We have looked at the six seals that were opened and the destruction that came upon this earth, and now the seventh seal is opened and John says that there was silence in heaven for about half an hour (Revelation 8:1). Now, I have no idea why this happens or what it means; but it could be that the angels and believers that are in heaven are so awe-struck by the destruction they see coming in the trumpet judgments that all of heaven is reduced to silence. Psalm 76:8-9 says, “The earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment.” Habakkuk 2:20 says, “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” “Be silent before the Lord, for the day of the Lord is near” (Zephaniah 1:7). Zechariah 2:13 says, “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for He is aroused from His holy habitation.”
Then John says, “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake” (Revelation 8:2-5).
Before the seven angels sound their judgments, another angel with a golden censer comes to the altar (this is the heavenly counterpart to the altar of incense spoken of in Exodus 30:3) and is given incense and the prayers of the saints that come before God out of the angel’s hand. Many Bible scholars believe that these are the prayers of believers in the Great Tribulation crying out against the antichrist and his followers who are persecuting the followers of Jesus Christ. This angel filled his censor (firepan) with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth. The silence of heaven is broken as God’s judgment in the form of a firestorm and earthquakes comes to this earth—and this is just a prelude to what is about to happen on this earth. What an awesome sight this must have been to the apostle John.
“Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up” (Revelation 8:6-7). Why the earth, trees and grass? Could it be that this is happening because mankind has not been thankful for all the resources that God has given us? There are over six billion on this earth today and I wonder how many of the six billion people who live today thank God for the trees, the grass, and for the food He provides. There are over 300 million people in the United States and many of them profess to be believers in God, but I wonder just how many of them actually thank God for His provisions. Jesus said that God blesses even the unbelievers (Matthew 5:45), but I doubt that any of them thank God for providing their daily provision.
Maybe we have taken the trees and green grass for granted and it’s because man has abused this earth so much. Could it be that because mankind has been so reckless in our use of the earth’s resources that God is showing humanity how much they will miss His resources? I don’t know where the line is between using God’s resources in a way that does not destroy the earth and using God’s resources in a way that does irreparable damage to the earth. But we need to be careful how we use God’s resources. Or could it be that we have misused the resources that God has given us, and instead of helping the poor and needy, we have made ourselves rich and neglected those in need? It is easy for us to be critical of others, but take a good look at yourself, and see how many times you have neglected to help a poor family in need of food or clothing just so you could have more earthly goodies.
Humans have the habit of creating their own gods and in our society today there are many who have actually made a god out of nature. Those who make a god of the animal world, trees and other parts of nature actually devalue humanity; they make a God out of the earth at the expense of humanity. There are many who follow the path of the environmental, evolutionary and pantheism ideology that devalues humans and elevates animals and plants to the place of being a god. And I wonder if God is doing this to show them there is only one true God and He rules over nature as well as humanity. After this happens, the “Earth Day” event will probably have a lot of no-shows because there will be very little to celebrate.
We are going to look at some of the other trumpet judgments in the next article, but I would like for you to think seriously about something the Bible says, “Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified Him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?... It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:28-31). More next time.