets present to us. Let Josephus be consulted, and in his pages will be found more than enough to furnish material for all the awful images which we find here. The dread drama of the Jewish war was in full action. The massacres and desolation, the poisoning of the very springs of life, the torture, the inroads of locust-like hordes of Arab, Idumaean, and other armies,all the appalling horrors which St. John speaks of, were all there; his imagery was ready to hand, and, as an intense Jew, the calamities that befell his people could not but have roused in him deepest sympathy, and made his words burn, and his thoughts glow, as they do in this wonderful book. That he was far removed from the immediate scene of these events would make no difference. And besides the Jewish war, there were the civil wars which were distracting the Roman empire: rebellions and revolts; this general and the other determined to mount the imperial throne, let the cost in bloodshed and the risk be what it might;such were the surroundings of St. John’s life, and to them we primarily look for the explanation of what he says. But we cannot doubt, either, that:
2. The wars which led to the fall of the empire find their foreshadowing here. The historic expositors affirm that these alone are what St. John meant, and that the successive invasions under Alaric, Genseric, Attila, and Odoacer, and, after them, of the Saracens and Turks, are what is here portrayed. They ask of those who doubt their interpretation, “Now, if it had been intended to predict these events, could they have been more clearly and accurately described?” Certainly the correspondences are close, and the examination of them is so interesting that more sober conclusions are apt to be abandoned. But remembering the purpose of this book, the comforting and strengthening of the persecuted Church of his own day; and the method of all prophetical writings, to lay hold on present and near facts;we cannot think that, however much foreshadowed these then distant facts might have been, they were in the mind of the apostle when he wrote. For not to these wars only do these symbols apply, but to:
3. All war. If a deterrent from war be needed, as it often is, then the study of these vast canvases on which the Divine artist has painted successive pictures of the horrors of war cannot but be advantageous. The first shows the devastation it causes; the trees and the growing grass and corn destroyed by the wild war storm which is likened to hail and fire mingled with blood. The second, the destruction of commerce. A great mountain, symbol of some vast earthly powerburning, set on fire with rage and lust of conquestis cast into the sea, the highway of commerce. The waves are dyed red with blood, the fish die, the ships perish. The third, the overthrow of cities and civilization generally. On the banks of rivers the chief cities of the world have for the most part been placed. The historic interpreters point out how as Genseric, with his Vandals, made the shores of the Mediterranean his chief battleground, so, as this third picture represents, Attila fellswiftly like a stone, burning like a torch, with furyupon the riverside cities and populations which lay at the bases of the mountains, the springs of the great rivers, and made their life bitter to them. Yes, it was so; and it is what all war does and has done. Cities and civilization suffer irreparably, must do so. The fourth, political overthrow. The sun, moon, and starssymbols of government, of kings and the chief rulers of menthese cease to rule and fall from their high places when the fortune of war goes against them. It was so amongst Jews and Romans alike. The fiftha more dreadful picture than any and more completely drawn (Rev 9:1-21.)tells of the intolerable tortures which warchild of hell and the pit and the devil that it isinflicts upon the miserable people amid and upon whom it is waged. They are not exterminated but tortured, as if with the stings of scorpions. They would fain die, but may not; they live on and suffer. The invading armies, like locusts for number, power, and destructiveness, waste and ruin and oppress them day by day. What a picture of war is here! And the sixth,this tells of the destruction of human life and the deterioration of human character which war causes. One third part of the human race perishes, and the rest, instead of repenting themselves of their sins, become hardened. Whatever special war it was that St. John had in his mind when, with such seeming particularity of place and time and circumstance, he wrote concerning this sixth trumpet blast, it is certain that the effects told of are the common accompaniments of war. If the career of the Turks and their conquests be, as is asserted, the wars here meant, and which extended from A.D. 1055 for nearly four hundred years, and which, according to the year-day theory, is just the period which the one year and month and day and hour spoken of would signify, then the resemblance is doubtless striking, even to the identification of the “brimstone, fire, and smoke” with the gunpowder which was first used in the siege of Constantinople. But there is no need to limit the reference of the vision to those circumstances, as it will apply to many similar ones. But all these visions are descriptions of warthose “wars and rumours of war” which our Saviour foretold should be ere the end come; and the comfort for God’s troubled people is in that which the seventh trumpet declares, that through and by, amid and in spite of them, the kingdoms of this world fall to Christ. There is comfort in thisjust that comfort which the Church in the apostolic age and many times since has sorely needed. Were it not for this final declaration, how wearyingly, how despairingly, should we look on all the turmoil and disasters which have resulted from the ever-recurring wars which men have waged! We could see no reason or end in them. But when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet the outcome of all is seen, and the result recompenses for all that has gone before. But yet more should we see in these visions the setting forth of:
4. God’s war with the ungodly. This is what we most of all should learn from them.
(1) And they show how, in order to subdue “the unruly wills of sinful men,” God is wont, when milder means fail, to send judgments of a very awful kind. Every one of these visions sets forth such judgment of God.
(2) And when one will not suffice, another is sent. The dread procession of them seems never done passing by.
(3) And they become more and more terrible. There is a manifest enlargement in the scope and severity of these successive judgments. The ominous cry of the eagle which is heard after the first four trumpets have sounded declares this as does the consideration of the judgments themselves. Such is God’s way: who can deny that it is so?
(4) But in wrath he remembers mercy. The judgments are not universal, nor exterminating. The reiterated mention of the “one third part” as being the sufferers, not the whole, shows wherefore and with what hope in regard to men’s repentance they were sent.
(5) But, alas! they seem to fail in their purpose. After so many and so terrible visitations men did not repent; they seemed only, like Amon, to sin “more and more.” But it should seem as if, when God’s judgments, as in the case of the plagues of Egypt, no longer merely fell on what was outside their life, no longer merely tormented them, but now smote that life itself, as did the judgment of the sixth trumpet, the last of these dread visitations, then some kind of repentance was produced. But we cannot certainly say.
(6) Victory, however, is the outcome of all. How could it be otherwise? Can man forever defy the Almighty? Blessed be God, he cannot, and sooner or later rebel man will have to lay down his weapons and own Christ Lord of all.
CONCLUSION. But wherefore will man wage this war at all? God desires it not, but has sent the message and the ministry of reconciliation. We, then, as “ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”S.C.
Rev 8:13
The body and the bird.
“And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth!” The true reading of the text is given in the Revised Version. It was not “an angel flying,” but a solitary eagle or vulture, that St. John saw. Hovering high overhead, a mere speck in the sky, and its harsh cry sounding as if it uttered over and over again the ominous words, “Woe, woe, woe!” Now in vision, but often in reality, he had doubtless seen such hovering bird, and heard its bitter cry. And when we think of this vision, and remember who they were on whom the judgments of God were coming, we are reminded of our Lord’s words, “Wheresoever the carcase is, there shall the eagles be gathered together” (Mat 24:28). For he and his apostle had the same scenes in view, the same sinful people, and the same dread judgments of God. Both beheld both the body and the birdthe eagle of judgment and the corruption that it would seize upon. When our Lord spoke, and yet more when his apostle wrote, the ill-omened bird was clearly visible, and its woeful cry could be distinctly heard. What the Lord said St. John saw. “For in the lands of the East, when a wild beast falls in the desert, or a horse or camel on the highway, there is for a time no stir in heaven. But far above human ken the vulture is floating poised on his wings and looking downward. His eye soon distinguishes the motionless thing, for he hunts by an eyesight unequalled in power among all living things, and like a stone he drops through miles of air. Others floating in the same upper region see their brother’s descent, and know its meaning. One dark speck after another grows swiftly upon the horizon, and in a few moments fifty vultures are around the carrion. Now, thus inevitable, swift, unerring, as the vultures’ descent on the carcase, is the judgment coming of the Son of man to corrupt communities and corrupt men” (Stopford Brooke). Given the body, the bird will not be far off; where the carcase, there the vulture. In God’s government it has ever been so, is now, and will be in all ages, in all lands, and under all circumstances.
I. THIS EAGLE HAS OFTEN BEEN SEEN. It has long hovered over and at last descended upon:
1. Corrupt communities. As the inhabitants of the earth in Noah’s day, on whom “the Flood came and swept them all away;” the cities of the plain ere the fire storm felt; the Canaanitish nations whose judgment was long delayed “until the iniquity of the Amorites was full.” It hung over Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah, over Babylon in the old age of Daniel, and over the Jewish nation when St. John beheld it “in mid heaven.” And over Rome the eagles of judgment were indeed gathering. For she had become so corrupt and hateful to God and man that there was nothing for it but to let the long delayed sentence be executed, and in the pages of this Book of the Revelation, and in those of the secular historian, he who will may read of, perhaps, the most tremendous fulfilment the worm has as yet ever seen of the inexorable law that “wheresoever the carcase is, there,” etc.
“Rome shall perishwrite that word
In the blood that she hath spilt;
Perish hopeless and abhorred,
Deep in ruin as in guilt.”
Yet further illustrations. The Reformation, which was the judgment of the Catholic Church; the French Revolution, etc.
2. Corrupt men. “The mills of God,” says the poet,” grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small.” Many imagine that the great laws of God will be, no doubt, fulfilled amid nations and Churches and other bodies of men, but they will not take note of individuals. That, however, is not true, though many think it is. Look over the lives of the many bad men and women of whom the Bible tells; but where amid them all can the sinner find any encouragement to go on in his sin? Are they not all of them illustrations of God’s law of judgment? And so universally is this law recognized that no poorest novelist will write his wretchedest story, and no tawdry theatre dare represent on its stage a drama which ignores or fails to pay homage to this law. They all know and confess that over the vile and bad the vulture of judgment hovers, and will swoop down on them ere long. And today this law is at work. See that blear eyed, ragged, shivering, and every way disreputable looking wretch who is reeling out of the gin shop, and, as he staggers along, poisoning the air with his foul breath and yet fouler wordswhat a wreck the man is! Health gone; and character, and home, and friends, and livelihood, and all that made life worth having, gone; and life itself going likewise. The vultures of judgment have plucked him bare of all, and they are at their awful work still. Go into the wards of our hospitals, and amid many whom misfortunes and not sin have brought there, you will yet see not a few dying a miserable death, horrible to look at, to listen to, to speak or even think of. Go to the cells of our prisons, to lunatic asylums, to convict yards, or where mounting the steps of the gallows on which they are to suffer the last penalty of the law,in all such places, and amid all such scenes, and branded as it were on the brow of all such transgressors you may read the eternal law, “Wheresoever the carcase is, there,” etc. That eagle St. John saw, and
II. IT IS GOOD THAT IT SHOULD BE SEEN. In the physical world, if there were no scavengers, no agents whereby what is corrupt and corrupting could be rendered harmless, life could not go on. And so in the moral world, floods and sulphur fires, and Joshua-led armies, hosts from Babylon or from Rome, French Revolutions and the like,it is awful, terrible, but still beneficent and essential work that they do upon the moral and spiritual corruptions against whom they have been sent. But blessed is that sinful community and that sinful man who sees the eagle in mid heaven, and fears and turns from his wickedness and so lives.
III. MEN SOMETIMES THINK THEY SEE IT WHEN THEY DO NOT. Poor Jobhis friends, his comforters, would have it that his dreadful sufferings were judgments of God upon him. It was the common and cruel, though baseless, belief of their day. “Lord, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was horn blind?” There we find the same notion yet living on, even in our Lord’s day. And it is not dead yet. But, thank God, there are many sorrows and distresses which are not judgments at all, any more than the hard lesson which a master may set his pupil to learn is a sign of his displeasure. It is not so, but a means of discipline and improvement and honour to the pupil; therefore, and for no other reason, is it given. And so with not a few of the sorrows God sends to us, as he sent such to Job.
IV. AND OFTEN FAIL TO SEE IT WHEN THEY MIGHT AND SHOULD. Job, and many another since, failed to see it. He asserts that there are villainsgodless, cruel, all that is badand yet they prosper wonderfully. “They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. There are no bands in their death, and their strength is firm:” so said another perplexed one. There seems to be the corrupt and corrupting carcase, but no vulture descends upon it. The body there, that is certain, but not the bird. But let such perplexed ones remember:
1. The bird may be invisible. It may be so far up in the sky, so far away, that our limited eyesight cannot travel so far, it is out of our range. That may be. Or:
2. It may be restrained. God is “long suffering, not willing that any should perish.” Or:
3. It may have already descended, and be doing its work, and you not know it. Conscience may rend and tear like a vulture, and the man may carry a very hell within himthousands dothat makes all outward prosperity a mockery, and powerless to relieve. There is not one drop of water in it all wherewith he can cool his tongue, so tormented in this fire is he. Read ‘Macbeth.’ And:
4. If it come not now it will fasten on him the moment he reaches the next world’s shore. Ah, yes; if a man have made his soul carrion like, the eagle of judgment will find him sooner or later in trouble; from without or within, here or yonderthere is no escape. Remember, then:
(1) They are fools who make a mock at sin.
(2) Turn from it, and pray for the heart to love and dread the Lord, and to diligently live after his commandments.S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. GREEN
Rev 8:1-13
The purpose of revealing judgment.
The process of the conquest of evil is varied. It is now by severity of judgment, now by the gentleness of mild rebuke or moderated chastisement. Again the voice of the teacher arrests attention, and the appeals of truth stimulate to righteousness. Hidden behind all is the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit of the Lord, working all things according to the counsel of his holy will. His hand is unseen, and the revelation is needed to show and assure men that there is a Divine power at work, though it be hidden. The revelation of the Divine judgments against evil has thus its high purpose apart from the purposes answered by those judgments themselves. Throughout the whole the cry may well arise, “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.” The purposes contemplated by the pictorial representations congregate mainly, if not exclusively, around the Churchthe smitten, suffering, enduring Church. The earthly powers, waging their warfare under the leadership of the prince of evil, Apollyon the Destroyer, do not read the holy books. They are truly sealed books to them. And the imagery is only to be interpreted by the Church when she is driven by the persecuting oppressive power of the world to seek consolation. The purpose then concerns the Church mainly, if not exclusively; and we may conceive that purpose to be achieved
I. IN THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE CHURCH TO PATIENT ENDURANCE. For the Name of the great Lord the believing people suffered much. They were weak in presence of their so great foes. Only the assurance of a final triumph could embolden them to endure patiently.
II. IN THE SUPPORT OF THE CHURCH IN ITS HOLY WARFARE AGAINST THE OPPOSING EARTHLY SPIRIT. Fierce indeed was the conflict, and again and again it is so; but throughout the whole shines the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. His eye is open upon the sufferers, and his aid is pledged for their defence.
III. IN WARNING THE FAITHFUL AGAINST THE EVILS OF APOSTASY. Great are the subtle powers which seek to undermine and sap the fidelity of the godly. Only by many means, of which this is one, can the obedient host be stimulated to faithfulness.
IV. The end is further reached IN THE DEEP AND ABIDING COMFORT OF THE SORROWFUL BELIEVERS in all their antagonism to evil and to the worldly power which is set against them.R.G.
Rev 8:2-5
The effectual prayer.
A new seriesanotheropens upon the view of the holy seer. These are scenes in which is symbolically represented the method by which the Divine providence will execute those sovereign purposes which are specially contemplated in the redemption of the persecuted Church in its struggle with the various developments of evil in the world. Not always does evil present itself as an antagonistic power. It is soft, subtle, and alluring, drawing the feet of the unwary believer into ruinous paths by “the baits of pleasing ill.” This aspect comes into prominence in the course of the revelation. But, as the book is an unfolding of the methods of conquest in all the conditions of danger, so now those which relate to the progressive triumph of the truth of the providential chastisements, are set in order. The space over which the sounding of the trumpets reaches is great; the seventh in Rev 11:1-19. declaring, as in other places, the final triumph, and so completely rounding another setting forth of the one idea of the bookthe triumph of Messiah, “conquering, and to conquer.” Another series of “seven” is before us”seven angels,” having “seven trumpets;” but “another angel” is first and intermediately present, having a golden censer, with the incense of which mingles “the prayers of the saints.” Afterwards, from the same censer, coals of fire are taken and cast on the earth, and “thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake” follow. They are represented to us in vast cosmical changes, the disturbances of the affairs of men in answer to the cry for judgment. But the judgement of the Lord need not always be of severitycertainly the end of the Lord is to be very pitiful. Mercy, redemption, recovery, salvation, blessing, are the ultimate ends in view. Thus must all be interpreted. The lesson taught is the certain Divine response to humble prayer. Here the Church finds
I. ENCOURAGEMENT TO PERSEVERING INTERCESSION on behalf of the ungodly and unsubdued world.
II. A MOTIVE TO PATIENT ENDURANCE of the antagonism which evilness always suggests. Evil is at enmity against righteousness, even though it be not violent in its methods.
III. A HELP TO FAITH. Faith has respect to the promise of God, and beholds its fulfilment. Here the setting forth of the Divine response to prayer becomes the cheering encouragement to perseverance.
IV. A STIMULUS TO UNWEARIED LABOUR. If the certainty of success is not the ground of faith, it is its appropriate stimulus. Thus is the Church in all ages to be cheered.R.G.
Rev 8:6-13
Restricted judgment.
In wrath the Lord ever remembers mercy. In the sounding of four of the seven angels this idea is most prominent. Afflictions of various kinds are seen to rest upon the earth, but they are confined in each case to one third. It is not a final overthrow, nor is it a vision of destruction. In the disturbance of the material world is portrayed the upheaving in the spiritual, and the gentle threat of the Divine displeasure. The avenging his own elect is a call to men to forsake evil, while it is an encouragement to the faithful to endure. By the disturbance in all the world, or material sphere, men are warned against placing their confidence in these things which may be so shaken. The judgments are chastisementsa part suffers for the good of the whole. The eye is plucked out to save the whole body. Here a portiona third partsuffers that the whole perish not. These restricted judgments or chastisements of the Lord have their great use
I. IN AWAKENING THE ATTENTION OF MEN TO THEIR SPIRITUAL CONDITION. Truly a voice as of a trumpet! In the carelessness of spiritual slumber great evils may silently lurk beneath the surface. The sharp probe of pain awakens the slumbering spirit, and leads to inquiry and self examination.
II. IN STIMULATING TO REPENTANCE. He also finds the way of disobedience to bring pain to him; and will be urged thereby to turn from the evil path and to seek the ways of obedience, wherein are rest and peace.
III. IN THE PREVENTION OF FURTHER SINFULNESS. They are the hedge of fire, warning off from forbidden paths. No vindictiveness or harsh severity prompts him who with fatherly hand chastises his erring and mistaken children.
IV. These chastisements have their final use as disciplinary processes IN ADVANCING RIGHTEOUSNESS. The clear declarations of Scripture in the classical passages on chastisement declare the end to be “that we may be partakers of his holiness.” Sharp is the piercing pain, keen the edge of suffering; but the good features of the character called into play in bearing up under sorrow are developed thereby: and the spirit, checked from walking in the wrong path, is stimulated to choose the right and the good. That which applies to the individual life applies also to the life of tribes and nations of men. To these the present passage relates. Judgments on “the third part” are designed to he corrective and admonitory to the whole.R.G.
Rev 8:13
The bitter consequences of iniquity.
Before the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, a vision is granted of a flying eagle, which, with “a great voice,” declared “Woe for them that dwell upon the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are yet to sound!” Corrective judgments have already been manifested, but the full fruits of evil, in themselves judgments and designed for correction and restraint, have not been developed. The voice of the great eagle anticipates them, and prepares for their delineation. The general principle, therefore, claims thought at presentwoe follows from the working of evil.
I. THE INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE OF WRONG DOING IS SUFFERING.
1. The laws of righteousness are absolutely and only good.
2. They describe the true path of the human life.
3. In the observance of the true laws of lifethe laws of righteousnessconditions of blessedness are secured; for it cannot but be that life held according to the laws of life is only good.
4. Any departure from the laws of liferighteousnessmust bring a proportionate disturbance, pain and sorrow.
II. THE DIVINE WISDOM AND BENIGNITY SHOWN IN MAKING THE CONSEQUENCES OF WRONG DOING PAINFUL. By this means men are warned away from wrong. The sharp pain of burning is a merciful provision. The hand incautiously laid in the fire might be consumed for want of the sharp twinge of pain to apprise of danger. It is well that the way of transgressors is hard. The prickly hedge guards the path of life, lest men straying from it should fall into untold evils.
III. THE PAINFULNESS OF WRONG DOING A JUST WARNING AGAINST TRANSGRESSION. Although virtue that is founded on a mere escape from the evils of disobedience is a low form of virtue, it is nevertheless a worthy motive for avoiding that its consequences are painful.
IV. THE NATURAL CONSEQUENCES OF WRONG DOING AN ADMONITORY INDICATION OF THE DIVINE DISPLEASURE, and a worthy expression of it. It is a testimony on the level of the human heart. Higher testimonies to be given. But the cold and thoughtless arrested by these means.
V. IN PUNISHMENTS BY PAIN LIES THE PLEDGE AND FIRST ELEMENT OF MORAL CORRECTION. The punishment and bitterness of evil not a final end. High moral purposes are graciously contemplated. “Woe, woe, woe!” is the sad prediction of the ever coming bitterness of all wrong doing.R.G.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
Rev 8:1-6
Soul silence.
“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour,” etc. This portion of the dream of John, like other portions, has Jewish elements of thought brought into strange and grotesque combinations. In dreams there are no new objects or elements of thought or emotion, but old ones brought into unique forms by an ungoverned imagination. Whilst they are evermore difficult, if not impossible to interpret, they are at all times available for the illustrating and impressing of truth. The words may be fairly taken to illustrate soul silence. “There was [followed] silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” That is, silence for a time. It is suggested
I. THAT SOUL SILENCE OFTEN FOLLOWS GREAT EXCITEMENT. The opening of the seals, the unfolding of the wonderful dispensations of the Divine government up to the close of the world’s history, must have excited the feelings and strained the faculties of the spectators to an unusual intensity. The soul lake was no longer without a ripple; it was heaved into swelling surges. It is ever so in soul life; after great tumult there comes a calm. This is always and pre-eminently the case with the genuinely faithful and holy. From the storms of remorse, secular anxieties, and social bereavements, the soul of the genuinely Christly rises into a “peace that passeth all understanding.” In truth, in the case of all regenerate souls, great excitement is often the condition of peace and tranquillity. It is not until the storms of moral conviction become so terrible that the spirit cries out, “Lord, save, or I perish!” that the omnific voice, “Peace, be still!” will take effect, and there comes a “great calm.” Blessed silence this! How grand is such a silence! It is the highest gift of man, nay, Divinity itself.
“How grand is Silence! In her tranquil deeps
What mighty things are born! Thought, Beauty, Faith,
All good;bright Thought, which springeth forth at once,
Like sudden sunrise; Faith, the angel eyed,
Who takes her rest beside the heart of man,
Serene and still; eternal Beauty, crown’d
With flowers, that with the changing seasons change;
And good of all kinds. Whilst the babbling verse
Of the vain poet frets its restless way,
In stately strength the sage’s mind flows on,
Making no noise:and so, when clamorous crowds
Rush forth, or tedious wits waken the senate-house,
Or some fierce actor stamps upon his stage,
With what a gentle foot doth silent Time
Steal on his everlasting journey!”
(Barry Cornwall)
II. THAT SOUL SILENCE IS OFTEN FOUND ABSORBING WORSHIP. “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets,” etc. Here begins a new series of visions. The seven trumpets follow the seven seals, and this series extends to the close of the eleventh chapter. The “seven trumpets” are given to the seven angels or ministers that stand in the presence of God. But it is not with these seven angels or messengers that we have now to do; they will engage our attention further on. Our concern at present is with the angel connected with the altar”the angel that stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [add] it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” This symbolical representation of worship is derived from the Jewish temple, and it may illustrate to us the fact:
1. That the prayers of saints on earth are of great practical interest in the spiritual universe.
(1) They are offerings that are acceptable to its Supreme Ruler. “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God.” True prayer is acceptable to the Infinite Father.
(2) In rendering them acceptable to God, his highest spiritual ministers are deeply engaged. Here is an angel standing towards the altar with a golden censer, receiving incense that he might give it “with the prayers of all saints.” Elsewhere, in numerous passages of Holy Writ, angels are represented as rendering spiritual assistance to good men. May they not be constantly doing so by inbreathing those heavenly thoughts that will inspire the soul with the holiest devotions?
2. That the prayers of saints on earth exert an influence on the things of time. We are told, “the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were [followed] voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” The prayers have gone up, and the sprinkling of the ashes earthward symbolize their effects on the earth. What convulsions, what revolutions, the prayers of the saints have effected on this earth ere now! and what they effect now they wilt continue to do. Now, in the midst of all this devotion there would seem to be a period of silence. The profoundest hush, the deepest silence of the soul, are found in worship. Here all its faculties work harmoniously, and all its sympathies flow as a deep river without a ripple on its surface. “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” The realization of the Divine Presence can never fail to hush the soul into profound tranquillity, and in this tranquillity its grandest possibilities germinate and grow. “Silence,” says an illustrious thinker, “is the element in which great things fashion themselves together, that at length they may emerge full formed and majestic into the daylight of life which they are thenceforward to rule.”
III. THAT SOUL SILENCE OFTEN SPRINGS FROM HIGH EXPECTANCY. “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” And as the angels raised their trumpets to their mouths ready to blow, a breathless expectancy would be excited. In earnest waiting there is generally silencewaiting for the last breath of a friend, waiting for the verdict of a jury which decides the deliverance or the destruction of a human life. Holy souls that now witnessed the scene of the trumpets about to utter a blast felt that great things were coming, that stupendous events were rolling up on the wheels of Providence, and there was “silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” What wonderful things are before us all! Were we all earnestly waiting for these things, waiting for the “manifestation of the sons of God,” waiting the advent of him who is to wind up the affairs of the world, how silent should we be!D.T.
Rev 8:7-13; Rev 9:1-21. and 10
The “seven trumpets:” the revolutions of matter and mind.
“The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up,” etc. We take these verses, extending from the seventh verse of the eighth chapter to the end of the tenth chapter, together, because they all refer to the “trumpets,” and are records of a portion of John’s most wonderful dream. A dream can be recalled, narrated, but seldom, if ever, rightly interpreted. It is generally, perhaps, uninterpretable. Pietistic simpletons and speculative pedants have propounded their interpretations and are still doing so; and what literary rubbish is the result! But though a dream may be incapable of interpretation, it can generally and usefully be used as an illustration of great truths. Thus we endeavour to use all these mysterious and multifarious visions that John had in Patmos. This vision serves to illustrate
I. SOME OF THE WONDERFUL REVOLUTIONS THROUGH WHICH OUR WORLD IS CONSTANTLY PASSING. After the sounding of each of the seven trumpets, what a series of marvels was evolved! There are two classes of marvel here.
1. Those in the material sphere. As the first four seals were introduced by the cry of “Come,” it has been observed that the first four trumpets are followed by judgments on natural objectsthe earth, the sea, the rivers, the lights of heaven. What followed the blast of the first trumpet? “There followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” “Trumpets,” says Moses Stuart, “the usual emblems of war and bloodshed, are chosen as emblems of the series of judgments now to be inflicted.” Does the language here literally refer to some physical events that will befall this earth? From the character of the whole book, which is metaphorical, this is not likely. But events of an astounding character are suggested as occurring on this earth. After this the second trumpet sounded, “and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood.” The words suggest the idea of some volcanic mountain discolouring the ocean so that it appears as blood, destroying a great portion of the creatures that lived in its depth and that floated on its waves. Then, with the sounding of the third trumpet, another terrible event occurs: “And there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters,” etc. The greater part of the rivers that roll over the earth, and the wells that spring from beneath, were embittered and poisoned, and many of the human race expire. When the fourth trumpet sounded the heavens are terribly affected. “The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was [should be] darkened,” etc. But all the terrible events that followed the blasts of these four trumpets seem only preparatory for some more terrible judgments that were to follow. “And I beheld [saw], and heard an angel [eagle] flying through the midst of [in mid] heaven, saying with a loud [great] voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of [for them that dwell on] the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which [who] are yet to sound!” Whatever particular revolutions the blasts of the four trumpets here refer toif anyone thing is certain, that great changes are taking place constantly in those regions of matter mentioned herethe earth, the waters, the heavens. Geology shows this. What our earth is today, its mountains, its valleys, its rivers, and its oceans, as well as its animal and vegetable productions, is the outcome of changes that have been going on through countless ages. Nature is constantly building up and pulling down. “The mountains failing come to nought,” etc. Astronomy shows this. The telescope discovers shattered planets, stars that, perhaps, shone brightly once in our heavens, also new orbs and comets. All things are in a state of flux and reflux. According to Peter, all the changes that have been only tend to a greater change. “The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt,” etc. What is the practical lesson to be drawn from all these tremendous revolutions? “Trust in him who liveth forever,”
“There’s nought on earth that does not change;
All things are shifting on the stream;
Whatever comes within our range
Seems just as fleeting as a dream.
There is no rest but in thy Word,
No settled hope but in thy Name;
Root then our souls in thee, O Lord,
For thou art evermore the same.”
2. Those in the spiritual sphere. There are three more trumpets sounded which have been designated woe trumpets, and their blasts seem to introduce wonderful things in the spiritual domain. That there is a spirit world is too universally admitted to require proof. It comes to our credence, not merely as a matter of philosophic reasoning, but as a matter of consciousness. This spirit world, of which each human being is a member, as well as the higher order of intelligences in the universe, though invisible and impalpable, is ever active and all influential, the spring and sovereign even of all material forces and phenomena. What is matter but the creature and servant, the effect and evidence, of spirit? Great and mysterious changes in the spirit world seem to follow the sounding of the fifth trumpet. Moral evil appears:
(1) In forms alarming. “I saw a star fall from heaven [from heaven fallen] unto the earth: and to him was given [there was given to him] the key of the bottomless pit [the pit of the abyss],” etc. A messenger from heaven, like a bright star, descended and exposed the region of moral evilhe opened the “bottomless pit.” Moral evil is indeed a pit.
(a) It is fathomless. No one can explain its origin and its countless intricate ramifications; it is the “mystery of iniquity.”
(b) It is consuming. It is like a “great furnace.” In whatever spirit moral evil exists, it burns, it gives pain, and works destruction.
(c) It is obscuring. “The sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.” The passions and thoughts which sin generates in the spirit mantle the moral heavens in gloom. How often is this bottomless pit covered up in the soul, hid alike from self and society! Thank God, Heaven sends a messenger, like a star, from heaven to open it and to enlighten it. Do not let us took for this bottomless pit beneath us, or anywhere external; it is within us, if sin be in us.
(2) In forces terrific. “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power,” etc. Orientals dread an advent of locusts as one of the most terrible visitations; grass, trees, plants of all description, fall before them. The locusts here sketched are of an order the most terrible. A modern writer describes the locusts here as “malicious as scorpions, ruling as kings, intelligent as men, wily as women, bold and fierce as lions, resistless as these clad in iron armour.” These awful forces that go forth amongst men to inflict torture and ruin were
(a) All in connection with the “bottomless pit.” They were, so to speak, bred in the depths of that moral pit, and became the servants of that pit. Whatever inflicts pain on humanity is forged in the depth of that bottomless pit. “Whence come wars?” etc.
(b) They tended to make life intolerable to man. “In those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die.” Death is universally regarded as the greatest evil, but such is the state of misery here that it is sought as a relief. How often is the life of a man rendered intolerable because of his sins, and he has recourse to the razor, the rope, the river, or the poison! From the “bottomless pit” of our own sins rise those tormenting fiends that render life intolerable.
(c) They were under the direction of a controlling agent. “And they had a king over them [they have over them a king], which is the angel of the bottomless pit [the angel of the abyss],” etc. The meaning of the words “Abaddon” and “Apollyon,” both in Hebrew and Greek, is “destruction.” All these locustsin other words, all the forces that torment humanityare inspired and directed by one great spirit, the spirit of destruction, which goes to and fro through the earth like a lion, seeking whom it may devour. Greater and more terrible changes in the spirit world seem to follow the sounding of the sixth trumpet. In this second “woe” the spirit of destruction takes a wider sweep. It goes forth from the four parts of the earth, it increases the number and the terror of its messengers. “Two hundred thousand thousand,” a countless number, and they appeared as horses with heads of lions, panoplied with fire, and breathing smoke and flame. By this greater destruction is wrought amongst menit strikes down a third part of the race. Thus ever the agencies of torture and ruin that visit man, working in connection with the “bottomless pit” of sin, multiplying in numbers and magnifying their malignant proportions. The trial that gives pain to the sinner today, may be only as an insect compared with the trial that, like a lion, may torture him tomorrow. So long as the “bottomless pit” remains within, torturing fiends will increase in number, and augment in malignant passion and strength. More strange changes in the spirit world we find following the sounding of the seventh trumpet. Before the blast of this seventh trumpet, however, there is the advent of another wonderful messenger from heaven. This messenger is robed in a mystic cloud, a rainbow encircling his brow, his face bright as the sun, his feet like pillars of fire, having in his hand a “little book.” He seems to take possession of the whole world, plants one foot on the sea and the other on the earth, breaks forth with the voice of a lion, and his utterances were followed by seven thunders, from which a voice out of heaven sounded, saying, “Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.” Again this wonderful angel or messenger from heaven, surrounded with all this mystic grandeur, whilst standing on the earth, lifts up his hand to the heavens, and swears “that there should be time no longer.” After this the seventh trumpet sounds, proclaiming that the mystery of God was finished. In the tenth chapter three things are powerfully struck upon our attention.
(1) A proclamation of the end of time. “Time shall be no longer.” Time is but limited duration. What is time to man on earth becomes eternity to him when he quits it. It is but a mode of being. In truth, whenever a human spirit rises from the material to the spiritual, from the particular to the universal, time with him is no longer; he is flee from all its limitations. He moves no longer on a little river or creek; he is afloat on the immeasurable ocean.
(2) The communication of a new revelation. What was contained in this “little book” that had not appeared before? Something vital to man’s interest. Such Divine books or rolls are constantly coming to us. They come to man in every day’s experience, in true thoughts, and in spiritual intuitions.
(3) The personal appropriation of truth. The angel said, “Take it, and eat it up.” Divine truth is not something for intellectual speculation; it is not something for memory, but diet for the life. It must be transmuted into the moral blood and sent through the heart into every fibre of our being. These “seven trumpets,” then, suggest and illustrate those revolutions which are everywhere going on, not only through the material, but through the spiritual states of being. In sooth, those that occur in the material are but the results and symbols of those which are transpiring in the great world of mind. In the inner world of soul what revolutions are constantly going on in every man’s experience! Big schemes like mountains burning with fire cast into the sea, bright stars of hope and promise falling from the firmament of the soul, fire and smoke issuing from the “bottomless pit” of evil within, smoke that obscures all that is bright, terrible and tormenting forces, like armies of locusts, devouring every budding leaf, and, with a scorpion’s sting whose virus rankles in all the nerves of the heart, so that men sometimes seek death and cannot find it. “Voices and thunders.” Strange shapes with “thunderous voices” in the heavens. Ah me! these changes are no dreams, they are visions neither of the day nor the night; they are the great realities of the spirit world.
II. THE SPIRITUAL PERSONALITIES BY WHICH, UNDER GOD, THESE REVOLUTIONS ARE EFFECTED. Here are “seven angels” with their “seven trumpets.” That there are, in the great universe of God, countless spiritual existences, varying endlessly in faculty, position, force, and occupation, admits of no question by those who believe in the Divinity of the Scriptures. It is here suggested that to these may be ascribed all the changes that take place in the history of our world. Is it not more rational to trace all these changes to the agency of such spiritual personalities than to what scientists call the laws and forces of nature? The “force of motion” is in the spirit, not in matter. Matter is inert; it has no self moving energy. Or, further, is there anything more unreasonable that a high order of spiritual existences should work all the changes we see in earth and sea and sky than the fact that all the products of civilization are the results of the agency of man? Is it not the human spirit, acting through its physical organization, that has covered the earth with architectural buildings, not only piled up the huge cathedrals, castles, palaces, and countless public edifices, but also innumerable residences of every size and shape? Was it not the spirit in man that constructed the bridges, that spanned broad rivers; tunnelled through huge mountains a way for mighty oceans to meet and mingle; covered every sea with the fleets of nations; transformed wildernesses and deserts into fertile meadows, vineyards, and gardens; constructed engines to hear men over sea and land almost with lightning velocity? If the human spirit has worked and is working such wonders as these, is there anything unreasonable in supposing that a higher class of spirits can direct the winds, kindle the lightnings, launch the thunders, roll the planets, and heave the ocean? Manifestly not. The universe teems with spiritual personalities, and matter everywhere is the creature, the symbol, and servant of spirit. The dream suggests two things concerning the work of these spirits.
1. Their work is departmental. Each had his own trumpet, and each produced his own results. The same trumpet was not used by all. This seems to be the Divine plan. Each living creature endowed with activity, from the tiniest to the greatest, has its own sphere and scope for action. One cannot do the work of another. It is so with men. In all temporal enterprises men themselves act upon this principle; the master mind in manufacture and commerce gives to each man his part; and this is the plan of God with us all. To each man he has given a mission, and that mission none can rightly discharge but himself. The higher spiritual existences, it would seem, act in this way. In the material department, it may be, one has to do with the management of the winds and stars and all the inorganic spheres. To another class is given the management of life, vegetable and animal. Thus, too, it may be in the moral realm. “He giveth his angels charge over us”some to instruct the ignorant, some to console the sorrowful, some to strengthen the wavering, some to encourage the feeble and oppressed.
