October 8, 2014 Revelation Chapter 8

Revelation Chapter 8

Originally posted Thursday December 18, 2008

Revelation, Chapter 8: 1-6, The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

With the opening of the final seal silence fills heaven for thirty minutes (Ps. 46:10; Zech. 2:13). A good example of silence in heaven preceding judgment is found in the Jewish apocalyptic book, 4 Ezra 7:30-31, "And the world shall be turned back to primeval silence for seven days, as it was at the first beginnings." The opened seal does not, on its own, result in more earthly devastation. Instead it reveals the presence of seven angels standing before God, each angel to receive a trumpet. It will be at the blowing of these trumpets that the eschatological woes continue. Like incense on the Temple Sanctuary altar, trumpets were part of the ceremonial gatherings of Israel (2nd Chron. 5:12-13). They were heard on the great feast days of the Israelites as well as for marking the New Year, the coronation of the king and as a call to arms (Joel 12:1). In the prophets we read of the association of the trumpet call with the great eschatological Day of the Lord and judgment (Isa.27:13).

As a prelude to the blowing of the trumpets, another angel appeared and stood before the altar. This angel was holding a golden censer into which a large quantity of incense was placed. The censer was one of the fixtures in the Jerusalem Temple. On the Day of Atonement burning coals from the "altar of burnt offering" would be placed in the golden censer (shaped like a large bowl) and taken into the Holy of Holies. There it was placed on the golden altar (Exod. 30:1-9) and Incense was thrown on the coals so that the sanctuary would be filled with a fragrant cloud representing the prayers of Israel (Lev. 16:12,13). In modern times Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches use a container of burning incense swung on a chain as part of the ritual. In the vision the smoke with the prayers of praise and thanksgiving as well as the needs and feelings of "all the saints" rose before God from the angel's hand. John's vision encourages the readers and hearers of Revelation that their prayers do come before God. They are not lost in the speaking. Although we do not know the content of these early prayers, in the worship gathering of a persecuted people they would certainly include a version of what we call the Lord's prayer in which the predominate theme is the petition for God's kingdom to be realized "on earth as it is in heaven." With this vision assurance is given that this prayer will be answered and soon but not without more eschatological woes. The churches of John's circle will realize the kingdom by going through these woes, not by escaping them.

The worshipful calm of incense burning on the golden altar turns the vision back to terror. The angel fills the censer with fire and throws it on the earth to the accompaniment of thunder, rumblings, lightening and earthquake, all features of a theophany - the presence of God (4:5). The list of these phenomena is common in Revelation and other apocalypses to convey that this is God's judgment being visited upon the earth. With the completion of the rain of fire the seven angels are ready to begin the sequence of blowing their trumpets which will release a new series of disasters more intense than those of the opening of the first six seals. Again we are reminded that these are not predictions of actual future events. They are, along with events already presented and those yet to come, symbolic of the persecution and even death of Christians in the real world which must occur before God's final victory. These woes are always understood in conjunction with the exhortation to persevere in faith and to do battle with the temptation to commit spiritual adultery by "cozying up" to idolatry and the immorality it promotes. As we read each of these woes we will notice their closeness to the plagues God visits upon Egypt - fire and hail, sea turned to blood, etc. The association is deliberate for the Exodus story is one of God's deliverance of God's chosen. Revelation is the story of God's deliverance of the new Israel. Both are people of the promise: Israel is given the Promised Land; the church is given the kingdom of God.

Revelation, Chapter 8:7-13 The Seven Trumpets

Trumpet Woe #1 - a rain of hail and fire mixed with blood (Exod. 9:23-25, 7:20; Ezek. 5:2, 38:22) is hurled on the earth, burning up a third of the earth and trees along with all of the green grass. Some may be tempted to apply mathematics to determine the extent of damage on the earth. Questions arise regarding whether this woe destroys one third of the remainder after the one fourth of 6:8. Apocalyptic imagery does not lend itself to numerical calculations. The change to one third is simply an indication of the increase in intensity not the square miles of destruction. We should not expect a consistent pattern in images. What gets destroyed in one passage may show up as whole in a later passage (compare the grass burning of 8:7 with 9:4). John has a large store of available apocalyptic images from which to draw.

Trumpet Woe #2 - Something like a large burning mountain is thrown into the sea. (This may have been drawn from the violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. As such it could be a metaphor for Rome built on seven hills.) A third of the sea became blood (Exod. 7:20; Zech. 13:8, 9); a third of all sea creatures died; a third of all ships were destroyed. There is no particular meaning to this disaster beyond adding to the ongoing tribulation that affects everyone on earth.

Trumpet Woe #3 - A large, blazing star (Isa. 14:12) falls on a third of the rivers and springs. This fiery star is named "Wormwood" and it contaminated the water, causing many to die (Exod. 15:23; Lam. 3:15). Wormwood is an aromatic herb with a very bitter taste. While it is used in the cordial absinthe, its oil can be a narcotic poison (Jer. 9:15, 23:15).

Trumpet Woe #4 - The sun, moon and stars are struck "so that a third of their light was darkened," causing a third of the day and the night to be without light (Exod. 10:21; Isa. 13:10; Amos 8:9). (In Exodus Egypt is "struck" with plagues.)

The first four woes are separated from the last three with John's vision of the eagle soaring in mid-heaven (one of the four living creatures of 4:7 was a flying eagle). Mid-heaven is the middle of the sky. The word for eagle is often translated as vulture. The image takes on an ominous presence as a vulture circling in the sky over the dead bodies on earth. The vulture serves as an alarm "crying with a loud voice its warning of the impending three trumpet blasts. This is a sign of what will be an intensification of the woes, as if the first four were not sufficiently terrible.