Revelation 7
7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
After these things: this is mentioned many times in Revelation; this speaks of chronicity throughout the Book. It may very well be that all of Revelation follows a chronological order in time (unless very obviously shown otherwise). This doesn’t seem to be a part of the 6th seal.
Four: Symbolically speaking of the 4 directions that winds are known to come from: North, East, South, West. There are many millions of angels and here are 4 specific ones with this as their duty.
Wind: just imagine absolutely no wind, no air movement. Weather patterns end…no jet wave, etc.. This is shown (vs.2,3) to ‘hurt the earth’. Maybe there is smog, fog, increase insects, increase heat, etc..
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Cried: This other angel was very concerned that these other 4 angels wait before all this hurt is done.
Sealed: This sealing somehow protects these servants (the 144,000); is it a spiritual protection? Can the seal be seen? Is it so that the angels can tell who to hurt and who not to? Maybe it is figures in to the “tares and wheat” parable.
Foreheads: just like the mark; however, the right hand option is not given here. Maybe the forehead is the main place and the right hand is secondary.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Only these 144,000 were sealed with this seal. Surely, there were others saved during this time. These apparently didn’t get the protection.
Rev. 14:1 says: “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” This seal apparently contains the Lamb’s Father’s name. The mark of the beast contains the number of the beasts’ name on the foreheads.
This was a large number of witnesses indeed. They all were Jews for sure and must have been saved somewhere right around the beginning of the Tribulation. The Jehovah (false) Witnesses originally taught in 1918 that they were these 144,000, representing the last members of the Body of Christ on earth. In 1931 they changed their teaching to allow for more than 144,000 within their ‘group’. They now say that these 144,000 actually live in Heaven as the “Heavenly Class” who will rule and reign with Christ. Also, the 7th Day Adventists teach that this 144,000 represents the “Sabbath Keepers” in the last days (them). The following verses clearly and specifically show that these 144,000 are exactly 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and not from any other people group. There can be no symbolism or allegory meant here.
5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthali were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
Interestingly, the tribe of Dan is not listed here. Maybe because of their connection with idolatry (Lev 24:11), or maybe because of the possibility that the AntiChrist will come from this tribe (Gen 49:17 and Jer 8:15,16). Also, the half tribe of Ephraim was replaced by Joseph.
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
After this: again, chronologically; after the 144,000 were sealed.
Great multitude: I would assume greater than 1 billion people, which is more than a man can truly count on his own. This group is not just Jews, but from every nation. Verse 14 helps explain their identity. The context is the Great Tribulation before the opening of the 7th seal. These most likely represent all the saved (except the 144,000) from the beginning of the Tribulation until this point. They have all been martyred most likely. Some say that these represent all the saved of all ages, and is a future picture after the Tribulation. There is no reason to jump ahead on our timeline though.
White robes: Do all the redeemed of the Tribulation get these? No. It is just these martyrs of the Tribulation. The palms represent victory (everyone has a palm in their hand…). This is before the same throne of chapter 5 where the little book with the 7 seals was taken by the Lord Jesus Christ. The 7th of these seals is getting ready to be opened. It is a victorious time for vengeance is being meted out to the wicked of the earth (their murderers).
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
The Tribulational martyrs are saying all this.
All the angels: These are those angels mentioned in Rev 5:11…100 million plus!
Worshipped: Because of these intense 6 judgements, there was great reason to worship God.
Amen: Again, very much like Rev. 5:13. This first “Amen” is probably in response to verse 10. Wow, 2 Amens in one verse! The angels and the saints are cheering God on!
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
(13) This elder recognized that John wasn’t clear who these were (and us too). He wants to make a distinction of these from all the other saved folk. To be a martyr is to be in a very respected heavenly class, indeed.
(14) Some say Tribulational saints are saved by grace plus works, but here we see that it is still by the blood of the Lamb!
