7.c. “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth”

Revelation 8:8   The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

One-third of the grass and trees, sea creatures, ships, water, sun, and moon are affected in ways that only can point to the God of creation.  All of this follows wars, famine, disease, earthquakes and other life taking actions within God’s purpose and plans.  You would think this is the end of these terrible events, but no.  John heard an eagle crying, woe, woe, woe.  Much worse is to come.  All of this comes upon those who have rejected God, despise God, hate God, and are suffering consequences of their disbelieve and of God’s wrath and anger.  This wrath and anger have been stored up by God.  For sure it will come upon mankind at a time they do not see coming.  Those that are alive will suffer greatly at the hands of God for their rejection.  There is much to be said about living now in the time of grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ, where there is the time right now to repent and turn away from sin and rely on, cling to, and trust in Jesus Christ.

7.b. The first angel blew his trumpet

Revelation 8:6   Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Ezekiel 13:10-15     Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash,  say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out.  And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?3  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end.  And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD.  Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it,

Ezekiel 38:22   With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.

The seventh seal unleashes 7 trumpets of judgment on the earth.  This first one a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees, and all green grass.  During the previous seals being broke open the judgments on earth were explained by visions of the four horsemen.  The horseman gives vision to how events will play out after the tribulation.  One will come and seem to be able to offer peace and stability.  Remember this occurs after the rapture of the church (believers).  Obviously there will be great confusion, unrest, anxiousness, and fear across the globe.  This first rider had the power to conquer but does not use it to conquer.  The second horse reveals power to take away any peace and people killed one another.  The third reveals what it will be like when basic daily needs are lacking and the cost of daily survival is very high.  The fourth revealed a fourth of earth die from famine and disease and wild animals. The fifth revealed those who believed during this time of tribulation and died because of this belief.  The sixth revealed an act of God’s wrath that all will know it is of His doing.  We then read of a holding back of God’s wrath, whether it is after or during the events of the visions of the four horsemen does not truly matter, and sealing of 144,000 who will be servants of God on earth who will proclaim the Word of God and those who died because of this belief. Then we come to this part where the trumpets blasts begin and a third of the earth is burned up.  Things on earth will get and are getting to the point of very little survival.  Any hope of living off the land is taken away.

God’s warnings and visions of what is to come are given so that people will absolutely know it is at the hand of God that these events are happening because they have rejected His grace, mercy, and love through Jesus Christ.  This rejection of Christ, God’s only Son, salvation, redemption, and eternal life results in those now receiving God’s full anger, wrath, and judgment.  Believing this will not happen does not make it so.  Believing it will not happen during your lifetime does not make it so.  But know this, it will come as fast as in the twinkling of an eye.  Now is the time of redemption.  Now is the time to trust in, cling to, rely on, and believe in Jesus Christ, seeking forgiveness and truing away from sin.

7.a. There was silence in heaven for about half an hour

Revelation 8:1   When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

It would be natural to stand in silence when awaiting the outcome of the last seal being opened.  Imagine seeing all the visions of 1-6 and knowing there are only 7 seals and the last one is now opened.  What is to come from this last seal?  John had just seen the sealing of the 144,000 and those who were clothed in white robes and was told by an elder that these were ones coming out of the great tribulation.  Would the last seal be that of the New Heaven and Earth and the end of all earthly things?  Would this last seal be the final judgment and consummation of the earthly and usher in the heavenly?

What John sees after this seal is opened is 7 angels, each given a trumpet. He sees an angel standing at a golden altar with a golden censer burning incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints.  After this, the censer was filled with fire from the altar and threw it on earth.  Upon this censer being thrown, there is a warning as if it is like a tornado siren warning.  This warning sound came like thunder, rumbling, lightning, and an earthquake.  Know this, there is something coming and it is not going to be good.  There are warnings given by the Word of God and either heeded or rejected.  During this time of great tribulation, as now, warnings from God should be taken very seriously.

