Revelation 8:12

Then the fourth angel sounded:  and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened.  A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.

·        This supernatural work of God will affect heat, health, agriculture, navigation, etc.

·        This parallels the fifth bowl judgment which will cause darkness to fall on the Antichrist’s empire (Rev. 16:10-11) and the ninth plague of darkness on Pharaoh’s kingdom for three days (Ex. 10:21-23).

Ezekiel 32:7 When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

Amos 8:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord GOD, that I will make the sun go down at noon.  And I will darken the earth in broad daylight…

 

Revelation 8:11

The name of the star is Wormwood.  A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

·        Wormwood is a very bitter substance, and proverbial for bitterness and sadness.

·        The proportion of ecological disaster stays the same. In each one of the trumpets, a third of an ecological system is destroyed in judgment.

Ruth 1:20  But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Jeremiah 9:15  therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:  “Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

Revelation 8:10

Then the third angel sounded:  and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

·        A great burning star will fall from heaven. This meteoric mass will poison the fresh water (rivers and springs) causing the inland fresh water supply to be contaminated.

·        This parallels the third bowl, which will poison the fresh water by turning it to blood (Rev. 16:4-7), and the first plague, which destroyed the water supply in the lakes and springs when the Nile turned to blood.

 Isaiah 14;12  How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations.

Zechariah 12:6  In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place – Jerusalem.

Revelation 8:9

And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

·        The souls of men found their ruin where they sought for their refreshment (MH)

·        God may use whatever method He desires to bring judgment, but people on earth know these events are from God, and do not think them to be merely natural disasters (Revelation 16:9; 16:11; 19:19). (DG)

Psalm 89:25 Also I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand over the rivers.

Psalm 48:7  As when You break the ships of Tarshish with an east wind

Revelation 8:8

Then the second angel sounded:  and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.

·        Something like a great mountain: John carefully says that this is not an actual mountain (note the use of like), but it is a blazing mass as large as a mountain. (DG)

·        The sea may be a specific reference to the Mediterranean and not a reference to all oceans. For a person in the world John lived in, the Mediterranean Sea was the sea, and they really had little knowledge of other oceans. (DG)

Exodus 7:17-20  thus says the LORD:  By this you shall know that I am the LORD.  Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is my hand, and they shall be turned to blood…….

Ezekiel 14:19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast…..

Revelation 8:7

The first angel sounded:  and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth.  And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

·        The first four trumpets are “supernatural acts of God through nature” sent to destroy the Antichrist’s resources and his followers, while displaying Jesus’ power as superior to his. God’s judgments against the wicked in the “trumpets” affect various areas of the environment (trees, grass, sea, rivers, sky), food supply (vegetation, meat), sea trade (fish), water supply and energy (light and heat from sun, moon and stars). They are not merely “natural acts” portrayed in symbolic language, but are the supernatural power of God using and moving through God’s natural creation, affecting it in a supernatural way that has never been seen before in human history at this magnitude.  (CS)

·        The most severe calamities have their bounds and limits set them by the great God (MH)

 Exodus 9:23 and Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground.  And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt.

Psalm 18:13 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.

Revelation 8:6

So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

·        Sound is associated with the seal judgments. The first four are released by a voice like thunder.  The fifth seal describes the intercessory cry from beneath the altar. In the sixth seal, the kings cry out. Here, the terrifying silence of the seventh seal is in great contrast with the other six seals.

·        We waited for the seven seals to be opened, and saw them loosed one by one. But when the seventh seal was finally loosed, the end did not immediately come. It set in motion seven trumpets that would sound upon the earth. (DG)

 Leviticus 23:24 Speak to the children of Israel, saying:  in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

Joshua 6:4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark.  But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

Revelation 8:5

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth.  And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

·        These prayers that were now accepted in heaven produced great changes upon earth.  (MH)

·        All things will not be resolved on this earth until judgment comes, and when the prayers of God’s people “come back” to earth, they bring the groundswell of judgment  (DG)

Leviticus 16:12  Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil.

Exodus 20:18 Now all the people witnesses the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

Revelation 8:4

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.

·        Prayer and incense are often associated in the Bible.  (DG)

·        The idea is that just as incense is precious, pleasant, and drifts to heaven, so do our prayers.  (DG)

Exodus 30:8  And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

Leviticus 16:12  Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil.

