Revelation 8:6-9:21

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Transcript

Good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here grab a Bible and go to Revelation chapter 8 we're going to start in verse 6 and uh I put the the page number up there wrong it's page 597 um but we're going to be in page 597 on one of these blue Bibles uh and we are in Revelation chapter 8 did I say six verse six 86 all right you know good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here we are looking at what are known as the trumpet judgments being poured out by.

God on Earth and we have been working through the Book of Revelation and we are with John as he is seeing a vision of the throne room of God so he sees him who is Seated on the throne and he sees the lamb who is Christ come to he who is Seated on the throne and take the scroll from his hand that is sealed with Seven Seals and he has been the only one worthy because he has conquered through his blood to make a people.

For God so this is Jesus who through his sacrifice has rescued and redeemed a people he comes and begins to break the seals we went through the Seven Seals on this scroll and in the seventh seal suddenly there's silence in heaven for 30 minutes and trumpets are handed out to seven angels and that's where we are in chapter 8:6 it says now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them so John is seeing Seven Angels standing with trumpets getting ready in the Old Testament trumpets have two primary functions and one of the things you need to know about the Book of Revelation is that it is pointing forward towards things that.

Are going to happen but it is so often pointing back to prophecies in the Old Testament that much much of the Old Testament shows back up in the Book of Revelation that it rolls forward and so I heard one Pastor put it this way he says you'll read the book of Revelation you'll think huh that's new and he said no it's not because the Old Testament already told you some of this it already Proclaim some of this this is already connecting back much of what we're going to.

See today connects to the Book of Joel and there are direct references to the Book of Joel from some of the creatures that are here some of the locusts that we're going to see some of the different things that are showing up and in the Book of Joel we get this picture of what we see throughout the Old Testament which is what trumpets are used for and trumpets so often in the Old Testament are used for warning to sound an alarm there's a place where.

God says is the trumpet not blown and people aren't in the city aren't terrified like that's what it sounds an alert it sounds an alarm there's a trumpet that is to be blown to tell people a war warning and then trumpets are blown to call people to worship and those are two primary functions that we see in the Old Testament of trumpets so they're warnings and they call for worship and in the Book of Joel we see both of those show up and this passage this whole uh chapter in the next chapter chapter eight parallels Joel in some way.

So I want to read this from Joel to try to help you see how the Old Testament considers trumpets Joel chap 2 verse1 says blow a trumpet in Zion sound an alarm on my Holy Mountain let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming it is near trumpets sound an alarm but 14 verses later he shows us what else trumpets are used for blow the trumpet and Zion consecrate a fast call a solemn assembly gather the people.

So trumpets so often are shouting a warning or an alarm but they're also blown to to call people to worship and going to see that that's what's happening here that there's a warning but a call to worship and John is seeing this take place he's seeing a vision of this and what can happen when we look at the Book of Revelation is there are some things that are very clear God is the one on the throne through Christ's work in history they are playing out judgments on Earth that's very clear.

But then we start getting into questions like well when does do this happen and how exactly does it play out and the text doesn't tell us all of that and that's where Scholars and uh people of different theologies will will debate some of how this plays out and for our purposes we don't want to get bogged down in zooming in too far on all of this because I think we'll miss some of what God has meant to show us because at the end of chapter nine it's not going to say and here's.

When all that'll happen it actually directs our attention somewhere else there's an expectation that comes out of these trumpets that there's this moment where it's like John holds his breath waiting for something to happen and it doesn't happen and so it tells us why the trumpets are blown not just when they happen so there are some people who would think it's playing out over history there's some people who thinks that it's going to play out really specifically at the end of History there's some people who fall in the middle on that and we're not going to spend a ton of time we're going to just.

Look at the vision with John and then we're going to see what the expectation is but he's seeing us sign when I moved to lychburg Virginia my wife and I lived in Virginia for a little while we started seeing this sign when we drove around so I'm spent all of my driving years in South Carolina I was not prepared for this sign Y what is that even communicating like a deer crossing sign is like hey heads up deer might come out what is this hey you might die like what do you do is it saying drive faster to dodge them is it saying they might be on the road like I saw those signs.