2. Their work is gradual. All the trumpets do not sound at the same time, and from the first to the last numberless ages might intervene. The great Maker and Manager of the universe works out his great plans by what appears to us slow degrees. He is in no haste; he has plenty of time at command. How gradually this earth progressed from chaos to its present condition! How gradually the human race advances in knowledge, in civilization, and in morality! How unlike our method! If we have a work on hand, the more important we deem it, the more impatient we are to realize its accomplishment. The sense of the brevity and uncertainty of life impels us to this haste. But “one day with him is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Does not this teach us to be concerned more with the moral character of our work than with its results? Our question should be, “Is it right?” not, “What will be the issue?” The results will not appear in our time, not for ages on, it may be. A good act is like an acorn dropped into good soil; it will require countless ages fully to develop itself. In the motive is at once the virtue and the reward of all labor. Does it not also teach us to be patient in well doing, to be hoping ever? Our work, if right, is Divine, and if Divine, it cannot fail. “Be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”
III. THE GRAND PURPOSE TO WHICH ALL THE REVOLUTIONS ARE DIRECTED. All the revolutions here referred to have a bearing on the minds of men, breaking the monotony of their sinful condition, rousing their fears, so terrifying them as to make their existence so intolerable that they sought death as a relief. And then it is stated that a new revelation from heaven is given thema “little book” that was to be appropriated. Moreover, it is stated that the grand purpose was the finishing of the “mystery of God.” And what is that mystery but the moral restoration of mankind? It is a glorious thought that all the changes that take place in the universe are for the benefit of soulsthat all is moral discipline. Nature is a grand school in which the great Father makes his children “meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.” “Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.” Evil is not an end. Good is the end, and evil is ever rushing to it like streams and rivers to the ocean world. The evils of this world, like the furious storm that spreads devastation over sea and land, will one day die away in a clear sky and a pure atmosphere, and leave the world all beautiful and blight. (See also the three following homilies.)D.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Rev 8:1. This chapter opens the second grand period of this prophesy; which begins upon the opening of the seventh seal, and is distinguished by the sounding of seven trumpets. This period of the trumpets is of much longer duration, and comprehends many more events than any of the former seals. It comprehends indeed seven periods, distinguished by the sounding of seven trumpets, and contains a prophetic description of the state of the world and church for a considerable space of time after the empire became Christian during the continuance of the empire in the successors of Constantine, ch. Revelation 8-10. It describes the great devastation of the Roman empire by the several nations which broke in upon it, and finally put an end to it: it describes a time of great calamity, a state of new trials: it shews the church what it was to expect in new dangers and opposition after it should be delivered from the persecution of the Heathen Roman Government: and when the Christian religion should have the protection of the laws, and the favour of the emperors, the church would still have great need of caution, watchfulness, patience, and constancy; and there would be still this encouragement to faithfulness and perseverance, that though the opposition in this period of time would be great, yet neither should this prevail against the cause of truth and righteousness. The Christian faith and religion should be preserved, and in the end triumph over this opposition, as it had before over the former opposition from the Heathen emperors of Rome; and thus the general design and use of the prophesy is fully answered, to direct and encourage the constancy of the Christian Church in faith and patience, whatever opposition it may meet with from the world.
There was silence in heaven Most interpreters agree that this silence in heaven for half an hour, is an allusion to the manner of the temple worship; for, while the priest offered incense in the holy place, the whole people prayed without in silence, or privately to themselves, Luk 1:10. On the day of expiation, the whole service was performed by the high-priest; to which particular service Sir Isaac Newton has observed an allusion: “The custom,” says he, “on other days was to take fire from the great altar in a silver censer; but on this day of expiation, for the high-priest to take fire from the great altar in a golden censer: and when he was come down from the great altar, he took incense from one of the priests who brought it to him, and went with it to the golden altar; and while he offered the incense, the peopleprayed without in silence;which is the silence in heaven for half an hour.” It is true, on the day of expiation the high-priest did all the service himself; he used a golden censer, and took his hands full of incense; yet I doubt not but the mention of a golden censer, and much incense, refers to the glory and perfection of the heavenly worship, as well as to the peculiar service of the high-priest. But see the Note on Rev 8:6, for my own opinion on this point.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 8:1 . . In the sense of , [2386] as is not unusual among the Byzantines. [2387]
. The silence in heaven, lasting about [2388] a half-hour, begins at the place where the songs of praise still resound, Rev 7:10 sqq. The voice also of the elder who speaks immediately before the opening of the seventh seal is silent. When the Lamb took the book with the seven seals, the music of the harp and the song of praise resounded in heaven, Rev 5:8 sqq.; also at the opening of the first six seals, it was in many ways audible; [2389] but when the last seal is opened, a profound silence ensues. The reason for this is the anxious expectation of the inhabitants of heaven, who not only after the precedency of the sixth seal must now expect the final decisive catastrophe, but, also, can infer the proximity of that catastrophe from the appearing of the seven angels, and their being furnished with trumpets. The is thus a “silent expectation and contemplation of the seven trumpets,” [2390] and, as an expression of “the stupor of the heavenly beings,” belongs to “the adornment and fitness of the dramatic scene.” [2391] Thus, essentially, Andr., Areth., Par., Vieg., Rib., Aret., Calov., Beng., Ew., De Wette, Stern, Ebrard, all of whom are one on the main point, [2392] that the does not compose the entire contents of the seventh seal, but that rather from this last seal the entire series of trumpet-visions is developed. If this is denied, as by Vitr., and recently by Hengstenb., not only is the organic connection of the visions as a whole rent, since “the group of the seven trumpets” appears immediately beside “the group of the seven seals,” [2393] but results follow with respect to the exposition as a whole, and in its details, that are entirely inadmissible. Hengstenb. interprets the . ., as the silencing of the enemies of Christ and his Church, which corresponds with their mourning, [2394] and is regarded as caused by the punishments of the preceding six seals. And, besides, the , which alone is strong enough to render this mode of statement impossible, is explained away by the remark: “Heaven here comes into consideration only as a theatre (Rev 6:1 , Rev 12:1 ). In reality the silence belongs to the earth”!
Vitr. seeks, in a better way, to meet the demands of the text. He refutes, first, the view according to which it is thought that in Rev 8:1-6 the entire contents of the seventh seal are described, [2395] by the excellent remark that already, in Rev 8:2 , the angels of the trumpets enter, and that Rev 8:2-6 contain in general a certain preparation for Rev 8:7 sqq. But while Vitr. thus properly hesitates to sunder Rev 8:2 sqq. from Rev 8:7 sqq., he separates Rev 8:1 from Rev 8:2 sqq. by finding in Rev 8:1 the contents of the seventh seal, i.e., the complete conclusion of the series of seal-visions, according to their prophetic significance extending until the end of the world, which, in their way, comprise the entire breadth of Apocalyptic prophecy; for from this it necessarily follows that the prophecy begins again with the first trumpet-vision, which runs parallel to the first seal-vision, etc. The . . designates, according to Vitr., “the condition of the most recent period of the Church, in which the Church in the possession of peace, tranquillity, and an abundance of all spiritual blessings, celebrates a triumph over its enemies.” This , therefore, actually lasts a long time, although it appears to John a half-hour, [2396] as Lange with entire consistency says, one thousand years. [2397] The connection with the trumpet-visions lies in the fact that here “the Spirit explains in what way and by what steps God led the Church into that state,” viz., as those trumpet-visions describe: “Evils intended for the punishment of the Roman Empire, the enemy of the Church of Christ, to be terminated in the total destruction of the same empire.” There are two main points characteristic of this mode of conception, which is best advocated by Vitr., in which, however, the distortion is evident; viz., the explanation of the . . , and the statement of the connection with the trumpet-visions. If it is assumed that the seventh seal brings nothing else than that , although as well after the events of the first six seals, as after the interposed ch. 7, a certain fulness of significant contents is to be expected, the question for which neither reasons are assigned, nor to which an answer is in any way given in the context itself, is raised; viz., as to what that “means,” i.e, what historical fact, what state of the world or Church, is typified by that whose allegorical meaning is presupposed. And this question arbitrarily raised can be answered only arbitrarily: the means the sabbath rest of the Church after the plagues of the first six seals, [2398] “the beginning of the eternal rest,” [2399] the thousand-years rest before the final end, [2400] or perhaps, in case the sixth seal be not regarded as extending so far, the rest of the Church under Constantine. [2401] As to what the “means,” expositors of an entirely different class have investigated also when they even with formal correctness acknowledged that not only does the seventh seal contain that , but also the seven trumpets introduce it. Here belong especially the expositors who refer ch. 8 also to the events of the Romano-Judaic war. According to Grot., the ( . . ) is the brief rest of the winds of Rev 7:1 (which are at the four corners of the earth! ). Wetst. explains more minutely: “Since all things now looked to a revolt of the Jews, a brief pause followed by the intervention of Agrippa and the priests.” [2402] Alcas.: “The remarkable forbearance of Christians who silently endured persecution from the Jews.” Against all these arbitrary explanations, we must hold fast simply to the text, which says that at the opening of the seventh seal a profound silence occurred in heaven, where the sealed book was opened, a silence which “signifies” something earthly, as little as the speech and songs heard in heaven at the opening of the preceding seals. But thereby the knowledge is gained that such silence occurs just because of the peculiar contents of this seal. Thereby, besides, the exposition is preserved from the second offence against the context, with which not only Beda but also Ebrard, etc., are chargeable, viz., the idea of a recapitulation in the entire series of trumpet-visions. For what Beda expressly says [2403] is said essentially not only by Vitr., but also, e.g., by Ebrard, when he passes the opinion that in the trumpets, “a retrogression, as it were , is taken,” viz., by the representation “of classes and kinds of judicial punishments which belong only to the godless, [2404] and that, too, not first after or with the sixth seal, but even already before .” In exegetical principle, this exposition stands upon a line with the one of N. de Lyra, who, by the theory of recapitulation, explains that only the conflict of the Church with heretics is portrayed, after [2405] its conflict against tyrants, the heathen oppressors, is stated. Accordingly, the exposition in the trumpet-visions can recur again to the centuries of Church history, from which, on the other side, all sort of facts have already been gathered for ch. 6, in order to show the fulfilment of prophecy. The only apparent occasion which the context gives for the idea that the trumpet-visions recur again before the sixth seal an idea which has led not only to the further statement that the individual trumpets in some way concur with the individual seals, but also to numberless and unlimited attempts to find the fulfilment of the individual trumpet-visions in historical events lies in the fact that the final catastrophe, the extreme end, whose description is to be expected after chs. 6. and 7 in the seventh seal, does not yet, at least immediately, appear. [2406] But the expedient adopted here by many expositors to limit the contents of the seventh seal to Rev 8:1 , and to understand the . . as the eternal rest of the perfected Church, or the eternal silencing of condemned enemies, has been proved to be mistaken. Yet that difficulty is solved by the view, attained already by Ew., Lcke, De Wette, Rinck, [2407] into the skilful, carefully designed plan of the entire book, which here, just from the fact that from the last seal a new series of visions is to proceed, describes the trial of the patience of saints who are regarded as awaiting the day of the Lord; [2408] but at the same time the expectation excited by the events of the first six seals, and increased by the entire ch. 7, as well as by the silence occurring at the opening of the seventh seal, that in this last seal the final completion is to come, in no way deceives, since the full conclusion is actually disclosed in the seventh seal, although only through a long series of visions in whose chain the trumpet-visions themselves form only the first members. [2409]
[2386] See Critical Notes.
[2387] Winer, p. 290.
[2388] ; cf. Joh 1:40 ; Joh 6:19 ; Joh 11:18 ; Mar 5:13 ; Luk 8:2 .
[2389] Rev 6:1 ; Rev 6:3 ; Rev 6:5 ; Rev 6:7 ; Rev 6:9 ; Rev 6:12 .
[2390] C. a Lap.
[2391] Eichh.
[2392] Cf. also Grot., Wetst., Herder, etc., who in other respects deny the reference of the whole.
[2393] Hengstenb.
[2394] Mat 24:30 .
[2395] Braun, Select. Sacr. , 2Ch 1 .
[2396] Cf. Aret., Bengel; the latter of whom reckoned the as about four ordinary days.
[2397] Cf. also Beda, Hofm., etc.
[2398] Beda, Hofm., Christiani.
[2399] Vict., Primas.
[2400] Lange.
[2401] Laun, Brightm.
[2402] Josephus, B. J ., ii. 15, 2.
[2403] “But now he recapitulates from the origin, in order to say the same things in another way.”
[2404] Cf., on the other hand, the general remarks above on ch. 7.
[2405] Up to Rev 6:17 .
[2406] Other reasons, as that asserted by Ebrard: “How could the third part of the sun and moon be darkened (Rev 8:12 ), after they have first lost all their ight” (Rev 6:12 )? from which it would follow that Rev 6:12 actually belongs after Rev 8:12 , may be contradicted directly from their own standpoint. For against such considerations, it may be said: How Son 6:12 speak of the entire moon, when in Rev 8:12 the third of it is already eclipsed?
[2407] Cf. also Beng.
[2408] Cf. Rev 13:10 , Rev 14:12 .
[2409] Cf. Introduction, p.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
B.ERTH-PICTURE OF THE SEVEN PENITENIAL TRUMPETS, ISSUING FROM THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL
Rev 8:1 to Rev 9:21
1. Opening of the Seventh Seal
Rev 8:1-6
1And when he had [om. had] opened the seventh seal, there was [=supervened] silence in [ins. the] heaven about the space of [om. the space of] half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels which [who] stood [stand1] before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 3And another angel came and stood at [or before2] the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with [or add it to3] the prayers of all [ins. the] saints upon the golden altar which was [is] before the throne. 4And the smoke of the incense, which came [om., which came] with [to or for]4 the prayers of the saints, ascended up [om. up] before God out of the angels hand. 5And the angel took the censer, and filled it with [from the] fire of the altar, and cast it [om. it] into [upon] the earth: and there were [supervened] voices, and thunderings [thunders, and voices], and lightnings, and an earthquake. 6And the seven angels which [who] had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to [om. toins. that they might] sound [trumpet].
2. First four Trumpets. Predominant human spiritual Sufferings under the figure of Sufferings in Nature
Rev 8:7-12
7The first angel [om. angel5] sounded [trumpeted], and there followed hail and fire mingled6 with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: [ins. and the third part of the earth was burnt up,]7 and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
8And the second angel sounded [trumpeted], and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life [] died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10And the third angel sounded [trumpeted], and there fell a great star from [ins. the] heaven, burning as it were [om. it were] a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of [ins. The8] waters; 11And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became9 wormwood: and many [ins. of the] men died of [from] the waters, because they were made bitter.
12And the fourth angel sounded [trumpeted], and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; [,] so as [om. so asins. that] the third part of them was [might be] darkened, and the day shone not [might not shine]10 for a [the] third part of it, and the night likewise [in like manner].
3. Last three. Trumpets, Predominant demonic Sufferingsin figures of Nature perverted into Unnaturalness
Rev 8:13 to Rev 9:21
13And I beheld [saw], and [ins. I] heard an angel [eagle11] flying through the midst of heaven [in mid-heaven], saying with a loud [great] voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of [them that dwell upon] the earth by reason of [] the other [remaining] voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which [who] are yet [about] to sound [trumpet]!
Rev 9:1-21
a. Fifth Trumpet. First Woe
Rev 8:1-12.
1And the fifth angel sounded [trumpeted], and I saw a star fall [fallen] from [ins. the] heaven unto [upon] the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless 2 [om. bottomless12] pit [ins. of the abyss]. And he opened the bottomless [om. bottomless] pit [ins. of the abyss]13; and there arose [ascended] a [om. a] smoke out of the pit,14 as the [om. the] smoke of a great furnace; and the sun [ins. was darkened] and the air were darkened [om. were darkened] by reason of [] the smoke of the pit. 3And there came [om. there came] out of the smoke [ins. came forth] locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4And it was commanded [said to, ] them that they should [shall] not hurt [injure] the grass of the earth, neither [nor] any15 green thing, neither [nor] any15 tree; but only those [the] men which [who ()] have not the seal of God in [upon] their [the16] foreheads. 5And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should [shall] be tormented17 five months: and their torment was [is] as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh [it hath stricken] a man. 6And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find18 it; and shall [ins. earnestly] desire to die, and death shall flee [fleeth19] from them.
7And the shapes of the locusts were like unto [om. unto] horses prepared unto battle; and on [upon] their heads were [om. were] as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were [om. were] as the [om. the] faces of men. 8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9And they had breastplates, as it were [ins. iron] breastplates of iron [om. of iron]; and the sound of their wings was as the [a] sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 10And they had [have] tails like unto [om. unto] scorpions, and there were [om. there were] stings [ins.; and] in their tails: and [om.: andins. is] their power20 was [om. was] to hurt [injure] men five months. 11And they had [have] a king over them, which is [om. which is] the angel of the bottomless pit [om. bottomless pitins. abyss], [;] whose [his] name in the [om. the] Hebrew [,] tongue is [om. tongue is] Abaddon, but [; and] in the Greek tongue [om. tongueins. he] hath his [the] name Apollyon. [ins. The] 12one woe is past [hath passed]; and, [om. and,] behold, there come [ins. yet] two woes more hereafter [om. more hereafterins. after these things].
b. Sixth Trumpet. Second Woe
Rev 8:13-13
13 And21 the sixth angel sounded [trumpeted], and I heard a [or one (] voice from the four22 horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14saying to the sixth angel [,] which had [the one having23] the trumpet, Loose the four angels which 15 [that] are bound in [at] the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which [that] were [had been] prepared for an [the] hour, and a [om. a] day, and a [om. a] month, and a [om. a] year, for to [om. for toins. that they should] slay the third part of [ins. the] men. 16And the number of the army [armies] of the horsemen [cavalry24] were [was] two hundred thousand thousand 17 [two myriads of myriads]: and [om. and25] I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that [those who] sat on them, having breastplates of fire [fiery] and of jacinth [hyacinthine], and brimstone [sulphureous]: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued [goeth forth] fire and smoke and brimstone [or sulphur]. 18By these three [ins. plagues26] was [om. wasins. were slain] the third part of [ins. the] men killed [om. killed], by the fire, and by [om. by27] the smoke, and by [om. by27] the 19 brimstone [or sulphur], which issued [went forth] out of their mouths. For their [om. theirins. the] power [ins. of the horses]28 is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were [are] like unto serpents, and [om. and] had [having] heads, and with them [these] they do [om. do] hurt [injure]. 20And the rest of the men [,] which [who] were not killed [slain] by these plagues [,] yet [om. yet] repented not [did not even29 repent] of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils [the demons], and [ins. the] idols of gold, and [ins., of]30 silver, and [ins. of]30 brass, and [ins. of]30 stone, and of30 wood; which neither can [can neither] see, nor hear, nor walk: 21Neither repented they [And they did not31 repent] of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
SYNOPTICAL VIEW
The trumpet calls to war; the trumpet summons the congregation to assemble. Both points are embraced by the vision of the Seven Trumpets; it is the vision of the experiences of the Church as the Church Militant; the vision of her conflict in her spiritual assailments and perils.32 This spiritual conflict of the Church is evident from each individual feature of the vision. The prayers of all the Saints: the third, as a diminution of three, the number of spirit; the opening of the abyss; the horsemen, coming from the great river Euphrates, i. e. from the sphere of Babylon; the slaughter of mankind, effected by their demonic horses; and the impenitence still remaining after all these plagueseverything is indicative of spiritual circumstances.
These spiritual circumstances are, moreover, of such a nature that they can be overcome only by a mighty effort of Heaven itself; by a tension of the heavenly spirits in meditation, prayer and intercession. Hence there is silence in Heaven. Praise seems to grow dumb in Heaven itself. Heaven prays in consideration of the conflicts which are before the Church on earth. The heavenly hour is the decisive hour of the whole crisis; the entire half of this hour is employed in the celestial hallowing of the conflict of the Church Militant.
In the mean time, the seven Angels, with the trumpets which are given them, stand waiting. The other Angel, whose task it is to give a heavenly completeness to the earthly and imperfect prayers of the Saints is, doubtless, in accordance with Rom 8:26, the Spirit of Prayer, in connection with the symbolical intercession of Christ. In this character he approaches the heavenly altar of incense. His instrument is the golden censerthe heavenly purification and measurement of the prayers which ascend to Heaven mingled with pathological turbidity and eccentricity (comp. the of Christ the High Priest, Heb 5:2). The incense given to him is offered upon the golden altar of incense before the Throne, and the smoke of it rises up and completes the imperfect prayers of the Saints before God.
By the retro-active power of this heavenly sacrifice of prayer, the earth is consecrated for her struggle: the Angel pours the fire of the altar, with which he has filled the censer, upon the earth. Then from the heavenly fire of prayer there issue on earth voices and thunders and lightnings and an earthquake: holy ideas and words, holy preachings and alarm-cries, holy illuminations and spiritual judgments, result in holy convulsions of the human world. Thus is set on foot a victorious counteraction against the onsets just beginning. Though seven terrible corruptive and destructive agencies are now, one after another, let loose against the earth, we must remember that the providence of God has encircled them with angelic might; that in Heaven they are transformed into seven grand dispensations; and that they are announced by Trumpets, which summon the Church to the conflictsummon her to resistance, by repentance and by a closer serriment in collectedness of spirit and in the life of Christian fellowship.
First Trumpet-blast
The first Trumpet sounds, and hail, mingled with fire and blood, falls upon the earth. This is, unmistakably, the dispensation of carnal zeal, of sensuous piety, of fanaticism (Luk 9:54), which falls upon the earth, i. e., the churchly form of the Kingdom of God (Psalms 93). The hail, or the icy coldness of mens souls toward true spiritual life, corresponds with the fire of superstitious passions (see Nitzsch, System, p. 39); and the fire is continually more and more mingled with blood, as is demonstrated by the first appearance of fanaticism in sacred history, Genesis 34, and, further, by all kindred records, especially by the superstitious persecutions of heretics in the history of the Church. This unholy fire consumes the third part of the earth, i. e., the Church, or, in a universal sense, legal order; the third part of the trees (Psalms 1), i. e. pious personalities; and more than the third part of the green grass: the entire soul-pasturage of the Christian flock (Psalms 23) is more or less scorched and blasted, being converted partly into hay, partly into ashes.
Second Trumpet-blast
The mountain, which is next introduced, is not a real mountain, but the appearance of a great burning mountain, rushing, like a giant meteor, through the air, as though hurled, by some mighty hand, upon the sea. This, manifestly, is the deceptive semblance of a great Divine ordinance, which, changed by the flames of bigot passion into a self-consuming crater, is inflicted, as a Divine judgment, upon the sea or national life. The third part of the sea is turned to blood by means of religious wars and abominations of all kinds springing from fanatical party spirit. The further consequence is that the third part of the creatures in the sea perish, and the third part of the ships are destroyed. The poisoning of Christian national life by the false fire-mountain destroys a third part of the healthful and gladsome popular life, and a third part of all human intercourse, blessing and prosperity. Whole nations, states and vital branches of the state are, so far as their spiritual existence is concerned, in good part ruined. History affords abundant illustrations of these Apocalyptic words.
Third Trumpet-blast
From Heaven, from the kingdom of spirit, a great star falls, a real spiritual luminary, burning like a torch, i. e., like a great and brilliant world-light. If we contemplate its spiritual fall, we cannot fail to perceive, that it is the personified likeness of false liberty, of the fanaticism of negation, rushing upon us under the semblance of a new enlightenment for the world. For it falls upon the third part of the rivers, i. e. more general spiritual tendencies, or currents, as they are called at present (Isa 8:6; Isa 35:6); it falls also upon the fountains (Pro 25:6), i. e., creatively original minds, whence the currents proceed.
When it is said that the name of the star is called Wormwood, the idea immediately strikes us that it is indeed that embitterment by whichas in the history of Juliana great portion of the heavenly knowledge-life, the enfranchising spiritual reform, is corrupted and transformed from a quietly shining heavenly star into a burning torch that falls from Heaven, and, instead of truly enlightening, poisons the fountains and currents of spiritual life. Thus a third part of the spiritual water of life, in society, culture and literature, is turned into a water of death, a soul-destroying partyism, sedition and sectarianism, inflicting even bodily death upon many men, by mortally embittering them (comp. Heb 3:8; Exo 17:7; Num 14:22; Deu 6:16).
Fourth Trumpet-blast
A third part of the Heaven of spiritual life is closed, and thus the opening of the abyss at the blast of the fifth Trumpet is prepared. The third part of the sun is smitten; i. e., the third part of the sun of revelation is concealed and made of none effect by the united darkness of positive and negative fanaticismsuperstition and unbelief. In like manner the third part of the moon is smitten. Together with the bright day-life of Christian knowledge, the night-life of the spiritual repose and peace of souls is, in a great degree, obscured; the spiritual life of nature, we might say, in accordance with Mar 4:27.
Thus, too, the third part of the stars is smitten; in spite of all the advances of astronomy, the joyous upward gaze of immortal souls into the heavenly home of the eternal Father-house (Joh 14:2) declines with many even to utter extinction. And it is in perfect accordance with the laws of polarity, that, together with the true day-life of the spirit, the true night-life of the heart, especially in the intercourse of spirits, has suffered great loss.
By this great spiritual obscuration of sun, moon and starsan obscuration which, though on the one hand partial, is, on the other hand, lastingpreparation is made for the first of the three great woes. This woe, together with its successors, is heralded by an eagle which John sees and hears, by reason of the rustling of his wings, flying through the lofty midst of Heaven; an eagle proclaiming with a mighty voice a three-fold woe upon the inhabitants of the eartha woe coming with the last three Trumpets. As the horse denotes regular rapid historic motion, so the eagle is indicative of a vehement and mighty movement toward a great catastrophe. This eagle flies along the meridian altitude of Heaven, thus being visible down to the very horizon, besides being able to descry the coming woes with his piercing glance, and to make himself heard by all with his mighty voice. Thus the eagle is indicative of the lofty and rapid flight of the seer-spirit over the earth, with its sharp outlook upon the catastrophes of the last times. It is the very genius of Apocalyptics, the eagle of John. That it does not denote the final judgments themselves (as Hengstenberg maintains), is evident from the fact, that it distinguishes them from itself as the three woful times of the future. In spite of its lofty eagle nature, it seems to suffer in human sympathy with the inhabitants of the earth, upon whom the judgments are coming.
Thus the way is prepared for the
Fifth Trumpet-blast
Again a star falls from Heaven upon the earth, or, rather, it has already fallen when John sees it. If the previous falling star was the genius of all carnal levity, it is followed quite naturally by the genius of demonic gloom, the second Janus-face of the more general spiritual corruptions in Christian and, especially, modern times. This star receives the key to the pit of the abyss. The abyss is, undoubtedly, not equivalent to Sheol, or the realm of the dead, in the general sense of that term; but neither is it the same as Gehenna, in the full sense of that word as identical with the lake of fire. It is the hell-like or demonic region of the realm of disembodied and unembodied spiritsa region of torment, bounded on the one side by the brighter portion of Sheol and on the other by Gehenna (the remarks on p. 30 must be modified by the present comments; see p. 35). [See Excursus on Hades, p. 364 sqq.E. R. C.]
It is declared, Rev 17:8, that the Beast ascends out of the abyss and goes into ; Rev 20:3, Satan is cast into the abyss; after the final revolt, however, he also is cast into the lake of fire, to which the Beast and the false Prophet have previously been banished. In the present passage, mention is made of the same demon-region which, 2Pe 2:4, is, through the medium of a verb, indirectly designated as Tartarus.
The pit of the abyss is manifestly the connecting channel by means of which the region of tormenting demons holds communication with the earth and with human life. It corresponds with the partial closure of Heaven. Not all of Heaven is closed; not all of the abyss is let loose upon the human world, but the connecting channel between earth and the abyss is now, in a mode entirely new, thrown open. As the revelation of Heaven, on its side, extends into the human world of spirit, so it is also with the pit of the abyss: it is opened in the demonic depths of the human psychical life itself through a demonic sympathy with the spirits of the abyss.
The genius of a God-estranged gloom is the star that opens the pit; the key in his hand is hopelessness, the more general form of despair. As the opening of the gloomy demonic death-realm below began with the darkening of the Gospel above, it is not in the modern world alone that a spirit of gloom has pressed into the Christian world. Rather, the origin of the sombre abysmal moods in Christendom is to be found in the land of the cultus of the dead, the cultus of gravesin Egypt. Again, during the whole of the Middle Ages we must distinguish between the monks garb, assumed by all Christian confederations, and the specific spirit of monkery in its dark form. In the course of time the latter has continually been assuming darker and darker forms, until in the modern world it touches its other and worldly extreme.
Substantially, however, the two extremes of gloom amount to about the same thing; they are connected in a decided estrangement from the Gospel, from inwardness, as well as in a fanatical racing and chasing, and in absolute fancifulness, whether in a religious or an irreligious garb.
The first result of the opening of the pit of the abyss is the thick-rising smokespiritual derangement exhibiting itself in a gloomy play of the fancy, darkening more than ever the sun of truth and consciousness and the clear air of prospect and hope. Then locusts break forth out of the smoke;demonic hobgoblin forms, not eating grass, as do locusts, but, like scorpions, stinging men. They have no power over the objective region of genuine spiritual lifeover the grass of the souls pasture, the verdure of new life, the trees of God by the rivers of water; their power is over those men who have not the seal of God on their foreheads. It is, therefore, manifest that good men, awakened men, well-meaning men, in a more general sense, may be exposed to them. Even those men, however, whom they successfully attack, they cannot directly kill; they have power only to torment them five months, i. e., to rob them of spiritual liberty, indicated by the numeral five, through a series of minor changes of time or of the moon. And in those daysthose gloomy days of ancient and, especially, modern despairmen shall seek death and not find it; death shall even seem to flee before them. This does not exclude individual suicides on the extreme of these self-tormentings; in general, however, these gloomy soul-moods are below the level of the feeling of, and pleasure in, life. And what an array of phantoms, or mere semblances full of contradictions, do these tormenting spirits of modern soul-suffering constitute! The description of the text very significantly proclaims them to be nothing but fantastical and airy visions (see p. 22).
The phantasmagoria image forth, as war-horses, strong and passionate moods; they transform themselves into heads, wearing superb and kingly crowns, radiant with the semblance of gold; then they put on a humane face, as of man, and even assume a sentimentally soft deportment, indicated by the hair as of women, whilst yet they bite as though they had lions teeth. But above all, they love to disguise themselves as grand warlike phantoms; they appear in breast-plated war-hosts; their wings thunder like war-chariots charging to the battle; and with their fanciful terrors they change the world of Christian brotherhood more and more into a grand complex of camps. The venomous sting of these locusts is in their tails, which are like the tails of scorpions, the emblems of the evil spirit. Thus, too, the still worse power of the monsters of the sixth Trumpet lies not only in their mouths, but also in their tails. The meaning of this fact is, doubtless, that their effects increase and intensify toward the end; they make themselves felt particularly in the pains and painful consequences of party-trains. Their power is limited, however, and the Seer again brings into view its terminus, five months.
These demons of torment are, moreover, not isolated apparitions; they form a mysterious complex, a unity wherein, on the one hand, their fearful power lies, and, on the other, its limitation is contained. As Hades constitutes a unitous realm of the dead, governed by Death personified; and as the kingdom of evil, as beyond this life, is concentrated in Satan, whose manifest organ in this world is Antichrist, so, in the midst between Hades and the domain of Satan, the Abyss lies; this also is under the rule of a king, called, in Hebrew, Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyonthe destroyer, waster. This king, in accordance with the distinct region and operation belonging to him, is the genius of despair, which must be regarded as specific destituteness of good or salvation, specific destruction. The two names doubtless signify, likewise, that the Hebrew form of his spoiling of souls is different from the Greek form; in the one case, he is wont to appear in the form of demonic possession; in the other, in that of melancholy madness. In view of all this, however, this whole terrible sphere of psychical torments must be clearly distinguished from the ethico-demonic plagues appearing at the sound of the sixth Trumpet.
This one woe passes; but it is the forerunner of two others which are still worse.
Sixth Trumpet-blast
On account of the importance of what follows, this trumpet-blast is supplemented by a voice. The voice issues from the horns of the golden altar. Horns are symbols of protective power; the horns of the altar of incense, therefore, are significant of the perfect security of that spiritual life which proceeds from a life of prayer perfected in Heaven. In this sense the voice cries: Let loose! the Church is armed. Thus Christ Himself says: It must needs be that offences come, but woe, etc. (Mat 18:7; comp. 1Co 11:19). The following treats, doubtless, of offences in the strictest sense of the termtares (see Mat 13:38-39). Loose the four Angels by the great river Euphrates.
With a grand assurance of victory, the vision brings out two fundamental features in the infliction of religious-ethical offences upon the earth. They appear at the start as four bound Angels. As emphatically as they, as offences, belong to the kingdom of darkness and are representative, in respect of the numeral four, of the spirit of the world (like the four beasts of Daniel 7)just so certain is it that they are bound by Gods providence, and are unable prematurely to break forth to destroy His souls, and that, under angelic power, under the power of the four Angels who, according to Revelation 7, hold them bound, they must, as dispensations of God, themselves go forth for judgment, when the time comes, as His messengers. In respect of their inmost essence, they may be representative of four fundamental forms of the Satanic essence and worldliness; they are, however, fundamental forms disguised as angels of light (2Co 11:14; 2 Thessalonians 2). Thus all heresies, at their first appearance, claim to be truths in a higher form of knowledge, and also operate as powerful lies through the admixture of elements of truth. Schleiermacher, perchance, might have found his four ground-forms of heresy symbolized here, had he properly appreciated the Apocalyptic style.
Again, though these offences seek to press forth in their quiet preparedness, they are conditioned by their Divinely ordained time as to hour, day, month and year; as to the hours of decisive conflict, the days of their apparent victory, the moons of their periodic change, and the years of their collective domination. As it is their natural tendency to kill men (Joh 8:44), such is likewise their mission, inasmuch as they are instruments of judgment. Their murders, however, are spiritual murders; they deprive the third part of mankind of their spiritual life and prosperity.
After the portrayal of their peculiar essence, these fundamental forms vanish behind the prodigious train of horsemen forming their concrete appearance. What Brger said of the dead [in the ballad of Lenore] is true also of erring spirits: they ride, and ride fast. One would think that a myriad might have been enough; but as a curse generates a curse, so the erring spirits is productive of more of its kind, even to myriads of myriads. The circumstance that the enormous number is twice given, may have its foundation in the fact that errors are divided into positive and negative ground-forms or extremes.
The concrete numeric form employed by the Seer does not, therefore, gain by its resolution into two hundred millions.
The Seer heard their number and could never forget it in its importance.
In these images of cavalry the horses themselves are the main thing. In Revelation 6 the horses are but the bearers, in symbolical colors, of the acting riders; here, on the contrary, only the horses seem to be actually operative; the riders work merely as weak directors of the movements of their steeds and by their symbolical breastplates and colors. Is the intimation intended that these riders, heretics, are, in many respects, not so bad as their horses, death-breathing heresies? Or is it suggested that the horses ordinarily run away with them; that they speedily lose control over the movements originated by themselves? Possibly both thoughts are intimated. At all events, they all, without exception, are strongly mailed against the darts of truth, of sincerity and soberness of spirit, for fanatics are chips of one block, though not in a predestinarian sense; there is among them a good deal of talent, ambition, ardor and a strong impulse of self-consciousness; but little genius, soul, piety and reverence. The colors of their breast-plates correspond with the fatal operations of their horses. The fire of fanaticism, so prone to be mingled with blood; the smoke of gloomy and confused mental disorders, already resolved into vapor; and the brimstone of still unused fuel floating abouthow could the fundamental forms of false-lightism be more fitly characterized!
Again, the horses have heads as the heads of lions. Their arrogance, their aggressive appearance, assumes the semblance of true lion-heartedness, of genuine leonine strength. It is natural that their fatal operations issue from their mouths, though these may also, in a figurative sense, work by means of the pen. Besides the power in their mouths, they have power in their tails. These tails are still worse than those of the locusts of the fifth Seal; they are not like scorpions, but like serpents, which, after the manner of serpents, do harm with their heads. It is, perhaps, not out of the way to suppose that the Seer designed giving prominence, along with the direct dogmatic injuries, to the pernicious moral effects of offences or false principles; for thus they have a two-fold mortal agencythrough head and tail. It is in the nature of the thing that an inestimable amount of bloodshed follows in the train of spiritual murders.
The Seer finally brings out the melancholy fact with which this cyclical world-picture closes; which is also, be it understood, a characteristic universal picture of the last time. The rest of the men, who were not killed by these plagues, are those who have not, through a fall into heresies, lost all spiritual life. In this respect, therefore, they offer a contrast to the others; yet even they have not suffered themselves to be roused to repentance. They are divided into two ranks, composed of those who are guilty in a religious point of view pre-eminently, and those whose guilt is pre-eminently moralboth ranks, however, being connected.
The principal offence of the one side is, that they are subject to the works of their hands, i. e., thoroughly externalized, sunk in externalisms, of which they do not repent. Demon-worship, a subtile service of devilsthus runs the terrible superscription, beneath which a pompous image-worship is set forthidolatry with figures of gold, of silver, of brass, of stone, and of wood. The absolute irrationality of this idolatry is noticed by the Apocalypse as well as by the Old Testament. These idols can neither see, nor hear, nor walk; they are, therefore, less than the beasts.
