CHAPTER 8

(A.D. 96)

THE SEVENTH SEAL

¹And when He had opened the seventh Seal (this is the last Seal), there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour. (This silence proclaims the intense expectancy of what is about to come upon the world. In other words, if it has been bad thus far, the intensity of the Judgment is about to increase many fold.)

²And I saw the seven Angels which stood before God (the Greek Text says, the seven Angels of the Presence of God); and to them were given seven Trumpets. (We have had the Seven Seals of Judgment. Now the world will experience the Seven Trumpet Judgments.)

³And another Angel came and stood at the Altar, having a Golden Censer (this is the Altar of Incense in Heaven); and there was given unto him much Incense (represents the perfection, merit, and virtue of the Life of Christ; everything speaks of Christ, and more particularly of what He did at the Cross; incidentally, this Altar of Incense in Heaven is the Pattern for the Altar of Incense that stood in the Tabernacle on Earth immediately before the Veil during the time of the Law), that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the Golden Altar which was before the Throne. (The prayers of all the Saints are very precious in the sight of God, yet at the same time imperfect. Added to our prayers must be the Incense, which is a type of the sweet savor of the merit of the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ.)

⁴And the smoke of the Incense (even though we arent given the information in this Verse, the Angel has taken coals of fire from the Brazen Altar and placed them in his Golden Censer), which came with the prayers of the Saints (for our prayers to be effective in Heaven, they must always be mixed with the intercessory Work of Christ [Heb. 7:25-26]), ascended up before God out of the Angels hand. (Knowing our prayers come up before God, at least if we pray according to the Will of God, should inspire every Saint to a greater prayer life.)

⁵And the Angel took the Censer, and filled it with fire of the Altar (this is the Brazen Altar in Heaven that typified the Death of our Lord, which was necessary in order that man might be Redeemed; as is obvious here, Heaven is filled with the portrayal of that Sacrificial, Atoning Death), and cast it into the earth (with the Salvation of the Cross being rejected by the Earth, the Judgment of the Cross will now commence): and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. (All of this speaks of the fact that it is Judgment coming, and Judgment such as the world has never seen before [Mat. 24:21].)

⁶And the Seven Angels which had the Seven Trumpets prepared themselves to sound. (As stated, if the Cross is rejected, Judgment must follow. These events will take place about two and one half years into the Great Tribulation.)

THE FIRST TRUMPET

⁷The first Angel sounded (the first Trumpet Judgment), and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth (this will be literal, and will be a fulfillment of the Prophecy of Joel [Joel 2:30-32]; this is similar to the seventh plague upon Egypt [Ex. 9:22]): and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up (probably refers to a third part of the Mediterranean area being affected; even though all of this will affect the entirety of the Earth, as would be obvious, the greatest concentration will be in the Middle East).

THE SECOND TRUMPET

⁸And the second Angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea (more than likely, this will be a giant meteorite which will fall into the Mediterranean Sea): and the third part of the Sea became blood (similar to that which had taken place in Egypt so long ago [Ex. 7:20-21]);

⁹And the third part of the creatures which were in the Sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed (concerns the part affected by the meteorite, or by whatever manner God chooses to do this).

THE THIRD TRUMPET

¹⁰And the third Angel sounded, and there fell a great star from Heaven, burning as it were a lamp (more than likely another meteorite), and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters (a third part of the land area; speaks of the Old Roman Empire area [Dan. 7:7-8]);

¹¹And the name of the star is called Wormwood (this huge meteorite, which will fall, will carry with it the properties of the bitter, nauseous plant known as Wormwood [Jer. 9:15]): and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. (Conceivably this could take the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions.)

THE FOURTH TRUMPET

¹²And 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. (Once again let us emphasize the fact that these Judgments arent symbolic, they are literal! Jesus said this would happen [Lk. 21:25-26].)

¹³And I beheld, and heard an Angel flying through the midst of Heaven, saying with a loud voice (it is possible this Angel will be visible to people on Earth, and could well be portrayed by Television), Woe, woe, woe, to the in habiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the Trumpet of the three Angels, which are yet to sound! (The three woes are meant to correspond with the three remaining Trumpet Judgments.)