I was like I don't know what to do with this information was actually we were watching the news one night and there was a part of a mountain that had fallen into the road like the sign told us it would and they're out on the news reporting live talking about this road that's closed it's got a you know a big rock in the way it's down to one lane and this guy comes around the curve and is just staring at the reporters and just plows right into the to the stones.

And then he gets out and they're just like come over here hey why'd you do that and he was like I was looking at you guys and he completely failed to see the sign now that sign is a picture of a real thing and much of what we're seeing in the Book of Revelation is a picture of a real thing it's pointing to Something Real the question is how is the picture is he seeing the actual thing playing out or is he seeing a picture that will play out in a different way and some of it is unclear in the Book of Revelation just like in the Old Testament and Daniel he sees a goat.

And that goat represents a nation it's not going to be a giant goat it's going to be a nation and there's some places where we go maybe this is just a picture that's very Vivid but it's pointing to a real thing sometimes it's like no I actually think he's seeing the real thing playing out in the future but it's not always clear in the text doesn't always tell us and the point of that sign is not to go I wonder what kind of rock that is that fell the point of that sign is.

Look out pay attention and we're going to see that that's what this text is doing doing as well because at the end of chapter 9 it's going to draw our focus on something very specific that helps us understand why this is here and how this is helpful so we're going to pray we're going to hear some uh in just a moment we're going to pray and then we're going to hear some trumpets that are calling us to warning and worship and we're going to.

See the expectation the why in this text this morning so let's pray Lord help us to hear and respond to heed the warning and the call to worship and respond in Jesus name amen so as we read this we're going to just see with John as he sees this play out now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them the first Angel blew his trumpet and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood and these were thrown upon the Earth and a.

Third of the Earth was burned up a third of the trees were burned up and all green grass was burned up so John says he his trumpet's blown and he sees the Earth and hail and fire which um mirrors some of the seventh plague on Egypt but it happens over the whole earth and a third of the earth is burned up now in the trumpets we're going to see a lot of things happen to a third of the Earth in the seals we saw some things happen to a fourth.

And so this is increasing in intensity but it is still most of the earth is okay most of the earth is not facing this trouble but a third of it is and so we see both God's judgment playing out but also his Mercy at work because it could be all of the Earth at this point but it is not all of the earth it's a third of the earth is facing this but that's cataclysmic it's massive scale but he says he sees hail and fire which could be lightning could be fire.

But it is certainly burning mixed with blood that's terrifying a storm but blood so not not like regular rain and then the Earth is burning and that's what John sees when the first trumpet is blown the second Angel blew his trumpet and something like a great Mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood a third of the living creatures in the sea died and a third of the ships were destroyed so he's seeing the Earth and something like a burning Mountain which.

If you've ever seen these like movies about like asteroids or whatever hitting the Earth that's what this brings to mind for me is like how what it look probably looked like to him is this massive thing slamming into the ocean and God in some ways in the trumpets is undoing Creation in the in the seals we saw much of what was playing out was happening to man kind there was some famine but a lot of it seems like it was happening specific to humanity.

But right in these first four trumpets we're going to see things playing out in creation suffering under the Judgment of God and it says a third of the ships a third of the sea became blood a third of the living creatures in the sea died which would cause shortages on food and massive shipping issues and problems as this plays out on the earth the third Angel blew his trk ET and a great star fell from heaven blazing like a torch and it fell on a.

Third of the rivers and on the Springs of water the name of the star is wormwood now in the Book of Revelation and throughout the Bible there are times where stars are stars and there are times where stars are pointing to Spiritual Beings this star specifically has a name wormwood and seems like this may be a spiritual being the next star we'll read in in our reading this morning is is definitively a spiritual being a third of the waters became wormwood and many people died from the water.