7. “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

John 4:14  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jeremiah 2:13  for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Two very different approaches to salvation, 1. believe in, rely on, trust in, devoted to, and acknowledge with acceptance.  2. refuse, reject, turn down, turn away from, and disbelief.  For those who believe, Jesus Christ, (the Lamb of God), will become an ever in-dwelling spring of living water that brings a refreshing and renewing to their soul.  Some have tasted this water and, for practical terms, have spit it out.  Others have heard of it and saw no need for this living water for they were satisfied with something else. These are the ones who made an intentional choice to gather water that will never satisfy or quench the thirst their soul is so desperately searching for. Joh 1:11  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But to those who drink of this Living Water, to them Jesus Christ, (the Lamb of God),  John 1:12  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.   

Do you ever wonder what parts of your life you have kept to yourself and have carved out cisterns of self-reliance and self-satisfaction?  When we commit to reading the Word of God with a thirst for it’s Living Water, our lives will ever be growing in humble service, honor, glory, worship, praise, obedience, and reliance on Him who is the only one that can quench the thirst of our soul.

6.z. “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:9   After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“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 shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

During the Tribulation period when the church is gone and the seals are open and the anger and wrath of God are upon the earth, we see God in grace and mercy reaching out.  He seals the 144,000 who are His witnesses and these who are clothed in white robes are those who have believed and been saved and died because of and during the tribulation period.  “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  I still have to wonder how many have died during this time without believing, and in so doing, sealed their eternal destiny in hell.  Isn’t it the same today?  Rejection of Christ and finding their pleasure, satisfaction, and hope in things of this world instead of the Creator of it.  Today, the Holy Spirit of God is still present.  God’s Holy Spirit, to guide, direct, encourage open ears, open eyes, soften hearts and proclaim truth to our hearts is present.  And even though His Spirit is present we still resist and close our eyes and ears, harden our hearts, and stiffen our necks.  We resist His active presence in our lives and intentionally choose to follow what seems right in our own eyes.  We neglect His Word and desire things of this world more than humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying, and trusting in Him.  Notice how those who come through the tribulations and worship Him day and night.  They serve Him.  We do well to grow in His Word, and desire and seek to live, act, think and speak in ways that honor and glorify Him every moment of every day.

6.y. Until we have sealed the servants of our God

Revelation 7:1  After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

We seem to have a break from the judgments of God on earth here in Chapter 7.  There is a holding back of the Angels who had the power to harm both the earth and the sea.  they are held back for a specific reason, which seems to be an extension of God’s grace and mercy one more time on the people left behind and is going through the tribulation period.  God is setting aside 144,000 servants, 12,000 from each of the tribes of the sons of Israel.  Six of the seals of judgment have been opened so the effects of these and the continuation of them seem apparent.  And yet, here is God’s grace and mercy displayed on those who previously gave no thought to the need for redemption, salvation, repentance, or forgiveness.  For sure this time of tribulations will cause many to seek and turn to God.  All hope and trust they had in things of this world, apart from God, has been taken away at the hands of the Creator.  In Acts, we see a time when the presence of the Holy Spirit was released to make His presence on earth and the people heard and saw the need for redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and repentance.  It says they were cut to the heart and asked: “what must we do”?

Truly, the heart that has been softened by whatever means will ask “what must I do?”  It seems as though the 144,000 sealed servants of God are here to respond to those whose hearts are seeking redemption.

6.x. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Revelation 6:12  When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

The last question in verse 17 is our first challenge of today. “Who is able to stand before the Lamb and the One on the throne in their day of wrath?” Just as surely as God sent the floodwaters on evil during the days of Noah and sent the fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah during the days of Abraham, He will send His wrath on this evil world in the ends of days. In those days, “Who will be able to stand?”

The Creator who created and formed all there is, surely able to cause its destruction as easily as He spoke them into existence.  Denying God and that He is the creator does not mean it is so.  Denying Christ and His grace, mercy, and love demonstrated on the cross, does not make it so.  Denying the need for salvation, redemption, forgiveness, and repentance does not make it so.  Denying the end of times and God’s wrath on earth and those who have denied Him does not make it so.  So many people choose to believe Satan’s lies and disregard God as a make-believe fairy tale.  Their future when they die is an eternity in torment.  Their future if they are still alive at the revealing and unleashing of God’s wrath and anger is certainly going to be a living hell until they are consumed by death.  At this point, they may have relief from physical pain but they will immediately enter into an eternity of hell and torment.

Now is the day of salvation, redemption, forgiveness, and repentance.  Do not intentionally choose to neglect this gift of grace, mercy, and love.  Your eternal future rests in this choice right now.