Let’s first look at the message before the seven trumpets, see why silence is mentioned here, and point out where we have discussed before why the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders represent the church. Second, we share the disasters of the first four trumpets and regarding what we saw. Why does the scripture say that usually prophecies are approximate even when they mention time? This is a general situation, but there are also special cases of correct time. We must distinguish between general situations and special cases. Finally, let’s take a look at the disasters brought about by the fifth trumpet. From the disasters, we once again see that Satan’s work must not go beyond the scope set by God. At that time, it was a great disaster for those who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads. They will long to die, and death flees from them. The Bible clearly states that those who have the seal of God are God’s servants. It obviously does not refer to those who are justified by faith and are only saved. The enemy is like a roaring lion, looking for people to devour. So don’t think it is alright that one isn’t on the path to sanctification. Regarding this, we give a biblical example of the fall of Demas, a Christian.
1. Messages before the 7th trumpet
”When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence (G4602) in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on 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. Then the angel took the censer and 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. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.”(Revelation 8:1-6)
This word silence (G4602) means something is about to happen! This word G4602 only appears twice, and the other time is in this passage, “But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush (G4602), he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,”(Acts 21:39-40)” They both said that something was going to happen. Got it! Please go to the book of Acts and read the context to understand what the passage just quoted refers to, as well as the long passage Paul said in Hebrew. Because it is quite long, we will not spend time talking about it here. In fact, there are similar words in the Old Testament. If you look at the context of the following verses, you will know this, “And the peaceful folds are made silent（H1826) Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”(Jeremiah 25:37)
Please note that the smoke of the incense mentioned here comes from the angel, and together with the prayers of the saints, it rises from the hands of the angel to God. In fact, the prayers of the saints are also incense. The difference is that this incense comes from the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders who represent the church. “When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”(Revelation 5:8) As for why it is said that the four living creatures, like the twenty-four elders, also represent the church, we see in “3. What are the four living creatures?” of “1093 Look at heavens opened, throne and four living creatures – Revelation (4).” It’s clearly explained there. If you are interested in this, you can go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/“, click “Understanding of Spiritual Life” to find this article.
2. Disasters brought by the first four trumpets
”The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.”(Revelation 8:7-12)
We first see that the scriptures clearly explain the disasters caused by the first four trumpets, so we will not repeat them. The one-third mentioned here should only be an approximate number, not exactly one-third, because usually when the Bible mentions numbers, it refers to approximate numbers. For example, “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.”(Genesis 15:13) The exact time is here, “Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”(Exodus 12:40-41) It cannot be said that the Bible is wrong because there are seemly obvious contradictions. Instead we should ask ‘what does God tell us through such obvious contradictions?’ Here, it tells us that this is a prophecy, that is, you will find that prophecies in the Bible are generally not mentioning specific time. Sometimes the Bible does not even talk about time. For example, Jesus will return like a thief (see 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 3:3, Revelation 16:15), thus we must be alert at all times. You can also see that God is absolutely sovereign from above.
There are many such examples, so this is a general principle, but there are also exceptions. For example, when the descendants of Adam were recorded in Genesis 5:1-32, the numbers used there were definite. Why do we say this? If we calculate these numbers, we will know that the day Methuselah died was the day the flood came. We have shared this before, so we won’t repeat it. If the number is incorrect, we cannot reach this conclusion, and we cannot say it is a coincidence. Everything mentioned in the Bible is by design, and there is no real so-called coincidence! So we really have to distinguish between those that talk about general principles and those that refer to special cases.
3. The disaster brought by the fifth trumpet
“Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.”(Revelation 8:13-9:12)
First of all, notice that the first sentence and the last sentence, which show very well that the disasters of these seven are divided into two groups, and the description of the first four and the latter three is very different. We can see that the locusts mentioned in these verses are not ordinary locusts. They are powerful and have the angel of the Abyss as their king. We have also seen what is locusts cannot be harmed, and thus once again we have seen that Satan’s work cannot go beyond the scope set by God. At that time, it was a great disaster for those who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads. They will long to die, and death flees from them.
So who are those people who have the mark of God? The scripture says very clearly, “And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.””(Revelation 7: 2-3)
It is very clear that those who are sealed are true servants of God, not people who superficially attend the church on earth, or are just saved by being justified by faith, because such Christians will not be able to stand the seduction of Satan. The temptation comes from the world, and seduces Christians back to the world. We know that the first thing a Christian saved by faith and after being justified is that “…He (God) rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Jesus), in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”(Colossians 1:13-14) So we must be in Christ. “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one:(Satan).”(1 John 5:19) And “… Your adversary, the devil (Satan), prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) Satan will never stop working! Even Christians may not be able to overcome the temptations of the world. The Great Commission says this, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; …”(Matthew 28:19-20) So being baptized is just the beginning, and you must embark on the road to sanctification.
Regarding the fall of Christians, let’s take a look at what the Bible says. In the New Testament, the person Demas is mentioned in only three verses, two of which are, “Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas.”(Colossians 4:14) and “as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.”(Philemon 1:24) Both verses say that Demas was Paul’s co-worker and should be a Christian, otherwise Paul would not have chosen him as his co-worker. But what did Paul say before he died? He said, “for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; ..”(2 Timothy 4:10) Demas fell. No wonder Peter said, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. …”(1 Peter 5:8) For me, I was looking for an example of a Christian who would fall, and it happened that we’re looking up the book of Philemon during a Bible study at that time. I didn’t think that the book of Philemon was really worth to study. That book just tells us an example of Paul’s practicing love. Its last verse just is a usual greeting. Unexpectedly, I suddenly realized what mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:10 was exactly the example I was looking for! Paul said, “If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know.”(1 Corinthians 8:2) Isn’t this talking about me? The event really made me experience this scripture again!
God will not show partiality to anyone just because he is a Christian, “For there is no partiality with God.”(Romans 2:11) God has given Christians who are justified by faith an opportunity. We must not only be saved, but also willingly embark on the road to sanctification. We must remember that as long as we are willing, the Lord will be our ever-present help, as the scripture says, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”(Hebrews 4:16) Thank and praise God!
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
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