God Is Coming, pt. 9

Last Sunday, Terry continued his flyover of the Book of Revelation by taking us through chapter 8 and into chapter 9. To listen to this message, simply click play on the audio player below. I’ve also included some notes and links to verses referenced.

If you’ve missed any of the messages and would like to catch up or hear them from the beginning, check out the archives to the right of this post. Terry began this series in October 2023.

God Is Coming, pt. 9

Introduction: God’s wrath during the Tribulation is because there will be people who will refuse to receive Jesus, and God will have done all He possibly can to soften their hearts. He will always (up until the final moment) give the opportunity to be saved. Many will come to salvation during the Tribulation. God’s people are not appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Matthew 24 & 25 are a snapshot of the Book of Revelation in Jesus’ own words.

Revelation 8

• v. 1 – the Lamb opens the 7th seal
  • silence in heaven for 1/2 hour
    • the rejoicing and praising ceases
    • in recognition of the devastation to come
  • the 7th seal contains the 7 trumpet judgments
• v. 2 – 7 angels before God
  • God’s messengers
    • do His work on earth
    • serve Him in many ways
  • given 7 trumpets
• v. 3 – another angel comes
  • stands before the altar of God
  • holds a golden censer (incense burner)
    • given incense to add to the prayers of the saints on the altar
    • as the priests would do in the Tabernacle in the wilderness & the Temple in Jerusalem
      • what they did was a shadow of what was being done in heaven
      • Ezekiel 40-46 – the future Temple
• v. 4 – the smoke of the incense is mixed with the prayers
  • the mixture rises up to God
• v. 5 – the angel fills the censer with fire from the altar
  • throws the fire at the earth, which unleashes:
    • thunder
    • lightning
    • earthquake
• v. 6 – 7 angels prepare to blow the trumpets
• v. 7 – 1st trumpet
  • 1st three trumpets affect the earth
  • hail & fire mixed with blood falls on the earth
    • 1/3 of the earth is burned
    • 1/3 of the trees are burned
    • All of the green grass is burned
• v. 8 – 2nd trumpet
  • Like the plague in Egypt (Exodus 7:14-24)
  • what looks like a mountain on fire is thrown into the sea
  • 1/3 of the sea turns to blood
• v. 9 – Results of the 2nd trumpet
  • 1/3 of the sea creatures die
  • 1/3 of the ships are destroyed
• v. 10 – 3rd trumpet
  • a “great star” falls on:
    • 1/3 of the rivers
    • the springs of water
• v. 11 – the “star”
  • called Wormwood
    • maybe a meteor or asteroid, we don’t know
  • 1/3 of all water becomes bitter (wormwood is a bitter substance)
  • many people die as a result
• v. 12 – 4th trumpet
  • affects the heavenlies
    • 1/3 of the sun is darkened
    • 1/3 of the moon is darkened
    • 1/3 of the stars are darkened
      • Imagine the day and night darkened by 33%
      • Talk about climate change!
      • Will affect EVERYTHING on earth
• v. 13 – An angel (or an eagle, depending on your translation) flies by
  • cries out “Woe, woe, woe!”
  • the next trumpets will affect people directly

Revelation 9

• v. 1 – 5th trumpet
  • a “star” falls from heaven
    • an angel falls to earth (Revelation 1:20)
    • has the key to the abyss
• v. 2 – Fallen angel opens the abyss
  • smoke comes out of the abyss
  • smoke is so thick, it covers/darkens the sun

Praise God, He is still in control!