Because it had been made bitter wormwood is a plant that it doesn't take much of it to make a whole bit of drinking water bad and they knew about wormwood the plant and it would sometimes get into their drinking water and cause problems and so they're saying there's a spiritual being or a star that comes down and specifically strikes a third of the drinking water of Earth which would call massive problems and like I said some people are saying would look at this and say this is PL out of time some people think it would be playing out more potently at the end some people think it plays out very very quickly at the end.

But as I was researching some of this currently two billion people on earth live in places where they don't have access to good water 1.7 billion people which is right around a fourth of the earth drinks water with feces in it and 5 100,000 people a year die from diarrheal diseases and conditions caused from Bad drinking water most of them are children that's currently this is taking on a third of the earth becomes undrinkable through the Earth's water this is massive problem and and John is watching as these trumpets are blown and the Earth is suffering Ing and I think it's easier.

For us at this moment to imagine what this is like given the past few days I don't know how close things came to your home I'm assuming there's a greater percentage of our Church population that is doing okay is here than the ones who still have massive power problems but I know some of y'all still have power issues and travel issues but I don't know if you've seen videos and pictures of some of the ways that what happen happens when the earth and the weather starts giving out starts causing problems how quickly literally powerless we are.

And so John is seeing this play out on the earth as judgment is being poured out as warning is going out to the Earth chapter uh verse 12 the fourth Angel blew his trumpet and a third of the sun was struck and a third of the Moon and a third of the Stars so that a third of their light might be darkened and a third of the day might be might be kept from shining likewise a third of the night so things that are as regular as the Sunrise become not as regular anymore things that would be normal and like clockwork and we could set and travel by and set our calendars by suddenly there's.

There's problems and Jesus says there will be signs in the heavens and there'll be great distress of Nations and some of these things that are coming upon the Earth will start causing massive problems and so we're seeing cataclysmic things playing out as this judgment is poured out on the earth and John is witnessing it then I looked and I heard an angel crying an eagle sorry an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead so John in this Vision suddenly sees an eagle flying overhead and the eagle is crying out whoa wo wo wo to those who dwell on the earth at the blast of the other trumpets that the three angels.

Are about to blow so we have four trumpets and then an eagle flies by and says it's about to get worse those were Trumpets the next three are woes meaning despair despair despair Agony that woe upon them this is Curse that's going out over the world wo wo wo at the next three trumpets in our reading today we will look at two of the woses we will cover the next two trumpets in chapter nine the fifth angel blew his trumpet and I saw a star fallen from Heaven to Earth and he the star was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

So this star is an Angelic being he given a key to the shaft of the bottomless pit he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit and from the shaft Rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace and the Sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft this section also lines up pretty closely with some of the imagery and and wording from The Book of Joel there's a shaft a bottomless pit and and throughout the Bible this idea of the Abyss is some place that is a holding cell sometimes connected to the idea of shol or Hades.

But other times it seems like it's a specific place for Angelic beings second Peter 24 says this for if God did not spare Angels when they sinned but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy Darkness to be kept until the Judgment or Jude verse 6 and the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling he has kept in Eternal chains under gloomy Darkness until the Judgment of the great day or Luke 8 where.

Jesus is interacting with a person who's demonized Jesus then asked him what is your name and he said Legion for many demons had entered him and They begged him not to command them to depart into the the abyss so Jesus interacting with demonic creatures they say don't don't send us to the pit don't send us to the abyss' and in the Book of Revelation we see a spiritual being is given a key to open this up smoke begins to bow out.

But that's not it that's not all verse three then from the smoke came Locust on the earth and they were given power like the power of scorpions on the earth I don't know if you've ever seen Locus I would encourage you to to Google Locust I don't know if I would encourage you to Google the Locust from The Book of Revelation because you might go down some weird YouTube hole but just looking at Locust so you can see what it looks like.

When they swarm and cover and he says that smoke begins to billow out of this shaft he sees this Angel this star has given a key opens the shaft the shaft is open smoke begins to bow out and if you're a good Jewish person like John you know what this shaft is you know what this pit is you know what's kept there and your heart begins to beat fast because you don't want this pit opened but it's opened smoke begins to billow out it covers out the sky.

