From Silence to Violence

Revelation chapter 8 is where we are. Revelation chapter 8, we're going to cover the first five verses this evening.

As we go from silence to violence, silence to violence. The last half of the tribulation, which is the beginning of the great and terrible day of the Lord. We realize that people were forced to acknowledge for the very first time publicly that God was behind all these judgments that they were experiencing.

In fact, it says over in Revelation 6, verse number 16, And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, who is able to st? For the very first time, the world realizes that God is behind all the judgments that they are facing.

And instead of repenting and asking God to forgive them of their sin, they would rather pray that the rocks would fall upon them and they would die. It's important for us to note that, as we talked about last week, there is going to be a great multitude of people who are saved during the tribulational period. And there are three avenues by which the message of the Word of the Lord will go forth. One, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. Two, the two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11, and we'll talk about them in just a few short weeks.

And three, the angel that flies around in mid proclaiming the gospel. That's in Revelation chapter 14. Those are the three main avenues by which the word of the Lord will get out. And when we come to Revelation chapter 7, where we were last week, we saw that there was a great multitude. John could not even count them, there were so many of them, in heaven. And they were the ones who were saved out of the great tribulation. So we know that there are people from every tribe, every nation that will be born again during the tribulational period.

It is the greatest revival. In the history of the world. And we said last week: the reason being is because it's at that time where people will have to pay the greatest price. And at that time is when the most people will give their life to Jesus Christ. They will have counted the cost. And followed Jesus Christ. Tonight, we want to look at three things with you: the silence, the audience, and the violence.

Revelation 8, verse number 1. And when he broke the seven seals, there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour, and I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets who were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer, and much incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand.

And the angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth. And there followed peals of thunder, and sounds, and flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. First of all, the silence.

It says in verse number one: when he, that is the Lamb of God, broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven.

Something uniquely different about the breaking of this seventh seal. Upon the breaking of the other seals, something very significant happened on the earth. So much so that it brought about devastating effects, catastrophic events upon the earth. But now, when the seventh seal breaks There is silence in he. Up to this point, there's been lots of noise. Lots of noise back in Revelation chapter 4, verse number 5. And from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. So you have a Continual barrage of loudness and thunder and lightning and continuation of voices.

And so when the seventh seal breaks, all of a sudden, It stops. There's nothing there. Everything stops. There is no more noise. There is no more thunder. There is no more lightning. And that silence is more deafening than all the thunder and all the loudness that has preceded it. Two things I want you to notice about the silence.

Number one, it's duration. Number two, it's anticipation. First of all, it's duration. The text says it's about 30 minutes. And it must have been some, to some degree, an agonizing suspense for him. To listen to nothing. After hearing nothing but loudness. From its duration, I want you to see its anticipation. It is the greatest event since the fall of man. Because at the fall of man, the curse was enacted upon man and upon the world. And for the very first time, heaven now sees the curse completely reversed.

And they see what it's going to take for the curse to be reversed. And what God is going to do to make that happen. What heaven has been waiting for for centuries is now fin going to be acc. From the silence, I want you to notice with me the audience.

Verse number two, and I saw the seven angels. Who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. The first thing I want you to see are the seven angels.

Who are the seven angels? There's the definite article there. It says, and I saw thee. Seven angels, so it sets them apart as some unique group who happen to be standing before God, and maybe they have been standing there for some time. We know that there are various groups of angels and various ranks of angels. Go back to Genesis 3:2. You read about the cherubim, those who stood at the entrance to the Garden of Eden. That God posted there so that Adam and Eve would not go back into that garden after the fall of man.

Isaiah 6:2, you had the ser, the ones that Isaiah saw in his vision. But these are a specific group of angels. Maybe they are representative of different groups. I don't know. But it says they are the seven. Angels. They appear to be some high-ranking form of angel. Turn with me back to Luke chapter 1 for a second.

Let me show you this: Luke 1, verse number 18. And Zach said to the angel, How shall I know this is for certain? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands where? In the pres of God. Maybe Gabriel's one of these seven angels who stands in the presence of God. We know from Luke 1. He stands in the presence of God. Whether he's included here or not, we don't know. We just know that these are the seven ange. That's their identity.