Revelation 8:3

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.  He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

·        It took the priest about a half hour to offer the incense

·        The prayers of the saints themselves stand in need of the incense and intercession of Christ to make them acceptable and effectual (MH)

Exodus 30:1  You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood.

Psalm 141:2  Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Revelation 8:2

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

·        And to them were given seven trumpets: In the Old Testament, trumpets sounded the alarm for war, and threw the enemy into a panic, or they called an assembly of God’s people.  (DG)

·        These seven trumpets will sound as God’s battle-alarm during the great tribulation. (DG)

2 Chronicles 29:25-28  … So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

Joshua 6:4  And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark.  But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

Revelation 8;1

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

·        Silence in heaven: when the seven angels are given trumpets, there will be silence in heaven.  There will be a dreadful yet glorious silence in heaven coming from the awful anticipation of the release of God’s judgments due to seeing the seven angels. The certainty of the impending judgment causes all to be speechless. There is no adequate response for what will come.

·        As silence fills heaven, so it will cover the earth as Jesus begins to release His final judgments.

Jeremiah 8:14 Why do we sit still?  Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities, and let us be silent there.  For the LORD our God has put us to silence and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

Psalm 31:18  Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

Revelation 7:16-17

“They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

·        All their wants are supplied (MH)

·        In this He deals with them as a tender father who finds his beloved child in tears, he comforts him, he wipes his eyes, and turns his sorrow into rejoicing.  (MH)

Psalm 23:1-2  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

Isaiah 49:10  They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them

Revelation 7:15

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.  And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.

·        They are happy in their employment, for they serve God continually (MH)

·        They are happy in their freedom from the inconveniences of this present life (MH)

Leviticus 26:11 I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.

Isaiah 4:5, 6  then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night.  For over all the glory there will be a covering.  And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.

Revelation 7:14

And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”  So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

·        The way to heaven lies through many tribulations; but tribulation shall not separate us from the love of God. (MH)

·        Blood of the Lamb – the only blood that makes the robes of the saints white and clean (MH)

Genesis 49:11 Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and clothes in the blood of grapes.

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Revelation 7:13

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

·        A question asked by one of the elders, not for his own information, but for John’s instruction.  (MH)

·        The lowest saint in heaven knows more than the greatest apostle in the world. (MH)

Exodus 4:29  Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 

Ecclesiastes 9:8 Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil.

Revelation 7:11-12

All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,

Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,

Be to our God forever and ever.

Amen.”

 

·        Here is the song of the angels, creatures and elders as they fell on their faces and worshiped (MH)

·        We see what is the work of heaven, and we ought to get our hearts tuned for it, and to long for that world where our praises, as well as happiness, will be perfected (MH)

Genesis 17:3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying…..

Psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.

Revelation 7:9-10

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

·        Though the church of God is but a little flock, in comparison of the wicked world, yet it is no contemptible society, but really large, and to be still more enlarged (MH)

·        They stand before the throne – the throne of God would be inaccessible to sinners were it not for a Mediator (MH)

Leviticus 23:40  And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.

Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior.

Revelation 7:4-8

And I heard the number of those who were sealed.  One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;

Of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

 

·        We are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a down payment of our eventual total redemption. (DG)

·        Ethnically, they are Jewish, and there are 144,000 of these chosen ones.  (DG)

·        It is best to see the 144,000 as specifically chosen Jewish believers in Jesus, protectively sealed throughout the tribulation as a sign.  (DG)

 

Song 4;12  A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Genesis 49:28  All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them.  And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing

Revelation 7:2-3

Then 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 granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

·        Another angel was employed to mark out and distinguish the faithful servants of God (MH)

·        How they were distinguished:  the seal of God was set upon their foreheads.  By this mark they were set apart for mercy and safety in the worst of times (MH)

Psalm 72:8  He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Ezekiel 9:4  ..and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.

Revelation 7:1

After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

·        An account of the restraint laid upon the winds.  By these winds we suppose are meant those errors which would occasion a great deal of trouble and mischief to the church of God (MH)

·        The spirit of error cannot go forth till God permits it.  Their restraint was only for a season. (MH)

Daniel 7:2  Daniel spoke, saying, ‘I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.