And then sudden it's not just smoke but you're going to hear that there's a warror of wings as Locust begin to come out they were told not to harm the grass of the Earth or any green plant or any tree that's a weird command for Locust it also just want to pause for just a moment it's one of the things when you're reading the book of Revelation that helps us see that we're given pictures and we don't exactly know a timeline.

Because they're told don't harm the grass but we just read in the first seal that all the gr or the first trumpet that all the grass burned up so has there been time or was that just the picture that John got and it it's representing something that's happening that's where we some run into some interpretive questions where we're trying to walk with humility and understand what this text is getting at for us but these locusts are sent out and they're told you're not here.

For the grass you're not here for the trees don't harm the grass or the Earth or any of of the Earth or any green plant or any tree but only those people who do not have the Seal of God on their foreheads if you'll remember back to last week There's this moment where the world cries out and says who can stand before the wrath of God who can stand in the day of judgment and then say pause in the in the seals where there are sealed those who belong to.

God they're sealed on their forehead he marks them as His and then we get this picture of this countless multitude gathered around the throne standing Before the Throne and before the lamb so the question goes out who can stand and then we see this countless multitude standing and the text answers itself it says those who've been washed by the blood of Jesus can stand they're the ones who will make it out and so there's this picture of this protection over the people who belong to.

God there's a picture of protection over them in the face of this torment that is coming verse five they the Scorpion Locust were allowed to torment them for five months but not to kill them and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone and in those days people will seek death and will not find it they will long to die but death will flee from them okay this is referring to a real thing that is going to take place in those days people will long.

For death and they'll seek death and they won't be able to find it the question is interpretively will they be able to see these creatures or these spiritual creatures attack them in a way that is unseen so there's some who would read this and go I think it's going to be something where these are literal material creatures that are loosed on the world the text doesn't tell us the text tells us that these creatures are loosed on the world but it doesn't tell us how they're going to show up.

Because throughout the Old Testament there are pictures where angels are sent to do a job but the people don't see the angel the angel sent to do a thing and it shows up in a material way there's a plague that shows up in first Corin uh 1 Chronicles chapter 21 it's called a plague there's disease and death but then David gets a glimpse behind the disease and sees an angel standing over Jerusalem holding a sword but I don't think everybody saw that David was given eyes to.

See that it was God carrying out this judgment and so it's possible that this will be carried out in that way John gets to see the revealing of what is really taking place but there's going to be torment poured out on those who don't belong to the Lord in a way that they don't see the text doesn't tell us and I think either one of those is a fair reading of this text but the point isn't how is that going to play out the point is it is going to play out and why is the.

Lord telling us and we're going to keep moving forward so we can see yall they long to die but death will flee from them there are things worse than death and God is actually showing them Mercy in the middle of their torment because once they die it's over and we're going to see that the text is holding them out for something God is holding them out for something and we're going to see that in the text CH uh verse 7 John is going to describe to us what these creatures.

Look like in the vision that he saw in appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold their faces were like human faces their hair like women's hair their teeth like lion's teeth they had breastplates like breastplates of iron and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle they have tails and stings like scorpions and their power to hurt people for 5 months is in their tails they have a king over them the angel of the bottomless pit his name in Hebrew is abadin and in Greek he is called aolon that's destruction and Destroyer why does.

The text take the time to describe these creatures to us one is because John sees it and he's supposed to write what he sees two is I think that if he had written they were terrifying you wouldn't have come up with the right horrific picture and he tells us not only they're terrifying he tells us they look like Locust but they look like horses they have human faces and the hair of women and I don't know if that makes them alluring or just chaotic I don't know what that looks like I don't know.

If he's like they're oddly like I I don't know what this is what woman's hair means like on a locust that's running around biting people with lion's teeth and stinging them with a scorpion's tail but he's looking and he says they sound like horses for battle they look like they've got breastplates of iron they're flying around swarming and it is terrifying the Judgment of God that's being poured out on Earth verse 12 the first woe has has passed behold two woes are still to come there was a time limit on that one.

