Revelation 8:6-7

"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."

(Revelation 8:6-7)

The first angel trumpets with the result that there is a storm of hail and fire. Both the hail and fire are seen as having been mixed with blood. This emphasizes their destructive character, and we read that the third part of the earth, the third part of the trees and all the green grass-which includes the herbs-was burnt up. In all probability this first trumpet indicates that throughout the period extending from the first to the second coming, our Lord, who now reigns in heaven, will afflict the persecutors of the church with various disasters that will take place on earth, that is, on the land. That these calamities, of whatever nature they may be, are controlled in heaven, and in a certain organic sense are sent by our governing Lord is clearly indicated by the clause "these were thrown upon the earth."

(William Hendriksen)

Revelation (8:5)

"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."

(Revelation 8:5)

The four-fold response to the coals thrown on the earth represents cataclysmic judgment. John’s language is borrowed from the scene in (Exodus 19) when God descended on the mountain to give His righteous law to Israel. [“So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled… Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder”] (Ex. 19:16-19). 

The just Judge of the universe descended with smoke, fire, thunder, lightning, and earthquake to give His law. The law or the Ten Commandments, express the moral character of God which He has commanded of all those made in His image. Yet the history of the world is the history of breaking God’s laws. John pictures this God who exercises absolute sovereignty over all the earth, descending with His judgment to vindicate His law. That is the judgment of the 7th seal. God will vindicate His righteousness through judgment upon the world. Every believer that has met with persecution, opposition, and antagonism can be certain that not one threat or injustice will pass the severity and totality of His judgment.

(Dr. Phil A. Newton)

Revelation (8:3-4)

"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."

(Revelation 8:3-4)

The fact that the smoke of the incense goes up with the prayers of the saints shows that the petition of (Rev. 6:9-10) is now being presented before God. In the Bible, incense is always associated with sacrifice, so that the sacrifice, accompanied by a pleasing aroma, will be acceptable to God. These verses echo (Lev. 16:12-13), where the priest takes the censor full of coals off the altar before the Lord, fills his hands with incense, and puts the incense on the fire before the Lord. 

In (Psalm 141:2) prayer is associated with incense and compared to a form of sacrifice:"Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!" 

The fact that incense is offered from the altar shows that the prayers of the saints who were slain for their testimony (Rev. 6:9) represent the sacrifice of their lives in the cause of Christ, and so their petition for judgement in (Rev. 6:10) has been found acceptable to God. 

(G.K. Beale)

Revelation (8:2) Seven Trumpets

"Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them."

(Revelation 8:2)

Seven angels blow seven trumpets. The trumpets set in motion seven judgments leading up to the Second Coming. The trumpets form the second cycle out of several that depict God’s rule over history from various angles. Like the trumpets used in the battle of Jericho (Josh. 6), these trumpets lead up to the fall of the worldly city (Rev. 11:13) "[And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven]" , and in the seventh trumpet the complete victory of God arrives. The trumpet plagues are reminiscent of the plagues on Egypt, signifying God’s judgments on idolatrous power.

The seven seals began with announcements of riders commissioned to bring calamities (Rev. 6:1-8). The seven trumpets, by contrast, contain vivid descriptions of the calamities themselves. The intensity of judgment has moved up. Yet still some things are spared: most of the trumpet plagues fall on a third and not on all; the locust plague of (Rev. 9:1-12) is over after five months; some people survive the collapse of the city in (Rev. 11:13). By contrast, the later judgments with the bowls (Rev. 15:1-16:21) are thoroughly devastating.

(Vern Poythress)

Revelation 8:1 Devotion

"When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour."

(Revelation 8:1)

The OT associates silence with divine judgement. In Hab. 2:20-3:15 and Zech. 2:13-3:2, God is pictured (as in Rev. 8:1) as being in His temple and about to bring judgement on earth. 

That the temple is in heaven is to be assumed from texts such as Ezekiel 1. At the moment this judgment is to be delivered, God commands the earth to be silent. In Zeph. 1:7-18, silence is likewise commanded in connection with the "great day" of the Lord and of His judgment. These announcements of judgement from the Minor Prophets express cosmic end-time expectations, which is explicitly expressed in a universal sense in Rev. 8:1. The thought is that the final judgement of God is so awful that the whole world falls utterly silent in its presence. Thus the seventh seal is a continuation of the sixth. Whereas the first five seals deal with the entire period of the church age, the last two deal with the final judgment. 

The duration of this silence is about half an hour. "Hour" in Revelation often refers to the suddenness of the time of judgement of the wicked, whereas "half" is associated with "times" of crisis and judgement in Daniel 7:25; 9:27; and 12:7. "About half an hour" might not refer so much to the precise temporal duration of the silence (about) but figuratively emphasize the suddenness and unexpectedness of a decreed judgement. 

(G.K. Beale)

Revelation (7:13-14) Great Tribulation?

"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."

(Revelation 7:13-14)

What is this great tribulation? John seems to have in mind what Daniel 12:1 and Matthew 24:21 foretold. Both those passages warn of the danger of apostasy through the intense opposition to God. The same warning has already been passed along to several of the seven churches. Ephesus had left their first love. Smyrna was warned it would have tribulation. Pergamum stumbled over false teaching. Thyatira was marred by immorality. Both internally and externally, opposition threatened the churches then, just as it does now. The tribulation is “great” because of “the intensity of the seduction and oppression through which believers pass”. It “includes all Christians who have experienced oppression and persecution everywhere throughout history”. 

The irony must not be lost: red blood turning robes white! It is “the blood of the Lamb,” that is, the sin-atoning, God-satisfying, wrath-propitiating, and justifying death of Christ that makes the robes white. The use of “blood” is not the chemical properties of Christ’s blood that cleanses from sin but His standing in our place to bear the judgment of God through death at the cross. This great multitude stood before the throne because of “the blood of the Lamb.” That’s the only way that any of us can stand blameless before God—because Christ bore our sin and reproach away through His death.

(Phil A. Newton)

Revelation (7:10) Devotion

"And crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

(Revelation 7:10)

Here the multitude of believers over many generations, in unison, affirms that salvation is all of God. There’s no self-praise or patting one another on the back for sticking it out or boasting in personal merit. Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb! It’s not us—it’s not about us. It’s the Lord that receives all praise and glory.

Here is the song of the redeemed in heaven. Is this your song on earth? Some might try to sing, “Salvation belongs mostly to our God,” as though God has taken care of 90 percent or even 99 percent but we’ve contributed our little part to salvation. If we listen to some supposed gospel presentations this very idea is conveyed. “If you want to be saved, then just walk down this aisle”; so one may be led to think that he has contributed a little part by walking down an aisle. “If you want to be saved, just pray this prayer”; so one may think that by his strong effort to pray a particular prayer that he has aided God in his salvation. There will be no such thinking or boasting in heaven! All boasting will focus on “our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

(Phil A. Newton)