Grace Christian Fellowship: Christian Teachings from Revelation

Revelation 8 "God's Creation Reversed"

The last of the seven seals introduces the next wave of God's judgement, bringing in seven trumpets. These trumpet blasts are far worse than the seals that were opened before and yet it is important for us to realize that God is actually doing all this in answer to prayer.

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angelﾕs hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. (Rev. 8:1-6)

When people read about the seven seals and seven trumpets and finally the seven bowls of Godﾕs wrath, they naturally ask a question. If God is so loving and good, how can He allow all of this to happen? The answer is that He is actually answering the prayers of millions who have called out to Him for justice. When Jesus opened the fifth seal, the martyrs around the world who had died for Christ called out for Him to judge the world. But they were told to wait a little while longer. Now their wait is over. Their prayers are offered up to God and God's answer is thrown back down to the earth with a deafening roar.

Imagine if every cry of every Christian who has suffered were recorded. Think of every tear that God's children have cried kept in Godﾕs storehouse. Every prayer of His people, every moment spent in quiet agony pleading for God to intervene against evil, remembered by the Father. Verse three says that these are the prayers of "all the saints", offered up to God.

God, in His wisdom that is beyond our understanding does not give us our wish every time we pray. We pray fervently for God to take away the pain of the cancer patient, to bring back our loved ones whom we miss so much, to somehow undo the damage done by accidents and carelessness. But we all know that even though we pray, sometimes God says "No". Why do we pray then? Because we have experienced the wonder and joy when God says "Yes!" However beyond the healings and miracles, even when we donﾕt get our way, God still answers our prayers with comfort, mercies, peace that we donﾕt really understand but that reminds us that we are in His tender care. In our present age, there is evil that God allows to take place, though He is restraining the worst of it. God is not controlled by our prayers as if we could simply order Him around. We cannot command God by faith to do something that is not in His will. And so there are cries of the saints that God does not answer right away. But every cry is heard, every cry is recorded and every cry will be answered on that day when the trumpets sound.

The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Then 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 living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on the 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 men died from the water, because it was made bitter. Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!" (Revelation 8)

As we read through these trumpet judgements I am constantly reminded of the beginning of God's work, when He created the world in Genesis. In the very first chapter of the Bible we read that God created the heavens and earth in seven days. On the third day we read that He made the seas and the dry land and He put vegetation on it. On the fourth day He made the sun and the moon to be lights for the day and the night. On the fifth day He made all the living creatures in the seas and the birds of the air. All of these things God created to bless us. It was His gift to us. It was meant to show us both who He is, and how much He loves us. I love that about gifts. Whenever I receive a gift I learn something about the giver, his personality and how much they care for me. God has given us a wonderful gift in His creation. But by this time, there is no longer any reason for Him to continue giving this gift to those who reject Him. So God simply starts to take the gift away.

He starts with the trees and green vegetation on the earth. Little by little we have started to wise up as a planet and realize that if we donﾕt take care of the earth there might not be anything left for our children. We have started to figure out that that trees are good for something other than lumber and fuel. Forests clean the air, and provide oxygen. We all learned in science classes that we breath in oxygen and breath out carbon-dioxide, and plants also breath but the opposite way, keeping a good balance on the earth. I recently read about how forests act as water filters, purifying the rain and holding back water that would otherwise cause flooding and erosion. Not to mention that we get most of our food from green grasses such as rice and wheat. Praise God for his wonderful gift to us!

The next thing that God removes are the seas, turning a third of them into blood and killing off a third of the sea-life. About 70% of the earth is covered with water, most of it in the seas. Worldwide, more people eat fish than any other animal. We take it for granted, but it was given to us by God and God can take it away. On the way home from camp, we stopped at a kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi shop with Bob and Noah and Ray. It was the very first time for Ray to eat raw fish. We ordered for him and initiated him into the food culture of Japan. Ray did great and I hope he thanked God for that gift from the sea!

The third trumpet signals a star to fall, that is called Wormwood that poisons a third of the freshwater on the earth. The fourth trumpet strikes the sun, moon and stars and actually darkens a third of them so that somehow there is a solar and lunar eclipse for a third of the time. These are things that we donﾕt really even think about. We cannot even imagine that the sun would not give us light or the moon would not shine. And yet they were created by God and God can take them away.
Christians, make sure that every day when you wake up, you give thanks to God for His mercies that are new every morning. It is truly a mercy of God that once again today we can eat food that He has provided, breath air that He has given and cleansed with His forests, enjoy the sunlight that He has created and drink the fresh water that He cleanses for us. If you donﾕt know Jesus as your Lord, I invite you today to look around at this world that He created and see just how much God loves you. He provided all of this for you. But not only that He also wants to save you from your sins, and give you everlasting life. There will be a day when God will take back all that He has given to this planet that rejects Him. In that day, only those who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved. Indeed the last three trumpets are worst than the first.

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