The Tribulational martyrs (and maybe all martyrs) are priviledged with: wearing white robes; being positioned very close before the throne of God; being allowed to serve Him in His temple (maybe speaking of the Millenial kingdom time period).
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
These Tribulational martyred saints had it really rough for those months and years on earth, but now it will be lovely for them. Those ‘left behind’ will have it rough and will experience much of these first 6 judgements no doubt.
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd and will feed His sheep; this is relating to their hunger and thirst in the Tribulation. These waters are located at the amazing River of Life (Rev 22:1) in the Eternal State after the Millenium. These sorrows and tears that these particular saints experience will be all taken away soon; probably at the beginning of the Eternal State (Rev 21:4). Remember, the context for going to the living water (River of life) and having tears wiped away is that of these Tribulational martyrs. I believe that the tears won’t officially end until after the Great White Throne Judgment.
Revelation 8
1 And when he had opened the seventh seala, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hourb.
a) He = Jesus Christ, the Lamb. There has been a Hollywood movie called “The Seventh Seal”, which is loosely based on this. The number 7 deals with perfection, completeness. Though, it is not yet fully complete, but each judgement set speaks of completeness.
b) There had been much noise, singing, praising, etc! Why the silence? One calls for silence when something very important is about to happen. There was a setting of the stage. 30 minutes is not a brief nor a long period of time. Maybe the main point was to get attention of everyone. Is there time in heaven (a clock on the wall)?
2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before Goda; and to them were given seven trumpetsb.
a) It appears that ‘the seven angels’ have been mentioned before via the grammar here. Rev. 1:4 speaks of the ‘seven spirits which are before the throne’. If this is not referring to the 7 fold ministry of the Holy Spirit, then it may refer to a specific group of 7 angels whose job is to stand and minister before the throne of God. I am sure they were standing at attention, ready to act.
b) Who gave them the trumpets? The first set was 7 seals; now 7 trumpets. ‘Seals’ keep things secure until properly opened. Why ‘trumpets’? Trumpets announce warning and judgement. They really get your attention.
3 And another angel came and stood at the altara, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incenseb, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the thronec.
4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s handd.
a) Once again many different angels used for very specific purposes. Just like in the military before the General, the angel arrives and comes to attention.
b) There was ‘much incense’ representing the many prayers of the saints. Incense is pleasant smelling. Apparently smell is very important to God. The golden censer could have been used at this point, but vs. 5 may say otherwise.
c) incense corresponds to the prayers; these prayers are probably all those of past persecuted and martyred saints of God over the ages. All this coming up before the nostrils of the Almighty, as He sat on the throne. Oh how it must have moved Him.
d) It appears that the incense was in the angel’s actual hand, and not the censer. The incense would need to have been burning to produce smoke. He might have taken fire from the altar to light the incense.
5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the eartha: and there were voicesb, and thunderings, and lightningsc, and an earthquaked.
a) After these prayers and the incense came before God the Father, He was moved with compassion for the saints and vengeance upon the wicked. Fire represents judgement. The censer is finally used. The actual fire from the altar before the throne of God was cast to the earth…not symbolically.
b) As this fire fell from Heaven, there were these 4 alarming events: these are not judgements of the first trumpet, but just the attention-getter prior to it. The first was in the form of ‘voices’. Whose voices are these? They could be angels, saints, the 24 elders, etc.. Maybe the voices were sounding as thunder, just as God sounded when He spoke in the Old Testament.
c) If this is literal thunder and lightning, then it is very much an attention-getter. This thunderstorm was probably worse than any other storm ever before, and it was global!
d) There are 5 specific great earthquakes mentioned as judgements in the Tribulation period. This earthquake probably was global and very intense, but not so much for destruction purposes but to let them know something was coming. It may have been that there was a few days or weeks between the end of the 6th seal and this.