On the other side, the chief superscription is that of murdersomething which well corresponds with the service of the Devil; the individual formssorcery, fornication, theftare at all events connected with this fundamental form. Sorcery [Magismus], in its most general import, is the duskiest side of immorality; it has a wide domain, from conscious impieties to ecclesiastical mechanisms. Fornication is a chief sin of heathen grossness under the mask of Christian culture. Theft understands sublimating itself into the most subtile and underhand forms of swindle and fraud.
We would submit the following general observations:
We have seen that the Seven Times Seven which forms the foundation of the Book, stands in a natural sequence. The same remark was applied, in particular, to the seven Churches. Again, if we examine the seven Seals, we cannot fail to recognize the naturalness of their sequence: war, dearth, all sorts of death, especially pestilence, martyrdom, earthquakes. The same remark holds good, furthermore, in regard to the
Trumpets: 1. Fanaticism; 2. A fanaticised community-life; 3. Negative embitterment; 4. Darkening of revelation and of the life of salvation; 5. Penitential demonic psychical sufferings; 6. Demonic mental or spiritual disorders, heresiespreparatory to apostasy.
[ABSTRACT OF VIEWS, ETC.]
By the American Editor
[Elliott regards the Trumpet-septenary as included in the seventh Seal, and also this Septenary as chronologically consecutive on that of the six Seals preceding. The Period of the first six Trumpets (to the close of the First Part of the Sixth, Rev 9:21)33 he regards as extending from A. D. 395 to 1453, including the destruction of the Western Empire by the Goths, and the Eastern Empire by the Saracens and Turks. The half hours silence in Heaven (Rev 8:1) he interprets as the stillness from storms in the aerial firmament; i. e., a continuance, for a brief period, of the calm brought to view, Rev 7:1; by the incense offering he understands the presentation of the prayers of the Sealed before God by Jesus, the great High Priest. The Trumpets he regards as fulfilling the uses of the trumpets under the Levitical law, which uses he represents as two: (1) as regarded the Israelites, to proclaim the epochs of advancing time; (2) during war-time, and as regarded their enemies, to proclaim war against those enemies as from God Himself (Num 10:1-10). The first four Trumpets he, in common with other interpreters, regards as intimately connected together; and he understands by them the four Gothic ravages which ended in the subversion of the Western Empire. He contends that during the period of these ravages the Roman world was, in fact, divided into three parts, viz. the Eastern (Asia Minor, Syria, Arabia, Egypt); the Central (Msia, Greece, Illyricum, Rhtia); the Western (Italy, Gaul, Britain, Spain, Northwestern Africa); and that the third or Western part was destroyed. The first Trumpet (Rev 8:7): (A. D. 400410) the Era of Alaric and Rhadagasius. The second (Rev 8:8-9): (A. D. 429477) the Era of Genseric, to whom was allotted the conquest of the maritime provinces of Africa and the islands. The third (Rev 8:10-11): (A. D. 450453) the Era of Attila who, as a baleful meteor, moved against the Western provinces along the Upper Danube, reached and crossed the Rhine at Basle, and thence tracing the same great frontier stream of the West down to Belgium, made its valley one scene of desolation and woe; thence directing his steps to the European fountains of waters in the Alpine heights and Alpine valleys of Italy. The fourth (Rev 8:2): (about A. D. 476 or 479) the Era of Odoacer, by whom the name and office of Roman Emperor of the West was abolished, and thus of the Roman imperial Sun, that third which appertained to the Western Empire was eclipsed, and shone no more. By the Angel (Eagle) flying through mid-heaven (Rev 8:13), he understands the public forewarnings of coming woe that prevailed throughout the period from the death of Justinian, A. D. 565, to the rise of Mohammed and the Saracensforewarnings in (1) the warning utterances of eminent fathers of the Church (Sulpitius Severus, Martin of Tours, Jerome, Hesychius, Evagrius, Theodoret, and especially Gregory the Great); (2) the generally diffused idea that the end of the world was approaching; (3) the threatening outward state and aspect of things. The fifth Trumpet (Rev 9:1-11): the Saracenic woe beginning with the public announcement by Mohammed of his alleged mission, A. D. 512, and extending through one hundred and fifty years (five prophetic months, Rev 8:5) to A. D. 762, when, in the establishment of Medinat al Salem (City of Peace) as the capital of the Saracenic Empire and the following tranquillity, occurred what Daubuz calls the settlement of the locusts.34 The sixth Trumpet, Part I. (Rev 8:13-13): the Turkish woe, extending from January 18th, A. D. 1057, the day on which the Turcomans went forth from Bagdad on their career of victory, to the day on which the investiture of Constantinople was completed, to May 16th, A. D. 1453 (i.e., 396 years, 118 days=the prophetic year, month and day, Rev 9:15).35
Barnes agrees substantially with Elliott as to the periods of the Trumpets, and the nature of the judgments inflicted under them. He differs in certain points of interpretation, as will be seen under Explanations in Detail.
Wordsworth regards the description of the seventh Seal as closing with Rev 8:1, to be resumed in the glories set forth in chs. 21, 22; and maintains that the Seer then proceeds to portray the Divine judgments, from the beginning, on the enemies of the Church, under the Seven Trumpets. The Trumpets are prefaced by the prayers of the Saints (Rev 8:3-4), in answer to which the judgments are sent forth (Rev 8:5-6). The Trumpets correspond with the woes inflicted upon Egypt (Exo 9:23-26), and to the sevenfold encircling of Jericho (Jos 6:1-20); the first six are preparatory denunciations, warning, calling to repentance, and preparing for the seventh which will convene all nations to the general judgment. The first (Rev 8:7) is a retributive sequel to the second Seal, and represents the woes which fell upon the Roman Empire in the fourth century, when it was smitten by a hail storm from the North (the Gothic invasion). The second (Rev 8:8-9): the uprooting and destruction of Imperial Rome (which had been as a great Volcano) by the Goths, Vandals and Huns. The third (Rev 8:10-11): heretical teachers (represented by the fallen star), who embittered the waters of Holy Scripture. (In the Seals heresy is represented as a trial of the Church; in the Trumpets it is treated as a judgment inflicted on (godless) men for sins.) The fourth (Rev 8:12): a prophecy of the great prevalence of errors, defections, apostasies and confusions in Christendom, such as abounded in the Seventh Century. The fifth (Rev 9:1-11): the Mohammedan (Saracenic and Turkish) woe. The sixth (Rev 8:13-13): This vision has revealed. that the Holy Scriptures (four-fold Gospel), though bound as captives for a time, would be loosed by the command of God, and that they would traverse the world like an innumerable army. And although they are. ministers of salvation unto many, yet the Vision has declared, that the Holy Scriptures would be like instruments of punishment and death to the enemies of God. (!)
Alford regards the seventh Seal as having its completion in Rev 8:5; the preparation for the Trumpets, however, he looks upon as evolved out of the opening of the seventh Seal. The first four he regards as connected together by the kind of exercise which their agency findsthe plagues indicated by them being entirely exercised on natural objects. The fifth and sixth are in like manner connected; the plagues being inflicted on menthe former by pain, the latter by death; the seventh forming rather the solemn conclusion to the whole than a distinct judgment of itself. He affirms (1) that the series of visions reaches forward to the time of the end, and (2) that the infliction of the plagues is general, no particular city nor people being designated as their object. He assigns no date for the beginning of the Trumpets, and leaves us in doubt as to whether he regarded them as in the process of development or still future.
Lord apparently regards the seventh Seal as closing with Rev 8:5; the silence was symbolic of a short period (1) of contemplation, submission and faith amongst Angels and the Redeemed in Heaven, and (2) of quiet on Earththe period of repose intervening between the close of persecution, A. D. 311, and the commencement, near the close of that year, of the civil wars by which Constantine was elevated to the throne; the voices, etc. (Rev 8:5), symbolize the agitations and revolutions which attended the elevation of Constantine and the subversion of Paganism. His interpretation of the Trumpets is substantially that of Elliott and Barnes.
Glasgow36 represents the seventh Seal as comprehending the Trumpets. The period of silence he identifies with the seven and a half days from the Ascension to Pentecost, the smoke of the incense with the Intercession of Christ, the fire thrown on the land with the effusion of the Holy Ghost. The Trumpets he regards as successive: I. The woes ending in the destruction of the Jewish state, one third of the people being destroyed by the Roman army. II. The expatriation of the Jews after the revolt under Barcochba (the mountain burning with the wrath of God cast into the sea of the pagan empire). III. Usurpation of Prelacy. IV. Arianism promoted by Constans and Constantine. V. The Mohammedan woe (Saracens and Turks). VI. The four bound Angels are kings, popes, inquisitors, and councils, previously kept in restraint, but who are now loosed to slay the third part of the men, i. e. true Christiansthe period of persecution beginning A. D. 1123, and extending to the Reformation.E. R. C.]
EXPLANATIONS IN DETAIL
Rev 8:1. Half an hour.The anxious expectancy of the inhabitants of Heaven (Dsterdieck). Classical, but not Biblical: Stupor clitum (Eichhorn. Similar interpretations see in Dsterdieck, p. 299). Vitringa: The whole purport of the seventh Seal is: ecclesia in pace! Similar interpretations see in Dsterdieck, p. 301. Hengstenberg offers a most remarkable interpretation: Silence of Christs enemies (in Heaven!). We regard Dsterdiecks polemic against the idea that there is a recapitulation in this place also, as utterly wrong; especially do we object to his unconditional rejection of Lyras interpretation, viz. that nothing but the Churchs battle against heretics is depicted, though it is true that this explanation would be applicable only to the sixth Trumpet, if heresies proper were alone involved. The fact that there is a difference between a supposed anxiety in Heaven and a readily intelligible tension of spirit and prayerful mood in the same blessed place needs no further exposition. See the Synoptical View.
[For different views of the see Add. Note, p. 201 sq. Bishop Newton (after Philo) calls attention to the fact, that while the sacrifices were made (2Ch 29:25-28), the voices and instruments and trumpets sounded; while the priest went into the Temple to burn incense (Luk 1:10), all were silent, and the people prayed to themselves. (See also 2Ch 29:29). This silence was, so to speak, intensified on the great day of Atonement when, at the offering of the incense and the sacrifice, all save the High Priest withdrew from the Sanctuary (see Lev 16:17; also Kittos Cyc., Articles Atonement [Day of] and Incense). It was said to the souls under the altar in answer to their cries (the cries of their blood for vengeance), that they should rest until the full number of martyrs (or the time of martyrdom) had been completed (Rev 6:9-11). On the completion of the number, or the time (it matters not which, for they would be completed together), the Seer beheld in symbolic vision the offering, by the Great High Priest, of their prayers (doubtless inclusive of the cry of the blood of their sacrifice), together with the incense of His own merits before the Throneit was fitting that during that highest offering every creature sound, even that of praise, should be hushed in Heaven.E. R. C.]
Rev 8:2. And I saw.This scene, depicted in Rev 8:2-6, can have taken place only in the pause of the . Heaven is sunk in prayerful silence; it is also, however, busy preparing to encounter the ill effects of the events which transpire at the blast of the seven Trumpets. According to Ebrard, this scene of preparation takes place after the silence; according to Dsterdieck, the silence ceases with Rev 8:5, since there we read of thunder and voices. (Further on, however, he also makes the end with Rev 8:6.) But these latter are but the general consequences of the sacred fire cast upon the earth.
The seven Angels who stand [Lange: Stood] before God; not who stepped [took their stations] before God (Luther). But neither is the reference to seven Angels who, by preference, stand permanently before God (Dsterdieck; Archangels, De Wette; the seven Spirits, Ewald). They are, undoubtedly, the Angels of the seven Trumpets (Ebrard, Hengstenberg), and the articlethe seven Angelshas reference to the presupposition that these seven stand ready, waiting their Divine commission. With Hengstenberg, the idea of the seven Archangels shifts into that of Angels whose number is modified by that of the Trumpets.
Seven Trumpets.See above. For an archological treatise on the Trumpets, see Hengstenberg, p. 432 sqq. [Eng. Trans., p. 395 sqq.].
Rev 8:3. Another Angel.The other Angel, like the one mentioned in Revelation 7, is to be regarded as a real Angel, says Dsterdieck. The meaning of this is, that the Apocalypse is not to be treated as a symbolical Book in this passage either. Hengstenberg, also, at first regards the Angel here described as occupying merely the position of a carrier, although he subsequently remarks that he is nothing but a symbolical figure. Manifestly, the former view is in opposition to the text. This Angel ministers at the heavenly altar of incense. For it is to such an altar alone that the present passage refers, as Grotius and others maintain; not to an altar of burnt-offering, as is the opinion of Hofmann and Ebrard.
The question might well be asked: What idea should we connect with a heavenly altar of burnt-offering?37 The altar of incense is quite another thing. Comp. Dsterdiecks polemic against Hofmann and Ebrard, p. 305.
The attribute of this Angel is the golden censer; by the heavenly incense, which he burns, the prayers of all the Saints on earth are perfected. This Angel can even pour the holy altar fire upon the earth and waken voices, thunders, lightnings and earthquake. Can an Angel do all this? Such forced literalism should surely not bear the name of historical interpretation. If consistently retained, it would here of necessity lead to the Roman Catholic idea of angelic mediation. The inquiry is historical as to who is elsewhere in Scripture to be regarded as the perfecter of earthly petitions, by heavenly intercession or by the heavenly administration of prayer. The result of such inquiry precludes the possibility of this Angel being taken for any but Christ, in accordance with Bede, Bhmerr, and many others (1Jn 2:1), or the Holy Ghost (Rom 8:26). It might, however, also be maintained, that the heavenly perfecting of human prayers is generally represented by a symbolic angelic form (Grotius: angelus precum ecclesi).
A golden censer.On see the lexicons.
There was given unto him much incense.Much of the spirit of prayer, of heavenly renunciation and heavenly confidence.
[Of what was the incense of the Tabernacle symbolic? In seeking an answer to this question, it should be remembered that it was compounded of the most precious spices, that in its normal condition it was most holy (Exo 30:34-36), but at the same time inefficacious for its peculiar uses until consumed by fire from the altar of burnt-offering; thus consumed, however, it was that without which the High Priest could not enter the Holy of Holies to offer the blood of the Atonement (Lev 16:12-14), and with which every morning and evening was sanctified (Exo 30:7-9). What can it symbolize but the excellencies of the God-man, most holy in their normal condition, but made effluent and efficacious for atonement and sanctification only by fire from the Altar of Sacrifice?E. R. C.]
That he should add it to the prayers. has been differently interpreted to mean: as the prayers; in the prayers; or among them. The attempt has also been made by emendations and constructions to improve the simple sense, that this incense was intended for the prayers of the saints, that is, for their heavenly supplementation and perfection (Vitr., Calov. and others).
Upon the golden altar.This, according to Ebrard, is the altar of incense, whilst, on the other hand, the altar mentioned elsewhere, in Rev 8:3; Rev 8:5, is an altar of burnt-offering. The altar of burnt-offering in Rev 6:9 should not be cited in support of this view, for that is to be found, in a symbolical sense, on earth. If, however, this description of a golden altar before the Throne be applied to the idea of the Temple, the golden altar is the Ark of the Covenant, Rev 11:19. The Ark of the Covenant was really an altar, and that the third and holiest; it was also golden. According to Lev 16:12a passage misconstrued by Ebrard, p. 281; see in opposition to him Dsterdieck, p. 305the offering of incense was, on the great Day of Atonement, made over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of holies.38
Rev 8:4. And the smoke. ascended.Ebrard: The prayers of the Saints had ascended long before this; but had hitherto not been heard. This relation between earthly prayers and heavenly intercessions, or perfectings, cannot possibly, however, be thus parted into separate times.39 The human prayers are, as it were, swallowed up by the smoke of the heavenly incense, whose attributive destination is to the prayers of the Saints; in this form, the smoke rises before Godlocally speaking, this can mean only: over the Ark of the Covenant. Thus is the perfect acceptability of the prayers expressed. Their acceptance and answering is also, however, symbolically Bet forth.
Rev 8:5. And the Angel took the censer.He fills it with fire from the altar of incense, and casts the fire upon the earth. Thus, rightly, Dsterdieck. Ebrard, on the other hand, is of opinion, that he must have taken the fire from the altar of burnt-offering, and then have set the censer down upon the altar of incense. Hence the fire, he thinks, is indicative of the flame in which the martyrs were burned, and is to be regarded as a fire of judgment. It is not to be wondered at that Hengstenberg even here finds a close connection between the fire of prayer and the fire of zeal which shall consume the adversaries. According to him, the silence in Heaven itself is but a silence of the annihilated enemies of God upon earth (p. 424 [Eng. Trans., p. 392 sq.]). Here, however, we have to do with the heavenly fire of Divine providence, which, having perfected the prayers, is now become a fire of saving grace. By its being cast upon the earth, the earth is rendered capable of bearing the judgments now following; by no means, however, are these voices, thunders, lightnings and earthquake significant of the judgments themselves. Comp. the voices, Mat 3:17; Mat 17:5; the thunder, Joh 12:29; the earthquake, Mat 28:2; Act 4:31; Act 16:26.
[The fire with which the incense was ignited was taken from the altar of burnt-offering (Lev 16:12); it is probable, however, that the coals cast upon the earth were taken from the golden altar, where the incense had been consumed: the fire of sacrifice which made effluent the virtues of Christ for the blessing of His people is poured back on earth for vengeance.40 The following explanation is suggested in Kittos Cyc. (Art. Incense), which is worthy of consideration: A silver shovel was first filled with live coals (at the altar of burnt-offering), and afterwards emptied into a golden one, smaller than the former, so that some of the coals were spilled (Mishna, Tamid, v. 5, Yoma, iv. 4). It is possible that this Temple custom may have been reproduced in the vision; the preceding explanation, however, seems the more probable.E. R. C.]
Hengstenberg regards the earthquake as the presage of imminent great revolutions. But, be it observed, the earthquake was induced by fire from Heaven, which can here properly be said only of reformations. [?]
For general observations on the first four Trumpets, see Dsterdieck, p. 308.
Rev 8:6-7
FIRST TRUMPET
Rev 8:7. Hail and fire, mingled with blood.Comp. Exo 9:24; Joe 2:30. Dst.: To explain allegorically all that John now sees, i. e. to assume that the Apocalypse is a symbolico-allegorical Book,[is an undertaking, which, there being no ground for it whatever in the text, can lead to nothing but arbitrary guesswork.].41 By sticking to the letter of the text, on the other hand, we arrive at the conclusion, that the third part of the earth (the surface of the earth, with all that is thereon) is burnt up, and, still more, the third part of the trees and all the grass upon the whole earth. All the abortive interpretations in the world cannot make us abandon our conviction that the Apocalypse has an allegorical meaning.42
Dsterdieck cites Bede: Pna gehenn Grotius: Judorum obduratio and iracundia sanguinaria (not bad!); Wetstein: Arma civilia, etc., p. 310. Sander, better than many others, interprets the figure as significant of the fire of false devotion, joined with bloodshed, placing the same, however, in the definite period of the time succeeding Constantine. The Kreuzritter thinks the migration of nations is referred to. Paulus believes that a great scarcity and famine is intended (the soil and vegetation being particularly involved in the dispensation). Grtner thinks there is a reference to Arianism.
[By this Trumpet, Elliott and Barnes understand the desolation of the Western Empire by the Goths under Alaric and Rhadagasius (see p. 201; where also Elliotts exposition of the third part may be found). These commentators regard their hypothesis as confirmed by the fact, that the nature of one of the elements of the plague (hail) indicates it as coming from the North, and the further fact that it was upon the land indicates that it was to fall on the continental provinces. Both these conditions were fulfilled in the invasion contemplated. Bishop Newton, who previously presented this view, farther supports it by the following extract from Philostorgius, a historian who wrote in this period: The sword of the barbarians destroyed the greatest multitude of men; and among other calamities, dry heats with flashes of flame and whirlwinds of fire occasioned various and intolerable terrors; yea, and hail greater than could be held in a mans hand fell down in several places, weighing as much as eight pounds (Hist. Ecc. l. 2. Revelation 7). He also quotes from Claudian, who, in his poem on this very war, (De Bello Getico, 8:173), compares the invaders to a storm of hail.E. R. C.]
Rev 8:8-9
SECOND TRUMPET
See Jer 51:25; Exo 7:20.
The text, remarks Dsterdieck, contains nothing of an allegorical nature. And this though the literal apprehension admits of positively no well-founded conception. The above-cited commentator quotes, in illustration of the allegorical interpretation, Bede: Diabolus, etc., in mare sculi missus est; Grotius: The mountain is the arx Antonia in Jerusalem; Hengstenberg, who, he says, entertains, in general, the view, that all the Trumpet-visions except the last are representative of the same thing, viz. war; Ebrard: The volcanic, Titanic energy of egoism, etc. Ebrard likewise supposes that the mountain is a volcano (like the Throne of God, Revelation 4.), which, by reason of its inward raging violence, plunges into the sea ( is subversive of this view). Dsterdieck believes the to be indicative of the fact, that only a mass of fire resembling a great mountain is intended. But since the mountain is always significant of a fixed and permanent order of things, merely denotes that this mountain lacks the reality of the spiritual mountain-nature. The same truth is involved in the fact, that the mountain is on fire, and that hence, to counteract its conflagration, it is thrown into the sea. Christian history is acquainted with many such burning mountains, which, by reason of fanaticism, have incurred judgmentbeginning with the destruction of Jerusalem, the fall of Judaism, the casting of which into the sea of nations resulted in a considerable empoisonment of national life. Similarly, not only have states subsequently fallenas, for instance, the Eastern Roman Empirebut also a series of dynasties, being become a prey to fanaticism, have been hurled from their proud eminence.
Sander holds that the Arian controversies are here predicted. The Kreuzritter regards the passage as expressive of the maritime supremacy of the Roman Empire; while Grtner maintains that the erroneous doctrines of the Orient, and Islam, etc., are denoted. In short, every variety of arbitrary interpretation attaches to the passage. [For other views, see on p. 201 sqq.E. R. C.]43
Rev 8:10-11
THIRD TRUMPET
Rev 8:10. There fell a great star from the Heaven.The literal apprehension brings with it such queries as these: whether the star itself were devoted to perdition, or whether perdition consisted but in the falling of the star; how one star could fall upon so many streams and springs; and how it is that wormwood, which is not a deadly poison, can here have such bitter effects. Dsterdieck remarks, propos of the last question, that natural wormwood is not meant here, immediately breaking out again into a polemic against allegorizing expositors, i. e., expositors of allegories.
We cannot deny that the most aimless and arbitrary play of interpretation again meets us at this passage. Pelagius, Arius (H. W. Rinck thinks Arius is here intendeda view which is also held by Renan, Strauss, Schenkel and their associates), Romulus Augustulus and Gregory the Great file past us in accordance with more ancient conceptions of the great star, whilst the synchrono-historical interpretation advances the Jewish fanatic Eleazar (Dsterdieck, p. 313). According to Ebrard, the star is, as it were, the natural spirit of bitterness, the power of bitterness or embitterment, sent down by God in visible concentration, so to speak, as a judgment upon the earth. Sander construes the star as false asceticism, monkish morality, constantly developing after Constantines time. According to Paulus, apostasy is intended. According to Grtner, the adulterations of doctrine by the Romish bishops and priests (thus the Kreuzritter).
Even the external form of the star has been the subject of a superfluity of conflicting conjectures: it has been represented as a shooting-star of great magnitude (Zlling, Ewald); a comet (Wetstein); a great star in the literal sense of the words (Dsterdieck). On the import of the star see Dan 12:3; Judges 13. On the fountains see Pro 13:14; Pro 14:27; Pro 18:4; Pro 25:26. On the rivers see 2Ki 5:12; Isa 8:6; Eze 47:1. [See also pp. 201 sq.E. R. C.]44
Rev 8:12
FOURTH TRUMPET
The third part of the sun.It is necessary here to lay special stress upon the fact, that in treating of the Trumpets we have to do with spiritual affairsnot with natural phenomena. It is, therefore, somewhat superfluous to ask whether a natural percussio of the sun (after the Rabbins) or a supernatural one (in accordance with Wolf) be meant; whether a temporal third of the luminary (in accordance with Ebrard) or a local third (in accordance with Dsterdieck) be intended.
These ideas, since they have no symbolic significance, are not to be pressed; the idea, however, that the third part of the brightness of the luminary is smitten or done away with (according to Bengel, Bhmer and others) is, as we think, the true one. This is to be understood, in the first place, as touching the effect of the luminary, and it must be limited to its general effect in time; it should not be taken as an effect prejudicial to every individual Christian. Thus, when the third part of the sunshine is extinguished, this fact corresponds with the loss of the third part of the capacity of the human spiritual vision for taking in the sunlightthe third part of mans love and kinship to spiritual sunlight. The thing meant is a more general obscuration of the light of revelation; an obscuration conditioned upon human guilt and modified by a fraction of the numeral of spirit. But as amid this obscuration there are those for whom all three thirds of the sun are smittenmen walking in the darkness of nightso, on the other hand, there are those who have the full light of the firmament. The censure which De Wette and Dsterdieck cast upon the Seer as having unnaturally followed out the uniformity existing between the third of the luminary and the third of the day or night-time, rests only upon a prejudice in favor of the sensuous conception of the passage, i. e., upon a failure to recognize its symbolicalness. Ebrard qualifies his interpretation of the third as a temporal third with the remark: This is conceivable in the vision; scarcely so in reality. Here also therefore, the vision must contain a prophetic symbol. He adds: Hengstenberg is, as usual, ready with his allegorical application of the vision to anxious and gloomy times of war. Vitringa, by the sun, apprehended the Roman Emperor; by the moon, the Patriarchs [ecclesiastical]; by the stars, the bishops; by the whole vision, Arianism, together with the migration of nations, etc. Other interpretations see noted in Dsterdieck, p. Rev 314: The troubling of the Church by false brethren, heresy, Islam, political disorders, Goths and Vandals, etc. Sander justly remarks: No positive operation of hostile powers, no distinct and single perverted tendency is here spoken of; it is something purely negativea suppression of light, a recession of truth, subsequent to the operation of the three perverted tendencies already mentioned [first three Trumpets]. He thinks this condition belongs to the time of the Middle Ages. The Kreuzritter makes this Trumpet refer to the operations of Mohammedanism. Grtner finds the Beast from the abyss here indicatedthe sovereignty of the people, which is to set up a false religion. Grber interprets the obscuration as significant of the stoppage of the machine of state, the disturbance of magistratic affairs. The reverse of this dismal darkening see in Isa 30:26. The opposite of the latter idea see in Isa 24:23, and again in Isa 13:10. On the symbolism of the sun, Mal 4:2. For the figure of the moon, Gen 37:9 may not be without significance. Feminine nature, natural life, nocturnal consciousness: kindred ideas. The Kreuzritter applies the darkening of the moon to the darkening of natural wisdom, science, civilization and culture, by Mohammedanism. Dsterdieck thinks the first four Trumpets have reference to cosmical foretokens of the end of the world, in accordance with Mat 24:29. [See also pp. 201 sq.E. R. C.]45
Rev 8:13
[ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE THREE WOES]
Rev 8:13. An eagle.De Wette: An angel in the form of an eagle. (Thus other commentators.) There is no need arbitrarily to augment the symbolical angelic forms. According to De Wette, here, as in Rev 14:6, means through the midst of Heaven. But the passage cited forms part of a Heaven-scene, whilst the one which we are now examining occurs in the midst of an Earth-scene. Dsterdieck rejects the opinion set forth by Ewald in his first Comm., viz., that the middle space betwixt the vault of Heaven and the Earth is intended, but seems to think that his [Dsterdiecks] own explanationthrough the meridian altitude of Heavenis identical with that of De Wette. (Of course, Dsterdiecks interpretation must be taken approximatively, the zenith being only a point, affording no space for the flight of an eagle.) [De Wette, it would seem, uses the term Heaven in the sense of the place of Gods visible presence, whilst Dsterdieck employs the word as significant of the firmament above us.Tr.]
The Three Woes have reference to the subsequent three Trumpets; they are, therefore, entirely new calamities, exceeding the former ones. They come as visitations upon the human race; they are woes in the strict sense of the term, howeveras bringing destructiononly to the earthly-minded dwellers upon the Earth.
Interpretations: Ebrard: The world has become a putrefying carcase; the eagle of judgment flies along, croaking (?) his thrice-uttered . Referring to Mat 24:28. (Similarly Herder, Bhmer, Volkmar.)
Hengstenberg: The eagle here forms a contrast to the dove, Joh 1:32. Whether the , woe, is intended to recall the croaking of the raven, as Hofmann supposes, we will not undertake to decide.
According to Joachim, the eagle is Gregory the Great. The same, then, who, according to another, was represented by the falling stars.
De Lyra applied the eagle to John; it is certain that it is Johannean, as a symbol of Apocalyptic prophecy. (Similarly the Kreuzritter, p. 430.) [See also on pp. 201 sq.E. R. C.]
Footnotes:
[1]Rev 8:2. [For the use of the perf. and plup. of as an intransitive present and imp., see Grammars and Lexicons generallyE. R. C.]
[2]Rev 8:3. [ with the genitive; see Text. and Gram, on Rev 7:15 (Note 12). Lange explains: bending over; Alford translates: over.E. R. C.]
[3]Rev 8:3. [This alternative translation of is adopted from the margin of the E. V. For this, or an equivalent, sense of see Robinsons Lex. (d). For a full discussion of this phrase, see Dr. Lillies Notes.E. R. C.]
[4]Ver.4. [See Winer, 31, 6. c.; Lillie explains: Incense belonging to, designed for the case here answering to with the latter of two nouns in construction.See also Expl. in Detail in loc.E. R. C.]
[5]Rev 8:7. [All the recent editors, with . A. B*. P., etc., omit .E. R. C.]
[6]Rev 8:7. [Tisch. (8th Ed.), with . P., gives ; Lach., Alf., Treg. (and Tisch., 1859), with A. B*., E. R. C.]
[7]Rev 8:7. , omitted by the Rec. in acc. with minuscules. [Given by . A. B*. P., etc.E. R. C.]
[8]Rev 8:10. ; comp. Delitzsch, p. 32. [So all the recent editors with . B*. P. This entire clause (after rivers) is om. by.E. R. C.]
[9]Rev 8:11. [The Rec. gives in ace. with minuscules.
[10]Rev 8:12. [Alf., Treg. and Tisch., with . A., give E. R. C.]
[11]Rev 8:13. [The reading has the best Codd. against it; for particulars see Dst. [Alf., Treg., and Tisch., with A B*., give ; P., however, reads .E. R. C.]
[12] Rev 9:1. [The translation bottomless cit is altogether without justification. By it, an important fact of revelation is concealed from the readers of the E. V. (see Excursus on Hades, p. 364 sqq.)E. R. C.].
[13]Rev 9:2. [The words are groundlessly assailed. [All the recent editors give these words with A. P., Vulg. (Cl., Fuld., Harl., 2 Tol.2); they are om. by . B*., Vulg. (Am., Harl., Tol.), etc.E. R. C.]
[14]Rev 9:2. [Some Codd. omit []. [These words are om. by 1, 35, 41, 87 (see Tischendorf).E. R. C.]
[15]Rev 9:4. [For this rendering of see Winer, 26,1, first par. (The is here connected with the verb, the being a mere continuance of the negation.)E. R. C.]
[16]Rev 9:4. Tisch. [1859] gives . [Tisch. (8th Ed.) and Treg. omit with . A. P., Am., Hart.* etc.; C. d. B*. gives it; Alford brackets.E. R. C.]
[17]Rev 9:5. [Lach, Words., Alf., Treg., Tisch., give with . A. P., etc. Lange reads with B*.E. R. C.]
[18]Rev 8:6. [ , Cod. A. [P], etc. [So Lach. and Tisch. (1859); Tisch. (8th Ed.), Alf., Treg., give with . B*.E. R. C.]
[19]Rev 9:6. [The reading . [So Alf., Treg., Tisch., with A. P.; reads and B*. .E. R. C.]
[20]Rev 9:10. [The reading of Lach, and Tisch. after Bengel. [Also of Words., Alf., Treg., , ; . A. B*. P. give after and omit it after the first ; . A. P. have ; B*. reads ; B*. inserts before , which is omitted by . A. P. There are other minor variations of less authority.E. R. C.]
[21]Rev 9:13. [. omits ; B*. not only omits in this place, but inserts before in preceding verse; in acc. with this, the correct pointing would be a period after woes, the translation running, And after these things, the sixth Angel, etc.E. R. C.]
[22]Rev 9:13. [ was omitted probably because it was regarded as superfluous; Dst, suspects it of being an interpolation. [Lach., Treg., omit with .c A. 28, 79, Am., Fuld., etc. Tisch. inserts with B*. P., etc.; Alford brackets.E. R. C.]
[23]Rev 9:14. [A. B. [. P.], etc., ; comp. Delitzsch. with ref. to Tisch., p. 33, also p. 32 (No. 10).
[24]Rev 9:16. [Codd. A. B. [ P.], etc., .
[25]Rev 9:16. [ is generally om. in acc. with . A. B*. P., etc.E. R. C.]
[26]Rev 9:18. [Recent editors generally insert , with . A. B. C. P., etc.; C. omits , and . omits .E. R. C.]
[27]Rev 9:18. [The before is given by C. P., Vulg. (Cl.) and om. by . A. B*., Vulg., Am., Fuld,, etc.; that before is given by P., and om. by . A. B*. C. Vulg, etc.; critical editors generally omit both.E. R. C.]
[28]Rev 9:19. [Lach., Alf., Treg., Tisch., with . A. B*. C. P., Vulg., etc., give ; Words, also .E. R. C.]
[29]Rev 9:20. [Tisch. and Alf. give with . B*.; Lach. and Treg., with A. P.; Gb., Sz, Tisch. (1859), with C. For the rendering above (), see Winer, 55, 6 (foot-note 2).E. R. C.]
[30]Rev 9:20. [The repetition, if not required in order to prevent ambiguity, is the most convenient compensation for the omission of the article. Dr. Lillie.E, R. C.]
[31]Rev 9:21. The reading [ ].
[32][See Additional Note, p. 212 sqq., on this statement, and on the entire Synoptical View.E. R. C.]
[33][Elliott regards the Second Part of the Sixth Trumpet as extending through Rev 11:13.E. R. C.]
[34][To Daubuz, according to Elliott, is due the above explanation of the one hundred and fifty years.E. R. C.]
[35][For particulars, see Explanations in DetailE. R. C.]
[36] (The Apocalypse Translated and Expounded: James Glasgow, D.D., Irish Gen. Ass. Prof, of Oriental Languages, etc. Edinburgh: 1872.) The Am. Ed. regrets that the above-mentioned valuable Commentary was not received in the United States until after a large portion of this work was in print. He subjoins an abstract of Dr. Glasgows scheme of the Seals. They were all synchronous as to their opening: I. Christ; II. Apostate Judaism; III. Greek and Roman Paganism; IV. Gnosticism; V. Martyrs of the old Economy; VI. General Commotion; the sun (the Church) was darkened at the death of Christ, the moon (the political government of the Jews) suffered a total eclipse, from which it never emerged, the stars (the rulers of the Synagogue) lost their light, the heaven (the Jewish Church) passed away, the mountains and islands (the provincial governors in Judea and those whom they represented) fell, kings and magnates (the nations they represented) were oppressed with the idea that they were exposed to the wrath of God (Revelation 7. is not a description of any prophetic times or successive events, but of the condition of the Lords people worshipping, serving and blessed). VII. As above.
[The patent objections to this scheme are, first, that in fact it places the events of the sixth and seventh Seals before the others; and, secondly, that it reveals to John as things to be hereafter (Rev 4:1) events that had taken place in connection with the Crucifixion, the Ascension and the Pentecostal Effusion of the Spirit.E. R. C.]
[37][See foot-note on p. 175 (first column).E. R. C.]
[38]The American Editor is unable to find the slightest foundation for the assertion, that the Ark of the Covenant was an Altar. Most certainly it is not implied in Rev 11:19; and the offering of Lev 16:13 was before the Lord, and consequently before the Ark, which supported the Mercy-seat. That, in the second reference, the ascending cloud of incense covered both the Mercy-seat and the Ark, most certainly does not imply that the offering was made either upon or over the latter; and also, manifestly, if it implies this in the case of the latter, it must also in that of the former, and so the reference proves not only that the Ark, but that the Mercy-seat was an Altar! It is inconceivable that the Ark should, in the Divine intent, have been an Altar without any distinct declaration of the fact in the Pentateuch; and not only so, but the supposition is inconsistent with the ideas manifestly attached to both the Ark and the Altar. The former, containing the moral law, was the foundation of the Divine Throne; the latter was the platform of human service.E. R. C.
[39]Is it not absolutely necessary for us to hypothesize a certain kind of separation? The prayers of saints are always acceptable to God, and are always accepted by Him, through the merits of Christ; but, though accepted, they are not always efficacious for the immediate procurement of the results asked for, even where the bestowment of those results is in the Divine purpose. For ages the entire Church Militant upon the earth have, day by day, offered the prayer for the complete establishment of the Kingdom of Righteousness, and yet the bestowment of the object of that prayer has been deferred (comp. Rev 6:10-11). These prayers have, in a sense, so to speak, been gathered up by Jesus, and in due time they will be urged before the Throne with the incense of His intercession, and the answer will be bestowed.E. R. C.
[40]Barnes is of opinion that, by casting the censer upon the earth, it is designed to show that, notwithstanding the prayer that would be offered, great and fearful calamities would come upon the earth, as if the prayers were not heard any longer, or as if prayer were now in vain.E. R. C.
[41]The portion within the brackets is supplied from Dsterdieck, Lange having ended the quotation with an etc. before his own comment.E. R. C.
