December 17, 2000

The Silence And the Sounding

Rev. 8-9

I want to start off today by making an obvious statement; people like to talk more than they like to listen. Little kids, grownups, there's no difference, people like to make themselves heard, and it's an unusual situation when they get quiet and stay quiet. Have you ever been in one of those situations where there was a whole lot of people present, and everybody is talking, dozens of conversations going on and then somebody messes up, I mean really messes up, and everybody stops talking and just turns to look, and nobody says anything, and the silence gets really loud? If you are the one that everybody is looking at, it's incredible just how loud the silence can get.

During the last couple of chapters in Revelation, there have been angels speaking, John has been speaking, a great multitude of martyred saints have been speaking, and then all of a sudden, something happens. Jesus opens the last seal on the title deed of the earth, and suddenly, everything in heaven gets totally quiet. All of a sudden, nobody is speaking. Something is about to happen, and if the people on earth could only see it, they would realize that things on earth must be really messed up, because everybody in heaven has stopped to look, and nobody is making a sound.

If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn to Revelation 8: 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.
: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 the last couple chapters, we have seen the Lord Jesus take the scroll from the hand of the Father, and begin to open the seals. We saw how these seals released judgements on the earth, as God brings to a climax all the things that He has promised down through history. He is cleansing the world from sin, preparing to keep His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and David, preparing the earth for His Son to rule and reign from Jerusalem.

Last week, we saw that opening the first four seals release the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse upon the earth, the antichrist comes to power, and the earth is plunged into war, famine, disease and death.
Then a fifth seal was opened, and we saw a great multitude of believers who died for the testimony they had of Jesus Christ as Messiah and Savior. The sixth seal was opened, a number of supernatural judgements began to happen to the earth, and men recognize that these judgements are from the hand of God, yet they still refuse to repent and be saved. Now Jesus opens the seventh seal, and this begins the judgements of the seven trumpets. This is a good time to explain how these judgements fit into the seven year time frame of the tribulation.

The first four seals probably take up the first three and one half years, and then the last three seals, the seven trumpet judgements, and seven vial judgements happen during the last three and one half years.
If we could chart this as a line graph curve, the first four would take up one half, and then all the rest of the judgements would start to pile up and crowd together during the end of the second half. That's because the seven trumpet judgements are contained within the last seal judgement. And then seven vial judgements happen at the time that the seventh trumpet is sounded. The Tribulation starts out with seven judgements, and then the last of that seven has seven more as part of it, and then the last of those seven has seven more as part of it. There is a constant escalation and intensification of judgement as the seven years get closer to their conclusion, everything keeps building up to a greater intensity, a terrible climax.

As Jesus opens the seventh seal, everything gets very quiet. Seven angels standing before God are given seven trumpets, but nobody says anything, they are just watching and waiting. John says that this goes on for half an hour. That ought to say something to us. That ought to teach us something. Even in heaven where every thing is perfect, they still stop and consider, to reflect, to ponder and think about solemn events that are about to take place. There is no hurry, and no need to talk. A great judgement is about to happen, and everyone is quiet and watching and waiting. You know, a half hour is a long time under those circumstances. And everybody is doing the same thing: meditating on how God's Word is about to come to pass.

Then an angel comes, carrying a golden censer, and he is given much incense to offer up with the prayers of God's people. This is one of those times when we get to see the reason why the Old Testament worship was like it was. The things that God had Israel doing on earth were a model or example of things that happen in heaven. In the Old Testament, the priest would burn incense upon the altar of incense, and the smoke would fill the Tabernacle or the Temple, and then ascend to heaven. Incense symbolized worship and prayer, and it smelled good, an object lesson that worship and prayer is pleasing to the Lord.
As we see this picture of the angel offering incense here, it says that the incense was mixed with the prayers of the saints, and it went up before God. Do you ever wonder if God is hearing your prayers? Do you wonder if God hears your prayers and cares about you? Do you wonder if your prayers amount to anything?

The prayers that were coming to God at this point in history would be the prayers of people that were hurting. The antichrist is persecuting all believers everywhere, it is a time of incredible trouble, and the prayers of those saints is mixed with much incense, a lot of incense, and those prayers go up before God. Does God care? Does He do anything? Sure He does. God cares, and just because we don't always see the results doesn't prove anything. The people on earth don't see what is happening in heaven, but there is a lot going on. And I think that's the way it is with prayer. There is always a lot more going on than we realize.

God has the angel take the censer that had the incense in it, and fill it with fire from off the altar and scatter that fire all across the earth. In chapter six, the souls of those that were slain for their testimony asked the Lord how long before he would avenge their blood. Their prayers went up as incense. Now they have their answer. The censer that was used to sweeten their prayers is now used to answer their prayers. The silence comes to an end.