What about their activity? The text says they're given seven trumpets. Angels play an important role in God's judgment. Just as they did in the sealed judgments, so they will be in the trumpet judgments and in the bowl. Judgments. They will sound their trumpets. The second thing I want you to see about the audience is: not only are there seven angels, but verse number three says, And another angel came and stood at the altar.

The question comes: Is what angel is this? Excuse me. Who is this other angel? And three things I want you to see. Number one, his identification.

Number two, his intentions. And number three, his implication. First of all, his identification. There are many who believe that this is Jesus Christ performing his priestly duty in heaven. I don't believe that, but there are many commentators who do take that as a very prominent view. The reason I don't believe that is because, number one, Jesus Christ is the one who opens the scroll.

And it is continually described as the Lamb of God. The text also says that this is another Angel. The word another is the word All, another of the same kind. So this angel is another of the same kind of the seven angels. Excuse me, and their uniqueness. So, whoever this angel is, is one in the same as the seven angels. Who are presently standing before the throne of God. And also, it's unique to understand that the phrase, the angel of the Lord. Is used to describe the Messiah in the Old Testament, but never in the New Testament is Jesus Christ referred to as an angel.

So, who is this angel? He's another of the same kind of angels. So, what's his intention? Look what it says. And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer, and much incense was given to him that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar. Which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth.

And there followed peals of thunder, and sounds, and flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. What are the intentions of this angel? He is to add to the prayers of all the saints. What prayers? The prayers that have already been offered. Go back to Revelation chapter 6, verse number 9. The fifth seal. And when he broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained. And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

And there was given to each of them a white robe. And they were told that they should rest for a little while longer. until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been, should be completed also. These were the prayers of vengeance rising from these tribulational saints. To the throne of God, that somehow he would accomplish his perfect will upon the earth. How long, O Lord? How long will this continue? The seventh seal now breaks. And upon the breaking of the seventh seal, you have the answer to the question: how long?

O Lord. How long? Not much longer. Because now we've seen in Revelation chapter 7 the great multitude of tribulational saints. Who are now in glory. And now that they are finally there, and the number of them has now been completed, this angel comes along.

And begins to perform some priestly kind of duty as he takes this censer. And then throws it to the earth. And the implications of that come into being: his kingdom will finally come to earth.

Things will be done on earth as they are in heaven, perfectly. God is in agreement with their cries and will deal out his justice. And the implications of the peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake indicate the full support of God. As a result of the prayers that are coming already from the saints and from the angel and the aroma that goes into the nostrils of God, that God's authority is behind the judgments. Which leads us to point number three: the violence.

And three things I want you to see: the scene, the st, and yet. Salvation. First of all, the scene. It's dramatic. You can imagine what, excuse me, what must have been going through John's mind as. Here he is in glory, and he's heard all this noise, and then all of a sudden it's completely silent. Nobody moves upon the breaking of the seventh seal. Everybody is awestruck about what's going to take place. And then this angel com. And the smoke of the incense as he begins to light this golden altar.

In still silence. And then all of a sudden, he takes a censer filled with fire and he hurls it. Toward the earth. And all of a sudden, the silence is broken. And there are peals of thunder again. And there is lightning again, and then there is an earthquake that happens. The scene is phenomenal. All of a sudden, kab! It happens again. That woke some of you up. I 'm sorry, you were asleep. It happens again. Everything continues on after that brief moment of silence. Kind of reminds me of what Paul said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 when he said these words.

This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering. For after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted. And to us as well, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire. As you read through the Bible, angels are associated with the judgment of God. And while 2 Thessalonians 2 specifically refers to the end of the tribulation, The implications there are far reaching with the angels and the flaming fire as the censer is thrown to the ear.

The scene is phenomenal. And then, of course, comes the storm. There is an immediate effect upon the earth. Along with the sounds and flashes, there is an earthquake. No details are given about this earthquake. I would imagine that it is of at least equal value to that earthquake that occurred in Revelation chapter 6. where the inhabitants were filled with fear and anxiety because of an earthquake that came upon the earth, unlike any other earthquake before that? So I can imagine, because this was the beginning of the trumpet judgments, that this earthquake was at least of equal turmoil.