[42]The question is not whether the Apocalypse has an allegorical meaningthat is admitted by allbut as to whether everything in it is always allegorical, or rather mediately symbolical. This, it would seem, our Author himself does not always claim; for he admits, and must admit, that sometimes when Heaven and Earth and Angels are mentioned, the real Heaven and Earth and real Angels are intended, and that always when God is spoken of, the Divine Being is designated. Indeed, it seem scarcely possible to construct an allegory in which some portion of the figures will not be natural; and most certainly the union of the Natural with the Symbolic appears everywhere else throughout the prophetic Scriptures. The following examples are taken from an excellent article on this subject by Elliott (Hor. Apoc. Vol. I., p. 357 sqq.): Eze 27:26. In this passage Tyre is symbolized as a ship, and Nebuchadnezzar as the destroying wind that shipwrecked it; yet the chorographic phrase: in the midst of the seas, designates the literal locality of the situation of Tyre, and the East, that of the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar with respect to it. Psa 80:8; Psa 80:11 : Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. It sent out its boughs unto the sea, and its branches unto the river. Here, though the vine is symbolic, yet the Egypt, sea (Mediterranean), and river (Euphrates) are all notoriously literal. See also Eze 32:2-16; Jer 3:6; Isa 57:5, etc.E. R. C.
[43]Elliott and Barnes suppose that this plague relates to the ravages of the Vandals under Genseric. The latter thus writes: The symbol of a blazing or burning mountain, torn from its foundation and precipitated into the ocean, would well represent this mighty nation moved from its ancient seat and borne along toward the maritime parts of the Empire. The former confines the conquest to the maritime province of Africa and the islandsall, in short, that belonged to the Western Empire in the Mediterranean. Both refer largely to Gibbon and other historians to show that the Vandals were principally a naval power, and that their ravages were confined to the maritime provinces and islands of the Mediterranean, and to the destruction of the fleets of the Empire, two of which were completely destroyed.E. R. C.
[44][Barnes and Elliott, (and historical interpreters generally) understand by the events under this Trumpet the ravages of the Huns under Attila. A brief abstract of the views of the former was presented on p. 201. The latter writes: It is not a lurid meteor (lurid, pale, ghostly) that is here referred to, but a bright, intense, blazing staremblem of fiery energy, of rapidity of movement and execution, of splendor of appearancesuch as a chieftain of high endowments, of impetuousness of character, and of richness of apparel, would be. In all languages, probably, a meteor flaming through the sky has been an emblem of some splendid genius causing or threatening desolation and ruin; of a warrior who has moved along in a brilliant but destructive path over the world, and who has been regarded as sent to execute the vengeance of Heaven. All these points he finds realized in Attila, whose common appellation is the Scourge of God. He finds a further confirmation of his view in the facts that (1) the principal operations of Attila were in the region of the Alps (the fountains of waters) and on the portions of the Empire whence the rivers flow down into Italy; (2) at least a third part of the Empire was invaded and desolated by him; (3) the meteor seemed to be absorbed in the waters: their power (the Huns) seemed to be concentrated under Attila; he alone appeared as the leader of this formidable host; and when ho died, all (their) concentrated power was dissipated. (A full detail of the career of Attila may be found in Gibbon, chs. 34, 35.)E. R. C.]
[45] [Barnes and Elliott refer this prophecy to the Era of Odoacer, by whom the name and office of the Roman Emperor of the West were abolished. In support of this view, Barnes thus writes: Of the effect of the reign of Odoacer, Mr. Gibbon remarks: In the division and decline of the empire, the tributary harvests of Egypt and Africa were withdrawn; the numbers of the inhabitants continually decreased with the means of subsistence; and the country was exhausted by the irretrievable losses of war, famine and pestilence. St. Ambrose has deplored the ruin of a populous district, which had been once adorned with the flourishing cities of Bologna, Modena, Regium and Placentia. Pope Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer; and he affirms, with strong exaggeration, that in milia, Tuscany, and the adjacent provinces, the human species was almost extirpated. One third of those ample estates, to which the ruin of Italy is originally imputed, was extorted for the use of the conquerors (Rev 36.). Yet the light was not wholly extinct. It was a third part of it which was put out; and it was still true that some of the forms of the ancient constitution were observedthat the light still lingered before it wholly passed away. In the language of another (Elliott, Hor. Apoc., Vol. 1., p. 383 sqq.), The authority of the Roman name had not yet entirely ceased. The Senate of Rome continued to assemble as usual. The consuls were appointed yearlyone by the Eastern Emperor, one by Italy and Rome. Odoacer himself governed Italy under a title (that of Patrician), conferred on him by the Eastern Emperor. There was still a certain, though often faint, recognition of the supreme imperial authority. The moon and the stars might seem still to shine in the West, with a dim, reflected light. In the course of the events, however, which rapidly followed in the next half century, these too were extinguished. After above a century and a half of calamities unexampled almost, as Dr. Robertson most truly represents it, in the History of Nations, the statement of Jeromea statement couched under the very Apocalyptic figure of the text, but prematurely pronounced on the first taking of Rome by Alaricmight be considered at length accomplished: Clarissimum terrarum lumen extinctum estThe worlds glorious sun has been extinguished; or, as the modern poet (Byron, childe Harold, Canto IV.) has expressed it, still under the Apocalyptic imagery:
She saw her glories star by star expire, till not even one star remained to glimmer in the vacant and dark night. The passage from Robertson (Charles V. pp. 11, 12) is: If a man were called on to fix upon a period in the history of the world during which the history of the human race was the most calamitous, he would without hesitation name that which elapsed from the death of Theodosius to the establishment of the Lombards in Italy.E. R. C.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
We have here, the Opening of the seventh Seal. To this succeeds the seven Angels coming forward with their seven Trumpets. An Angel is seen at the Altar of Incense. Four of the Angels in succession sound their Trumpets. Great Plagues follow.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. (2) And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
I pause at the very entrance on this Chapter, to observe, that the silence which is said to have been in heaven, by the space of half an hour, at the opening of the seventh seal, is not to be supposed, (indeed it cannot be supposed,) as if there was any pause in the presence of God and the Lamb in heaven. This would not correspond with all the other accounts in scripture, which are given of that blessed place. We are told that the glorious multitude, cease not night nor day, praising God and the Lamb, Rev 4:8 . But it is spoken rather of the Church, which is sometimes, and not unfrequently called heaven, and the heavenly Jerusalem coming down from heaven, Heb 12:22 ; Rev 21:2 . And the silence of half an hour, seems only to have been a short prelude while the Angels were preparing to sound their trumpets, and the Angel at the altar offered incense.
The period of the history of the Church, which appears to correspond to this vision, according to the best calculations, seems to have been towards the close of the reign of Constantine. The Empire was become Christian in profession, and, as such, might be said to have peace from Paganism, and this is perhaps represented by silence for half an hour. But this was only a calm, before a tremendous storm. For, as soon as the Angels began to sound their trumpets, the awful persecutions, which arose from intestine wars, and springing out of damnable errors in doctrine, brought greater evils, than all the opposition from heathens.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 8:1
Mr. A. C. Benson writes: ‘I think that there are few verses of the Bible that give one a more sudden and startling thrill than the verse at the beginning of the eighth chapter of the Revelation. “And when he had opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” The very simplicity of the words, the homely note of specified time, is in itself deeply impressive. But further, it gives the dim sense of some awful and unseen preparation going forward, a period allowed in which those that stood by, august and majestic as they were, should collect their courage, should make themselves ready with bated breath for some dire pageant.’
References. VIII. 1. W. F. Shaw, Sermon Sketches for the Christian Year, p. 66. VIII. 11. J. Keble, Sermons for the Saints’ Days, p. 362.
Rev 8:13
Compare Mrs. Oliphant’s analysis of Botticelli’s special trait, in her Makers of Florence (p. 853). ‘It is,’ she observes, ‘to be seen in his pictures of all subjects, even in his “Venus” a cloud somewhere shadowing the sun, a perception dim and terrible of griefs that must come, howsoever they may be disguised, or how distant soever they may be for the moment. This is the very soul and sentiment of his work, his highest inspiration in art.’
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
VIII
THE OPENING OF THE SEALS
Rev 6:1-8:1
The theme of this chapter is the opening of the seals, or the gospel as preached from John’s time to the final advent of our Lord. As you observe, this study concludes with Rev 8:1 , separated from its context by artificial chapter division it should be Rev 7:17 . The study introduces the prophetic element of the book, which extends to the end. From the standpoint of the writer, it is the first revelation of “the things which shall come to pass hereafter.”
We will consider first the Revelator. In the gospel, our Lord is himself the revelation of God the Father: here he is the Revelator. He is presented in Rev 5:6 thus: “A Lamb standing as though he had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God.” The seven horns indicate fulness of authority and power in each of the seven churches. The seven eyes, explained as the seven Spirits of God, indicate his sending of the Holy Spirit, who on earth is his vicar and bears witness to him alone, and through whom he is present with and controls the seven churches. His worthiness to be the Revelator, and to constitute his people a kingdom and priests, and to receive all power, riches, wisdom, might, honor, glory, blessings, and dominion, is expressly ascribed to his vicarious expiation of sin as the Lamb slain. This appears in Rev 5:9-10 ; Rev 5:12-13 , and his worthiness on this ground is recognized by the united voices of Cherubim, Elders, all the Holy Angels and by the whole creation. So qualified, he opens the seals and reveals in sublime imagery the future of the kingdom of God. And so this revelation is prophecy.
The seven disclosures which follow the opening of the seven seals are divided into two distinct groups: a group of four and a group of three. The four are introduced, one after another, by the four Cherubim in succession, and in response to their “Come,” “Come,” “Come,” appear horses varying in color. With the group of three the Cherubim appear to have no direct connection. The fifth seal disclosure reveals the impatient martyr cry for vengeance, uttered on earth indeed, but here presented as it reaches heaven, and the sixth seal discloses portents which herald the long delayed vengeance for which the martyrs prayed. The opening of the seventh seal is followed by these words: “There was silence in heaven for half an hour.” That is to say, temporarily there is no disclosure of what followed the opening of the seventh seal the climax for a while is suppressed. We do not get to what that seventh seal would have disclosed until we reach the climax in Rev 20 , and in every other synchronous view there is a pause, or a suppression of the climax which, when it comes, fits all four of the synchronous views. We have already seen the agency of the Cherubim in giving revelations to Isaiah and Ezekiel. Now, let us take up this study in order. The First Seal: When our glorified Lord opened the first seal, one of the Cherubim shouted like thunder: “Come” not “come and see” as the King James Version has it, as if spoken to John; not “come Lord Jesus, in thy final advent” as the premillennial interpreter would have it. The Cherub says “Come,” and he is not calling either John or Jesus they are both there with him. We know what each Cherub called for by what appeared in answer to the call. There appeared in succession, following the “Come,” “Come,” “Come,” “Come,” four horses with their riders. This imagery of different colored horses is borrowed from the book of Zechariah. In a paragraph of chapter I and in the whole of Rev 6 , we have Zechariah’s vision of the different colored horses and the chariots, which are explained as the four spirits which stand before the throne of God, and go forth unto all the earth at the bidding of God, and by whom all the earth is quieted. Here in our lesson we see these horses all going forth at the bidding of the four living creatures. In Zechariah the result of the going forth is the crowning of Joshua the high priest, followed by these words: “Behold the man whose name is the Branch, and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build a temple of Jehovah, and he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both” that is, between the king and the priest “and the crowns shall be distributed among his followers.”
Here in our study the result is somewhat the same the crowning of Christ the royal priest is followed by the crowning of all his followers. In Zechariah we have the type of the successful issue of the rebuilding of the Temple through Joshua and Zerubbabel, or high priest and civil government, and that in spite of all opposition. Here in Revelation, through these opened seals, we see the antitype, Christ’s successful building of his spiritual temple and the crowning of all his followers. In Zechariah all the chariots, no matter what the color of horses, contribute an appropriate part toward the glorious result, so here the work imaged by all these horses, whether apparently good or bad in individual result, conspired together to one glorious result. We cannot rightly interpret Revelation without antecedent understanding of these horses and chariots of Zechariah. But more particularly:
When one of the Cherubim said, “Come,” the record states that there appeared a white horse and a rider who had a crown on his head, and carried a bow, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. This imagery shows the saving power of the gospel preached, to those who lovingly receive it, even unto the end of time. We shall see this same white horse and his rider reappear in the last synchronous view, (Rev 19:11 ), but in a somewhat different role. The Old Testament prophecies throw much light on this royal rider and conqueror. In this connection turn to the Psa 45:1-8 : My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter; I speak the things which I have made touching the king: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men; Grace is poured into thy lips: Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty One, Thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride on prosperously, Because of truth and meekness and righteousness: And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under thee; They are in the heart of the king’s enemies. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness: Therefore God, thy God, bath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; Out of palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.
Now, that tribute to the king in Psa 45 , going forth conquering, shooting his arrows, is very similar in meaning to this rider on the white horse that goes forth conquering and to conquer. So to interpret our vision, we must conceive of the risen, ascended, and glorified Christ receiving the kingdom, as it is set forth in Dan 7:13-14 : “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto Son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroy-ed.” In Dan 7:18 it says: “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever.”
That passage in Dan 7 tells of Christ’s ascension, and of his reception of the kingly power, and the manner in which he enlarged the kingdom here upon earth. It is in line with this rider on the white horse, going forth conquering and to conquer.
Again we have a similar thought in Psa 2 . “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision, Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion,” and it concludes by saying: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little,” and “all the uttermost parts of the earth are given unto him for his possession.” Psa 2 is in line with Psa 45 , arid with Dan 7 , and portrays substantially what is accomplished by the rider on the white horse going forth conquering and to conquer.
Again, in Psa 110 it is said: “The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” That is spoken to Christ when he ascended into heaven after his resurrection. And then it goes on to show that from his throne in heaven Christ reigns here on earth, and that in the day he leads out his armies his young men shall be volunteers not conscripts. And they shall go forth in the beauty of holiness and be as multitudinous as the drops of the dew in the dawn of the morning. Christ in heaven, having received his kingdom, is dispensing his word on earth through the Spirit, the churches, and the preachers. So the going forth of the white horse with its rider, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, signifies the gospel preached in its triumph. It brings life and peace to those who receive it and love it. It is so presented in Mat 10:13 : “When you go into a city or unto a house, say, Peace be on this house, and if there be in that house a son of peace, this peace shall rest on him.”
This is the signification of the opening of the first seal, and we see the agency of the Cherubim in bringing it about.
The Second Seal (Rev 6:4 ): “And another horse came forth, a red horse, and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, that they should slay one another. And there was given unto him a great sword.” That means, in plain English, this: The divisive effect of the gospel preached to the end of time, in harmony with these words in Mat 10:34-36 : “I came not to send peace, but a sword, for I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother- in-law, and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
This red horse shows the same gospel preached, but having a different effect, according to the words of our Lord, as I have just read them. Now while the gospel is intended for love and peace, as presented in the imagery of the first horse and his rider, and while that effect follows when the gospel is lovingly received, yet on account of its high demands many reject it, and so it becomes the occasion of bitterness, contention, and strife. You can easily see why this is true, because the gospel wars against all selfishness, all impiety, all social evils, all idolatry, and every wicked business. Those following these evils array themselves against the gospel as its bitterest enemies when its preaching disturbs them. Take the case presented in Act 16 . Paul in the city of Philippi finds a poor girl possessed with a demon, ‘owned by a syndicate of men, who count her money value in proportion to her subjection to the demon that possesses her, and they make their money out of the prostitution of this woman’s soul to Satan. Now the gospel comes there in the mouth of Paul and casts out that evil spirit. The result is that this syndicate, when they saw that the hope of their gain was gone, arrested Paul and Silas.
It had precisely this effect at Ephesus. It went forth conquering and to conquer, like the white horse. After a while it strikes the business of Demetrius, a silversmith, and other silver-smiths, who were making a big pile of money out of selling silver shrines representing the goddess Diana, and as Paul preached that “these be no gods that are made with hands,” Demetrius said: “This man is breaking up our business,” and he raised a row, with the result that Paul finally left the city. Now, every-where that the gospel is preached some will receive it lovingly, and some will reject its high claims and make for division, bitterness, and strife.
If any one of you go to a place and preach, and a mother of a family is converted, the unconverted father gets mad or the daughter is converted and the son gets mad. There the gospel seems to have been the occasion of strife.
The Third Seal: “The third cherub said, Come, and I saw, and behold, a black horse, and he that sat thereon had a balance [that is, a pair of scales] in his hands. And I heard, as it were, a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying: A measure of wheat for a shilling; and three measures of barley for a shilling.” What does that imagery represent? It represents the gospel in the hands of the hireling and apostate church, doling it out in tiny bits at high famine prices. The Bible is locked up in the Latin Version, the people are shut out from it only as it is vouchsafed in corrupt fragments, and a charge is made for every religious service from the cradle to the grave. The house of God has scales in it, and when the weary soul comes up the minister weighs out a fragment of consolation for so much. “If I baptize your baby, so much; if I marry you, so much; if I visit you in sickness, so much; if I attend your funeral, so much; if I pray for your dead, so much; for an indulgence, so much.” It was Tetzel’s sale of indulgences that provoked the Reformation. Its blessings are beyond the reach of the poor. For example, in Mexico, as a distinguished Mexican general told me some years ago when I was in Mexico: “The multitude of our people cannot marry they cannot pay the price that our priest charges; hence concubinage all over the land. They cannot read the Bible; the priest doles out to them such parts as he judges to be good for them and that must be accepted as the priests interpret it.” The famine as it is represented by this horse, is not of food for the body, but of food for the soul. As Amos says (Amo 8:11 ): “Behold the day is come, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.” Now, that is the kind of a famine that this black horse indicates. Through many centuries since Christ died some ecclesiastics have thus doled out, not only God’s word, but have put a price on every religious favor.
The Fourth Seal (Rev 6:7 ): “And when he opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying: Come, and I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and he that sat upon him his name was Death, and Hades followed with him.” Hades is the state of being disembodied. When the body is killed the spirit goes into the spirit world. “And there was given unto him the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword, and famine, and death, and the wild beasts of the earth.” Now, what does that mean? This imagery represents the lovers of the true gospel as persecuted unto death sword, hunger, death, and the wild beasts are all literal. Some Christians are put to death by the sword, some die of starvation, some put to death by torture or the martyr’s stake, and some cast to the wild beasts. The application is to all persecutions for conscience’ sake at any time, whether Pagan, Papal, or Protestant. Our Lord foretold that as they went forth to preach they would be persecuted, and told them to fear not them that killed the body only, but rather to fear him that was able to destroy both soul and body in hell. It refers to the persecution then going on in John’s time, and to the ten years’ tribulation that followed in Smyrna, the death of their pastor and all the other persecutions until the apostate church becomes enthroned at Rome. Then all the Roman Catholic persecutions, the Waldenses, the Albigenses, the Lollards, Huss, Jerome, Luther, the horrible persecution in Spain and in Holland and all the Low Country under the Duke of Alva and his soldiers; and it also refers to the persecution by the Protestants when they were in power, and the persecution of the Baptists by Luther, the persecution of Servants by John Calvin, the persecution of the Baptists in England and the United States.
The idea of the four horses is not necessarily successive. In any age all four results of the gospel preached may appear. That is not the thought, but these are four different views of the gospel as it is preached. You may find all of them illustrated in two persons. A sermon may be preached, two men sitting side by side. One of them receives it and he is at peace; the other, his brother, hates it, and there is a strife between the two brothers. Finally, the brother that hates gets so far away from the word of God that in his soul there is a famine of the word of God. Then his hate becomes so intense that he kills his brother.
In the parable of our Lord, called “the sower,” or the four kinds of soil, you have a thought very similar. The sower went forth so sow, and the seed fell in four different places, and what became of the seed as it fell in these four different places is explained by our Lord in his interpretation of the parable.
The Fifth Seal (Rev 6:9 ): “And when he opened the fifth seal I saw underneath the altar the souls of them who had been slain for the word of God, for this testimony which they held, and they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Master, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And there was given unto each of them a white robe, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little while that their fellow-servants also, and their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, should have fulfilled their course.”
In all persecutions under the fourth seal, each impatient martyr, while yet suffering, was crying out for God’s vindication. In effect the complaint against God’s delay of vengeance was an impeachment of divine justice. On earth these prayers seemed vain. But the object of the disclosure of the fifth seal is to show you heaven’s reception of the martyr cry for vengeance uttered on earth. The idea is similar in Gen 4:10-11 ; God’s words to Cain: “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive it.” Spurgeon, in glowing imagery, pictures Abel’s spirit, evicted from its clay tenement by murder, rushing into heaven’s court and crying: “Vengeance on my murderer,” and happily contrasts it with Christ’s blood, “which speaketh better things for us than the blood of Abel, even crying: Father, forgive them, they know what they do.” A good exposition of the fifth seal may be found in our Lord’s parable (Luk 18:1-8 ). The Lord is exhorting men to pray all the time for vindication, and not to faint, illustrating it by the widow and the unjust judge, and concluding by saying: “And shall not God avenge his own elect that cry to him day and night, and yet he is long-suffering over them.” Then he adds: “Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh shall he find that faith on the earth?” What faith? The faith that God will untimately avenge the injuries done to his people. It does not mean, shall he find saving faith on the earth? There are hundreds of people thousands of them who have saving faith, but yet seem to have little or no faith that God will vindicate all their wrongs.
I want to present that more particularly, as it is very important. In Bulwer’s drama of “Richelieu,” the Queen of France Anne of Austria said to the skeptical cardinal, who was her enemy: “The Almighty, my Lord Cardinal, does not pay every week, but at the last he pays.” The things occurring here in which for the time, being evil triumphs, give the saints great discouragement, and they cry out because God does not speedily execute judgment on their oppressors. So the object of the fifth seal is not to show us the prayers as they are uttered here on earth, but what becomes of them when they get to heaven. He saw, under the altar, the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of the Lord, and they cried out “how long?” That cry was uttered on earth, but is here shown as heaven received it. His reply is: “I will clothe you in white now, but rest a while, wait until the time of vengeance comes; wait until all other martyrs fulfil their course, and then all at once God will fully avenge you.”
Motley’s Rise of the Dutch Republic and his History of the United Netherlands tell how the Spaniards capture city after city. No mercy is shown; the men are killed, the women are subjected to shameful indignities; the children are impaled on spears or their heads cut off and fastened to spikes, and every conceivable evil and horror is visited upon them, until the question rises: “Where is God?” We need to recall the words of the German poet, Von Logau, The mills of God grind slowly, But they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, With exactness grinds He all.
Law writers tell us that laws restrain crime only as punishment is speedy and certain. An Old Testament writer anticipated their wisdom: “Because sentence against an evil deed is not speedily executed, the hearts of evil-doers are fully set in them to do mischief.” Shakespeare, in Hamlet, makes “the law’s delay provocation for suicide. So the lesson of Paul is hard: “Avenge not yourself give place to God’s wrath; if thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst give him drink, and by doing so heap coals of fire on his head.”
God’s delay in avenging is explicable by the facts:
1. No criminal can escape.
2. No bribery, perjury, or technicality can avail.
3. The sufferer is trained in patience by tribulation.
4. No witness can abscond.
5. The punishment will be complete and exactly proportioned to the heinousness of the offense.
6. God delays to punish that there may be space for repenting. (See Act 3:14 ; Act 3:19 ; Rom 2:4 ; 2Pe 3:8-9 ; 2Pe 3:15 )
John Milton quotes our very passage (Rev 6:10 ), and applies it to the evils perpetrated on the Albigenses by the Roman Catholic Church. He says: “‘Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughter’d saints, whose bones lie scatter’d on the Alpine mountains cold.”
The Sixth Seal: “And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, that there was a great earthquake of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken by a great wind, and the heaven was removed as a scroll as it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places, and the kings of the earth and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich and the strong and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves, and the rocks of the mountains, and they say to the mountians and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who is able to stand?” The opening of this seal reveals the portents that herald God’s final vengeance.
Now, you see that that sixth seal brings you to the end of time. Our Lord also says in his great prophecy in Mat 24:29 : “After the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened as by an eclipse, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars shall fall.” It is certain that there comes a time when God does answer the long-deferred petition of his people for vengeance upon their oppressors.
Rev 7 presents this great thought: That God’s imminent wrath, just about to fall, is suspended until all the righteous are sealed and so safeguarded. And then follows the sealing of the 144,000 of the Jews; a ‘symbolic number representing 12,000 or a complete number from each tribe, and then a great multitude that no man can number, out of every nation and tribe and tongue and country. Every one of them must be saved before those terrible convulsions that attend the advent of our Lord, when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, when the whole world shall be wrapped in fire. It cannot take place as long as a righteous man is living on the earth, or a righteous man’s dead body is sleeping in a grave. These must get out of the way first. As when Abraham said to God: “You are about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? It may be there are fifty good men in that city; will you destroy them?” He said, “If there be fifty, no” perhaps forty perhaps thirty perhaps twenty perhaps ten. And when not ten could be found, the angel grasped hold of the only righteous man, Lot, and said to him: “We cannot visit God’s wrath upon this place until you get out,” and they dragged him out. So the vengeance that comes with this advent does not reach this earth until each child of God is secure.
The Seventh Seal: It says that when the seventh seal was opened “there was a silence in heaven for half an hour.” Which means) that there is no disclosure just yet. The silence will be broken when the climax of all the synchronous arrives. That climax is Rev 20:11-15 , which agrees with the climax of our Lord’s great prophecy Mat 25:31-46 , and with Paul’s climax, 2Th 2:6-11 . In the same way and for the same purpose, the disclosure of the seven thunders is sealed up for awhile. That is, that silence will be broken after a while, and you will be told what would have happened right there it is just a temporary suspension of the climax, which will be clearly stated when you come to it. Every one of the parallel views before you: the seals, the trumpets, the two women, the great holy war, every one of them will stop just before the climax. And then in Rev 20:11 we have the climax that fits every one of them. He means to say that there must be silence and no record of what the seventh seal would disclose for awhile; so when the seven thunders were about to sound, he says: “Do not record that; wait.”
QUESTIONS
1. In a word, what do the disclosures following the opening of the seals represent?
2. What is the symbol of the Revelator, and meaning of seven horns and seven eyes?
3. On what meritorious ground is all the worthiness of this Revelator based?
4. Name, and discriminate between, the two groups of these seven disclosures.
5. State negatively and affirmatively to whom the Cherubim say “Come”
6. From what Old Testament book is the imagery of the colored horses borrowed, and what is the meaning and result in this lesson?
7. Describe the first horse and his rider what is the meaning and where again in this book do this horse and rider appear?
SEALS
8. Cite at least four Old Testament prophecies whose forecast is similar to the meaning here.
9. In a word, what phase of the gospel preached is expressed in the imagery of the red horse and his rider, and what saying of our Lord expressed the same thing?
10. Why is this divisive effect of the gospel preached, and illustrate by two notable instances in the Acts?
11. In a few words explain the imagery of the black horse and his rider, holding a pair of scales, and illustrate historically,
12. Meaning of the imagery of Death riding the pale horse, following by Hades?
13. What parable of our Lord exhibits some likeness to these four horses?
14. Explain the disclosure under the fifth seal, citing Genesis case and Spurgeon’s use of it.
15. What parable of our Lord expounds the fifth seal, and the meaning of “that faith”?
16. Cite the passage from Bulwer’s “Richelieu.” From Von Logau.
17. What things help to explain the delay in God’s vengeance?
18. How does Milton apply the cry of the martyrs in Rev 6:10 ?
19. What does the opening of the sixth seal reveal?
20. Where in our Lord’s great prophecy are they similarly presented?
21. What is the great thought of the seventh chapter?
22. Explain the silence after the seventh seal.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Ver. 1. The seventh seal ] The business or parts whereof are the seven trumpets, that sound a dreadful alarm against the Roman empire, ready now to be ruined for the innocent blood, and upon the instant suit of the martyrs, Rev 6:10 .
There was silence in heaven ] That is, in the Church on earth, often called the kingdom of heaven. This half an hour’s silence was either for horror and admiration, or for ardent expectation, or (as some will have it) for religious awe and devotion. Christ the high priest, being now about to offer incense (those prayers of the martyrs, Rev 6:10 ), there was in the Church (as used to be in the temple at such times, Luk 1:10 ) a deep silence. So among the Romans, the people in time of worship were enjoined favere linguis, to spare their tongues. And in the Greek Church one stood up and cried, , , , , Peace, people, leave off your discourse. Among the heathen Athenians in the time of divine rites, the priests craved silence of the people in these words, , , , Be whist, all ye people, good words or nothing. Male ominatis parcite verbis. (Archaeol. Attic. 55. Horat.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 .] And when (for with indic., see reff. Notice, that it occurs in the opening of this seal only, giving it an indefiniteness which does not belong to any of the rest. The touch is so slight as not to be reproducible in another language: but it can hardly be denied that in the Writer’s mind it exists) he opened the seventh seal (what sign may we expect to follow? The other six seals have been accompanied each by its appropriate vision. Since the opening of the last one, followed as it was by the portents and terrors of the day of the Lord, there has been an episodical series of visions, setting forth the gathering in of the elect, and the innumerable multitude of the glorified Church. What incident is appropriate for the removal of this last, the only obstacle yet remaining to the entire disclosure of the secret purposes of God?) there was (there became, there came on, supervened, from a state very different, viz. the choral songs of the great multitude, re-echoed by the angelic host) silence in the heaven about (see reff. There is no ellipsis in the : the duration is contained in the ) half an hour (in enquiring into the meaning of this silence, let us first see whether we have any indication by analogy in the book itself, which may guide us. In ch. Rev 10:4 , when the Apostle is about to write down the voices of the seven thunders, he is commanded to abstain, and not to write them down. And though neither the manner nor the place of that withholding exactly corresponds to this half-hour’s silence, yet it holds a place related to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, quite sufficiently near to that of this, with regard to the seventh seal, to be brought into comparison with it. It imports 1) a passing over and withholding, as far as the Apostle is concerned, of that which the seventh seal revealed: i. e. of that complete unrolling of God’s book of His eternal purposes, of the times and seasons which He holds in His own power. For this unrolling, every thing has been prepared: even to the taking off of the last seal which bound the mysterious roll. But as to what the roll itself contains, there is silence. 2) But it also imports, as Victorinus beautifully says, “semihora, initium quietis tern:” the beginning of that blessed sabbatical state of rest, during which the people of God shall be in full possession of those things which ear hath not heard nor eye seen. With equal truth and beauty does the same, our earliest apocalyptic expositor, proceed: “sed partem intellexit, quia interruptio eadem per ordinem repetit. Nam si esset juge silentium, hic finis narrandi fieret.” So that the vexed question, whether what follows belongs, or not, to the seventh seal, is, in fact, a question not worth seriously answering. Out of the completion of the former vision rise up a new series of visions, bearing a different character, but distinguished by the same number, indicating perfection, and shewing us that though evolved out of the completion of the former series, they do not belong to the last particular member of that series, any further than as it leads the way to them. Even more marked is this again below in ch. 11 16, where the pouring out of the seven vials can in no way be said to belong to or form part of the blowing of the seventh trumpet. It will be seen then that I believe all interpretation to be wrong, which regards the blowing of the seven trumpets as forming a portion of the vision accompanying the seventh seal in particular; and again that I place in the same category all that which regards it as taking up and going over the same ground again. In the seven seals, we had revealed, as was fitting, the opening of the great Revelation, the progress and fortunes of God’s Church and people in relation to the world, and of the world in relation to the church.
With regard to the trumpets themselves, we may observe, 1) that they repeat again the same mystic number seven , indicating that the course of events (see below) represented by this sounding is complete in itself, as was that indicated before by the breaking of the seals, and as is also that afterwards to be indicated by the pouring out of the vials: 2) that as in the case of the seals, there is a distinction made between the first four and the following three. Cf. below, Rev 8:13 . Rev 8:3 ) that as also in the case of the seals, there is an interval, with two episodical visions, between the sixth and the seventh trumpet. Cf. ch. 10, and ch. Rev 11:1 to Rev 14:4 ) that of the trumpets, six only announce visions partaking of the common character of judgments, whereas the seventh forms, as we also saw in the case of the seventh seal, the solemn close to the rest. 5) and further, that as regards this seventh trumpet, the matters imported by it as being (ch. Rev 11:14 ) are not given, but merely indicated by , . . . (ch. Rev 11:18 ): just as we saw that the things imported by the opening of the seventh seal were not detailed, but only indicated by the episodical visions, and by the nature of the similitude used. 6) that before the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God is finished, as far as relates to the subject of this course of visions. This is indicated by the great Angel in ch. Rev 10:7 ; and again by implication in ch. Rev 11:15-19 , both by the purport of the voices in heaven, Rev 11:15 , and by the ascriptions of praise, Rev 11:16-18 . This is the same again at the pouring out of the seventh vial, where the great voice from the throne announces , ch. Rev 16:17 ; as we saw that it was at the opening of the seventh seal, as indicated by the silence of half an hour. Each course of visions is complete in itself: each course of visions ends in the accomplishment of that series of divine actions which it sets forth. 7) that as, when the preparation for the seven angels to sound their trumpets is evolved out of the opening of the seventh seal, the vision of the seals is solemnly closed in by , so the vision of the trumpets is solemnly closed in by . That the similar occurrence, ch. Rev 16:18 , does not close the series of the vials, seems to be owing to special circumstances belonging to the outpouring of the seventh vial: see there (ch. Rev 16:21 ). 8) that as in Rev 8:3-5 , which form the close of the vision of the seals, and the opening of that of the trumpets, the offering of the prayers of the saints is the prominent feature (see notes below), so in the close of the series of the trumpets we have a prominent disclosure of the ark of the covenant of God, declaring and sealing His faithfulness to His church. Similarly again at the beginning of the series of the vials, we have the temple of the tabernacle of witness opened. Why we have not a similar appearance at the close of that series, is to be accounted for as above. 9) that, seeing that this course of visions opens and closes as last noticed, it (to say nothing at present of the following series of the vials) is to be regarded as embracing a course of judgments (for such evidently is every one of its six visions) inflicted in answer to those prayers, and forming a portion of that invoked by the souls of the martyrs in ch. Rev 6:10 . Rev 6:10 ) If this be so, then, as this series of visions is manifestly to be regarded as extending to the end of the whole period of time (cf. ch. Rev 10:7 , , , , . . .), we may fairly say that it takes up the great world-wide vision of the seals at the point where it was said to the vengeance-invoking martyrs : and that the judgments of this series of visions occur during the time of waiting. This view is confirmed by finding that , upon whom the vengeance is invoked in ch. Rev 6:10 , are the objects of vengeance during this series of judgments, cf. Rev 8:13 . Rev 8:11 ) In reference to this last remark, we may observe that no one portion especially of the earth’s inhabitants is pointed out as objects of this series of judgments, but all the ungodly, as usurpers of the kingdom of Christ. This is plain, by the expressions in the ascription of praise with which it closes, I mean, . . . Earthly domination is cast down, and the Lord’s Kingdom is brought in. And it is also plain, from the expression used in that same ascription of praise, , of what character have been these ungodly the corrupters of the earth the tainters and wasters of the means and accessories of life. 12) Whatever be the interpretation which follows from the foregoing considerations, two canons must not be violated. a) As in the case of the seals, so it is manifest here, from ch. Rev 11:18 , . , . . ., that the series of visions reaches forward to the time of the end, and is only terminated by the great events indicated in those words. And b) as yet, no particular city, no especial people is designated as the subject of the apocalyptic vision. All is general. The earth, the trees, the grass, the sea, the waters, the lights of heaven, mankind, these are at present the objects in our field of view. There is as yet no , as in the outpouring of the vials, ch. Rev 16:10 . The prophecy goes on becoming more specific as it advances: and it is not for us to anticipate its course, nor to localize and individualize where it is as yet general and undefined. The further details will be treated as we go on).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
CH. Rev 6:1 to Rev 8:1 .] THE OPENING OF THE SEVEN SEALS. As preliminary to the exegesis of this section, I may observe that it is of the first importance to bear in mind, that the openings of these seals correspond to the various arrangements of God’s Providence by which the way is prepared for the final opening of the closed book of His purposes to His glorified Church. That opening shall not fully and freely be made, till His people will know even as they are known. And that will not be, till they are fully gathered in to His heavenly garner. This book the Lamb opens, containing as it does matters which , , , first by the acts and procedures of His establishment of His reign over the earth, and then finally by His great second coming, the necessary condition of His elect being gathered out of the four winds into His glory. When these preparations for His coming have taken place, and that coming itself has passed, and the elect are gathered into glory, then will be the time when the last hindrance to our perfect knowledge will be removed, and the book of God’s eternal purposes will lie open the theme of eternity’s praise.