Verse 7 "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."
This is similar to what happened in Egypt during the time of Moses, when God was persuading Pharaoh to release the Israelites.
Verse 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 the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed."
We are not sure just what it is that John saw here. He says it was like a mountain of fire, the first thing that comes to mind is a huge meteor or asteroid, but since that's not what he says, we really don't know. John does not use the word for asteroid, he uses the word for mountain. Whatever it is, it destroys a third of all life in the sea, and destroys a third of all shipping, which would be consistent with a huge meteor or asteroid striking the ocean.
Verse 10 "And 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;
: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."
John specifically refers to this as an asteroid, apparently it burns up in the atmosphere and pollutes a third of all fresh water sources, causing them to become poisonous. There are any number of possibilities.
Wormwood is a bitter herb, especially popular in Russia where it is used in various folk remedies. It is fascinating when we consider that the Ukrainian word for Wormwood is Chernobyl, that Russian nuclear power plant that poisoned thousands of square miles with radioactivity. That radioactivity does not seem to be killing off the local wildlife around the plant, but it is gradually seeping into the Ukranian water table, and it's long term effects are still unknown. Similarities? Radioactivity? We don't know.

Verse 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; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."
The Bible does not tell us how God might cause this judgement to come to pass. We could speculate on clouds of space dust passing over the earth, and blotting out the heavens, or any number of things, but the Bible doesn't say. I even read one opinion where this person thought that the speed of the earth's rotation would be changed, speeded up until it was a 16 hour day and night instead of a 24 hour day. I don't think so. All we know for sure is that Jesus speaks of signs and wonders in the heavens, and however it happens, whatever it is, no one will miss it.

Something that I need to point out, maybe some of you have noticed it already, all the things that have happened with these four trumpets are basically natural events, occurring in an intensely unnatural manner. God is using the heavens and the earth to get mans attention and bring judgement on man for his rebellion. The first trumpet is a judgement on the earth, and the second one is on the sea, the salt water. The third trumpet is on the fresh water, and the fourth one is on the heavens. God is using everything that man sees, or uses, or worships, to get man's attention, and try and get man to come to that place of repentance. But all mankind is just like Pharaoh was back in Exodus, they harden their hearts, they rebel against God, and they ignore the consequences. And we are too. If not for the grace of God, we would be reading about ourselves. This would be our biography. That's scary. That ought to make each one of us sit quietly and think. For at least a half hour.

Verse 13 "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud 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!"
This marks a turning point in the way that God is judging and punishing the earth. When Christ opened the seven seals on the scroll, the first four seals were very different than the last three. The same thing happens here. The first four trumpets have a very different character than the last three trumpets. The first four trumpets were things that had at least some relationship to natural processes, but the last three do not, they are very unnatural.

They are also a lot worse, the angel says "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the three angels, which are yet to sound." Each one of these next three trumpets is a woe upon the inhabitants of the earth. It's almost as if to say: "You thought it was bad before? You ain't seen nothing yet!" When the next trumpet sounds, God releases the demons from the pit to be free upon the earth. Remember when Jesus spoke to the man possessed of demons who had the legion of demons within him? In Luke's Gospel, the demons begged Jesus not to command them to go out into the deep, the word for deep in the Greek is the word abyss, literally a bottomless pit, a place where you fall downward forever. There is an excellent chance that this refers to the center of the earth, because at that point, everything has to be up, and it also fits the context of what is said.

Chapter 9:1 "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit."
Notice that this star is a personality, it is a "him," very possibly this is Satan, and Christ gives him the authority to do this.
Verse 2 "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.
:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
:5 And to them it was given 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 he striketh a man.
:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."
God allows Satan to release these creatures from the pit, and although they are called locusts, they are some sort of demonic creature. Unlike normal locusts that destroy vegetation, the job description of these locusts is to torment people who reject God. The torment lasts for five months, that is the normal life cycle of a locust, but during that time, there is no escape from the torment. Somehow, people will be supernaturally prevented from dying during this time that they suffer from the stings of these creatures.

As we read through this next section, notice all the times that John likens what he saw to something else, because he had no other way to describe it. Sometimes he says "This is what is is" and other times he uses the phrase "as it were." In some places he is very precise, other places, he wants us to know that this is as close as he can come.
Verse 7: "And 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.
:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
:9 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.
:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months." That last part about the stings and the five months is not an approximation, that is quite specific.

These creatures sound like something that you might find in some kind of video game. Men have been drawing monsters for thousands of years, and since the invention of movies and technology, the monsters have been getting more imaginative, but there is nothing to compare with these creatures. And they attack, and hurt and afflict every unsaved person on the whole earth.
Verse 11 "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."
Wether in Greek or in Hebrew, it means the same thing: His name is Destroyer. He is the angel of destruction. This torment and terror is so bad that people want to die to get away from it, but God does not allow them to die. That's what hell is like, a living destruction that you cannot escape. God is giving all mankind a preview of hell to try and turn people around.