6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepareda themselves to sound. 7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earthb: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt upc.
a) These angels got their trumpets to the ready position while standing at attention. The earth has been shown that something big was coming, and the first angel is ready to sound.
b) Here it all comes! Hail is bad in inself; this was a horrible hail storm over possibly one-third of the earth. The hail destroyed crops, buildings, trees, etc.. However, there was ‘fire’ with it also. How could this be? As the hail fell, so did fire. What the hail broke apart the fire easily burned it up. I believe that the hail was mingled with blood; bloody ice falling from heaven, with fire! This blood may bring rememberance to the martyrs blood and their prayers finally being answered. Jesus Christ’s blood would speak the loudest, though.
c) Just think of the destruction from the hail and fire; it would be responsible for burning one-third of all the earth’s trees, and all the earth’s grass! Oh how the smoke loomed from the forests of the earth. Oh how furious the environmentalist tree-huggers will be! The fires went across all the earth to get all the grassy fields. Just think how the ‘plain’ states would look!
8 And the second angel soundeda, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became bloodb;
a) I wonder what the time interval is between judgements? One day, one month? There are 18 known judgements in the Tribulation, and another unmentioned 7 thunders. So possibly 25 separate judgement periods in this 7 year Tribulation. That comes out to (84/25) about every 3 months a new judgement.
b) Which mountain? Vesuvias? St.Helens? Mt.Etna? This was most likely a large volcanic eruption. Some believe that the mountain represents an earthly kingdom; others believe that it is a large celestial body. I say that it is a mountain. Maybe the contents of the mountain was bloody. Again, the blood representing the blood of the martyrs. The sea is probably the large bodies of salt water across the planet; and one-third of these became blood by this.
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, dieda; and the third part of the ships were destroyedb.
a) The ‘life is in the blood’; ironically it is used for killing here. This thick coagulating blood would not pass through the fishes gills. Oh the stench of all those bloody dead fish on the shores!
b) It seems that all the ships that were in the areas of the seas that became blood were then destroyed. Maybe the blood hurt the exterior of the ships; maybe the blood wasn’t bouyant like water is, and the ships sank.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lampa, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of watersb; 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.
a) This star, Wormwood, must have been huge. A star is a distant sun. It falls from the second heaven. A shooting star has the appearance of a lamp when it enters the earth’s atmosphere and ignites on fire. This was a big one and it didn’t burn up before striking the earth. This star would have to have started its journey to earth thousands of years ago in order to be present at this time (if the Tribulation were now). God planned it all before! Astronomers may be able to see this a coming!
b) Maybe its debris scattered across one-third of the rivers on earth. Rivers are fresh water. It got into the fountains beneath the earth’s surface. Drinking water was ‘wormy’.
This may be in fulfillment of the prophecy in Jer. 9:13-15. Wormwood is a well known bitter herb.
I have heard that there is a star that the Astronomers have named Wormwood. God shows in Job 9:9 that He names the stars. He’s got one named Wormwood, and it has already exploded and is coming our way fast!
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.
Previously, in the sixth seal the stars fell to the earth and the sun and moon were darkened. This judgement is different. It may be many months later. A lot of ‘third parts’ here; I wonder what the significance is to this? Apparently, the part refers to the time that they would be giving off light to the earth, and not to one-third of it as a whole entity (not time related). So, one-third of the day was completely dark, as well as the night. Maybe something obstructed the light from making it to earth. This went on for at least several weeks, if not months, and may have continued until the end.
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 is just like the attention-getting that was done with the voices, thunder, lightning, and earthquake before the first trumpet. These judgements have been pretty gruesome so far, but the next three are particularly woesome! And God wanted the people of the earth to know this. It seems that this angel’s voice is actually heard by the inhabitants of earth. They have just witnessed one-third of the trees being burned up; all the grass being burned up; one-third of the sea turning to blood which killed one-third of all the sea creatures and destroyed one third of the ships; many men dying from Wormwood waters; and one-third of the day and the night being completely dark! What else could possibly go wrong?!!!