I may add that for the sake of perspicuity, I shall mainly follow, in these notes, the track of that interpretation which seems to me to be required; noticing only differences in those of other Commentators where grammar and philology are concerned.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 8:1 . The opening of the seventh seal is followed by half an hour’s silence in heaven: “he opened” looks back to Rev 6:12 , the absence of subject showing that 7 is a parenthesis foreign to the seal-series in its original shape. Probably this series, like each of the others, was originally a separate oracle upon the latter days. When woven by the author into his large work, they suffered a literary treatment which has interrupted but not altogether obliterated their original form and sequence. The book of destiny is now open; what follows (Rev 8:6 f.) is the course of the future, which naturally corresponds at some points to the predictions already sketched proleptically in chap. 6. A brief interval, not of exhaustion but of expectation, of breathless suspense (a pause in the ecstasy, LXX of Dan 4:16 ), ushers in a preliminary series of judicial plagues heralded by seven trumpet-blasts (Rev 8:2 to Rev 11:19 ). Half an hour ( ., cf. , Win. 5, 22 a for form) may have been an ominous period; Josephus ( B. J. vi. 5, 3) describes a portent at the siege of Jerusalem which consisted of a bright light shining at twilight for half an hour, and the collocation of silence with reverence is illustrated by the LXX version ( ) of Zec 12:13 and Zep 1:7 f. The following trumpet-series has been woven into the frame of the work by the device of making it take the place of the climax which (after Rev 6:17 , Rev 7:1-2 ) one would naturally expect to occur at this point. When the dnouement should take place, nothing happens; the judgment is adjourned.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Revelation Chapter 8
At length comes the seventh Seal. This is important, because it guards us effectually against the idea that the sixth Seal goes down to the end, as many excellent men have imagined of old and in our day. But it is clearly incorrect. The seventh Seal is necessarily after the sixth. If there is an order in the others, we need not doubt that the seventh Seal introduces seven Trumpets which follow each other in succession like the Seals. These are described from Rev 8 and onward, and, far more evidently than the Seals, are inflictions from God. “And when he opened the seventh seal, silence took place in the heaven about half an hour.” There was a brief pause of solemn expectancy, the lull that precedes the storm about to blow, only held down by the four angels, as we were told in Rev 7:1 . “And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and seven trumpets were given to them.” Heaven takes note of God’s ways. The silence was there, not on earth. Signal judgments impended for all creation. How strange to fancy that silence for about half an hour in heaven could prefigure the millennial rest! Yet the error naturally flows from the hypothesis entertained by not a few worthy men that the seventh Seal points to the millennial rest, and that the Trumpets go back and concurrently lead us to the same conclusion. Is it too much to say that the idea is wholly imaginative and without one solid reason for it?
Then we see the remarkable fact, even more than any already alluded to: an angel of peculiarly august character in priestly function. “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might give (efficacy) to the prayers of all the saints at the golden altar which [was] before the throne.” Hence it follows that, while there are glorified saints above, saints are not wanting on earth who are objects of care to the great High Priest, however little their light or great their trial. We have the clear intimation that while the glorified are above, others will be in their natural bodies, yet accredited as saints here below. Yet it is not so much mercy and grace found of which we hear, but of judgments to fall on the wicked.
But it demands our special attention, that under the Trumpets the Lord Jesus assumes the angelic character. Angels are prominent at this juncture. We no longer hear of Him as the Lamb. As such He had opened the Seals; but here as the Trumpets were blown by angels, so the Angel of the covenant (who is the second person in the Trinity, commonly so called) falls back on that which was so familiar in the Old Testament presentation of Himself. Not of course that He divests Himself of His humanity: this could not be; and if any should imagine it, it would be contrary to all truth. The Son of God since the incarnation always abides the man Christ Jesus. From the time that He took manhood into union with His divine person, never will He divest Himself of it. But this evidently does not prevent His assuming whatever appearance is suited to the prophetic necessity of the case; and this is just what we find here under the Trumpets. It is observable that an increasingly figurative style of language is employed. All other objects become more distant in this series of visions than before; and so Christ Himself is seen more vaguely (i.e. not in His distinct human reality, but here angelically).
“And the smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints out of the angel’s hand before God. And the angel took the censer, and filled it out of the fire of the altar, and cast [it] unto the earth; and there took place voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” Further, in this new septenary we must prepare ourselves for even greater visitations of God’s judgments. There were lightnings and voices and thunders in Rev 4 , but there is more now. Besides those we find an earthquake added. The effect among men becomes more intense. The angels are employed in providential judgments, as in providence generally. We can understand such a character of ministration, when the saints no longer witness to death as under the Seals, but are merged in the world save to God’s eye: Rome’s boast, but His horror.
“And the first sounded trumpet, and there was hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast unto the earth.” This was a violent down-pouring of displeasure from God on the earth. Hail implies this. fire, we know, is the constant symbol of God’s consuming judgment, and here even mingled with blood, i.e. destruction to life in the point of view intended. We have to consider whether it be simple physical decease, or dissolution in some special respect; and here it appears to be deprivation of life spiritual or Godward, rather than natural death.
It will be noticed in these divine visitations that the third part is regularly introduced. What is the prophetic meaning of “the third “? The answer seems given us in Rev 12 (i.e. the distinctively Roman or western empire). For we know that the dragon’s tail is to prevail over the leaders pre-eminently in the west, casting them down, as the figure runs, from the heaven to the earth. If this be so, “the third” would convey the varied consumption of the Roman empire in the west. Of course one cannot be expected in a brief sketch to enter on a discussion of the grounds for this view, any more than for other schemes which have been set up in its place. One able writer contends for the Greek or Eastern Empire, because the Macedonian was the third of the four great empires of Dan 2 , and Dan 7 . But “the third part” is quite another thought and phrase. It is enough now to state what one believes to be the fact.
Accordingly at least the earlier Trumpets (though not these only) are a specific visitation of judgment on the properly western empire. Not only was this visited, but “the third of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” This is notable. The dignitaries within that sphere were consumed, but there was also a universal interference with the prosperity of men. Any “pause of judgment” at this point is pure fancy: the word of God utterly ignores it. Of such an episode the prophet neither says nor implies the least trace. The only revealed “pause” is in verse 13, portending the still more tremendous Trumpets of woe.
“And the second angel sounded trumpet, and as a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third of the sea became blood; and the third of the creatures which were in the sea, which had life, died; and the third of the ships was destroyed” It was in this case a great earthly power, which in divine judgment deals with the masses in a revolutionary state to their destruction. Thus not merely the world under stable government, but that which is or when it is in a state of agitation and disorder; and we find the same deadly effects here also putting an end, it would seem, to their trade and commerce.
“The third angel sounded trumpet, and there fell out of the heaven a great star, burning as it were a torch, and it fell upon the third of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third of the waters became wormwood; and many of the men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” Here the fall of a great dignitary or ruler, whose influence was judicially turned to poison all the springs and channels of popular influence, comes before us. The sources and means of refreshing intercourse among men are visited by God’s embittering judgment.
“The fourth angel sounded trumpet, and the third of the sun was smitten, and the third of the moon and the third of the stars; so that the third of them should be darkened, and that the day should not appear for the third of it, and the night likewise.” The fourth sounds its warning to all the governing powers – supreme, derivative, and subordinate – which must come under God’s judgment, and all within the western empire. Learned men have sought to explain this judgment by an eclipse; and scientific men have argued for some such notion as agreeing with the phrase here employed. But this style of accommodation is quite untenable. The effect described by the prophet is far beyond any eclipse. It is symbolic presentation, and wholly beyond nature, to denote the extinction of all government within the western empire.
Even so worse is at hand, as next the eagle cries. “And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell on the earth, because of the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels that are about to sound.” It is a vivid image of rapidly approaching judgments, “angel” having slipped in inadvertently for the better reading “eagle,” through scribes who did not appreciate the symbolic style. The Woes are to fall expressly on those settled down on the earth. It is not now on the circumstances and surroundings of men, but directly on themselves. Here again notice how systematic is this book. The last three are distinguished thus from the first four.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 8:1-2
1When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God. And seven trumpets were given to them.
Rev 8:1 “When the Lamb broke the seventh seal” Jesus is the One who opens the seventh seal, but from this point on angels will be involved in announcing the seven trumpets and later the seven bowls.
“there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” There have been several theories connected with this silence. The rabbis relate it to a period of silence to let the prayers of the saints be heard
1. some relate it to the book of 2Es 7:29-31, where the silence is the beginning of the New Age
2. others relate it to several OT passages where humans are to be silent in the coming presence of God (cf. Hab 2:20; Zep 1:7; Zec 2:13)
3. some relate it to dramatic effect for the coming intense judgment on unbelievers
4. Victorinus related it to the beginning of eternity
Rev 8:2 “and I saw the seven angels who stand before God” It is interesting that the definite article appears, “the seven angels.” In rabbinical Judaism the seven angels of the presence are named in Tob 12:15; Jubilees 1:27,29; Rev 2:1-2; Rev 2:18; and I Enoch 20:1-7. They are Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael or Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel. Others see this phrase as related to the Messiah (paralleled to “the Angel of His Presence”) in Isa 63:9 or to judgment on those who rebel and grieve the Holy Spirit (cf. Isa 63:10). The Exodus connection may be seen in the angel in Exo 23:20-23; Exo 33:12-16.
“seven trumpets were given to them” There are seven angels to correspond to the seven trumpets (cf. Rev 8:6). In the OT trumpets were often used to communicate to God’s people, either religiously or militarily (cf. Exo 19:16; Num 10:1-10; Isa 27:13; Jer 4:5-9; Joe 2:1; Zep 1:16; Zec 9:14; 2Es 6:23, see Special Topic at Rev 1:10). In the NT a trumpet will announce the Second Coming of Christ (cf. Mat 24:31; 1Co 15:52-53; 1Th 4:16).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
had. Omit.
was = came to be.
silence. Greek. sige. Only here and Act 21:40.
heaven = the heaven. See Rev 3:12.
the space of. Omit.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1.] And when (for with indic., see reff. Notice, that it occurs in the opening of this seal only, giving it an indefiniteness which does not belong to any of the rest. The touch is so slight as not to be reproducible in another language: but it can hardly be denied that in the Writers mind it exists) he opened the seventh seal (what sign may we expect to follow? The other six seals have been accompanied each by its appropriate vision. Since the opening of the last one, followed as it was by the portents and terrors of the day of the Lord, there has been an episodical series of visions, setting forth the gathering in of the elect, and the innumerable multitude of the glorified Church. What incident is appropriate for the removal of this last, the only obstacle yet remaining to the entire disclosure of the secret purposes of God?) there was (there became, there came on, supervened, from a state very different, viz. the choral songs of the great multitude, re-echoed by the angelic host) silence in the heaven about (see reff. There is no ellipsis in the : the duration is contained in the ) half an hour (in enquiring into the meaning of this silence, let us first see whether we have any indication by analogy in the book itself, which may guide us. In ch. Rev 10:4, when the Apostle is about to write down the voices of the seven thunders, he is commanded to abstain, and not to write them down. And though neither the manner nor the place of that withholding exactly corresponds to this half-hours silence, yet it holds a place related to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, quite sufficiently near to that of this, with regard to the seventh seal, to be brought into comparison with it. It imports 1) a passing over and withholding, as far as the Apostle is concerned, of that which the seventh seal revealed: i. e. of that complete unrolling of Gods book of His eternal purposes, of the times and seasons which He holds in His own power. For this unrolling, every thing has been prepared: even to the taking off of the last seal which bound the mysterious roll. But as to what the roll itself contains, there is silence. 2) But it also imports, as Victorinus beautifully says, semihora, initium quietis tern: the beginning of that blessed sabbatical state of rest, during which the people of God shall be in full possession of those things which ear hath not heard nor eye seen. With equal truth and beauty does the same, our earliest apocalyptic expositor, proceed: sed partem intellexit, quia interruptio eadem per ordinem repetit. Nam si esset juge silentium, hic finis narrandi fieret. So that the vexed question, whether what follows belongs, or not, to the seventh seal, is, in fact, a question not worth seriously answering. Out of the completion of the former vision rise up a new series of visions, bearing a different character, but distinguished by the same number, indicating perfection, and shewing us that though evolved out of the completion of the former series, they do not belong to the last particular member of that series, any further than as it leads the way to them. Even more marked is this again below in ch. 11-16, where the pouring out of the seven vials can in no way be said to belong to or form part of the blowing of the seventh trumpet. It will be seen then that I believe all interpretation to be wrong, which regards the blowing of the seven trumpets as forming a portion of the vision accompanying the seventh seal in particular; and again that I place in the same category all that which regards it as taking up and going over the same ground again. In the seven seals, we had revealed, as was fitting, the opening of the great Revelation, the progress and fortunes of Gods Church and people in relation to the world, and of the world in relation to the church.
With regard to the trumpets themselves, we may observe, 1) that they repeat again the same mystic number seven, indicating that the course of events (see below) represented by this sounding is complete in itself, as was that indicated before by the breaking of the seals, and as is also that afterwards to be indicated by the pouring out of the vials: 2) that as in the case of the seals, there is a distinction made between the first four and the following three. Cf. below, Rev 8:13. 3) that as also in the case of the seals, there is an interval, with two episodical visions, between the sixth and the seventh trumpet. Cf. ch. 10, and ch. Rev 11:1 to Rev 14:4) that of the trumpets, six only announce visions partaking of the common character of judgments, whereas the seventh forms, as we also saw in the case of the seventh seal, the solemn close to the rest. 5) and further, that as regards this seventh trumpet, the matters imported by it as being (ch. Rev 11:14) are not given, but merely indicated by , … (ch. Rev 11:18): just as we saw that the things imported by the opening of the seventh seal were not detailed, but only indicated by the episodical visions, and by the nature of the similitude used. 6) that before the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God is finished, as far as relates to the subject of this course of visions. This is indicated by the great Angel in ch. Rev 10:7; and again by implication in ch. Rev 11:15-19, both by the purport of the voices in heaven, Rev 11:15, and by the ascriptions of praise, Rev 11:16-18. This is the same again at the pouring out of the seventh vial, where the great voice from the throne announces , ch. Rev 16:17; as we saw that it was at the opening of the seventh seal, as indicated by the silence of half an hour. Each course of visions is complete in itself: each course of visions ends in the accomplishment of that series of divine actions which it sets forth. 7) that as, when the preparation for the seven angels to sound their trumpets is evolved out of the opening of the seventh seal, the vision of the seals is solemnly closed in by , so the vision of the trumpets is solemnly closed in by . That the similar occurrence, ch. Rev 16:18, does not close the series of the vials, seems to be owing to special circumstances belonging to the outpouring of the seventh vial: see there (ch. Rev 16:21). 8) that as in Rev 8:3-5, which form the close of the vision of the seals, and the opening of that of the trumpets, the offering of the prayers of the saints is the prominent feature (see notes below), so in the close of the series of the trumpets we have a prominent disclosure of the ark of the covenant of God, declaring and sealing His faithfulness to His church. Similarly again at the beginning of the series of the vials, we have the temple of the tabernacle of witness opened. Why we have not a similar appearance at the close of that series, is to be accounted for as above. 9) that, seeing that this course of visions opens and closes as last noticed, it (to say nothing at present of the following series of the vials) is to be regarded as embracing a course of judgments (for such evidently is every one of its six visions) inflicted in answer to those prayers, and forming a portion of that invoked by the souls of the martyrs in ch. Rev 6:10. 10) If this be so, then, as this series of visions is manifestly to be regarded as extending to the end of the whole period of time (cf. ch. Rev 10:7, , , , …), we may fairly say that it takes up the great world-wide vision of the seals at the point where it was said to the vengeance-invoking martyrs : and that the judgments of this series of visions occur during the time of waiting. This view is confirmed by finding that , upon whom the vengeance is invoked in ch. Rev 6:10, are the objects of vengeance during this series of judgments, cf. Rev 8:13. 11) In reference to this last remark, we may observe that no one portion especially of the earths inhabitants is pointed out as objects of this series of judgments, but all the ungodly, as usurpers of the kingdom of Christ. This is plain, by the expressions in the ascription of praise with which it closes, I mean, … Earthly domination is cast down, and the Lords Kingdom is brought in. And it is also plain, from the expression used in that same ascription of praise, , of what character have been these ungodly-the corrupters of the earth-the tainters and wasters of the means and accessories of life. 12) Whatever be the interpretation which follows from the foregoing considerations, two canons must not be violated. a) As in the case of the seals, so it is manifest here, from ch. Rev 11:18, . , …, that the series of visions reaches forward to the time of the end, and is only terminated by the great events indicated in those words. And b) as yet, no particular city, no especial people is designated as the subject of the apocalyptic vision. All is general. The earth, the trees, the grass, the sea, the waters, the lights of heaven, mankind,-these are at present the objects in our field of view. There is as yet no , as in the outpouring of the vials, ch. Rev 16:10. The prophecy goes on becoming more specific as it advances: and it is not for us to anticipate its course, nor to localize and individualize where it is as yet general and undefined. The further details will be treated as we go on).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Chapter 8
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour ( Rev 8:1 ).
Silence can sometimes be an awesome thing, especially in a tremendous crowd of people. You see what silence for fifteen seconds does. It seems like it expanded, quiet. It is sort of an awesome thing. And there in heaven with vast multitudes singing and worshipping and seeing all of the activity that is there, and suddenly there is silence when this seventh seal is opened. It is sort of an awesome time.
Now, out of the seventh seal there will proceed now seven trumpet judgments. In these pyrotechnic displays during the Fourth of July, you seen these skyrockets burst open with a big flash, but from that there will be a secondary puff. Just about the time the big one begins to fade, the second one comes out of it with another flash. Well, that is what we have here. The seventh seal is opened and puff, here comes the second series of seven judgments. Out of the seventh seal, the seven trumpets now burst out. When you get to the seventh trumpet, then the seven vials of God’s wrath, which complete the plagues, will be bursting out and coming forth.
And so the silence of about the space of a half-hour in heaven, just before now, this second series of judgments.
I saw the seven angels which stand before God; and to them were given seven trumpets ( Rev 8:2 ).
Now, we know that the cherubim are about the throne of God. There are four of them. Satan used to be one of the cherubs. They seem to be the highest of God’s created beings in an angelic form. The next highest are the archangels of which the Bible speaks of two. Michael, called the great prince, an archangel. Gabriel, when he announced himself to the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, he said, “I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God”( Luk 1:19 ). There are seven angels that stand there in the presence of God, who are dispatched by God on particular missions.
Now in one of the apocryphal books of Enoch and also Tobec, Rafael is also named as one of the seven angels. Also in Enoch is named Uriel and Sacral and he names a couple of others, but here are seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets.
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 ).
I believe that this other angel is Jesus Christ and we see Him now in His work as a mediator there in heaven as our great, Great High Priest.
Now, you remember on earth the high priests would go in and offer before the Lord the sacrifices for the people. And within the temple daily the priest would go in and would take these little incense burners with the coals from the altar and offer them, and the smoke of the incense would arise before the altar, which was called the mercy seat which was outside of the Holy of Holies. Daily they would go in and offer this incense.
Now, the earthly tabernacle was a model of heaven, as we have told you. So again, now we see the actual scene in heaven of which the earthly tabernacle was the model. But we see this angel, who as I say I believe to be Jesus, with a golden censer offering with much incense the prayers of all of the saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of which the altar in the tabernacle of the mercy seat was a model.
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand ( Rev 8:4 ).
So, here are the prayers of the saints again being offered before God as incense.
Now, we found this happen back in chapter five, when the Lamb came took the scroll out of the right hand of Him whom sat upon the throne. The elders took the little golden bowls filled with odors, which are the prayers of the saints, and they offered them before the throne of God. That is when the church burst out saying, “Worthy is the Lamb to take the scroll.” But our prayers are often referred to as a sweet smelling savor unto God, that they ascend unto God as a sweet smelling savor. So, here again the prayers of the saints being offered with incense before the throne.
These are possibly the prayers of those souls which were under the altar in chapter five saying, “How long, O Lord, before you avenge our blood.” Now that God is going to pour out the second series of judgments, these prayers of the saints who were asking God to avenge their blood against those on the earth who had slain them, it could be that these are the prayers that are being offered at this time.
Back in chapter five, when Jesus takes the scroll, the prayers that are offered at that time are those prayers that were offered when you said, “Thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth even as it is in heaven.” Our prayers will be offered at that time, because when He takes the scroll, that’s the kingdom coming. That’s getting the earth ready to establish God’s kingdom. So, at that time those are the prayers that will be offered. Now, as we are getting ready to see these judgments, the prayers that those saints had offered for vengeance upon those who had slain them.
I often pray, “Lord, how long before you clean up this mess?” The corruption that is in the world, the corrupt people that are in the world, the corrupted morals. And when men kidnap a little girl three or four years old, abuse them and then kill them, I say, “God how long before you take vengeance on them, bring judgment on them?” I really get excited over these things and I really pray, “Lord, how long are you going to let this corruption go on?” The day is coming. God will judge the earth. Man will not get by with his iniquity.
So, the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, he filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound ( Rev 8:5-6 ).
And so we see a spectacular display of lightnings, thunderings, and an earthquake that proceed the sounding of the seven trumpets.
And the first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the trees were burnt up, and all of the green grass was burnt up ( Rev 8:7 ).
There is, in our solar system, an asteroid belt that does create great concern to many of the scientists and astronomers. Outside of Tucson, Arizona, they have established the Kit Telescope. In fact, it is quite a group of telescopes out there on Kit Mountain. And one of the main objects of research is that of charting and plotting and searching for asteroids that do present a real threat to the earth. There are some two thousand asteroids that have already been identified whose orbits can ultimately bring them into a collision course with the earth. There are another two thousand with the possibility of their orbits bringing them into contact with the earth.
The scientists are actually discussing preventative measures that might be taken should we discover one of these trajectories of the asteroids to be an immediate threat, say, within the next year or so. To send a, somehow, a space shuttle out there to try to somehow redirect the asteroid away from a collision with the earth, because an asteroid of one kilometer impacting the earth would do more physical damage than an all out nuclear warfare. The only thing it would not have would be the radiation after effects.
We know that the earth has shifted from its polar axis. We know that the northern area of the North Pole up in those areas, the Arctic Circle was not always an Arctic Circle. It was not always a frozen waste. It was not always covered with ice. For there in the ice they have found mastodons perfectly preserved, frozen there in the ice with tropical vegetation in their digestive tracts. It is believed by many scientists that the shift of the polar axis could have taken place as the result of an asteroid impacting the earth. They believe that the crater there in Arizona, outside of Windslow, that is three miles in diameter, five hundred and twenty-two feet deep, that this crater was formed perhaps by the impact of an asteroid. And that that was large enough, if the impact came at the right direction to have jerked the earth.
You take a ball that is spinning and suddenly you hit that ball with tremendous force. You can stop the spin of the ball or you can cause the ball to flip over. So, an asteroid hitting the earth would cause it to flip and suddenly these mastodons who were living sixteen hundred miles away from all of this polar Arctic ice would suddenly be frozen. The earth gets jerked in just a moment’s time sixteen hundred miles, and suddenly this tropical area is under this cold air mass of the pole and immediately they are frozen in this fifty, eighty below zero kind of flash freeze, as suddenly they are under this mass of arctic air. And they believe that that is perhaps the cause of the mastodons being found there. The polar shift taking place instantly, from some, perhaps impact of an asteroid.
Now, they have talked about disintegrating an asteroid with an atom bomb. If we see one that is going to impact, you go out there. But then they have talked about the problem, that if you blow the thing apart, then you are going to have several asteroids impacting. That would only compound the problem. But they are actually studying methods by which they can deter the asteroid from its orbit that would impact the earth. It is a tremendous concern of the scientists today. And we are spending millions of dollars in research and study to protect the earth from this kind of a danger that does exist.
The chances of an asteroid impacting the earth this year are three in a million. So, there is not much of a chance, but yet it is there. It does exist. They have impacted before. The scientists believe that in 1906 that great cataclysmic catastrophe in Siberia which flattened huge trees, laid them over like toothpicks for several hundred miles, they believe that that was perhaps an asteroid impact. It is a thing that is a threat and a concern.
Now it could be that in studying these phenomena that are taking place in these trumpet judgments, these things could take place as the result of asteroid impacts. You see, the last asteroid that came close to impacting the earth was back in 1937. We almost had a calamity then. The asteroid came within five hundred thousand miles of the earth. And of course, we were monitoring the thing and we didn’t know at that time, we weren’t able with computers to plot the trajectory enough to know whether or not it was going to impact. But a lot of people thought it was going to impact back in 1937. That was the last close encounter we had with an asteroid of any size. Of course, we find meteorites eighteen hundred per second coming into our atmosphere somewhere around the earth. That is quite common.
Now this year Halley’s Comet is returning. Behind Halley’s Comet is that tail that is a bunch of what they call space garbage, debris, but meteorites. And every August we have a beautiful, heavenly display usually around the 20th or 21st of August, or so, where we pass through the debris of the tail of Halley’s Comet left by its last orbit around this direction. And this junk that is there in space, we, every year pass through the orbit. When the earth orbits around the sun, when we get to that point where all the junk is, we see what we call the falling stars or the showers. And on many nights I have stayed out and watched the shower. It is really an exciting experience.
Now, Halley’s Comet will probably not be visible to us this year because it is going to orbit on the other side of the sun. We may be able to see a little bit of the tail as it moves away from us. As it begins to leave, the gravitational pull of the sun will pull off more of the tail and bring it into our solar system so that we could very well have some interesting meteorite showers and all in the next few years. As the sun will pull off a lot of the debris from Halley’s Comet, as it turns and starts to escape, not all of the tail will escape. A lot of the debris will be pulled by the gravitational strength of the sun. But this strong asteroid belt is out near the planet Jupiter, but sometimes they are pulled out of their orbit there and are brought into a collision course with the earth, and it is something that is being studied and it is quite interesting to the scientists.
Now, we find Jesus saying that the stars of heaven are going to fall like a fig tree casting forth its untimely fruit. In other words, some of these meteorite showers that we have seen are nothing to be compared with what is going to happen during the Great Tribulation period. And some of these things that are transpiring do sound like perhaps impact with asteroids and the effect that it would have. So, the first angel sounded followed by hail, fire, mingled with blood, and cast upon the earth.
Now remember the earth has gone through a period of three and a half years drought, so all the trees are very dry and all. And with this fiery shower hitting the earth, the trees and the dry grasses and all will be like tinder and a third part of them will go up in smoke.
The second angel sounded, and it was like a great mountain ( Rev 8:8 )
Now it does sound like an asteroid indeed.
a great mountain burning with fire falling in the sea ( Rev 8:8 ):
Fortunate. Had it impacted on the land surface it probably would have created another polar axis shift. But this great mountain of fire, a huge meteorite or asteroid falling into the sea.
and the third part of the sea became blood ( Rev 8:8 );
It was probably the explosion of the thing. The disintegration into dust coloring the sea and turning into blood red like a red tide that we often see. And the result of it would be as the red tide, the killing off of the fish.
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and a third part of the ships were destroyed ( Rev 8:9 ).
The ships were probably destroyed by a title wave that would be created by such an impact. And the sea probably being the Mediterranean Sea and you had your yacht docked in the Mediterranean somewhere, you would probably lose the thing. A third part of them will be destroyed by this second trump of judgment.
The third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is Wormwood ( Rev 8:10-11 ):
The word is also translated “hemlock”. It is a bitter poisonous substance.
and the third of the waters became wormwood [or poisonous]; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter [poisonous as a result of this third star, or the star falling from heaven, the third trumpet]. Now the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darken, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise ( Rev 8:11-12 ).
So, it is quite possible that in this-if it is indeed a meteorite shower, and when these meteorites come into our atmosphere and disintegrate, they turn into dust. And it could be that a tremendously heavy shower could create so much dust in our atmosphere that it would actually begin to filter out the light of the sun. Even as when Mount St. Helens erupted and it became dark at noon, in several of the cities in Washington around Mount St. Helens, as that thing disintegrated to dust and really darkened the skies.
So, a heavy kind of meteorite shower, if it is like a fig tree dropping its figs in a wind, just a heavy shower of meteorites around the earth, disintegrating into dust could very well shade the sun for a time with all the debris in the atmosphere. And so the sun shone but for a third part. And the moon, of course, was just a reflection of the sun and the stars.
And I beheld, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! ( Rev 8:13 )
Now this word “angel” here is not the same word that we have been dealing with. “Aggelos”, which is messenger, but “aetos” which is also translated eagle. And in some of your translations you will find eagle. The eagle flying through the midst of heaven. But, you remember that the cherubim, one of the faces was that of an eagle. So, this could be both an angel and an eagle, or one of the cherubim. Certainly it is not an eagle as we know an eagle. They are not able to speak. This one flies through the heavens and warns all of the inhabitants of the earth. So, it is orbiting the earth no doubt, saying, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.” In other words, you haven’t seen anything yet. Four angels have sounded and we have had some pretty cataclysmic effects, but what is to come is even worse. “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth by the-
I had a parrot once that I trained to say, “Woe, woe, woe.” Old George would-I kept him here in the office for a long time until my secretary got tired of him and gave him away when I was gone on vacation. And when I came home there was no George. But he would say, “Woe, woe, woe, sinners.” He was a nice bird. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Rev 8:1. , silence) Silence is opposed to a voice. The more frequent voices are in this book, for instance, ch. Rev 7:10 and foil, verses, the more remarkable is this silence of awful expectation, preceding the clang of trumpets. D. Lange interprets it as the keeping rest [sabbatism] of a thousand years (Hermen. Einleit. pp. 30, 68, etc.), by an error (I am compelled to speak the truth), which introduces great confusion. Neither is the silence a sabbath, nor is the half-hour the millennium. See Erkl. Offenb. p. 407 and following.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rev 8:1-2
SECTION FOUR
SOUNDING OF FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS
Rev 8:1-12
1. THE SEVENTH SEAL OPENED
Rev 8:1-2
1 And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.–When the preceding seals were opened there was an immediate disclosing of the things they contained, but in this there is a brief silence before the scenes begin to appear. Commentators offer various explanations of what is represented by the half-hour silence, but the text gives no hint why such delay occurred before the things of the seal were made known. Often there is a brief, impressive calm before the storm in material elements. So this short silence in heaven between breaking the seal and appearance of its visions may have been intended only to emphasize the storms that would break loose when the four restraining angels no longer held back the destructive winds mentioned in 7:1-3.
2 And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets.–All the events revealed by the sounding of the seven trumpets come under the seventh seal, else there would be no disclosures at all by that seal. The acts of worship described in verses 3-5 are only preliminary to the sounding of the trumpets, as verse 6 indicates. This demands the view that events of the seventh seal did not end till the sounding of the seventh trumpet or, that the seventh seal extends to the end of the world. All we know about these angels is that they were some that stood “before God.” Probably the only reason for seven is the fact that there were seven trumpets to be sounded. If more than one was needed, then naturally there would be seven. It is not stated by whom the trumpets were given to the angels, but, as they “stand before God,” it would be a reasonable presumption to say that God gave them. It was by his authority, of course, that they were to sound them.
Commentary on Rev 8:1-2 by Foy E. Wallace
The silence period (seventh seal)-Rev_81-6.
The disclosures of the seventh seal consist in the signals of the seven trumpets, announced in the order of events by the seven angels. The trumpets sounded the beginning of the end of Jerusalem, of the Jewish temple, of Judaism and of all that constituted the Jewish state. It signaled the end of the world of Mat 24:3; Mat 24:14 –not the inhabited world, but the Jewish world. As the seven trumpets of Jericho, borne and blown by the seven priests, signaled the fall of the Canaanite city standing in the way of Israels conquest (Jos 6:13-21), so did the seven trumpets, sounded successively by the seven angels of Revelation, signal the fall of Jerusalem. They signaled the end of the once faithful city, turned harlot (Isa 1:21); “the great city, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt where also the Lord was crucified (Rev 11:8; Rev 11:13). It was the end of the apostate Jerusalem which stood in the way of the conquest of the gospel; the Jerusalem that refused the testimony which the martyrs under the altar of Rev 6:9 had held; the word of God which the same enthroned souls of Rev 20:4 had witnessed. It was the Jerusalem of Gal 4:25-26, which was in bondage with her children. The old Jerusalem was doomed to destruction before the advance of the Jerusalem above of Gal 4:26, and heavenly Jerusalem of Heb 12:23, and the new Jerusalem of Rev 21:1 –the church of the new covenant, the holy city and temple of the Christ who was the Lamb of Revelation.
When the angel opened this seventh seal, before the momentous announcements were heard, a dread and awful silence was recorded.
There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”-Rev 8:1.
This scene was in Heaven: It was the place where all of these correlated visions were disclosed. The silence here was accentuated by the contrast with the voices in the six seals before it. It was the silence of dreadful suspense, fearful expectation, a calm before the storm.
The silence period was for the space of half an hour: It was the symbol of pause, the sign of shortness of time. A similarity exists between this silence and the cessation of singers and trumpets in the cleansing of the temple by Hezekiah when the king and all the congregation bowed themselves and worshipped. (2Ch 29:1-36) The silence here followed in immediate succession the scene of chapter 7, where all the angels, elders and beings fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God. The similarity between the cessation of the singers and the silence of the angels was impressive. The former was a cessation of reverent worship, after the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded at the altars of Hezekiah. The latter was a silence of waiting awe, after the voices of all the angels in chapter 7 had ceased; it was a silence significant of what was about to occur in the final scene of the seventh seal.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”-Rev 8:2.
The angels were the announcers; the trumpets the signals for what had been announced to begin. It followed the vision of the day of wrath in the sixth seal, and was a further vision of judgments, of things shortly to come to pass, which had been set forth in the six preceding seals. The trumpets of the seventh seal were the signals to proceed to the accomplishment of that which the seals signified.
Commentary on Rev 8:1-2 by Walter Scott
THE SEVENTH SEAL
Rev 8:1. – And when He opened the seventh Seal there was silence in the Heaven about half an hour. The seven-sealed book, or scroll, seen in the open hand of Jehovah (Rev 5:1-2) has its Seals successively opened by the Lamb. Six of the seals were broken in chapter 6, and now, in the first verse of our chapter, He opens the final one, with the result that the book of Gods counsels respecting the earth lies open before us. The plans, the counsels of our God regarding the vast interests of earth, as also the means and manner by which these counsels will be effected, are no longer a secret. All are disclosed. But why is the seventh Seal separated from the preceding six? Naturally one would suppose that it would have concluded chapter 6. But instead a whole chapter (Rev 7:1-17) comes in between the sixth and seventh Seals, a parenthetic interruption breaking the orderly sequence of events. The sixth Seal (Rev 6:12-17) announced judgment of such an appalling character that in the universal terror which ensued the fears of men, from the king to the slave, supposed the general horror to be the great day of the wrath of the Lamb. But no, and so ere the seventh Seal is opened, which is preparatory to the infliction of yet further and severer judgments, the veil is drawn aside, and two great millennial companies from amongst Israel and the Gentiles are introduced into the scene, the result of an extensive work of grace carried on even while judgment is desolating the earth (Rev 7:1-17).
Silence in Heaven (Hengstenberg and some other expositors argue for a silence on earth, and quote in proof Hab 2:20, Zep 1:7, Zec 2:13; these passages speak of a silence on earth, whereas our text, which so far as we can judge has no parallel or proof text in the Old Testament, speaks of silence in Heaven. We are satisfied that the force of the expression simply denotes a brief pause during which the course of judgment is suspended. This is confirmed by a consideration of two texts, in both of which premonitory intimations of coming judgments are stated in substantially the same words. Under the first text, Rev 4:5, we have a course of divine inflictions down to the close of chapter 6. Then comes a pause intimating a brief cessation of judgment. Then in the second text, Rev 8:5, a further and similar intimation of divine chastisements is announced, and these latter take effect under the Trumpets. The silence is in Heaven because the judgments proceed from it.) does not mean that the songs and hallelujahs of the redeemed are silent. The silence must be interpreted in connection with the immediate subject on hand, which is judgment. But, inasmuch as the source of these judgments on earth is the throne set in Heaven, the silence is there. The course of judgment is arrested. There is a pause both as to the announcement and execution of further chastisements. The silence is of brief duration. Half an hour simply denotes an exceedingly brief period during which judicial action is suspended. The breaking of the seventh Seal is followed, not by judgment, but by an ominous silence. It is a calm before a storm, like a stillness in nature preceding a tempest. How long the awful suspense lasts we are not informed, but in the meantime we are called to witness an action of an entirely different character from anything which has yet passed before us, and one which fills up the interval of the half an hour, whatever may be the precise length of time thereby indicated.
THE SEVEN ANGELS.
Rev 8:2. – And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. That the angels here referred to are a distinguished and select number seems evident from the insertion of the definite article, The seven angels, as also from the highly honoured place assigned them, who stand before God. The seven are distinguished from the seven who pour out the Vials (Rev 15:1). Only of the trumpet angels is a special position (before God) predicated.
There are distinctions amongst the angelic hosts. They are distributed into various orders and ranks, but all, from the archangel down to the least, are servants. They have no relationship to God founded on redemption. They are servants, and never rise out of that position, nor do they desire it. The two great characteristics of angel life are unquestioning obedience and activity in service (Psa 103:20; Heb 1:7; Heb 1:14). The presence angels is a familiar Jewish thought. They are supposed by some to be identical with the seven Spirits before the throne (Rev 1:4), and by others the term is regarded as a borrowed expression from the apocryphal book of Tobit. Both are wrong. Why depart from obvious simplicity and force an interpretation for which there is really no adequate reason? What the angel Gabriel said of himself, I am Gabriel, who stand before God (Luk 1:19), is here said of these seven presence angels. As to the number, seven, they represent the full power of God in judicial judgment.
Rev 8:2 – And seven trumpets were given to them. The place of subjection is ever the place of even the most exalted of Gods creatures; the trumpets were given. Sovereign action is the prerogative alone of the Creator. But why trumpets? No wind instrument was more generally used in the national life of Israel than the trumpet. It convened them in public assembly. Its loud blast summoned them for war, and directed them when to advance and when to retreat. On the promulgation of the law the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder. In their solemn feasts the trumpet was largely employed. Its loud warning notes announced the near approach of danger or an enemy. By sound of trumpet the journeys in the wilderness were directed. The year of jubilee, and, in fact, on all important national occasions the trumpet was employed (see Lev 25:9; Exo 19:19; Num 10:2-10; Lev 23:24, etc.). The circumstances calling for the public interference of God in judgment, as detailed in our portion of the Apocalypse, are somewhat similar to the coming days of Joe 2:1-2, A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness. Both Joel and John refer to the blast of the trumpet, intimating that God is about to deal openly and before all in judicial chastisement with the iniquity before Him, a public and loud announcement that He is about to do so. The seven trumpets signify a complete and full announcement. The mystic trumpets of the Apocalypse must not be confounded with the literal trumpets of Old Testament times.