Verse 13 then the sixth Angel blew his trumpet and I Heard a Voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God saying to the sixth Angel who had the trumpet release the Four Angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates so there's bound angels in the Middle East at the river Euphrates and they're commanded to be released so the Four Angels who had been prepared for the hour the day the month and the year were released to kill a.

Third of mankind y this is not chaotic this is scheduled and decreed by the ruler of the universe this judgment is set they've been prepared for this exact moment in the creation of these beings he bound them here and when it hits the right time they're released talks about those four creatures and then it says this that uh so the Four Angels who had been prepared for the hour the day the month and the year were released to kill a third of mankind.

So they're sent out to kill a third thir of mankind in World War II about a tenth of the earth died so what they're sent out to do is three times worse and it talks about these four angels and then it says the number of mounted troops so it immediately jumps to this picture of an army was twice 10,000 time 10,000 I heard their number that is 200 million the US has 100 no has 1 million sorry has 1 million uh people that can put in uniform.

If we had to put everybody in uniform we have a 500,000 standing army person standing army and we have another 500,000 that we could get geared up right around there it's 1 million China has a 2 million this is million sent out and this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur and the heads of the horses were like Lion's heads and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths by these three plagues the.

Third of mankind was killed by the fire and the smoke and the sulfur coming out of their mouths for the power of the horses in their mouths and in their tails for their tails are like serpents with heads and by means of them they wound so John writes what he sees 200 million armed soldiers on horses that have lion heads that spew fire and their tails are snakes and they're set loose in judgment to kill a third of mankind not all of mankind the.

Third God's judgment is restrained and we're meant to see with Clarity God's judgment God's rule over Humanity the reality that this is coming whether this is a vision of something that he got to see the spiritual reality behind it but it'll play out on Earth physically in a different way or whether or not God at this point has peeled back the the barrier between the two and is releasing things it I don't know and I don't know if that's the point of the next.

Because here's where it goes next it moves our attention on purpose we've seen six trumpets and two woes and then the text says this the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and Idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood which cannot see or hear or walk nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts I said there was an expectation in this text John sees all this play out he says I've seen a vision of what's coming I've seen this picture of judgment on the world.

And then John goes and they didn't repent there was an expectation that they would see the Brokenness and the wickedness and the failure of their sin and their false gods and John says they they did they didn't repent they didn't turn from it they they kept right on doing the same stuff they went right back to it these judgments were a warning and a call to worship repent for the kingdom is at hand a warning and a call to worship and it says they don't heed the warning and they don't change their worship you have lived through moments that shook your world you've lived through moments where there was pain where.

God shook you in your pain in your distress there are moments where the things you had planned on and counted on that were normal and we set fell apart y we live through a global pandemic that suddenly your life just changed and you had to change what you were doing and where you were going and we had this weekend where we saw just a just a moment how fragile we are how incapable we are to stop things my brother-in-law is in Asheville it's accessible by air right.

Now they don't have celf service we don't know how he's doing he doesn't have any ability to let us know we don't have any ability to find out a h a tree fell on my mother-in-law's house massive one in the middle of the night this is all over the place where trees are down and people don't have power and there's no way to get to them and roads are closed and we just down where my brother and my family lived they told some people it's going to be a couple weeks we don't know how we're going to get power to you just we have these moments you've had moments in your life where things suddenly.

Just changed where the whole world changed around you we have these moments where in the middle of pain and distress and fear and doubt we're shaken and we can see that we aren't in control and John is saying I'm watching this play out on a global scale but how often as soon as things go back to normal do we just run right back John says I watched them y'all they didn't they didn't change they didn't acknowledge that they were small they didn't acknowledge that their gods are terrible and cannot accomplish anything how often have we gone right back to the way we were interacting our our our internet usage our phone usage run right back.

To our sexual sin how many of you have had a moment where you had this scare and you prayed and you said Lord I'll change and then as soon as things got a little bit better you just went right back you have this moment where you're like oh I can just see clearly but we go we go right back they go right back to their Idols in the middle of fear and doubt what do you run to what is the thing that comforts you that makes you feel.