But the storm then begins to rum as anxiety and fear come upon the people once again. As to what's going to happen next, they've already realized that God is behind everything. They've had a brief moment of silence. There was the calm before the storm. All of a sudden, this censer is hurled toward the earth. An earthquake then happens, and next week we will see whereas the trumpets begin to blow. Judgment unlike anything they've ever seen before, as God begins to purge his creation. Let me pause just for a moment and help you understand something here.

The eff of one man's prayer. Or the effects of many people who pray brings about God's justice. Remember the parable back in Luke chapter 18? I want you to turn there with me, if you would, for a moment. Our time is fleeing, so we must hurry. But we know this parable. It says in verse number 1: Now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, Give me legal protection from my opponent.

And for a while, he was unwilling. But afterward, he said to himself, Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection. lest by continually coming she wear me out. And the LORD said, Hear what the unrighteous judge said. Now, shall not God bring about justice for his elect who cry to him day and night? And will he delay long over them? I tell you that he will bring about justice for them speed. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith?

On the earth. This parable is a parable of contrasts. God is not like the unjust judge. And we are not like the nameless widow. For we have a name, and God gave us a name, God elected us, God chose us before the foundation of the world. We are his sheep. He knows us all by name. God is not merciless. God is not unjust. God is just, and God is merciful. There, the Lord says, understand that if an unrighteous judge who does not fear God Will come to the aid of a nameless individual and make an unjust situation right.

The point being is how much more Will your God, who is in heaven, who is righteous and who is just and who is merciful. Make your unjust situation right because he cares for you and knows you. Whereas this judge, who is unjust, did not know who the woman was. Your God, who is just. Hears you. In fact, before you even ask him, he knows what you're going to ask him. And will he not answer you how? Speedily. Now, a lot of people take this and say, Well, I've been asking God to do things for a long period of time, and He ain't done nothing yet.

He's not too speedy to me. That's not what the parable states. The parable states this: when God answers, he answers swiftly. That's what it says. We have been praying, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Folks, that ain't happening yet. In Revelation chapter 6, we have the tribulational saints saying, Lord, how long, O Lord, how long till you enact vengeance upon the ungodly and bring in your kingdom and do what you have promised to do? How long, O Lord? Now we come to Revelation chapter 7, and there's complete silence in heaven.

This angel takes a censer, he hurls it to the earth. And all of a sudden, the prayers of all the saints throughout all the history of man are going to happen, and they're going to happen speedily, swiftly, because the moment God answers, He answers very quickly. That's what Luke 18 teaches. That's what Revelation chapter 7 teaches. We need to take the implications of Luke 18 and Matthew. Matthew, excuse me, Luke 18 and Revelation chapter 8, and say, Will he find this kind of faith on the earth when he returns?

God's looking for those kind of people. God's looking for the kind of people who know that God cares, who know that God hears. Who knows that without a shadow of a doubt, God is just, and God will act speedily when He enacts His justice. But it's in His time frame, in His timet. So, in the meantime, God has other things taking place. He wants you to learn dependence upon Him. He wants you to trust Him. You see, the reason we faint And lose heart and not pray to him when God says men ought always to pray and not to faint is because we really don't believe that God is just and that God is merciful and that God really does care about my condition.

Because you see, the mark of the one who understands that is the one who continually prays to a loving God because he knows he hears. And yet, in the midst of the violence, the scene, the story, I want you to see the salvation. I want you to see that. Because it's still available. As long as man has breath, he's able to be saved. Man still can be saved. There's still going to be worldwide preaching, even though the time is going to be horrific. God's going to make sure the word gets out. And you'd think that if you were there, you'd get on the Jesus bandwagon.

If I was there, I wouldn't win anymore. I'd sign up. I'd sign the die of the line. Cut my head off. I'm not taking the mark of the beast. I'm going to glory. I trust that you have a relationship with the living God. For amidst the violence, Amidst the violence, God has a message that He is the judge of all the earth. He is a sovereign ruler. Man will submit, man will bow the knee, either willingly or unwillingly. But it will happen because he is God. Let's pray.