Commentary on Rev 8:1-2 by E.M. Zerr
Rev 8:1. The seventh and last seal was opened but nothing took place for half an hour. In the march of events it frequently happens that a lull will come between different campaigns. That is described here as being a silence of half an hour. We recall that when the four angels inRev 7:1-3 were prepared to continue the action of God’s judgments against the persecutors of His people, they were told to hold the winds back until the sealing of the faithful had been completed. This half hour silence represents the lull in the judgments while the sealing was being done.
Rev 8:2. The events of the seventh seal will include several verses, for there are seven angels involved in the events and all that transpires in connection with them is what was revealed when the seventh seal was broken. The angels were given each a trumpet but they will not all be used in the same series. Four of them will sound one after the other, then will come a halt after which the remaining three will sound. (See Rev 8:13.) Doubtless the first four angels correspond with the four that were holding the four winds that were to bring consternation upon the persecutors of God’s people, which is the reason why the seven angels are divided into separate groups, four and three.
Commentary on Rev 8:1-2 by Burton Coffman
Rev 8:1
Regarding Rev 8:1. With the first verse of this chapter, one reaches a watershed in the interpretation of Revelation, a moment of decision, that affects the understanding of all that follows. This verse is the pivot upon which the whole interpretation turns, making the problem of its interpretation probably the most important in the whole book. Once the wrong view of Rev 8:1 is established in the interpreter’s understanding, it is impossible for the exegesis of subsequent chapters to be correct; and most of the systems of interpreting Revelation are wrong because this verse was either ignored or misunderstood. Observe the verse itself.
And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. (Rev 8:1)
In these brief words, we have all that pertains to the opening of the seventh seal. The half hour of silence does not either include or introduce the seven trumpets, or anything else. Since the sixth seal brought a vision of the Second Advent and final judgment, followed by a special vision of the safety and felicity of the saints (Revelation 7), not only while they are enduring sufferings and tribulations, but also through the final judgment into heaven itself, the most natural question of the soul is, “What will it be like in heaven?” The Scriptural answer to that question is this half hour of silence. It is not revealed. There is not a word in the whole Bible that actually portrays the events following the judgment of the last day, “the day of the Lord.” Even the marvelous two chapters which conclude this prophecy reveal nothing of the events that are to take place afterwards. John himself said, “It is not yet made manifest what we shall be” (1Jn 3:2), a statement which is parallel with the thought here. A moment later, we shall note some of the important corollaries that derive from this interpretation; but first, we shall give the interpretation of this verse as found in the writings of others:
It is a silence of fearful apprehension.[1] The silence is transitional.[2] It introduces a new series of symbols (the trumpets).[3] It may be a breathing space in the narrative.[4] It is a dread suspense in anticipation of events to follow.[5] All heaven breathlessly awaits the final act of divine judgment.[6] It is a brilliant device for deepening the suspense.[7] It begins a new series of visions, the trumpets.[8] It represents a broken or interrupted whole.[9]
The vast majority of commentators hold views similar to those cited here; and the net result of such an interpretation is that of making the trumpets a vision of events coming subsequently and in sequence to the six seals. This we believe to be incorrect. That half hour of silence is a terminus reaching all the way to eternity and summing up all that had been revealed by the opening of the six seals, which disclosed conditions of the whole period between the two Advents of Christ. This understanding of the silence forces the conclusion that whatever else may be revealed in Revelation covers identically the same time period as that covered by the opening of the six seals. A number of scholars discerned this exceedingly important truth:
Rev 6:11 is clearly a reference to the final judgment … the half hour silence is the full content of the seventh seal … the end, after the judgment, is pictured by the silence. This shuts out the possibility of the trumpets and bowls being pictures of historical events subsequent to the seals … They present different aspects of the same time period as the seals.[10] Each new series of visions (trumpets and bowls) both recapitulates and develops the theme already stated in what has gone before.[11] It is noteworthy that both the seals and the trumpets bring us to the end (Rev 6:17; Rev 11:15); and this requires us to recognize some measure of recapitulation, when the narrative backs up and recovers the same ground.[12] He (John) has in mind at this point to double back and present more material.[13] The successive visions (the seals) are paralleled in the trumpets.[14] The arrangement of the trumpets is parallel to that of the seals.[15] Man cannot yet know all of God’s plans (comment on the silence).[16]
Others could be cited, but these are enough to show that the interpretation advocated here is by no means unique. This view of the half hour of silence as the totality of the seventh seal stresses the importance of the seventh seal. Roberson objected that such a view, “Does not give the same significance to the seventh seal which the reader is entitled to expect”;[17] but this objection is removed by the view of it as a withholding of any prophecy at all regarding the afterlife, thus making the seventh seal one of the most important and significant things in the whole prophecy. No other solution is adequate. This confirms the view of the sixth seal as a picture of the final judgment, and clears up the wonderment of many regarding no mention of the end in the seventh seal; but the end has already happened! The silence regards the time after the end, and God is silent with reference to that. Plummer also noted this:
The events narrated under the vision of the trumpets are not an exposition of the seventh seal, but a separate supplementary vision. The silence is typical of the eternal peace of heaven, the ineffable bliss of which it is impossible for mortals to comprehend, and which is, therefore, symbolized by silence.[18]
The crucial importance of Rev 8:1 requires our study of it to be as thorough as possible. It is the key to our conviction that the prophecy of Revelation is a series of sections, each ending in the final judgment, and all of them therefore parallel and having reference to the same extended time period between the two Advents of Christ, and each of them recapitulating from different viewpoints the events regarding all the world of both believers and unbelievers, with specific references to both classes again and again.
This understanding of Revelation dates back many years with this writer, and it was delightfully exciting to discover, far later, the able defense of this view by William Hendriksen. Before glancing at Hendriksen’s argument, the reason why this interpretation came about is significant. In the Old Testament Joseph interpreted the parallel dreams of Pharaoh regarding the seven fat cattle devoured by the seven lean cattle, and the seven good ears of corn consumed by the seven blasted ears which followed them; and the answer God gave to Joseph was, “The dream of Pharaoh is one” (Gen 41:25). There are far more resemblances in the various series of visions in this prophecy than there were in Pharaoh’s two strange dreams; and this fact long ago led this student to the conclusion that, in a sense, all seven of these sections in Revelation are one. A summary of Hendriksen’s very extensive presentation of this view is:[19]
The book consists of seven sections, running parallel, and spanning the whole dispensation between the first and second coming of Christ.
Each ends in the judgment day.
Both the first trumpet and the first bowl affect the earth (Rev 8:7; Rev 16:2); the second trumpet and the second bowl affect the sea; the third trumpet and the third bowl affect the rivers; the fourth in both series refers to the sun. This type of correspondence in the series is extensive, including the divisions into groups of four and three, etc.
The same themes appear in all sections: the bliss of the redeemed, the destruction of Christ’s enemies, the judgment of the wicked, divine judgments upon men, trials and persecutions of the church, etc.
Even the interludes are similarly constructed.
The seven churches addressed at the beginning constitute somewhat of an overture for the whole production; and they suggest a sevenfold division of the whole prophecy.
The same promises are repeated in all sections. God shall wipe away all tears appears in Rev 7:17, and in Rev 21:4. Many other similarities and resemblances will be pointed out in the notes on the text throughout.
The acceptance of the above interpretation does not mean that no specific events in history are prophesied; for it is our conviction that many such things are included, although most of them may not be restricted to specific dates nor limited to any single fulfillment. The fulfillment of the wars and famines under the six seals, for example, has been repeated in many fulfillments throughout history, and will doubtless be fulfilled again and again in the future.
[1] Ralph Earle, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 551.
[2] Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1961), p. 153.
[3] W. S. Thompson, Comments on Revelation (Memphis, Texas: Southern Church Publications, 1957), p. 87.
[4] William Barclay, The Revelation of John (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 40.
[5] Isbon T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1919), p. 269.
[6] F. F. Bruce, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 646.
[7] Martin Kiddle, The Revelation of St. John, The Moffatt New Testament Commentary, p. 144.
[8] Leon Morris, Tyndale Commentaries, Vol. 20, The Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969), p. 119.
[9] Charles H. Roberson, Studies in Revelation (Tyler, Texas: P. D. Wilmeth, P.O. Box 3305,1957), p. 53.
[10] Douglas Ezell, Revelations on Revelation (Waco: Word Books, 1977), pp. 44-47.
[11] G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 106.
[12] George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), p. 121.
[13] Vernard Eller, The Most Revealing Book in the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974), p. 104.
[14] Ralph Earle, op. cit., p. 555.
[15] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1079.
[16] James William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 632.
[17] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 52.
[18] A. Plummer, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 20, Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 229.
[19] William Hendriksen, More than Conquerors (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1956), pp. 23,25, 26,28, and 139.
Rev 8:2
And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there was given unto them seven trumpets. (Rev 8:2)
The pageantry here did not take place during the silence, but after it. “Revelation 2-6 are a preface to the vision of the trumpets.”[20]
Seven angels that stand before God … It is natural that many should understand these as the seven archangels, and Barclay named them (not from the Bible, of course, but from Tobit): “Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel.[21] Only one archangel is mentioned in the Bible, Michael; and it seems logical to conclude that there could be only one archangel, the one of highest authority. See more on this in my Commentary on Jude, p. 534. Barclay also thought that “this verse is out of place, due to some copyist’s error”;[22] but such views come from a failure to see this little paragraph as a fitting introduction to the trumpet judgments.
There were given unto them seven trumpets … “The reason for only seven angels being mentioned is that there were just seven trumpets to be sounded.”[23] The usual view of this place, which is rejected here, is that “the seventh seal becomes the seven trumpets.”[24] This series of judgments is new, but it covers the same time period as the seven seals; and there is here a significant difference. Whereas the first four judgments under the seals derived from the sins of people, the first four in the series of the trumpets are the result of what appears to be supernatural intervention. “The trumpets are structured over the same pattern as that of the seals,”[25] “but the judgments under the seals were natural, ordinary occurrences; the supernatural is added here.”[26] The trumpet is often mentioned in Scripture in connection with the last things. See 1Co 15:50 ff and 1Th 4:16.
[20] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 230,231.
[21] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 41.
[22] Ibid., p. 38.
[23] John T. Hinds, op. cit., p. 118.
[24] Ralph Earle, op. cit., p. 552.
[25] Vernard Eller, op. cit., p. 107.
[26] Esther Ohstad, Courage for Today, Hope for Tomorrow (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1973), p. 38.
Commentary on Rev 8:1-2 by Manly Luscombe
1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Here is real drama. You know that something important is about to happen. But, you wait. You keep waiting for 10, 15, 25 minutes. Still waiting. The drama is building. The silence (calm and quite) is a sharp contrast to the loud persecution and chaos on earth. If the 6th seal is the Second Coming, what is expected in the 7th seal? This seal must deal with eternity. Some believe that the silence is to emphasize that we are in the presence of God. Hab 2:20, The Lord is in His holy temple: Let all the earth keep silence before Him. We are now entering the presence of God. In awe, we stand in silence. Others, I among them, believe that the silence indicates that God does not do anything rashly. Even when He is ready to destroy the world, He waits calmly. This is a picture of the longsuffering, endurance and patience of our God. God will not end this world out of any anger of the moment. Count to 10 is good advice when we are angry. God waited 30 minutes, in silence, to assure everyone that this was His determined will and not His momentary wrath.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. After the half hour of silence, there appear seven angels. Each angel has a trumpet. Out of the 7th seal comes the introduction to the sounding of the seven trumpets. Trumpets were used to command and to warn. The trumpet was their early warning system at a time of attack or storm. Any threat to the peace and safety of the people was announced by the sounding of trumpets. Trumpets were also used to pre-announce (call attention to) an announcement. For example, when a king was entering the city, the trumpet would sound. The trumpet would let all know that the king was coming to make an announcement.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The seventh and last seal on the scroll is broken. On earth uproar and strife follow as at Babel, but in heaven silence for half an hour. Then follows the sounding of trumpets initiating activities leading to the ultimate manifestation of the King.
At the sounding of the first trumpet a great storm breaks over the earth. At the sounding of the second, terrific disturbance occurs in the sea. At the sound of the third comes a terrible poisoning of the waters, bringing death. At the sounding of the trumpet of the fourth angel the third part of the light of the sun, moon, and stars is eclipsed. Through all these movements God is seen speaking to men of His throne and His power, which they have ignored. They all describe the operations of punitive judgment. Between the sounding of the fourth and fifth trumpets an eagle is seen proclaiming the coming of a threefold woe, but the fact of the proclamation is evidence of the long-suffering of God. That surely is the explanation of the eagle’s proclamation in the midst of the sounding of trumpets.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
The seventh seal includes the seven trumpets. What a contrast that pause must have been to the jubilant songs of the great multitude! In the Jewish temple, we are told, the musical instruments and chanting resounded during the offering of the sacrifices, which occupied the first part of the service; but at the offering of the incense a solemn silence was observed, Psa 62:1. The people prayed quietly without, at the time of incense. What a glimpse is here afforded of the intercession of our great High Priest! The smoke of the incense of His great merit arises with the prayers of the saints. Pray on, believer, though your voice be feeble, and so much imperfection mingles with your efforts to serve God. The incense of Christs intercession is fragrant enough to make even you acceptable.
The four first trumpets include the devastation of natural objects. The dumb creation, and even the earth itself, suffers for mans sin. Think of the horses wounded in battle, dying in long agony; of vast tracks of country once smiling, with harvest becoming a wilderness; of the soil compelled to produce the ingredients of poisoning and intoxication. Poor Mother Earth! Goethe said that he could hear her sighing as a captive for redemption.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter Eight The Breaking Of The Seventh Seal
Chapter 8 deals with the breaking of the seventh seal, which opens fully the book of title-deed to this world. This roll was put into the hands of the Lord Jesus by the Father after the church, represented by the glorified elders, was seen around the throne in Heaven (5:6-7).
First let me make a few remarks in regard to the structure of the book of the Revelation. The main body of the book is divided into four sevens. There are the letters to the seven churches of Asia; then the seven seals; then the seven trumpets; and farther on the seven vials of the wrath of God. There is something very striking about these last three sevens. First, we have six seals opened, then a parenthesis that takes up chapter seven. In chapter eight, the seventh seal is opened, and the book as a whole is open to view.
This seventh seal includes the seven trumpets. Six trumpets are sounded (8:7-9:21), and again there is a parenthetical portion (10:1-11:14). At the conclusion of this parenthesis the seventh trumpet brings us to the end of all things.
Chronologically, we are as far along when we reach 11:18 as when we reach the great white throne in chapter 20, for the seventh trumpet introduces the world kingdom of our God and His Christ and goes right on to the time when the dead will be judged. So we really have a duplication, in measure, of prophetic truth from this point on. From chapters 4-11 you have truth presented in orderly sequence-a prophetic outline of the things that will take place after the rapture of the church right on to the end of time.
Then, commencing with chapter 12, God seems to turn the roll over so we may view the other side. He gives us a second view of the events, especially in relation to Israel. We have details that bring before us the great actors for good and evil in the last days-the woman clothed with the sun; the man-child, Christ, who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron; Michael, the archangel; the dragon, who is that old serpent the devil; the coming world-confederacy and its blasphemous head; the lamb-like beast (who I believe is the antichrist), who looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon-the counterfeit of the Lamb of God. There follows a parenthetical portion in chapter 14, which in a very vivid way brings before us the final issues once more.
Then, in chapters 15-16, we have the vials, or bowls, of the wrath of God. Once again we have the same structure that has engaged our attention in connection with the seals and trumpets. We have six bowls and then a parenthesis. In this instance the parenthesis occupies only one verse (16:15). Immediately following this, the seventh bowl of the wrath of God is outpoured bringing us on to the doom of Babylon, described in detail in chapters 17 and 18. Then in chapter 19 we have the Lords descent to the earth, accompanied by the armies of Heaven, to establish His millennial kingdom and reign for a thousand years. At the close of this the final judgment takes place. The heavens and the earth as we now know them, with all the works of man, will be destroyed. New heavens and a new earth will be brought in where God will be all in all throughout an eternity of bliss. The wicked-those who have persistently rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, both before and after the cross, and the millennial dispensation of righteousness-all who have rejected the message of God will be cast into the lake of fire.
I have searched the Bible through and through, over and over again, to find one ray of hope for men and women who leave this world rejecting Christ. I have never been able to find it. I have looked into all kinds of theories. I have read hundreds of volumes, some depicting the annihilation of all the wicked dead promising a second chance after death. But in all these books I have never found one statement based on the Word of God, to give the slightest hope to the Christ-rejector. This world is the only place in which God is offering salvation to Christless men. If you refuse the message of His grace now, if you deliberately steel your heart against the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and you die in your sins, you will be Christless for all eternity! I think the most awful picture the Bible gives us of the doom of the lost is in the Epistle of Jude, which forms such a fitting preface to the book of Revelation. He speaks of those who make light of Gods salvation and who follow after unrighteousness, as wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever (Jud 1:13). I cannot see the least hope for a Christless soul in that illustration.
When I was a boy in my home in Canada, I remember a period when night after night a blazing comet appeared in the skies. I heard older people say that this particular night wonder had not been seen for something like three hundred years. I asked in amazement where it had been, and for the first time in my young life I came up against the wonder of infinite space. I was told that that comet had been driving on with tremendous velocity millions and millions of miles away from the sun for one hundred and fifty years. One hundred and fifty years ago it had gradually begun to come back toward the sun, and that was why it was then visible. In a few weeks it passed out of sight, to appear to us no more for another three hundred years. I can recall wondering what would happen if that comet went off on a tangent and never came back! This is the appalling picture that Jude presents in the passage referred to. Those who turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, those who despise the boundless mercy He has given through His blessed Son and persist in refusing His goodness, continuing in their sins, will be driven away from the Sun of righteousness into outer darkness. They will move on and on throughout eternity, never to find their way back into the presence of God. He is giving a little space now for repentance, but the day of His grace will be over when He rises to shake terribly the earth. And how are you treating His offer of mercy?
The Seventh Seal (Rev 8:1-6)
We are told that when the Lamb had opened the seventh seal there was silence in Heaven for about half an hour. May we not say it is the calm before the coming storm?-the most awful storm that will ever break over this poor world. Some of you have lived in regions where thunderstorms are common. No doubt, you have often noted on a hot summer day the clouds suddenly gathering in the sky, becoming heavier and darker every moment. You have heard the thunder reverberating in the skies, peal after peal with increasing intensity. You have observed the lightning flashes. Then suddenly all became still. There seemed to be not even a breath of wind to move the leaves on the trees. Yet an overcast, threatening sky causes the birds to seek shelter, the cattle to move uneasily, and all nature to become expectant. A few moments pass by. Then vivid flashes of lightning cause us to shrink back. Crash after crash follow, and the windows of the heavens seem to be opened-the storm pouring down in a deluge!
We have something similar to this in Rev 8:1. We saw in chapters 4 and 5 the saints gathered around the throne of God and of the Lamb. We noted that from the throne proceeded thunder and lightning. As the seals were broken, one after another, judgment followed judgment in quick succession on the poor world from which God had gathered out His beloved people. But even the crashing under the sixth seal is not the climax. In Heaven lies the mystery of Gods dealing with this world and the judgments yet to fall on it. But when the last seal is broken it will be clear what side God takes in all the affairs of earth. He will judge according to the holiness of His character and the righteousness of His throne. The seventh seal, as we have noted before, introduces the final drama of the great tribulation. No wonder there is silence in Heaven for half an hour before that seal is broken!
It is as though all Heaven is waiting in breathless expectation. We seem to hear the questions: What will the Lamb do next? What will be Gods next move toward judging and reclaiming that rebellious world? Verses 2-5 give the answer.
Careful readers of the Bible will connect the seven trumpets with the fall of Jericho. That great city just across the Jordan that barred the progress of the people of Israel into the promised land fell with the blast of God alone. The priests of Israel were given the trumpets of judgment, and for seven days they marched around the city blowing the trumpets. Seven times on the seventh day they did so and at the seventh blast the walls fell down flat. Jericho is a type of this present world in its estrangement from God, and its hatred of Gods people. Jericho fell at the sound of seven trumpets.The world, as you and I know it, is going to fall at the sound of the seven trumpets of doom, blown by these angels of judgment (Joshua 6).
The seal is broken, the book is fully unrolled, and the seven angels appear to whom are given seven trumpets. As these angel messengers stand by, waiting one after the other to herald with a trumpet-blast the coming judgments, we are told that another angel came and stood to officiate at the golden altar. He is seen offering incense and therefore is an angel-priest. Who is this angel-priest? I think you will agree that he cannot be a created angel. Scripture never speaks of any created angel offering incense with the prayers of saints to make them acceptable to God. The church of Rome does; but nowhere in the Bible do you get anything of the kind. Throughout the Old Testament the preincarnate Christ is again and again presented as the angel of Jehovah. He was the angel who appeared to Abraham; He was the angel who guided the children of Israel; He was the angel who wrestled with Jacob and put his thigh out of joint by the brook at Peniel; He was the angel who appeared to Moses when the prophet prayed that he might see God; He was the angel who appeared to Joshua to lead the people of Israel against their foes in the land of Canaan; He was the angel of Jehovah again and again revealing Himself throughout the entire dispensation. In the book of Zechariah He is the angel-advocate who stands to plead for Joshua the high priest. So we again find Him in the book of the Revelation presented as an angel-priest who still has a people on earth for whom to plead. They are not members of the church of God, but, as we saw in connection with the fifth seal and chapter 7, they are the hundred and forty-four thousand-a remnant who will be taken out of Israel after the church of God will be called home.
The Word of God is very clear on all this. Rom 11:17 pictures the Gentiles as having been grafted into Israels olive tree of promise. And the Holy Ghost goes on in that chapter to make it plain that when the Gentile church becomes apostate, God is going to reject it and turn back to Israel. In the tribulation period they will again be grafted into their own olive tree. They will be the witnessing remnant of that awful time and the Lord Jesus will intercede for them in Heaven as He now does for His church. He will not be indifferent to their sorrows in those days of unparalleled tribulation. He will, as the faithful High Priest, bear His people on His heart and on His shoulders, even as Aaron carried the names of the twelve tribes on the breastplate and on the onyx stones set in gold on the shoulder pieces of his ephod (Exo 28:6-21). So we see Christ pictured by this angel-priest offering incense at the golden altar in the very presence of God.
In this present time the Jews bewail their desolation, and cry out in anguish of heart year after year, Woe unto us, for we have no Mediator! But when their eyes are opened and grace begins to operate in their souls they will know the blessedness of priestly intercession on the part of their once-rejected Messiah, whom they will learn to identify with the angel of the covenant of old. They will search their Bibles; they will doubtless read the book of Hebrews; they will study the four Gospels and will see the truth. They will look on Him whom they pierced and will repent and mourn, as described in Zechariah 12:10-4. And God will receive Israel and make her His messenger to the nations. We are not surprised, therefore, when we get this look into glory and see the Lord Jesus as the angel-priest.
He has a golden censer. It is blessed to think that Israel will have such an Intercessor in the coming day? We are told that the smoke of the incense is the prayers of the saints-those suffering saints on the earth. The angel took the censer, filled it with the fire of the altar, and emptied it on the earth. Here is the answer to the cry of His afflicted ones down in that scene of tribulation. The prayers went up to the Father, and judgment came down, and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake (8:5).
The Final Storm (Rev 8:7-13)
I cannot explain fully the symbol in verse 7, but I think I can see a hint of the awful time that is awaiting the people of Christendom who have refused the gospel. Do you remember that the grass is used as a symbol of man (Isa 40:6)? Grass trampled beneath the foot is the picture of man in his frailty and weakness. What about the tree? It is another picture of man, but rising up in his pride and independence of God. You remember how Nebuchadnezzar is likened to a great tree and how the rulers in Israel were spoken of as great cedars. John the Baptist said, Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Mat 3:10). Grass is man in his weakness, man in his littleness; the tree is man in his dignity, in his greatness, in his independence-man lifting himself up against God. So the first angels trumpet distinctly indicates a fiery judgment on that part of the human race that has rejected the gospel now so freely proclaimed. It is an appalling picture, but remember the reality is far worse than the picture!
This is followed in verses 8-9 by another fearful portent. I believe it especially concerns the judgment of the great world-church that has held sway over the consciences of so many people. May I direct your attention to Jer 51:25? There we have the same symbol as is given us in Rev 8:8-a great mountain cast into the sea. I have already said that every symbol in the book of the Revelation was explained somewhere else in the Bible. In the Old Testament a great mountain burning with fire is the symbol of literal Babylon. In the New Testament this great destroying mountain burning with fire, that is cast into the sea and brought to an end under the judgment of God in this coming day, is evidently spiritual Babylon. Babylon of the Old Testament was the fountainhead of idolatry. Every idolatrous system has had its root in Babylon. Spiritual Babylon is the direct successor of literal Babylon. The direct correlation between the mystic religions of the old Babylon and spiritual Babylon of today is significant. If anyone attempted to make a study of this connection he would be perfectly astonished to find the origin of the ritual services used in Christian churches. In the coming day when the second angels trumpet sounds, Babylon will be cast into the great sea of the nations. That is, in the day of Gods wrath the false church will be utterly destroyed by the people she once tyrannized. We will learn more of this when we come to chapter 18.
As the third angel sounded his trumpet a great star fell from Heaven (8:10-11). Stars in the prophetic scriptures symbolize religious dignitaries. They that turn many to righteousness are to shine as the stars forever and ever. The symbol is used again and again in the Bible for persons occupying places of importance in the spiritual, or religious world, as we say. Here we have a star symbolizing an apostate leader whose influence over man is so great that when he falls the third part of men are poisoned because of his evil influence.
Who is this star? While I do not want to try to prophesy, let me give you a suggestion. Who occupies the highest place in the church in the minds of millions of professing Christian people? Many would say the pope. What if tomorrow the newspapers came out with a headline like this: The pope declares that Christianity is all a sham, that religion is just a fraud? Can you imagine the effect that would have? Tens of thousands who would say, Well, the man we viewed as the head of the church, as infallible, as the authoritative voice on all matters of a religious nature, has denied it all. Now, whom can we trust, and what can we believe? I do not say that this will definitely happen. I am just giving you a hint of what might be. Do we not see the same thing on a small scale today? When a professing Christian leader gives up what he has once stood for, it has a tremendous influence for evil on people of lesser influence and lesser knowledge. And after the true church is gone, I gather from this symbol that one of the greatest lights in the false system left behind will openly apostatize. His teachings will become as wormwood, poisoning and embittering his deluded followers.
The darkness deepens when the fourth trumpet sounds (12-13). Again I do not attempt to tell you exactly what these verses symbolize. But it is evident that light is being rapidly withdrawn. A third of the sky was struck. A third of the moon and stars were darkened. What does it mean? Well, the Lord Jesus said, If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness (Mat 6:23). Light obeyed increaseth light-light resisted bringeth night. Do you know why so many people in Christendom are going into Christian Science, Theosophy, Spiritualism, and the new theology of our times? Do you know why so few people ever get out of these cults? Because of this: They have had the opportunity to receive light from God and they have rejected it. It is written in the Word that God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2Th 2:11-12). When God presents His truth to people, responsibility comes with it. When God presents Christ to them, tremendous responsibility is given to them. If you hear the message and reject Christ, do not be surprised if you are caught in one of these unholy ideas of the present day; and perhaps you will never be delivered from it until you wake up in a lost eternity.
Next the three trumpets yet to follow are introduced in a very solemn way. They are distinguished from the four we have already commented on, as woe trumpets. They speak of a more intensified form of judgment than any previously portrayed and will be studied in the next chapter. I only desire now to call your attention to the expression, the inhabiters of the earth (8:13). We frequently find a similar term in the book of Revelation, Them that dwell upon the earth. The heaviest judgments fall on these people. They are not merely those that live here on earth, but they form a distinctive class. They are the people who have rejected the heavenly calling. When God offered them full and free salvation through the death of His beloved Son, they turned away from Him. They rejected Christ and chose to follow their worldly desires and love of sin, therefore they became the inhabiters of the earth.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Rev 8:4
Christ the Bearer of Prayer and Praise.
I. It was a thought very dear to our Master, especially just before He left this earth, to tell His people that they should pray in His name. Five times the direction recurs in those four chapters of St. John which enshrine such legacies of love. In glad obedience, then, to this kind mandate, our Church has been very careful to wind up all its prayers and praises,-for they are one; praise is prayer jubilant, and prayer, as St. Paul teaches us, stripped of thanksgiving, is no prayer at all,-all its prayers and praises with some form of words to express that name of Jesus, equivalent to “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And that final form of doxology and supplication is, indeed, the committal of the petition or the song to the Lord Jesus Christ, that He may be its Bearer to the throne of God. It is sending it up to mingle with the incense. Accordingly, out of all the prayers and collects which are in the Prayer-book, there are only nine which do not end through the name and intercession of Christ. And for those nine there are special reasons. Four are prayers addressed to the Second Person of the Trinity Himself, and therefore of course do not close with the usual termination. These are the prayer of St. Chrysostom, the collect for the third Sunday in Advent, the collect for the first Sunday in Lent, the collect for Trinity Sunday, in part, at least, the prayer before the consecration in the office for the Holy Communion, and the form of consecration of the elements, because that, not ending in prayer, has not the name of the Lord Jesus Christ at the close. The absence of the name of Christ in the collect for Trinity Sunday is to be accounted for by the same principle: that Christ is addressed in the collect. In three others,-the collect for the sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, the first of the three collects for Good Friday, and the collect for Ascension,-the whole prayer is so full in its tissue of the person, and the work, and the glory of Christ, that it is really tantamount to an address both directed to Christ, and presented through Christ. And in the only remaining instance of which I am aware,-the prayer pronounced by the bishop before confirming,-it partakes so much of the nature of a blessing that it is to be regarded rather as a benediction than as a supplication.
II. But it may have occurred to some to ask, Why do we not conclude the Lord’s Prayer with the name of Christ? Does not the absence of His name mar its evangelical character? And if it be said, It was given before Christ’s death and ascension, and therefore it would have been premature if our Lord had taught us to put His name at the end of it, then the suggestion would arise, Ought not the Church to add it? But I believe the right answer to the question is this: First, being a prayer given us by our Lord Himself, it necessarily so associates itself throughout with Him, and makes Him so present to the mind, that if His name be not there, His image is, and we cannot choose but pray it through Christ; and, secondly, as they are our Lord’s own words, and therefore not human, they do not need the closing words, “through Christ,” for many of the reasons for which other invocations need them, for they ascend to heaven in their own right, by their Divine original.
III. But now let us look more closely what it means when we say, at the end of our prayers, “through Jesus Christ.” (1) First, it is a confession of our unworthiness and sinfulness in all our words and thoughts. We claim audience only through another. (2) Secondly, we recognise the great fact that there is no access to God but by Him who is “the Way.” There was a barrier, a range of untraversable heights, masses upon masses of sin, between us and God. Christ came and bore away that mountain, and the road was open; He was the Bearer of sin first, that He might be the Bearer of prayer always. (3) But, thirdly, this was not all. The access made, Christ took His place at God’s right hand, as High-priest of His people, to receive and present their sacrifices of prayer and praise. The Israelite brought the lamb, but Aaron offered it. So we lay down our heart’s best feelings at Jesus’s feet, and then Jesus gives them to the Father. (4) And, fourthly, in doing this, Christ makes our prayers what they were not in themselves: fit to enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. But for that, the very best prayer that ever went out of the heart of man would defile heaven; but now God perceives the incense: and just as He sees, not the sinner, but the righteousness of Christ, in which that sinner stands, so He sees, not so much the prayer as the incense which mingles with that prayer; and He is well pleased with the supplication for the incense’ sake. Cain’s sacrifice, without the lamb, did not go up; Abel’s, with it, did. (5) But, fifthly, what we do in the name of another, it is the same as if that other did it. Pray in Christ’s name, the prayer is as if Christ prayed it. As Christ represents me in heaven, so, in a sense, I am representing Christ upon earth. And this is the explanation of the greatness of the undertaking which God makes, that whatever we ask in the name of Jesus Christ we shall receive. For, in the name of Christ, I can only ask what I am sure Christ would have asked if He were here. And what am I sure that Christ would have asked if He were here? Only either what He did ask when He was upon earth, or what He has told me that it is in God’s mind to give. Therefore when I pray I can only put the name of Christ to a promised or to an unpromised thing subject to the will and glory of God.
IV. Note three most happy results of thus making Jesus the Bearer of your prayers. (1) First, He separates and refines those prayers which are put into His hands to offer. You have been asking, perhaps, some thing which would not be good for you to have. Christ does not present that. You give Him your mixed nosegay; He takes out the weeds, and offers only the flowers. (2) Secondly, He will add something to the prayers you give Him. “The wounded side of Christ,” George Herbert says, “is the believer’s post-bag”; and thus he ends his sweet poem, with these words out of the mouth of Christ:-
“Or if hereafter any of my friends
Will give me of this kind, the door
Shall still be open; what he sends
I will present, and somewhat more,
Not to his hurt. Sighs will convey
Anything to me. Hark, despair! away!”
(3) And, thirdly, what you have once really entrusted to Christ, you need be careful about no more. Some persons are anxious about their prayers when they have said them, how they will speed. There is no need; you may leave all with Christ; it is all now a part of His undertaking.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 6th series, p. 29.
References: Rev 9:6.-Homilist, 1st series, vol. vi., p. 345. Rev 10:4.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 11. Rev 10:5, Rev 10:6.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 77. Rev 10:11.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 106.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 8
Rev 8:1-5.
The silence in heaven when the seventh seal is opened is indicative of the solemn things which are now to come. The scroll is now fully opened and there is an ominous hush as the seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets of judgment. John beholds these seven angels, but before they begin to sound another angel is seen standing at the altar. This angel is not a creature, but like the angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament, is our Lord Himself. He is seen as the Priest in behalf of the praying, suffering saints on earth. No angel can offer the prayers of the saints, but He, who is the one intercessor, alone can do that. And for what do they pray on earth? For mercy for those who persecute the remnant of Israel? No! They pray for divine intervention, for the fire of judgment as Elijah did.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Chapter 21
Christ opens the seventh seal
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour
Rev 8:1-13
In Rev 6:10, we hear the cries of God’s saints, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? In this eighth chapter, with the opening of the seventh seal, we are shown the trumpets of judgment. These seven trumpets of judgment which are described in chapters 8-11 show God’s retribution upon those who are the persecuting enemies of his church. The final, complete retribution is reserved for the great day of judgment. Yet, even now the seals of persecution are followed by the trumpets of judgment (W. Hendriksen). These trumpets of judgment do not symbolize single, isolated events, or specific periods of time. Rather, they are symbolic pictures of God’s providential judgments which fall upon the wicked again and again throughout history. They are God’s warnings of wrath to come. These are the things which God brings upon men and women, cities and nations, because of their opposition to Christ and their persecution of his church. And every act of divine judgment in time is a warning of eternal judgment to come, calling for God’s enemies to bow to Christ in repentance and faith. In chapters 8-11, God sends seven angels to blow the trumpet and warn the people (Eze 33:3). In this eighth chapter, we will look at the first four trumpets of judgment as they are set before us. There are four things which stand out as prominent lessons to be gleaned from these thirteen verses.
Judgment is God’s strange work
When the Lord Jesus opened the seventh seal of the book, John says, There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour (Rev 8:1). For thirty minutes all songs, all praises, all movement stopped. Heaven was completely silenced when the Son of God began to open this seal of judgment. This silence was an indication of sober reflection. The calm before the storm is always a time of sobriety and thoughtfulness. The triune God, the Lamb, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the seraphs, cherubs, and all the multiplied millions of angels, and all the church of God were silent. God was thinking about what he was about to do. The angels were thinking about their mission. And the redeemed of the Lord were thinking about God’s great mercy to them. This half-hour of silence in heaven was also an indication of great anticipation. Great things were upon the wheel of providence. And the church of God, both in heaven and earth, stood silent, as became them, to see what God was doing (Matthew Henry). Throughout the Old Testament the goings forth of the Almighty to judgment were introduced by reverent silence (Hab 2:20; Zep 1:7; Zec 2:13). Above all else, this silence in heaven indicated something strange and terrible. Someone said, The steps of God from mercy to judgment are always slow, reluctant, and measured. Judgment is God’s strange work. He delighteth in mercy (Mic 7:18). But God is slow to anger and slow to wrath. The Almighty has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God is love (1Jn 4:16). Judgment is his strange act (Isa 28:21). Yet, his judgment is sure! Justice demands judgment. God will punish every transgression, either in the one who commits it or in the Substitute, Christ Jesus (Heb 2:2; Isa 53:8; Gal 3:13).
The angels of God who minister to his elect execute judgment upon their enemies (Rev 8:2)
To God’s elect these angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be the heirs of eternal salvation (Heb 1:14). They are messengers of mercy to the people of God. They watch over and protect them in this world. But those very same angels are messengers of wrath and judgment to all who oppose and persecute the church of God (2Sa 14:15-17; 2Ki 19:34-35).