Okay some of us in the middle of this when we're seeing that we don't have control I found myself going I'll be more prepared next time I'll get ready some people have just the big conclusion you came to was not that God judges the world and our time here is short and my neighbors don't know Jesus the big conclusion we came to was I'll get a generator some of us over the past few days have just eaten more carbohydrates than we've eaten in a long time we saw that in the pandemic some people went into their house.

For three months and ate some people went in their house for three months and did push-ups because we're running to the things that help us feel like we got a sense of control in the world and John's saying I'm watching the world and they they don't repent and they keep worshiping the same stupid stuff they've been worshiping that has no power they're worshiping demons and they're worshiping stuff that can't see or hear or walk or talk or do anything and God is shaking the world and there's an expectation that they'll turn and you can almost feel John being like they they don't don't.

So my hope for us as we read this is that we hear the trumpet sound an alarm for coming judgment and call us to worship something good those who are sealed are sealed not because they're the good ones they're sealed because Jesus shed his blood for them what he's holding out to the world is a repentance where he does the work to cover you to save you to make you whole to make you good to protect you to keep you this reads like a parent that you talk to that goes I don't know they were rebelling.

So so I I grounded them and they kept doing the same stuff they snuck out so I put alarms on the windows and I took away their phone and they kept doing that so I sent them to a thing to try to help them and I'm just trying to help them tell them I can see where they're headed and it's not going to go well I love them so much it's not going to go well I know where they're headed and all they did was get more rebellious and keep running to the other things they kept figuring out ways past it they kept running back to the same stuff and they got mad and mad.

And mad at me we're going to see that in the Book of Revelation that Humanity doesn't as this continues they don't do anything but respond to him and say how dare you and God in Mercy is only playing this out on a third and there's an expectation of repent see it and come see it and come hear the call and come turn away from the things that won't provide that won't save that won't fix you that don't help you that have promised you life over and over and over and over and over again and have never once delivered turn from your sin and come and John says they don't repent.

But I'm hoping that we do I'm hoping that we get to look ahead and go okay I don't want these same things I've been running to I Want Jesus the only one who can redeem who can save who can heal and who can help I'm hoping that we turn from sin and turn our eyes up and worship and that we take seriously this call let's pray Lord may we respond in Repentance May today we turn away from our sexual sin our sexual immorality May.

Today we turn away from our Idols of wood and stone paper our Idols of money and success our Idols of comfort and control may we turn away from worshiping what is evil and demonic in the world may we repent and Lord May we worship and for the person in here today who has not trusted in you may they repent and may they see the glory of Christ in protection and Redemption through the work of your son that it is not about what we do.

But it is about what you have done for us and may they turn to you in Jesus name amen the band is going to come back up and Church family we're going to take communion communion is for Christians and it is where we get to practically repent and worship on a regular basis it's where we get to be mindful of the sacrifice that was made for us y' when Christians walk in a life of repentance we don't walk with our head down our foreheads are sealed we belong to Christ through the work that he has accomplished we get to come and say.

Lord I'm a sinner and I need mercy and then we get to receive Mercy that we get to be covered by the work of Christ that when you feel moments when you go I don't deserve this Praise Jesus yes in amen you don't deserve it oh you don't deserve it but he's so good he's so kind he's so loving his Mercy is great his love is great his Mercy is Rich he is a redeemer and it's to his praise of his glorious Grace.

And so when we come in Repentance we come in Repentance and worship that we come and we say Lord I'm in need of a savior Praise Jesus that I have one if you have not placed your faith in Jesus communion is not for you but Jesus can be if you'll trust in him if you'll tell him I need to be forgiven I need hope and help you can say Lord I don't want to face judgment I don't want to chase after the same stupid stuff I want you and I need help and he'll help you he'll save you he does not let anyone down who calls on the name of the.

Lord none will be put to shame so if you say I want to trust in you then you are covered and healed and helped so Church family take a moment reckon with your sin and your fragility and then come and know that it's been covered and that you are cleaned and that you are welcomed with the Lord and you are sealed and may we worship Jesus together.