Verse 12 "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
:13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men."
During the five months that the demon locusts were on the earth, men did not die. Even when they wanted to die, they could not. Now that changes. Now there begins a great warfare on the earth, and a third of the earths population is destroyed.
Verse 16 "And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, 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.
:18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
:19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt."
Over the years I have heard a lot of speculation as to just who and what this army is, or exactly what is meant by the description of the horses, the smoke and fire from their mouth, and the tails like serpents. I don't know. I do know that if the Apostle John had seen modern warfare, modern tanks, helicopters, and soldiers in battle gear, it would have been hard for him to describe from his point of reference, maybe that has something to do with it. I do know that China has a two million man army, and the day will come that they will go to Armageddon just like the rest of the world. We find a reference to this in chapter 16 of Revelation, when this army from the east moves west across the Euphrates river into Israel.

Verse 20 "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:
:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."
I have heard it said that there are no atheists in foxholes, and apparently that is true, but it does make a difference who you pray to. The ones in the foxholes during this horrible time are not atheists, they are worshipers, they're just not worshipers of God, or of His Christ. They are heathens, idolators, and ungodly sinners, and they are determined to stay that way, and to continue to act out their rebellion against God.

At this point of the book of Revelation, chronologically, we are very close to the end of the seven years. God has been pouring out judgement and showing signs, wonders, and everything else for probably more than six straight years, but people just keep on getting more rebellious and ungodly. Apparently this time is especially characterized by murdering, stealing, and pursuing immoral sexual activities, right in the face of judgement. It is also a time of worldwide drug use. The word sorceries here is from the Greek word Pharmakeia, from which we get our word pharmacy, a drug store. When the New Testament uses the word sorceries, it refers to what you get when you mix the occult with drugs.

Something that mainstream American society seems determined to ignore is the strong connection between the occult and drug use. A lot of people get involved with what they think are "recreational drugs," thinking that they are just going to have a good time, and then they end up in something that they can't seem to ever get out of. Or they take various drugs to improve their mental state, and sometimes this is helpful and good, but sometimes it isn't, and sometimes it produces results very different from what is good. Why do human beings have so much of a problem with drugs, or with any mind altering substance? Why is it that drug addiction can happen so easily, and then be so difficult to escape from once it gets going? It's not just physical, there is a spiritual reason. Addiction is not just physical, it is also spiritual, a spiritual bondage. That is because of the strong connection between drug usage and the spiritual world. It doesn't matter if a person involved in mind altering drugs has any interest in the occult or not, the occult is there wether they care about it or not, and partaking of the one opens the door to the other.

If you are out on a boat in the Gulf stream, and there are sharks in the area, it doesn't make a bit of difference wether you dump a bucket of bloody fish guts in the water especially to draw sharks, or if you accidently cut your hand and just stick it in the water to wash it off, either way you are going to draw sharks. The sharks will show up, and they don't care about your intentions. Their intentions will be the same either way. That's what artificially altering your mental state does, it draws demons just like blood draws sharks. That's what makes it so dangerous. Any time you disable part of your mental functions either by drugs, or hypnosis, or even meditating on the wrong things, you open the door to the occult without even realizing it. And what's worse, you are doing this during a time when your mental functions are not up to speed and your psychic defenses are down, your are a spiritual sitting duck. You are fish bait. And demons know it. They can smell you a mile away when you are in that condition.

People think that they can try drugs and get away with it. Drug use opens a psychic and spiritual door that lets in anything and everything, hostile spiritual creatures, and once they are in, they have no intention of leaving. They are a parasite, and you have become the host. And they want to keep you using drugs, because that makes it easier for them to feed on you. The Bible tells us that during the last days drug use will increase, along with other sinful activities, and already we can see how this would happen.

We started off today's message with focusing in on the silence in heaven that preceded the judgements of God, and I want to come back to that again. Have you ever been around somebody that didn't want to hear what you had to say, and they would continuously interrupt or interject their own ideas and opinions all the time so that you couldn't finish saying your piece? Or even if you did get it out, they were right on top of you with their own spin on it that they thought was more relevant or important than what you had to say? I think we all have. Frustrating, isn't it? Make you mad? Yeah, sometimes.

Do we ever do that to God? Make so much noise all the time that we drown Him out? He has a lot to say that we need to hear, and He wants to tell us, and what do we do? We surround ourselves with so much noise all the time that we drown out what He wants us to hear. Psalms 46:10 tells us: "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." We live in a culture and society that makes it easy to drown out a lot of things that we need to hear, and we are especially good at drowning out God, because He refuses to shout above the racket, or descend His dignity to that level.

This next week is the height of the Christmas season, and it is an excellent time to pause and reflect and contemplate the wonder of what God has done for us. He has become one of us, He has become human, caused Himself to be born in the likeness of sinful flesh, in order that He might put away our sins. That is something that we need to stop and meditate upon. This next week, take time out from the hustle and the hurry to find some stillness and peace. Take time to quiet yourself, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and let Him speak to you. Take some time to meditate on who He is, and what He has done for you. And then thank Him for the greatest Christmas gift of all, eternal life in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.