There is a direct correlation between the prayers of God’s people and his judgment upon their enemies (Rev 8:3-5)
This angel of intercession is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the only intercessor and mediator between God and men (1Ti 2:5-6; Heb 7:24-27; 1Jn 2:1-2). And as surely as he makes intercession for his elect, so also he will avenge his elect (Rev 8:5). As a king is honor bound to avenge the blood of his loyal subjects, so the Lord God is honor bound to avenge the blood of his people upon their enemies who have persecuted, abused, tormented, and killed them. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator, who offered up the prayers of his saints by his own merit, took fire from off the altar and cast it into the earth. This fire caused many strange commotions in the earth: voices, thunders, lightenings, and earthquakes. That came about as God’s answer to the prayers of his saints (Rev 6:10). God is our Defender. God is our Refuge. God is our Avenger. Our cause is safe in his hands! (Luk 18:17; Rom 12:19). And, after Christ gave the command of judgment, the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound (Rev 8:6). Now, look at the four trumpet judgments in this chapter, and understand, fourthly, that. . .
Every providential act of judgment is a warning of the greater, eternal judgment that is to come (Rev 8:7-13)
As you read the description of these trumpet judgments, you cannot fail to see a similarity between them and the judgments of God upon the Egyptians in the book of Exodus. As then, the plagues were all poured out upon Egypt and Israel was unharmed, even so, these judgments fall upon the wicked. They do not harm God’s elect! God punished his elect in Christ for their sins. God’s judgment against us fell upon our Substitute. Though the wicked must be punished, There shall no evil happen to the just (Pro 12:21; Rom 8:1).
The first trumpet sounds and brings a terrible storm, leaving destruction in its path (Rev 8:7). It is a terrible mistake to limit the judgment to a strictly literal interpretation, though that is certainly included. Usually when divine judgment is dealt with in Holy Scripture, highly figurative language is used simply because it is such a horrible thing that nothing can properly describe it (Joe 2:28-32). Here is a terrible storm of hail, fire, and blood. Perhaps it refers to a violent hail storm that causes fire and death. It may refer to storms of pestilence, war, and economic/political upheavals falling upon society in general. Perhaps it refers to a spiritual storm and has reference to the heresies by which God’s elect are proved and those who rebel against his truth are destroyed (1Co 11:19; 2Th 2:10-12). But even in wrath, God remembers mercy! The storm of judgment is limited to only a third part of the earth.
The second angel sounds his trumpet and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea (Rev 8:8-9). The words as it were are significant. They specifically tell us that the picture is symbolical, not literal. Most likely this refers to idolized spiritual leaders, famous evangelists or pastors who appeared to burn with zeal for Christ and his truth, falling publicly into sin and disgrace. These self-appointed false prophets are not God’s servants, though multitudes follow them. When they fall, many are destroyed. Yet, the foundation of God standeth sure (2Ti 2:15-19). God’s elect are not deceived by such men.
The third angel sounds his trumpet and a star falls from heaven polluting the waters of the earth (Rev 8:10-11). Unlike the mountain that fell, this star was not a heretic of the earth. Rather, he is one who is by profession in the kingdom of heaven, a preacher of the gospel, one who shines as a brilliant lamp in God’s church. But at last he falls into heresy and with his heresy pollutes the Word of God and the souls of men.
The fourth angel sounded his trumpet and brought great darkness into the world (Rev 8:12). In the Scriptures, the sun represents Christ and the light of the gospel shining from him (Mal 4:2; Luk 1:78; Joh 8:12; 2Pe 1:19). The smiting of the sun represents the abundance of heresy in this world, engulfing the churches (represented by the moon) and preachers (represented by the stars) in thick darkness. But even this thick darkness is limited to one third. God always has his elect remnant! I will leave it to others to debate about the meanings of these symbols, but of this much I am certain: all temporal, providential judgments are but warnings of the infinitely greater, everlasting judgment that is yet to come (Read Rev 8:13!). Are you ready for that great and terrible day?
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
God
Adonai Jehovah. Isa 25:8.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
And: Rev 5:1, Rev 5:9, Rev 6:1, Rev 6:3, Rev 6:5, Rev 6:7, Rev 6:9, Rev 6:12
silence: Job 4:16, Psa 37:7, Psa 62:1, *marg. Hab 2:20, Zec 2:13
Reciprocal: 2Ti 3:1 – perilous
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE OPENING OF the sixth seal (Rev 6:12-17), produced great convulsions, affecting both the heavens and the earth, which brought terror into the hearts of all. Then came a pause; the winds of heaven being arrested until the servants of God were sealed. Chapter 8 brings us to the opening of the seventh seal and again there is a pause, described as silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. What transpires on earth during that time is not stated. Divine judgment, when it falls, is not only sure but swift, yet it is never hurried. During this interval of silence the seven angels prepared themselves to sound their trumpets. There is a calm serenity about the Divine action in judgment, and it is postponed to the last possible moment.
Angels now come into prominence. This is in keeping with the Lords own words in Mat 13:39, Mat 13:41, Mat 13:49; and again in 24: 31. Angels of special importance are indicated here- the seven angels which stood before God. To Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, the angel announced himself as Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God (Luk 1:19). These seven angels had that peculiar privilege also. In the trumpets that were given to them we have a symbol that differs from the seals. The breaking of the seals not only set in motion the providential judgments that came on men, but also revealed their secret source. Such things, in a less intense form, had come to pass before. The hand of God in the judgments might not have been discerned, had not the seals been broken. The trumpet, on the other hand, is the symbol of what is clearly avowed, constituting an unmistakable call to all. The trumpet was commonly used in Israel, whether for calling an assembly or sounding an alarm. In our chapter the alarm is sounded with great emphasis.
But again, there took place during the half hour the action of another angel, detailed in verses Rev 8:3-5. This great Angel acted in high priestly capacity, adding the fragrance of His incense to the prayers of all saints. Many therefore see in Him a symbolic representation of Christ Himself, and we think they are right. His action was twofold. First, He acted on behalf of living saints, so that their prayers might ascend before God as an odour of a sweet smell. There were still saints on earth, though many had been martyred as Rev 6:9 showed. Those uttered their cry for vengeance but they did not need the action of the High Priest as these did.
In the second place, His action indicated the fire of judgment. The same censer, that was used for incense and fragrance, was now filled with fire from the altar, and flung to the earth as a signal for the trumpet judgments to begin. The censer was golden in keeping with the golden altar, symbolic of that which is divine in its intrinsic excellence. So whether it was the prayers of saints ascending in fragrance, or fire descending in judgment, all was executed in a righteousness which is divine.
In verses Rev 8:7-13 we get the sounding of the first four trumpets and the results. The language continues to be highly symbolic, and a feature common to each is that the judgments only fall upon a third part of the things affected. This shows that for the moment the effects are not universal but limited. The phrase, the third part, occurs again in Rev 12:4, where the Roman Empire, energized by Satan, is in question. This leads to the conclusion that here it is used to indicate the Roman earth, which is practically to be identified with the western European powers, or perhaps we may say, Christendom.
Another thing we notice in these verses is that the judgments fall on things rather than men. Yet the things specified-earth, trees, grass, sea and creatures in it, ships, rivers, fountains, sun, moon, stars-are not themselves moral agents, and so accountable to God. Man is the rebel sinner who has to be dealt with. The things are symbols of man and of what is connected with him.
For instance, earth signifies the stable organized nations, in contrast with sea-the restless, disorganized peoples. Trees signify the great men of the earth, in contrast with green grass, which indicates the common people, but in a prosperous state. Ships would be the symbol of commerce. Rivers and Fountains of the channels and sources of life and refreshment. The darkening of part of both day and night would indicate the disturbance of the whole course of nature to the blinding of men.
The judgment inflicted is symbolic in each case. Hail and fire, mingled with blood, must signify judgment from heaven of a crushing and searching nature, bringing death in its train. A great mountain burning with fire… cast into the sea-some imposing and apparently stable institution crashing under divine judgment into the restless masses of humanity. A great star burning as a lamp and falling from heaven, speaks rather of some prominent individual, who had shone as a luminary utterly apostasizing, and spreading death-dealing poison of a spiritual sort. The smiting of the third part of sun, moon and stars indicates the partial putting out of the sources of light and direction for men.
It is of course quite possible that we may have here reference also to great sights and signs and catastrophes in the realm of nature. But such things are not, we judge, the main objects of the prophecy, which has to do with what is spiritual and moral rather than what is physical and material.
After the fourth trumpet a very grave warning was sounded. Eagle rather than angel is the better attested reading in verse Rev 8:13, which is significant in view of the Lords words in Mat 24:28. The state of the inhabiters of the earth is becoming like that of a putrid carcase, and hence the three following trumpets are to unleash judgments of threefold intensity. This phrase or the equivalent, them that dwell on the earth, occurs a number of times in the book, and usually indicates a special class, whose interests and hopes are completely centred on the earth, and who have excluded all that is of heaven from their thoughts. As Christians we have a heavenly calling, and yet the present trend of religious thought is to concentrate exclusively on the earth, and to treat our hope of heaven with derision. When the church is gone, the earth-dwellers will be striving for their earthly paradise and expecting it as a result of their efforts. These apostates will specially come under the governmental wrath of God.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
The Seven Trumpets
Rev 8:1-13
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. The seventh seal. The sixth seal was opened in the closing statements of Rev 6:1-17. The seventh chapter, which was studied in our last two chapters, was a parenthesis. We now approach the opening of the seventh seal. The opening of this seal led to a “silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour.” We judge by this that the seventh seal was filled with momentous judgments.
There is no more said, however, of the seventh seal, because that part of its message which God wanted us to know is told under the vision of the seventh trumpet and the seven vials.
This message, therefore, concerns the sounding of the seven trumpets, which immediately follow the statement of the seventh seal. The Spirit, as we understand His message, has, in the seven seals, carried us through the whole period of the Tribulation. He now goes back, and covers, under the trumpets, the same period of time. There is this dual vision of events covering more or less the same period of time, because there is a distinction in the happenings of that hour.
The seals and the trumpets are as if the Spirit took us to see one side of the Temple, and afterwards led us to see another side of the same Temple. We could not, with our eyes, see both sides of the same building at once.
2. The seven trumpets. These reveal the sevenfold judgments of God which are determined against the rule of the beast and his fellows.
The antichrist will not have smooth sailing as he wreaks out his vengeance against the saints of the Most High, and as he endeavors to set himself against the Lord and His Christ. God will vex him. He that sitteth in the Heavens will laugh at the maneuvers of the man of sin; He will hold him in derision. No hand lifted against the Lord can prosper. None can prevail against Him.
As we think of this supreme effort of Satan and the antichrist and false prophet, together with Satan-driven men, against God and against His people we cannot but speak the word of warning spoken by David, the Prophet: “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little” (Psa 2:10-12).
God is indeed gracious. He is slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. However, He will not restrain His anger forever. Sin must be judged and punished. The angel of God’s wrath may fly upon one wing; he may move slowly, but he still moves, Judgment must ultimately fall upon the ungodly.
3. The seven trumpets remind us that the Lord has always visited judgments upon the ungodly.
There are some who bemoan the fact that a God of grace and love will execute judgment, on so great a scale, as is set forth in this chapter.
We have only to remind our readers that God has always visited wrath, against the disobedient and the ungodly. Adam was driven from the Garden of Eden because of his sin. Cain was sent out a vagabond upon the face of the earth, because of his sin. The flood came upon a world of ungodly, because of their sin. The tower of Babel fell because of the sins of the people. The city of Nineveh was destroyed because the cry of its iniquity had reached the ears of God in Heaven. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire because the cup of their iniquity was full.
We might go on and on. God has always been a God of justice, and of judgment. Shall the” wicked of today expect, therefore, to escape? How shall we think to evade the just judgments of God when we remember that God spared not His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for us all? If God spared not Christ, when He was made a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins; will He spare us if we reject that substitutionary work, and remain in our sins?
I. THE SOUNDING OF THE FIRST TRUMPET (Rev 8:2-7)
1. The golden censer. Before we enter into the vision of the first trumpet, we find another angel distinct from the seven “trumpet angels” standing at the altar. He has in his hand a golden censer, and he is given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne.
The centuries have sent many prayers to God from the lips of saints who were being persecuted for the Truth’s sake. Their prayers had come up before God, but the hour in which God should judge their adversaries had not yet come. With these prayers now before the Almighty, the angel takes the censer, and, filling it with fire from off the altar, casts it upon the earth. The result was that there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
2. The first trumpet sounds. The day of the wrath of the Lamb had come. The first angel prepared to sound, and when he sounded there followed hail, and fire, mingled with blood. The third part of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
We have seen the results of hail and of fire many times in our experiences. Where is he who has not seen, the ravages of some localized hailstorm? Here, however, is a hailstorm that will sweep away one-third of earth’s trees, and all of its grass.
There is a Scripture which says that he that kills with the sword, by the sword shall he be killed. Even, therefore, as sinners have meted out to others, must they receive of the hand of God.
Hail and fire mingled with blood is enough to make any one’s blood run cold; yet, such is the first judgment that shall fall, as the first angel sounds his trumpet.
II. THE SOUNDING OF THE SECOND TRUMPET (Rev 8:8)
It is marvelous how much meaning can be inclosed in one short verse of Scripture. What agonies, what bitter woes are wrapped up in the words, “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood.”
The judgments are not universal but partial. They place the curse of God upon a “third part” of things.
The deeper meaning of all of these sayings we may not fathom. It is not hard for us, however, to accept this as a literal judgment. In the days of Pharaoh the waters of Egypt became blood. Read Exo 7:17-21.
No one will doubt that the curse in Pharaoh’s day was literal. Then, why doubt that the curse prophesied in Revelation is literal?
The thing cast into the sea is stated in figurative language, because we read, “As it were a great mountain burning with fire.” The word about the blood is not in figura-live language. It reads, “A third part of the sea became blood.”
Can any one estimate the quantity of blood that flowed during the world war, when millions of men were slain? We have heard much of how our boys, by their blood, nurtured the poppies on the fields of Flanders.
Christ shed His Blood for us, the Just for the unjust. Now those who have spurned the Blood of Christ, will behold, in judgment, a sea turned to blood.
We read of blood to the horses’ bits. We read of blood staining all of the garments of our Lord, as He comes in His Second Advent treading the wine press of His wrath. It behooves us all to know the Blood of the Cross, and its saving and sheltering power, lest we come to know the “blood” of God’s wrath, when His judgments are on the earth.
III. THE SOUNDING OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH TRUMPETS (Rev 8:10-13)
1. The third trumpet-wormwood. We have all read of the waters of Marah. The Children of Israel had gone three days into the wilderness, and they found no water. Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink the waters, for they were bitter. Here in Revelation, as the third trumpet sounds, we discover that a third part of the rivers became bitter; for a great star fell from Heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the fountain of waters. The result was that the waters became wormwood, and men could not drink of them because they were bitter.
As Christ hung upon the Cross they gave Him vinegar and gall to drink. Thus, will He give unto the earth-peoples, the waters of bitterness. Many men will die under the curse of the third trumpet.
2. The fourth trumpet-darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ, through Peter, voiced the message of the Prophets when, in speaking of the signs of His Corning, He said, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.”
In this trumpet, the third part of the sun is smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so, as the third part of them is darkened. The day shines not for a third part, and the night likewise.
Sin always brings darkness-darkness of soul; darkness of mind. Here it brings a partial physical darkness. Those who reject the light of life will be cast into outer darkness, where will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. To the ungodly, there is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
IV. THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET (Rev 9:1-5)
Before the fifth angel sounded there was heard the yoke of an angel who was flying in the midst of Heaven, saying, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!”
With the warning given, the fifth angel sounded his trumpet and a star fell from Heaven unto the earth. This was not a literal star, for we read, “And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.” This star then is an angel, who conies down to earth to open the bottomless pit. The. result was that demon locusts were turned loose upon the earth. They were allowed five months to torment the peoples of the earth. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. During their days men will seek for death and find it not.
The shape of these “locusts” was like unto horses prepared unto battle. On their heads seemed to be crowns like gold. Their faces were as the faces of men. Their hair as the hair of women. Their teeth as the teeth of lions. They wore, as it were, breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots and many horses rushing to war. These locusts had a king over them, whose name was Abaddon, that is to say, a destroyer.
It may be difficult for us to grasp the meaning of all these judgments, which shall befall men. We may endeavor to liken these locusts to those great armies of locusts which have, at times, swept our Western plains, but the comparison is faulty. Here is something that forebodes a greater ill. These locusts do not attack the grass of the earth, nor any green thing. Their attack is upon those men who have not the sea! of God upon their foreheads.
It is when God’s judgments are upon the earth that the peoples learn to know righteousness. We must remember that during the time of the sounding of the trumpet, Satan and the antichrist and the false prophet will be sweeping the world with their denials of God and of Christ. It is then that the Lord will arise and terribly shake the earth. It is then that the judgments of God will fall, not merely upon some local part of our globe, but upon the whole earth.
V. THE SOUNDING OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET (Rev 9:13-21)
We have now the second of the three woes, which were announced by an angel. “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.” The sixth trumpet, the second woe, is described as the loosing of four angels, which were bound in the great river Euphrates. They have power to slay a third part of men, and they continue until their judgment is accomplished. The four angels which were loosed head an army of two hundred thousand thousand horsemen. We may call these Hell’s Demon Cavalry.
The horses of this vision, and their horsemen are thus described: “Having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.” By these was the third part of men killed, by fire, by smoke, and by brimstone. The power of the horses was in their mouth, and in their tails. Here is the description of their tails: “Their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.”
One would imagine that under this terrific judgment, men would have repented, yet, they repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and wood. Neither did they repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Do we wonder that God gave them over to judgments? Have we not read that the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men? If men worship and serve the creature more than the Creator; if men change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things, God will surely give them up to judgments, for such men are worthy of death.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Rev. “F. C. Spurr, of Birmingham, declared that throughout Europe, there is a reign of fear. In spite of the Kellogg Pact, the world is spending 200,000,000 per year more in armaments than in 1913.
Certainly the world is in a troubled, desperate state. We have reached the time of “distress of nations, with perplexity,” foretold by our Saviour. In that time, He declared, “men’s hearts (would be) failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” “And then,” He continued, “shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luk 21:25-28).
We are, then, living in the days just preceding the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a solemn time is this! With what earnestness, then, should we seek to obey the admonition that comes from the Saviour’s lips: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luk 21:34-36).
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Rev 8:1. The seventh and last seal was opened but nothing took place for half an hour. In the march of events it frequently happens that a lull will come between different campaigns. That is described here as being a silence of half an hour. We recall that when the four angels in Rev 7:1-3 were prepared to continue the action of God’s judgments against the persecutors of His people, they were told to hold the winds back until the sealing of the faithful had been completed. This half hour silence represents the lull in the judgments while the sealing was being done.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 1.
The silence period (seventh seal)–Rev 8:1-6.
The disclosures of the seventh seal consist in the signals of the seven trumpets, announced in the order of events by the seven angels. The trumpets sounded the beginning of the end of Jerusalem, of the Jewish temple, of Judaism and of all that constituted the Jewish state. It signaled the end of the world of Mat 24:3; Mat 24:14 –not the inhabited world, but the Jewish world. As the seven trumpets of Jericho, borne and blown by the seven priests, signaled the fall of the Canaanite city standing in the way of Israel’s conquest (Jos 6:13-21), so did the seven trumpets, sounded successively by the seven angels of Revelation, signal the fall of Jerusalem. They signaled the end of the once “faithful city, turned harlot” (Isa 1:21); “the great city, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt where also the Lord was crucified” (Rev 11:8; Rev 11:13). It was the end of the apostate Jerusalem which stood in the way of the conquest of the gospel; the Jerusalem that refused the “testimony” which the martyrs under the altar of Rev 6:9 had “held”; the word of God which the same enthroned souls of Rev 20:4 had “witnessed.” It was the Jerusalem of Gal 4:25-26, which was “in bondage with her children.” The old Jerusalem was doomed to destruction before the advance of the “Jerusalem above” of Gal 4:26, and “heavenly Jerusalem” of Hebrews 12;23, and the “new Jerusalem” of Rev 21:1 –the church of the new covenant, the “holy city” and “temple” of the Christ who was the Lamb of Revelation.
When the angel opened this seventh seal, before the momentous announcements were heard, a dread and awful silence was recorded.
“There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”–Rev 8:1.
This scene was in Heaven: It was the place where all of these correlated visions were disclosed. The “silence” here was accentuated by the contrast with the “voices” in the six seals before it. It was the silence of dreadful suspense, fearful expectation, a calm before the storm.
The silence period was for the space of half an hour: It was the symbol of pause, the sign of shortness of time. A similarity exists between this silence and the cessation of singers and trumpets in the cleansing of the temple by Hezekiah when the king and all the congregation “bowed themselves and worshipped.” (2Ch 29:1-36) The silence here followed in immediate succession the scene of chapter 7, where all the angels, elders and beings “fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God.” The similarity between the cessation of the singers and the silence of the angels was impressive. The former was a cessation of reverent worship, after the “singers sang” and the “trumpeters sounded” at the altars of Hezekiah. The latter was a silence of waiting awe, after the voices of “all the angels” in chapter 7 had ceased; it was a silence significant of what was about to occur in the final scene of the seventh seal.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 8:1. The opening of the seals is resumed in almost exactly the same strain as before in chap. 6. When the seventh seal was opened there followed a silence in heaven. This silence is generally supposed to relate to the cessation either of the songs of praise spoken of in chap. 7, or of the trials of the Church, which is now to enjoy a blessed period of rest. Both interpretations are unsatisfactory: the first, because, having returned to the subject of chap. 6, we have now nothing to do with chap. 7, and because it is hardly possible to imagine that the Seer would represent the songs of the heavenly host as interrupted even for a moment; the second, because the silence took place in heaven, and cannot represent the rest of the Church on earth. We suggest that the silence alluded to refers only to the cessation of the lightnings and voices and thunders of chap. Rev 4:5. These are the accompaniments of the Almightys throne in that aspect of it with which St. John has especially to do (comp. chap. 6:1). They probably did not pause while the seals were opening. Now they cease; and the meaning is that there is a pause in the judgments of God before a second and higher manifestation of them takes place.
This interpretation may find support in what appears to be the meaning of the words half an hour, words which are neither to be literally understood, nor to be regarded as expressing only a short space of time without having been suggested by any definite idea in the writers mind. Omitting all reference to the views of others, it seems to us that three considerations may be noted; first, that the word hour, though here part of a compound word, can hardly be separated from the hour so often spoken of by our LordThis is your hour, and the power of darkness; The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified; Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour (Luk 22:53; Joh 12:23; Joh 12:27); secondly, that the idea embodied in the half of anything is that of the thing interrupted or broken, as in three and a half the half of seven; thirdly, that St. John is frequently in the habit of marking a pause before any great step in the further development of the history which he gives is taken. We see this last trait of his mode of thought on different occasions in the Fourth Gospel, and a marked illustration of it is afforded in Revelation 20. Keeping these points in view, the silence of half an hour may well be understood to mean that the hour of judgment is interrupted or broken. In other words, judgment is not yet completed, and we must pause in order to prepare for that unfolding of it which is yet to come.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
When he had opened, that is, when the Lamb, who opened the six foregoing seals, did open the seventh, there was silence in heaven about half an hour, by way of allusion to what was done in the temple at the time of offering incense. The end of which silence was to give St. John an opportunity to contemplate those high mysteries which he had revealed to him, and to prepare him for new visions, as silence is cried before the proclamation of great and weighty matters. When great things are to be uttered, great attention is expected, and great silence prepares for great attention.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
With his saints sealed, God is ready to deal with the wicked and the seventh seal is opened. As He prepares to act, there is a half hour of silence in heaven. This silence can describe quiet expectation and reverent awe. ( Hab 2:20 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 8:1. And when he had opened the seventh seal This seal is introductory to the trumpets contained under it, as the seventh trumpet introduces the vials which belong to it. The period, therefore, of this seal is of much longer duration, and comprehends many more events, than any of the former seals. It comprehends, indeed, seven periods, distinguished by the sounding of seven trumpets. There was silence in heaven about half an hour This seems to have been intended, not only as an interval and pause, as it were, between the foregoing and the succeeding revelations, distinguishing in a remarkable manner the seventh seal from the six preceding; but as expressive of the solemn expectation excited on this occasion of great events about to be revealed. And the time of this silence being only half an hour, it seems, was intended to signify that the peace of the church would continue for a short season only, which was the case, namely, during the last fifteen years of Constantines reign, from A.D. 323 to A.D. 337. Of this silence some expositors think they find a figure in the following ceremonies of the Jews, mentioned by Philo. The incense, in the worship of God in the temple, used to be offered before the morning and after the evening sacrifice: and while the sacrifices were made, (2Ch 29:25-28,) the voices, and instruments, and trumpets sounded; while the priest went into the temple to burn incense, (Luk 1:10,) all were silent, and the people prayed without in silence or to themselves. Now this was the morning of the church, and therefore the silence precedes the sounding of the trumpets.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Revelation Chapter 8
This at once distinguishes them from the heavenly worshipers; there is no temple there; the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple. He that sits on the throne tabernacles over these, as once over the tabernacle They are not only as Israel in the courts or the nations in the world: they have a priests place in the worlds temple. The millennial multitudes are worshipers; these priests. As Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, ever in the temple itself, they have always access to the throne. But they had blessings under the Lamb also, to whom they alike ascribe their salvation-the good Shepherd cast out, and who had passed through tribulation Himself, also so great, would feed them; they would not hunger any more or thirst any more, as they had often done; nor should persecution or tribulation reach them. The Lamb, as known in this transitional time, but exalted in the throne, would feed them and lead them to living fountains of water. It is not, as to us, the promise of a well of water, springing up into everlasting life, and flowing out as a river; but they would be fed, refreshed, and perfectly cared for by the Lambs grace whom they had followed; and God Himself would wipe all tears from their eyes. They would have the consolations of God, worth all the sorrows they had passed through. But their blessings are consolations, not proper heavenly joy. They are thus a class apart, distinct from the elders or heavenly saints, and distinct from millennial saints who will never see tribulation, having a known position fixed in grace before God. It is a new revelation as to those passing through the great tribulation. The 144,000 of chapter 14 are a similar class from among the Jews, coming out of their special tribulation.
Again, divine interest in the saints, brought out into action by the effectual intercession of the great High Priest, brings down judgments on the world. For those under the altar there was no intercession; they were perfected, having been rejected and slain like Christ. There are saints upon the earth who yet need this intercession, so that their cry in their infirmity should be heard and answered. The smoke of the incense came up with the prayers of the saints. The great mediator took of the fire off the altar, put it into the censer, and cast it on the earth. The intercession turned into judgments in the answer, and the signs of Gods power were manifested, and subversion of order on earth followed-voices, thunderings, lightnings (as when the throne was set), and an earthquake.
Then follow specific judgments, on the signal being given from above. They fell on the Roman earth, the third part of the earth. (See Rev 10:4.) First, judgment from heaven, hail and fire; and violence or destruction of men; on earth blood: the effect was the destruction of the great ones in the Roman earth, and of all general prosperity. Next, a great power, as the judgment of God, was cast into the mass of peoples- still, I apprehend, in the Roman earth; for destruction of men, and all that belonged to their subsistence and commerce followed in those limits. Next, one that should have been a special source of light and order in government fell from his place, and corrupted the moral sources of popular motives and feelings- what governs and sways the people so as to characterise them. They became bitter, and men died of it. The last of these four plagues falls on the governing powers, and puts them out in their order, as from God: all in the limits of the Roman earth. This closed the general judgments, subverting and producing disaster and confusion in the Roman earth, where the power of evil, as against the saints, was.
Woe (specially on those who had their settled place on earth, in contrast with the heavenly calling, and who were unawakened and unmoved by the judgments on the earth, but clung to it in spite of all as their home,) is then announced. Threefold woe! The term dwellers on, or inhabiters of, the earth, has not yet been used, save in the promise to Philadelphia and the claims of the souls under the altar: for both of these were in contrast with such. After all these dealings of God, they are a distinct and manifested class, and spoken of, in what passes on the earth, as such. Against this perversely unbelieving class the earthly judgments of God are now directed: the first, against the Jews; the second, against the inhabitants of the Roman earth; the last, universal.
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
THE Lion of the tribe of Judah now opens the seventh seal, which reveals the contents of the volume of the book. So now we enter upon the wonderful revelations of the book itself. So momentous are the contents of the book that seven trumpet-bearing angels are now called out to proclaim them to the world.
3, 4. Here is another specification of the significant fact that the terrible retributive judgments executed against a wicked world and fallen Church actually take place in answer to the prayers of martyrs and saints.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Rev 8:1. When he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. The holy prophets in receiving revelations sought to be silent, calm, and abstracted from earthly ideas. So in the temple, while Zachariah was burning incense within, the people prayed in silence without. Luk 1:10.
Rev 8:2. Seven trumpets. The first design of those trumpets was to avenge the blood of the martyrs on the cruel idolaters of the Roman world; and the sound of the trumpet is a speaking figure of excitement to war, and to all the horrors which follow in its train.
The sounding of the trumpets have likewise the closest connection with the effusion of the seven vials, as is expressed by the sacred text. The earth, or Roman world, is the object of the first trumpet, and of the first vial. The sea, is the object of the second trumpet, and of the second vial. The fountains and rivers are the objects of the third. The sun is the object of the fourth. The kingdom of the beast is the object of the fifth. The Turkish empire is designated by the sixth trumpet, which looses the four angels in the Euphrates. The sixth vial is poured out on the Euphrates, the great river which runs through the centre of the Mahomedan powers. The seventh superinduces lightnings, thunders, earthquakes, and great hail: Rev 11:19. All these denote the shaking of the nations, as in Hag 2:6. Heb 12:26.
Rev 8:3-4. Another angel came and stood at the altar. Some think this was Michael the prince and protector of the church; but the incense which he offered on the golden altar indicates the presence of the great highpriest of our profession, perfuming the prayers of the saints with the merits of his sacrifice.
Rev 8:5. The angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar. By this we understand the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of burning, the Spirit of a jealous and angry God, scattering fire on the earth.
Rev 8:7. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. The irruption of the northern nations on Italy, Dalmatia, Thessalia, as Sigonius and St. Jerome testify, burning towns, ravishing matrons and virgins, capturing aged bishops, killing presbyters, and all men who stood in their way. These ravages commenced about the year 376, and continued for many years.
Rev 8:8-9. The second angel sounded, and as (if) it were a great mountain, the old Roman empire, burning with fire, was cast into the sea of troubles and confusion by the wide-spreading wars of the Vandals, the Franks, and others which reached all parts of Gaul, and ultimately the whole nation of Spain. Those irruptions of the barbarians commenced about the year of Christ 406. They crossed the Rhine on the first day of January 407, and entered Belgia, when the river might possibly be frozen over, and a passage opened by the hand of heaven. They do not appear to have met with any power to oppose their progress.
On the word, , the third part, I find many opinions, but perhaps it is what seems plainly denoted, that the third part of Europe was either slain or wasted by their wars. In that case, the scourges had their limits. Our critics are, it would seem, all misguided, who confine those two trumpets to jewish affairs; for what had the jews to do with the seas?
Rev 8:10-11. The third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven. This designates a conqueror, as Balaam said, a star shall rise out of Jacob, and shall smite the corners of Moab. Mr. Whiston refers this to the terrible Attila, who in the year 442, and thence to 452, marched a great army along the Danube, and crossed the Rhine, and thence returned to Lombardy. Sigonius calls him metus orbis, and flagellum Dei. The terror of the earth, and the scourge of God. If all men expound the four beasts of Daniel of the conflicts of empires, why may not the trumpets of John be illustrated in like manner? War and peace, rewards and punishments, are the cares of a God.
Rev 8:12. The fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars. Hence followed the intellectual and moral obscuration of the sun of Europe. All libraries were burned, all schools annihilated, and the verdure of the earth was withered. No traces of literature remained, except some sparks glimmering in a few convents, which had escaped the general desolation. Of the true character of those dogs of war, allow me to translate a specimen from the Belles Lettres of M. Thomas, member of the French Academy. The warrior had landed with a small army in England, and being vanquished, was condemned to die by serpents. The following expiring speech is put into the mouth of this warrior and poet. What is the destiny of a valiant man, when denied the glory to fall in war? Is he worthy to live that never received a wound? He leads an indolent life as a coward that never made use of his soul. When the sword is unsheathed, it is the warriors duty to meet the warrior. I revere the man that never flinched from foe. This is the glory of a man of honour; and every youth who aspires at marriage, must first distinguish himself as prompt and bold in battle No; in the palace of the powerful Odin, there is no man that shrunk at the aspect of death. I do not approach Odin with the voice of despair. Oh how my children would fly to arms, if they knew the calamity of their father, devoured by a multitude of serpents! I have provided them a mother adequate to inspire them with courage. My last moments approach. The slow fangs of the serpents assail me with a cruel death: one of them is entwined about my breast. But I hope that the sword of my children shall be dipped in the blood of my enemies. I have fifty one times unfurled the standard of battle, having from youth been accustomed to stain my sword with blood. My hopes then were, that no prince on earth would surpass me in valour. But I await the goddesses of death, who call me hence. I follow you. It would be cowardice to regret to die. It is time to close my songs. The goddesses invite me away: they approach. Odin has sent them to me from his palace. I shall sit exalted in his presence. The goddesses shall pour me out an immortal beverage. It is done. The periods of life expire. I go smiling in death.
REFLECTIONS.
The six seals brought us to the end of the pagan empire of Rome; but the seventh, the great and last seal, including the trumpets and vials, reaches down to the end of time, when the mystery of God shall be finished. The ancient doctors did not understand the application of these trumpets, because they were unaccomplished; hence they talk of antichrist, and of the punishment of the wicked in the end of the world.
The scene opens in heaven, with the silent suspense and deep attention of angels for about half an hour, the usual time of silence in the temple while the priest burnt incense; and some say, figurative of the peace of the church under Constantine. In his reign, the pagans in general conformed to the religion of the court, knowing little of christianity, except the creed and the ten commandments, required as preparatory to baptism. The homage they had paid to the gods, was now transferred to the martyrs. The Arian controversy having broken out, they embraced it. Hence they never were spiritually part of the church. They were the third and fourth generation of the pagans who had massacred and martyred about a million of christians under Dioclesian.
While the prayers of the true saints were presented to the Father as grateful incense, through the merits of Christ, these men, pagans in morals and apostates in faith, were only reprieved till the first angel sounded his trumpet. Then the Goths finding the empire weak, issued forth under Alaric, as hail and fire, on the cities of Turkey in Europe; and blood flowed without measure in their course. The trees, or great ones, and the grass or common people, were reduced one third in population. Jerome, who lived in those times, describes their course, as marked with every indignity barbarians could offer to human nature and the weaker sex. These calamities began about the year 380.
The second trumpet, casting a burning mountain into the sea, (an idea apparently derived from Vesuvius) seems to mark the irruption of the Goths into Italy. They pillaged and burnt Rome in the year 410, and spread terror and carnage over all the north of Italy first, and then to the extremities of the south.
The third trumpet hurled a bitter star or meteor on all the rivers and fountains of Europe, which according to Mr. Mede, seems to mark the wide spreading calamities of the northern hive that swarmed with ravages and carnage, from the Danube to the rock of Gibraltar.
The fourth trumpet darkened the sun of the old Roman empire with an everlasting cloud by a fresh invasion of Italy in the year 476, and broke it up into about ten kingdoms, as Daniel had predicted by the ten toes, partly of iron, and partly of clay: Dan 2:40-43.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Rev 8:1. silence in heaven: the explanation of this silence has always puzzled commentators. The usual interpretation is in the words of C. A. Scott (Cent.B, p. 198): It suggests the wistful or alarmed uncertainty with which the end of the silence was awaited. The silence big with fate conveys as nothing else could the sense of trembling suspense. Charless theory, that Rev 8:2 is out of place and the silence in heaven is explained in Rev 8:3-5, gives what seems to be the true interpretation. The praises and thanksgivings of all the mighty hierarchies of heaven are hushed in order that the prayers of the suffering saints on earth may be heard before the throne of God (op. cit., p. 153).half an hour: this phrase is not to be taken literally; as Swete says, Half an hour is a long interval in a drama.
Rev 8:2. And I saw . . . trumpets: these words obviously come too early, and are really connected with Rev 8:6.
Rev 8:3. another angel: sometimes identified with Michael the guardian and intercessor of Israel.over the altar: the picture which is drawn of heaven in chs. 4f. contains no altar, though the bowls full of incense in Rev 5:8 may possibly imply an altar of incense. In Rev 8:3 most scholars think there is a reference to two altars, (a) the altar over which the angel stood, i.e. the altar of burnt offering which stood before the holy place, (b) the golden altar, i.e. the altar of incense (Exodus 30 ff.*), the theory being that there was a pattern in the heavens of the complete earthly Temple (cf. Heb 8:5). Swete and Charles, however, maintain that the Apocalypse only mentions one altarthe altar of incense. Jewish Christian writers before A.D. 200 never allude to a second altar in heaven, and their language definitely excludes the possibility of the existence of more than one (op. cit., pp. 161179).a golden censer: cf. Lev 16:12 f.add it unto the prayers: apparently the prayers of the saints in this metaphor, are the live coals upon which the incense is sprinkled. In Rev 5:8, however, there is a variation of the metaphor, and the prayers are represented as the incense,
Rev 8:4. lit. the smoke of the incense went up to help (lit. for) the prayers of the saints.