Zechariah 6:5  ….These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth.

Revelation 6:17

“For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

·        Day of His wrath: For the great day of His wrath “has come”—the issue is whether the Day of the Lord has just begun or is soon to follow. The Greek verb “has come” can look backwards, indicating that the Day already arrived or it can look forward as something to occur soon.

·        The narrow Day of the Lord is the 24-hour day Jesus enters Jerusalem. The broad Day of the Lord starts at the Tribulation and ends after the millennium. It lasts for 1,000 years (2 Pet. 3:8).

 Isaiah 13:6  Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand!  It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Jeremiah 30:7  alas!  For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Revelation 6:15-16

And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!

·        John describes those affected from seven categories of society. He emphasizes how leaders will respond: kings (presidents); great men (world leaders); rich men (financial leaders); military commanders; mighty men (civil leaders); and slaves and free men (common class majority).

·        Meteoroids will bombard the earth, like a fig tree losing its figs when strong winds blow on it. John saw men hiding in caves to escape the debris falling from the sky as a part of the wrath of the Lamb. This intensifies later when 100-pound hailstones fall in the seventh bowl (Rev. 16:21).

 

Isaiah 2:9-12 … The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. ….

Psalm 48:4-6 …. Fear took hold of them there, and pain, as a woman in birth pangs….

Joel 2:11  The LORD gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His word, for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it?

Revelation 6:14

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

·        Sky: the sky will recede (split, divide, move back) as a scroll. God will cause the sky to roll back, thus opening a window to see into heaven so that worldwide leaders may witness it.

·        Mountains moved: every mountain and island will be moved out of its place, which does not imply that they are all destroyed. No one would be able to hide in the mountains if they were all destroyed.

 Isaiah 34:4  All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree.

Psalm 102:26  They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed.

Isaiah 34:44  All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree.

Revelation 6:13

And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

·        Stars: asteroids and meteor showers hitting the earth. The Greek word for stars used here is aster from which we get the word “asteroid.” An aster refers to any shining mass in the sky, including stars, comets, meteors, asteroids, or any flaming debris.

·        As God guided David’s stone to hit Goliath, so He will guide these stones (asteroids) to destroy the Antichrist’s infrastructure to stop oppressors from killing the saints and others. Meteorites will bombard the earth, as compared to a fig tree losing its figs when strong winds blow on it.

Isaiah 34:4  All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree.

Joel 3:15  The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness.

Isaiah 34:44  All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree

Revelation 6:12

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.

·        Jesus opened the sixth seal in answer to the prayers of the saints in the fifth seal. This seal begins a new order of supernatural judgment released by the trumpet and bowl series against the Antichrist’s empire. The martyrs cried, “Avenge us” and the wicked will cry, “Hide us.”

·        The sixth seal describes the great agitation of the universe. This is the turning point in history.

 Isaiah 13:13  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.

Joel 2:10  The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness.

Revelation 6:11

Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

·        White robes: declare the saints’ purity (the opposite of the guilty verdict that men gave them) and assure the saints that their prayers will be answered. They also speak of the victory. The elders (Rev. 4:4) and saints wear them (Rev. 6:11; 7:9, 13, 14; 22:14).

·        Rest and wait: they were not to stop crying for vengeance, but were to rest with assurance. This is in contrast to the persecution they just endured on earth (Rev. 14:8, 13). They were not to stop interceding, but to be at peace, knowing that there was a time decreed for vengeance.

 Ecclesiastes 9:8  Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil.

Psalm 44:22  Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Revelation 6:10

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

 

·        These souls in heaven cry out for vengeance (until You judge and avenge our blood). We usually don’t think of God’s people crying out for vengeance, but they make their cry to God, and leave the matter with Him. (DG)

·        When God’s people are persecuted, He will set it right. It isn’t wrong for God’s people to ask Him to do what He promised to do. So the blood of Abel cried out from the ground for vengeance (Genesis 4:10), as did the blood of unavenged murders in the land of Israel (Numbers 35:33). (DG)

 

Deuteronomy 32:43  Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people, for he will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.

Zechariah 1:12:  Then the Angel of the LORD answered and said, “O LORD of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?