Rev 8:5. The prayers are answered; the angel uses the censer to cast the fire from the altar upon the earth as a symbol of disaster (cf. Eze 10:2).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
The Seventh Seal Opened:
Introduction to the Trumpets
The last of the seven seals is now opened (v. 1) and there is silence in heaven for about half an hour before John sees seven trumpets given to seven angels.
The seals have been only the beginning of God’s working behind the scenes in reference to judgment. The trumpets indicate a ringing, declared testimony to all the world. The silence first shows the calm, quiet deliberation that will do nothing in undue haste. Also, before the angels sound their trumpets, they “stood before God” (v.2). They must first be in God’s presence in order to rightly serve Him.
There is further preparation: another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given him to add to the prayers of all saints, offered upon the golden altar (v. 3). This is not the altar of burnt offering, but of incense (as pictured in the tabernacle-Exo 30:1-10), indicating the worship of redeemed saints of God. The angel here is Christ Himself, for He acts as priest, presenting the prayers of saints as a sweet odor to God, adding to them a further abundance of incense. More than this: He also fills the censer with fire from the altar and casts it upon the earth (v. 5). No priest of the line of Aaron was ever called upon to do such a thing. The prayers of saints in this case are those of the suffering people of God on earth (and martyrs also-Rev 6:9-11), pleading for God’s intervention in judgment. The casting of the censer on the earth indicates the beginning of God’s answer to such pleading prayers, for this results in “noises, thunderings, lightnings and an earthquake.”
The First Trumpet
(v. 7)
The prior preparation being complete, the angels now begin the sounding of the trumpets. The first trumpet call is followed by hail and fire mingled with blood (v. 7). At this point the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week is not yet reached, but “a third part” of trees and green grass are affected, the trees speaking of man’s self-importance and the green grass of prosperity.
What is meant by the third part? When John wrote, the Roman world was divided into three parts-the eastern, the central and the western. It seems likely that verse 7 refers to the empire under its seventh “head” or leader, the Beast of Rev 13:1-10, and therefore the western third. This empire is seen as a conquering power under the first seal, but here as afflicted by God.
The Second Trumpet
(vv. 8-9)
This seventh head is evidently contemplated in verse 8 at the sounding of the second trumpet. A great mountain speaks of a great governing power (cf. Jer 51:24-25), while burning with fire intimates a fearsome character of oppression. Thrown into the sea speaks of God’s own sovereign power inflicting this scourge upon the nations (the sea of the Gentiles). The waters of the sea speak of “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues” (Rev 17:15). The nations want a champion, and God allows them the type of man they desire, whom they will find by experience to be an enemy of all righteousness. The third part is again affected, for the third part of the sea became blood which signifies the stagnation of death, a death that is surely much worse than natural.
The dying of a third part of creatures in the sea indicates that the people of this Western Empire, by allegiance to the Beast and his monstrous claim of divine titles, become coldly dead to the claims of God. Men become “twice dead” (Jud 1:12) -first by the fact of their sinful nature (Eph 2:1), second by apostasy, the cold refusal of God, even though not physically dead. (See Rev 16:3.) Trade and commerce also will be affected as the destruction of the third part of ships infers.
The Third Trumpet
(vv. 10-11)
With the sounding of the third trumpet a great star falls out of heaven (v. 10). In Rev 6:13 we saw that falling stars indicate a general apostasy of those who have professed subjection to heaven’s authority. They give this up in favor of earthly honor and advantage. This great star is the leader of them all, the Jewish Antichrist, called the man of sin and the son of perdition (2Th 2:3).
He is given other names also, descriptive of his character. He will first appear to be a godly Jew, going into the house of God together with others who have deep respect for the God of Israel (Psa 55:11-14). Then gaining a place of prominence by means of this subterfuge, he will turn deliberately against Israel’s God and take his seat in the temple of God in Jerusalem, claiming honor that rightly belongs to God alone (2Th 2:3-4). His pretense of giving great spiritual light accounts for the expression, “burning like a torch,” not actually a lamp, but simulating one. Again it is the western Roman earth (the third part) that is affected, the rivers and fountains of waters speaking of the sources of spiritual refreshment.
To this man’s many names is added another here: “Wormwood,” speaking of that which is harsh and embittering, for he turns the waters bitter. He corrupts the truth of God by his poisonous doctrine (1Jn 2:22). By this many die; not physically, but by apostasy they become dead to any recognition of the living God.
The Fourth Trumpet
(vv. 12-13)
The fourth angel sounds his trumpet (v. 12) and the third part of the sun, the moon and the stars are smitten: the third part of each is darkened so as not to shine. Of course this cannot be literal. The sun (which is the supreme source of light to the earth) speaks of the light of the glory of God. Therefore this darkening speaks of people being plunged into the darkness of atheism, not seeing the sun. They become impervious even to the reflected light of the moon and the stars. The light of heavenly testimony is eliminated in all the kingdom of the beast.
At this point an angel flies through the midst of heaven, emphasizing with clarion voice the woeful solemnity of the last three trumpets which are about to sound (v. 13). The reason is clear: with the fifth trumpet we come to the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week and “the Great Tribulation” follows. It is at this time that wickedness rises to the height of its most arrogant defiance of God.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 1
Silence in heaven; usually considered as a pause indicative of the solemnity and importance of the events which were to follow; for commentators have generally supposed that the seventh seal extends over and includes all that follows. For what reason, however, this opinion has been so generally entertained, does not appear, as there is no allusion to the seals beyond this passage, but, on the other hand, an entirely new succession of images occurs. The fact that the account of the opening of the seventh seal is placed it the commencement of a new chapter, is by no moans sufficient to show that it has any connection with what follows, since it is well understood that the divisions of chapters and verses, having been made in comparatively modern times, afford no criterion of the natural divisions of the composition. We may, perhaps, therefore consider the silence in heaven as closing this series of prophetical annunciations. And though there is great uncertainty and much diversity of views in regard to the proper interpretation of them, we may, perhaps, regard them as intended to convey to our minds a general outline of God’s intended dealings with the church and the world; the first four seals representing the onset of terrible temporal calamities upon the earth,–war, slaughter, famine, and destruction; the fifth, the faith and patience of the saints, enduring sufferings and sorrows from the ungodly, which would, however, be avenged in due time; the sixth, the great day of retribution bringing destruction upon the enemies of God while his friends are protected and preserved; and the seventh, the period of quiescence and repose, following the final consummation of the divine designs.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
7 The Trumpets (Revelation 8)
The opening of the seventh seal is followed by silence in heaven for the space of half an hour. There is something intensely solemn in the thought of all heaven being hushed into silence under the awe-inspiring sense of events about to take place on earth.
For long ages evil had been increasing, Christ had been dishonoured, God defied, and His people persecuted. In the presence of this ever-growing evil there had been no public intervention of God. But if God had remained silent, it was not that God was indifferent; for at last God was about to intervene, and the silence of the ages will be broken by the trumpets of God that announce His judgments.
The judgments under the first seals had been of a providential character. However severe, they were similar to visitations which had fallen upon men at different times, such as wars, famine, and pestilence. In the judgments that are prophetically announced at the opening of the seventh seal we see a more direct and manifest intervention of God. The sound of a trumpet would symbolise the fact that God is directly announcing that His judgments are about to fall upon man.
(V. 2) John sees seven angels standing before God, to whom seven trumpets are given. It would thus appear that the last seal embraces the whole period of the judgments under the seven trumpets and thus carries us up to the time under the seventh trumpet when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev 11:15-18).
(Vv. 3-6) Before these judgments commence we are permitted to see that God has heard the prayers of His people, and that in these judgments they will be answered. To-day, when God is acting in sovereign grace, those who have the mind of heaven pray for the salvation of sinners, and their prayers are answered by the blessing of souls. In the day to come when God is acting in judgment, those who have His mind will rightly use the imprecatory Psalms, for, in common with the earthly saints of Old Testament days, they will reach their blessing through the judgment of their enemies. In contrast to these believers, the heavenly saints of this day reach their final blessing through being called away from the scene of judgment through the coming of Christ.
The prayers of these saints are presented to God by the angel at the altar with the golden censer, who adds incense to the prayers. Does not this angel represent Christ, Himself, who, as the Great High Priest intercedes for His people? It is said that His incense is offered with “the prayers of all saints.” May this not indicate that in these judgments we see an answer to the prayers of all the saints of Old Testament days, as well as those of the great tribulation?
The incense that goes up to God has an immediate answer in bringing judgment upon men, for the angel that offers the incense to God on behalf of the saints, casts fire upon the earth with the result that there is every sign of coming judgment, and the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
(V. 7) The judgment under the first angel is accompanied with hail and fire mingled with blood. “Hail” may symbolise violent and destructive judgment; “fire” the all-consuming character of the judgment; and “blood” the death that follows through the judgment.
This judgment falls upon the earth, probably used as a symbol to set forth an ordered and prosperous portion of the world in contrast to uncivilised nations set forth by the sea. The “third part” in this and the three following trumpet judgments would limit the judgment to a restricted area. From Rev 12:4 this would seem to indicate the sphere of the revived Roman Empire. It may be the western part of the Roman Empire in contrast to the sixth trumpet, which is connected with the Euphrates or eastern portion, while the seventh trumpet tells us of a universal judgment (Rev 11:15-18).
This judgment falls upon the trees and green grass. Often in Scripture trees are used as a symbol to set forth great men of the earth, while the green grass speaks of prosperity. It would thus seem that this first trumpet judgment falls upon Europe, or western part of the Roman Empire, dealing in judgment with the leaders and sweeping away all prosperity.
(Vv. 8, 9) In the judgment of the second trumpet John saw “as it were a great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea.” In Scripture we know that a mountain is used to symbolise a great and long-established power. Thus, Babylon is spoken of as a “destroying mountain,” and the LORD says “I will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burning mountain” (Jer 51:25). The sea, with its continued movement, is often used to set forth the nations in a state of unrest (see Rev 17:15).
This trumpet would thus appear to foretell the overwhelming destruction of a great world power, that in its fall will bring ruin and death upon a third part of the nations as their channel of subsistence is destroyed through commerce being brought to a standstill by the destruction of the ships.
(Vv. 10, 11) The judgment that follows the sounding of the third trumpet is symbolised by the fall of a great star upon the third part of the rivers. Does not a great star set forth some prominent leader of thought to whom men have looked for guidance? The rivers may set forth the sources of intellectual thought by which men seek to guide their lives? The fall of a great burning star would seem to indicate that in the judgment of God some intellectual leader is allowed to put forth false teaching, such, for instance, as evolution, which poisons the minds of men, bringing bitterness and moral death, or separation from God, upon a third part of the earth.
(V. 12) The judgment of the fourth trumpet is set forth under the figure of a third part of the sun, and moon, and stars being smitten with darkness. The sun, moon, and stars are used in Scripture to set forth different grades of governmental authorities ordained of God. Do not these symbols suggest that a third part of the political powers will be smitten, leaving people in darkness and confusion in every walk of life?
(V. 13) The three last trumpet judgments are distinguished from the first four by the announcement of the angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to them that dwell upon the earth, for the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound.”
It will be noticed that the first four trumpet judgments dealt more especially with the circumstances of life, symbolised by the trees, the rivers, the sun, moon, and stars. The last three trumpet judgments are more severe and terrible in their character, inasmuch as we shall see, they fall upon men, rather than their circumstances. They bring woe to that special class referred to as dwellers upon the earth – those who, like Cain, go out from the presence of the Lord and seek to build a world without God.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
8:1 And {1} when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
(1) He returns to the history of the seals of the book, which the Lamb opens. The seventh seal is the next sign, a precise commandment for the execution of the most severe judgment of God on this wicked world, and being understood by the seal, all things in heaven are silent, and in horror through admiration, until the command to act is given by God to the ministers of his wrath. So he moves to the third part which I spoke of before in Rev 6:1 which is the enacting of those evils with which God most justly determined to afflict the world.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The seventh seal 8:1
When the Lamb broke the seventh seal of the scroll, silence fell on the heavenly scene. For "half an hour" awesome silence continued as all of those assembled around the throne waited expectantly to see what God would do next. This is probably a literal 30 minutes since there are no clues in Revelation that we should interpret time references non-literally. Beale interpreted the silence as representing the final judgment but said he did not know why it lasts for about a half hour. [Note: Beale, pp. 447-54.] The purpose of the silence is apparently to prepare for what is about to happen by heightening expectation of God’s awesome judgments to follow (cf. Hab 2:20; Hab 3:3; Zep 1:7-8; Zep 1:15; Zep 1:17-18; Zec 2:13). Perhaps the silence represents God listening to the prayers of the saints. [Note: Beasley-Murray, p. 152.] It is the lull before the storm, as a few moments of calm normally precede the most devastating destruction of a tornado or hurricane.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER VI.
THE FIRST SIX TRUMPETS.
Rev 8:1-13; Rev 9:1-21.
THE two consolatory visions of chap. 7 have closed, and the Seer returns to that opening of the seven Seals which had been interrupted in order that these two visions might be interposed.
Six Seals had been opened in chap. 6; the opening of the seventh follows: –
“And when He opened the seventh seal, there followed silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should give it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angels hand. And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound (Rev 8:1-6).”
Before looking at the particulars of this Seal, we have to determine the relation in which it stands to the Seals of chap. 6 as well as to the visions following it. Is it as isolated, as independent, as those that have come before it; and are its contents exhausted by the first six verses of the chapter? or does it occupy such a position of its own that we are to regard the following visions as developed out of it? And if the latter be the case, how far does the development extend?
In answering these questions, it can hardly be denied that if we are to look upon the seventh Seal as standing independent and alone, its contents have not the significance which we seem entitled to expect. It is the last Seal of its own series; and when we turn to the last member of the Trumpet series at Rev 11:15, or of the Bowl series at Rev 16:17, we find them marked, not by less, but by much greater, force than had belonged in either case to the six preceding members. The seventh Trumpet and the seventh Bowl sum up and concentrate the contents of their predecessors. In the one the judgments of God represented by the Trumpets, in the other those represented by the Bowls, culminate in their sharpest expression and their most tremendous potency. There is nothing of that kind in the seventh Seal if it terminates with the preparation of the Trumpet angels to sound; and the analogy of the Apocalypse therefore, an analogy supplying in a book so symmetrically constructed an argument of greater than ordinary weight, is against that supposition.
Again, the larger portion of the first six verses of this chapter does not suggest the contents of the Seal Rather would it seem as if these contents were confined to the “silence” spoken of in Rev 8:1, and as if what follows from Rev 8:2-6 were to be regarded as no part of the Seal itself, but simply as introductory to the Trumpet visions. Everything said bears upon it the marks of preparation for what is to come, and we are not permitted to rest in what is passing as if it were a final and conclusive scene in the great spectacle presented to the Seer.
For these reasons the view often entertained that the visions to which we proceed are developed out of the seventh Seal may be regarded as correct.
If so, how far does the development extend? The answer invariably given to this question is, To the end of the Trumpets. But the answer is not satisfactory. The general symmetry of the Apocalypse militates against it There is then no correspondence between the last Trumpet and the last Seal, nothing to suggest the thought of a development of the Bowls out of the seventh Trumpet in a manner corresponding to the development of the Trumpets out of the seventh Seal In these circumstances the only probable conclusion is that both the Bowls and the Trumpets are developed out of the seventh Seal, and that that development does not close until we reach the end of chap. 16.
If what has now been said be correct, it will throw important light upon the relation of the Seals to the two series of the Trumpets and the Bowls taken together; while, at the same time, it will lend us valuable aid in the interpretation of all the three series.
Returning to the words before us, it is said that, at the opening of the seventh Seal, there followed silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. This silence may perhaps include a cessation even of the songs which rise before the throne of God from that redeemed creation the voice of whose praise rests not either day or night.1 Yet it is not necessary to think so. The probability rather is that it arises from a cessation only of the “lightnings and voices and thunders” which at Rev 4:5 proceed out of the throne, and which are resumed at Rev 8:5 of the present chapter, when the fire of the altar is cast from the angels censer upon the earth. A brief suspension of judgment is thereby indicated, a pause by and during which the Almighty would call attention to the manifestations of His wrath about to follow. The exact duration of this silence, “about the space of half an hour,” has never been satisfactorily explained; and the general analogy of St Johns language condemns the idea of a literal interpretation. We shall perhaps be more in accordance with the spirit in which the Revelation is written if we consider – (1) that in that book the half of anything suggests, not so much an actual half, as a broken and interrupted whole, five a broken ten, six a broken twelve, three and a half a broken seven; (2) that in the Gospel of St. John we find on more than one occasion mention made of an “hour” by which at one time the actions, at another the sufferings, of Jesus are determined: “Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come;” “Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.”2 The “hour” of Jesus is thus to St. John the moment at which action, having been first resolved on by the Father, is taken by the Son; and a “half-hour” may simply denote that the course of events has been interrupted, and that the instant for renewed judgment has been delayed. Such an interpretation will also be in close correspondence with the verses following, as well as with what we have seen to be the probable meaning of the “silence” of Rev 8:1. Preparation for action, rather than action, marks as yet the opening of the seventh Seal. (1 Rev 4:8; 2 Joh 2:4; Joh 12:27)
That preparation is next described.
St. John saw seven trumpets given to the seven angels which stand before God. In whatever other respects these seven angels are to be distinguished from the hosts of angels which surround the throne, the commission now given shows that they are angels of a more exalted order and a more irresistible power. They are in fact the expression of the Divine Judge of men, or rather of the mode in which He chooses by judgment to express Himself. We are not even required to think of them as numerically seven, for seven in its sacred meaning is the number of unity, though of unity in the variety as well as the combination of its agencies. The “seven Spirits of God” are His one Spirit; the “seven churches,” His one Church; the “seven horns” and “seven eyes” of the Lamb, His one powerful might and His one penetrating glance. In like manner the seven Seals, the seven Trumpets, and the seven Bowls embody the thought of many judgments which are yet in reality one. Thus also the angels here are seven, not because literally so, but because that number brings out the varied forms as well as the essential oneness of the action of Him to whom the Father has given “authority to execute judgment, because He is a Son of man.”* (* Joh 5:27)
As yet the seven trumpets have only been given to the seven angels. More has to pass before they put them to their lips and sound. Another angel is seen who came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer in his hand. At the opening of the fifth Seal we read of an “altar” which it was impossible not to identify with the great brazen altar, the altar of burnt-offering, in the outer court of the sanctuary. Such identification is not so obvious here; and perhaps a majority of commentators agree in thinking that the altar now spoken of is rather the golden or incense altar which had its place within the Tabernacle, immediately in front of the second veil. To this altar the priest on ordinary occasions, and more particularly the high-priest on the great Day of Atonement, brought a censer with burning frankincense, that the smoke of the incense, as it rose into the air, might be a symbol to the congregation of Israel that its prayers, offered according to the Divine will, ascended as a sweet savour to God. It is possible that this may be the altar meant; yet the probabilities of the case rather lead to the supposition that allusion is made to the altar of sacrifice in the Tabernacle court; for (1) when the Seer speaks here and again in Rev 8:5 of “the altar,” and in Rev 8:3 of “the golden altar,” he seems to distinguish between the two. (2) The words fire of the altar are in favor of the same conclusion. According to the ritual of the Law, it was from the brazen altar that fire was taken in order to kindle the incense,1 while at the same time fire continually burned upon that altar, but not upon the altar within the Tabernacle. (3) The thought represented by the symbolism seems to be that the sufferings of the saints gave efficacy to their prayers, and drew down the answer of Him who says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”2 (4) The words of Rev 8:3, the prayers of all the saints, and the similar expression in Rev 8:4, remind us of the prayers of the fifth Seal, now swelled by the prayers of those New Testament saints who have been added to “the blessed fellowship” of the Old Testament martyrs. These prayers, it will be remembered, rose from beneath the altar of burnt-offering; and it is natural to think that the same altar is again alluded to in order to bring out the idea of a similar martyrdom. What we see, therefore, is an angel taking the prayers and adding to them much incense, so that we may behold them as they ascend up before God and receive His answer. (1 Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, INCENSE; 2 Psa 50:15)
Further, it ought to be observed that the prayers referred to are for judgment upon sin. There is nothing to justify the supposition that they are partly for judgment upon, partly for mercy to, a sinful world. They are simply another form of the cry, “How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”* They are a cry that God will vindicate the cause of righteousness. (* Rev 6:10)
The cry is heard, for the angel takes of the fire of the altar on which the saints had been sacrificed as an offering to God, and casts it into the earth, that it may consume the sin by which it had been kindled. The lex talionis again starts to view; not merely punishment, but retribution, the heaviest of all retribution, because it is accompanied by a convicted conscience, retribution in kind.
Everything is now ready for judgment, and the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepare themselves to sound: –
“And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast into the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up (Rev 8:7).”
To think, in interpreting these words, of a literal burning up of a third part of the “earth,” of the “trees,” and of the “green grass,” would lead us astray. Comparing the first Trumpet with those that follow, we have simply a general description of judgment as it affects the land in contradistinction to the sea, the rivers and fountains of water, and the heavenly bodies by which the earth is lighted. The punishment is drawn down by a guilty world upon itself when it rises in opposition to Him who at first prepared the land for the abode of men, planted it with trees pleasant to the eye, cast over it its mantle of green, and pronounced it to be very good. Of every tree of the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, might our first parents eat; while grass covered the earth for their cattle, and herb for their service. All nature was to minister to the wants of man, and in cultivating the garden and the field he was to find light and happy labor. But sin came in. Thorns and thistles sprang up on every side. Labor became a burden, and the fruitful field was changed into a wilderness which could only be subdued by constant, patient, and often-disappointed toil. This is the thought – a thought often dwelt upon by the prophets of the Old Testament – that is present to the Seers mind.
One of the plagues of Egypt, however, may also be in his eye. When the Almighty would deliver His people from that land of their captivity, “He sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous. . . . And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.”* That plague the Seer has in his mind; but he is not content to use its traits alone, terrible as they were. The sin of a guilty world in refusing to listen to Him who speaks from heaven is greater than was the sin of those who refused Him that spake on earth, and their punishment must be in proportion to their sin. Hence the plague of Egypt is magnified. We read, not of hail and fire only, but of hail and fire mingled with (or rather in) blood, so that the blood is the outward and visible covering of the hail and of the fire. In addition to this, we have the herbs and trees of the field, not merely smitten and broken, but utterly consumed by fire. What is meant by the “third part” of the earth and its products being attacked it is difficult to say. The probability is that, as a whole consists of three parts, partial destruction only is intended, yet not destruction of a third part of the earth, leaving two-thirds untouched; but a third part of the earth and of its produce is everywhere consumed. (* Exo 9:23-25)
The second Trumpet is now blown: –
“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed (Rev 8:8-9).”
As the first Trumpet affected the land, so the second affects the sea; and the remarks already made upon the one destruction are for the most part applicable to the other. The figure of removing a mountain from its place and casting it into the sea was used by our Lord to express what beyond all else it was impossible to accomplish by mere human power: “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done.”l In so speaking, our Lord had followed the language of the prophets, who were accustomed to illustrate by the thought of the removal of mountains the greatest acts of Divine power: “What art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain;” “Therefore will we not fear, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the seas.”2 (1 Mat 21:21; 2 Zec 4:7; Psa 46:2)
Even the figure of a “burnt mountain” is not strange to the Old Testament, for the prophet Jeremiah thus denounces woe on Babylon: “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and make thee a burnt mountain.”* (* Jer 51:25)
The plagues of Egypt, too, are again taken advantage of by the Seer, for in the first of these Moses “lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river; . . . and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.”* Here, however, the plague is extended, embracing as it does not only the river of Egypt, but the sea, with all the ships that sail upon it, and all its fish. Again also, as before, the “third part” is not to be thought of as confined to one region of the ocean, while the remaining two-thirds are left untouched. It is to be sought everywhere over the whole compass of the deep. (* Exo 8:20-21)
The third Trumpet is now blown: –
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became worm wood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter (Rev 8:10-11).”
The third Trumpet is to be understood upon the same principles and in the same general sense as the two preceding Trumpets. The figures are again such as meet us in the Old Testament, though they are used by the Seer in his own free and independent way. Thus the prophet Isaiah, addressing Babylon in his magnificent description of her fall, exclaims, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”1 and thus also the prophet Jeremiah denounces judgment upon rebellious Israel: “Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.”2 The bitter waters of Marah also lived in the recollections of Israel as the first, and not the least terrible, punishment of the murmuring of their fathers against Him who had brought them out into what seemed but a barren wilderness, instead of leaving them to quench their thirst by the sweet waters of the Nile.3 Thus the waters which the world offers to its votaries are made bitter, so bitter that they become wormwood itself, the very essence of bitterness. Again the “third part” of them is thus visited, but this time with a feature not previously mentioned: the destruction of human life, – many men died of the waters. Under the first Trumpet only inanimate nature was affected; under the second we rose to creatures that had life; under the third we rise to “many men.” The climax ought to be noticed, as illustrating the style of the Apostles thought and aiding us in the interpretation of his words. A similar climax may perhaps also be intended by the agents successively employed under these Trumpets: hail and fire, a great mountain burning, and a falling star. (1 Isa 14:12; 2 Jer 9:15; 3 Exo 15:23)
The fourth Trumpet is now blown: –
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner (Rev 8:12).”
This Trumpet offers no contradiction to what was previously said, that the first four members of the three series of Seals, of Trumpets, and of Bowls deal with the material rather than the spiritual side of man, with man as a denizen of this world rather than of the next. The heavenly bodies are here viewed solely in their relation to earth and its inhabitants. As to the judgment, it rests, like those of the first and second Trumpets, upon the thought of the Egyptian plague of darkness: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness that may be felt And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had lights in their dwellings.”* The trait of the Egyptian plague alluded to in this last sentence is not mentioned here; and we have probably, therefore, no right to say that it was in the Seers thoughts. Yet it is in a high degree probable that it was; and at all events his obvious reference to that plague may help to illustrate an important particular to be afterwards noticed, that all the Trumpet judgments fall directly upon the world, and not the Church. As under the first three Trumpets, the third part of the light of sun, and moon, and stars is alone darkened. (* Exo 10:21-23)
The first four Trumpets have now been blown, and we reach the line of demarcation by which each series of judgments is divided into its groups of four and three. That line is drawn in the present instance with peculiar solemnity and force: –
“And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying m mid-heaven, saying with a, great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth by reason of the other voices of the three angels who are yet to sound (Rev 8:13).”
Attention ought to be paid to the fact that the cry uttered in mid-heaven, and thus penetrating to the most distant corners of the earth, proceeds from an eagle, and not, as in the Authorized Version, from an “angel;” and the eagle is certainly referred to for the purpose of adding fresh terror to the scene. If we would enter into the Seers mind, we must think of it as the symbol of rapine and plunder. To him the prominent characteristic of that bird is not its majesty, but its swiftness, its strength, and its hasting to the prey.* (*Comp. Job 9:26)
Thus ominously announced, the fifth Trumpet is now blown: –
“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star out of heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the well of the abyss. And he opened the well of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the well, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the well. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth: and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war, and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses rushing to war. And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings: and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months. They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon (Rev 9:1-11).”
Such is the strange but dire picture of the judgment of the fifth Trumpet; and we have, as usual, in the first place, to look at the particulars contained in it. As in several previous instances, these are founded upon the plagues of Egypt and the language of the prophets. In both these sources how terrible does a locust plague appear! In Egypt – “And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.”1 Darker even than this is the language of the prophet Joel. When he sees locusts sweeping across a land, he exclaims, “The land was as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness;”2 and from their irresistible and destructive ravages he draws not a few traits of the dread events by which the coming of the day of the Lord shall be accompanied: “The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. . . . They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march everyone on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks. . . . They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.”3 (1 Exo 10:12-15; 2 Joe 2:3; 3 Joe 2:4-10)
It is no doubt true that in the description before us the qualities of its locusts are preternaturally magnified, but that is only what we might expect, and it is in keeping with the mode in which other figures taken from the Old Testament are treated in this book. There is a probability, too, that each trait of the description had a distinct meaning to St. John, and that it represents some particular phase of the calamities he intended to depict. But it is hardly possible now to discover such meanings; and that the Seer had in view general evil as much at least as evil in certain special forms is shown by the artificiality of structure marking the passage as a whole. For the description of the locusts is divided into three parts, the first general, the second special, the third the locust-king. The special characteristics of the insects, again, are seven in number: (1) upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold; (2) and their faces were as faces of men; (3) and they had hair as the hair of women; (4) and their teeth were as the teeth of lions; (5) and they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; (6) and the sound of their wings was as the sound of many chariots; (7) and they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings.
Whether the period of five months, during which these locusts are said to commit their ravages, is fixed on because the destruction caused by the natural insect lasts for that length of time, or for some other reason unknown to us, it is difficult to determine. There is a want of proof that a locust-plague generally continues for the number of months thus specified, and it is otherwise more in accordance with the style of the Apocalypse to regard that particular period of time as simply denoting that the judgment has definite limits.
One additional particular connected with the fifth Trumpet ought to be adverted to. It will be noticed that the well of the abyss whence the plague proceeds is opened by a star fallen (not “falling”) out of heaven, to which the key of the well was given. We have here one of those contrasts of St. John a due attention to which is of such importance to the interpreter. This “fallen star” is the contrast and counterpart of Him who is “the bright, the morning star,” and who “has the keys of death and of Hades.”* (* Rev 22:16; Rev 1:18)
At this point the sixth angel ought to sound; but we are now in the midst of the three last woes, and each is of so terrible an import that it deserves to be specially marked. Hence the words of the next verse: –
“The first Woe is past; behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter (Rev 9:12).”
This warning given, the sixth Trumpet is now blown: –
“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which had been prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year, that they should kill the third part of men. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire, and of hyacinth, and of brimstone. By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and with them they do hurt. And the rest of mankind which were not killed with these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood: which can neither see, nor hear nor walk: and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Rev 9:13-21).”
There is much in this Trumpet that is remarkable even while we confine ourselves to the more outward particulars contained in it. Thus we are brought back by it to the thought of those prayers of the saints to which all the Trumpets are a reply, but which have not been mentioned since the blowing of the Trumpets began.1 Once more we read of the golden altar which was before God y in His immediate presence. On that altar the prayers of all the saints had been laid, that they might rise to heaven with the much incense added by the angel, and might be answered in God s own time and way. The voice heard from the four horns of this altar that is, from the four projecting points at its four corners, representing the altar in its greatest potency shows us, what we might have been in danger of forgetting, that the judgment before us continues to be an answer of the Almighty to His people s prayers. Again it may be noticed that in the judgment here spoken of we deal once more with a third part of the class upon which it falls. Nothing of the kind had been said under the fifth Trumpet. The inference to be drawn from these particulars is important We learn that, however distinct the successive members of any of the three series of the Seals, the Trumpets, or the Bowls may seem to be, they are yet closely connected with one another. Though seven in number, there is a sense in which they are also one; and any characteristic thought which appears in a single members of the series ought to be carried through all its members. (* Rev 9:3-5)
The judgment itself is founded, as in the others already considered, upon thoughts and incidents connected with Old Testament history.
The first of these is the river Euphrates. That great river was the boundary of Palestine upon the north east “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates;”1 and in the days of Solomon this part of the covenant appears to have been fulfilled, for we are told that “Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river” (that is, the Euphrates) “unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt.”2 The Euphrates, however, was not only the boundary between Israel and the Assyrians. It was also Israels line of defense against its powerful and ambitious neighbour, who had to cross its broad stream before he could seize any part of the Promised Land. By a natural transition of thought, the Euphrates next became a symbol of the Assyrians themselves, for its waters, when they rose in flood, overflowed Israels territory and swept all before them. Then the prophets saw in the rush of the swollen river a figure of the scourge of God upon those who would not acknowledge Him: “The Lord spake also unto me again, saying, Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliahs son; now therefore behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: and he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of Thy land, O Immanuel.”3 When accordingly the Euphrates is here spoken of, it is clear that with the river as such we have nothing to do. It is simply a symbol of judgment; and the four angels which had been bound at it, but were now loosed, are a token – four being the number of the world – that the judgment referred to, though it affects but a third part of men, reaches men over the whole surface of the globe. When the hour, and the day, and the month, and the year – that is, when the moment fixed in the counsels of the Almighty – come, the chains by which destruction has been kept back shall be broken, and the world shall be over whelmed by the raging stream. (1 Gen 15:18; 2 1Ki 4:21; 3 Isa 8:5-8)
The second Old Testament thought to be noted in this vision is that of horses. To the Israelite the horse presented an object of terror rather than admiration, and an army of horsemen awakened in him the deepest feelings of alarm. Thus it is that the prophet Habakkuk, describing the coming judgments of God, is commissioned to exclaim, “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every stronghold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.”* Like the locusts of the previous vision, the “horses” now spoken of are indeed clothed with preternatural attributes; but the explanation is the same. Ordinary horses could not convey images of sufficient terror. (* Hab 1:5-10)
The last two verses of chap. 9, which follow the sixth Trumpet, deserve our particular attention. They describe the effect produced upon the men who did not perish by the previous plagues, and they help to throw light upon a question most intimately connected with a just interpretation of the Apocalypse. The question is, Does the Seer, in any of his visions, anticipate the conversion of the ungodly? or does he deal, from the beginning to the end of his descriptions, with righteousness and sin in themselves rather than with righteous persons who may decline from the truth or sinful persons who may own and welcome it? The question will meet us again in the following chapters of this book, and will demand a fuller discussion than it can receive at present. In the meantime it is enough to say that, in the two verses now under consideration, no hint as to the conversion of any ungodly persons by the Trumpet plagues is given. On the contrary, the “men” – that is, the two-thirds of the inhabitants of the earth or of the ungodly world who were not killed by these plagues repented neither of their irreligious principles nor of their immoral lives. They went on as they had done in the grossness of their idolatries and in the licentiousness of their conduct. They were neither awakened nor softened by the fate of others. They had deliberately chosen their own course; and, although they knew that they were rushing against the thick bosses of the Almighty’s buckler, they had resolved to persevere in it to the end.
Two brief remarks on these six Trumpet visions, looked at as a whole, appear still to be required.
I. No attempt has been made to interpret either the individual objects of the judgments or the instruments by which judgment is inflicted. To the one class belong the “earth,” the “trees,” the “green grass,” the “sea,” the “ships,” the “rivers and fountains of the waters,” the “sun,” the “moon,” and the “stars;” to the other belong the details given in the description first of the “locusts” of the fifth Trumpet and then of the “horses” of the sixth. Each of these particulars may have a definite meaning, and interpreters may yet be successful in discovering it. The object kept in view throughout this commentary makes any effort to ascertain that meaning, when it is doubtful if it even exists, comparatively unimportant. We are endeavoring to catch the broader interpretation and spirit of the book; and it may be a question whether our impressions would in that respect be deepened though we saw; reason to believe that all the objects above mentioned had individual force. One line of demarcation certainly seems to exist, traced by the Seer himself, between the first four and the two following judgments, the former referring to physical disasters flowing from moral evil, the latter to the more dreadful intensification of intellectual darkness and moral corruption visited upon men when they deliberately choose evil rather than good. Further than this it is for our present purpose unnecessary to go.
2. The judgments of these Trumpets are judgments on the world rather than the Church. Occasion has been already taken to observe that the structure of this part of the Apocalypse leads to the belief that both the Trumpets and the Bowls are developed out of the Seals. Yet there is a difference between the two, and various indications in the Trumpet visions appear to confine them to judgments on the world.
There is the manner in which they are introduced, as an answer to the prayers of “all the saints.”1 It is true, as we shall yet see, that the degenerate Church is the chief persecutor of the people of God But against her the saints cannot pray. To them she is still the Church. They remember the principle laid down by their Lord when He spoke of His kingdom in the parable of the tares: “Let both grow together until the harvest.”2 God alone can separate the false from the true within her pale. There is a sense in which the Church can never be overthrown, and there is not less a sense in which the world shall be subdued. Only for the subjugation of the world, therefore, can “all the saints” pray; and the Trumpets are an answer to their prayers. (1 Rev 8:3; 2 Mat 13:30)
Again, the three Woe-Trumpets are directed against “them that dwell on the earth.”* But, as has been already said, it is a principle of interpretation applicable to all the three series of the Seals, the Trumpets, and the Bowls, that traits filling up the picture in one member belong also to the other members of the groups and that the judgments, while under one aspect seven, are under another one. The three Woes therefore fall upon the same field of judgment as that visited by the plagues preceding them. In other words, all the six plagues of this series of visions are inflicted upon “them that dwell on the earth;” and that is simply another form of expression for the ungodly world. (* Rev 8:13)
Again, under the fifth Trumpet the children of God are separated from the ungodly, so that the particulars of that judgment do not touch them. The locusts are instructed that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only such men as have not the seal of God in their foreheads.* (* Rev 9:4)
Again, the seventh Trumpet, in which the series culminates, and which embodies its character as a whole, will be found to deal with judgment on the world alone: “The nations were roused to wrath, and Thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged,” . . . and “the time to destroy them that destroy the earth.”* (* Rev 11:18)
Finally, the description given at the end of the sixth Trumpet of those who were hardened rather than softened by the preceding judgments leads directly to the same conclusion: And the rest of mankind which were not killed by these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood.* (* Rev 9:20)
These considerations leave no doubt that the judgments of the Trumpets are judgments on the world. The Church, it is true, may also suffer from them, but not in judgment. They may be part of her trial as she mixes with the world during her earthly pilgrimage. Trial, however, is not judgment. To the children of God it is the discipline of a Fathers hand. In the midst of it the Church is safe, and it helps to ripen her for the fullness of the glory of her heavenly inheritance.