1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 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. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 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. 6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Sides are fixed. The enemies of God, including death, are arrayed in battle against Yahweh. (ch. 6) And the saints of the last generation of this world have been sealed in the foreheads (ch. 7,) Ater the seals are finished, the last one being opened, silence ensued (1), “indicative of the solemn things which are now to come." (Arno Gaebelein) Yahweh would now shake the earth.
The people had partaken of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The burnt offering was a goodwill offering brought by individuals to the Door of the tabernacle of meeting. They were instructed by a priest who led them in slitting the throat of the victim. Their sins caused its death, As the offerer brought their substitute, they could exhibit one of three kinds of responses: the attitude of indifference; the attitude of ritual; and the response of belief. Those who respond in faith have the assurance of forgiveness of their sins. “David could exclaim that ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us’ (Ps 103:12).” (“Whatever Happened to the Substitute Atonement of the Torah?” by Louis Goldberg) These were forgiven.
“And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets." (2) The burnt offerings of that day brought by repentant sinners, as always, were placed on the brazen altar and destroyed by fire but its blood was poured out at the base of the altar and the assigned priest would take a golden sensor with some of the ashes and offered it with incense at the golden altar in the Holy Place next to the Holy of Holies. After offering the incense, in days of old, “the priest came out to bless the people who were waiting quietly in the court. At that moment the seven priests (here seen as angels) blew the trumpets marking the end of the daily sacrifice ceremony." (Ranko Stefanovic) The door for repentance was close for that particular day.
John saw the seven angels with seven trumpets ”but before they begin to sound ‘another angel’ is seen standing at the altar. This angel is not a creature, but like the angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament, is our Lord Himself. He is seen as the Priest in behalf of the praying, suffering saints.... And for what do they pray on earth? For mercy for those who persecute the remnant of Israel? No! They pray for divine intervention, for the fire of judgment as Elijah did.” (Arno Gaebelein)
Jesus “receives the incense with the prayers of the saints at the altar of burnt offering… This is especially significant in light of the fact that in the scene of the opening of the fifth seal, the slain saints beneath the altar of burnt offering pray for judgment on 'those who dwell upon the earth' (6:10). Here,,, these prayers of the saints are mentioned again in the angel's offering of the incense up on the altar before the throne of God. According to Revelation 5:8, this incense represents the prayers of the saints; these are evidently the prayers for justice and judgment of the saints under the altar in the scene with the opening of the fifth seal. 'And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the hand of the angel.' (4) ” (Ranko Stefanovic)
“Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. ” (5a) “This is reminiscent of the scene from Ezekiel's vision in which the man clothed in linen takes coals of fire from between the cherubim; the man then scatters them over Jerusalem as a token of divine judgment because of the abominations committed in it. (Ezek. 10:1-2). In light of this Old Testament background, the throwing of coals of fire down upon the earth in Revelation 8:5 symbolizes judgment action. The action of the angel here reminds one of Jesus' statement: 'I have come to cast fire upon the earth' (Luke 12:49). It is particularly interesting that the fire comes to the earth from the very altar on which the prayers of the saints were offered. Likewise, as Robert L. Thomas notes, the censer which normally served to offer incense now becomes 'a symbol of judgment in response to the prayers.' This symbolic scene shows that it is in answer to the prayers of the saints that God's seven trumpet judgments fall upon the earth and its inhabitants.” (Ranko Stefanovic) The end of this will be “noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake”and cause similar terror to fill the people’s hearts as came on mount Sinai in the giving of the law,
"So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." (6) "The key OT text for the meaning of trumpets is Numbers 10:8-10: 'The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations. When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before Yahweh your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am Yahweh your God.'" (Ranko Stefanovic) This Day was fulfillment of the daily trumpets.
7 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.
"The first execution at the sound of the first angel, on the earth, that is, the inhabitants of the earth (by metonymy) and on all the fruits of it: as comparing this verse with the second part of (Rev. 8:9) does plainly declare." (Geneva Study Bible) But there is no collateral damage Everything is exact, according to the judgment of God. Hail— a symbol of divine vengeance— are directed at the earth and anyone clinging to it. As in the days of the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 9:23-25), those who did not prepare by the Word of Yahweh were destroyed, even their cattle.— and fire— another symbol of wrath or destruction— “indicative of blood that was to be shed.'" (Albert Barnes)
"This resemblance to the history of Israel in Egypt gives us the hint of the true meaning. It carries us back to the past, and asks us to remember the mighty works of God in old times. It reminds us that He who bade Joshua cause the trumpets to be sounded by the walls of Jericho, and who delivered His people from the tyranny of Pharaoh, is the same God, mighty to save His people, to break the fetters of ignorance, and to cast down the high walls of pride and sin." (C. J. Ellicott)
“The OT prophets understood that the miracles of Egypt were to be repeated in the future (e.g, Isaiah 10:22-25; Isaiah 11:12-16; Isaiah 30:30; Jeremiah 16:14-15; Jeremiah 23:7-8; Ezekiel 38:22; Micah 7:15) ... At several points the prophet Amos uses God's miraculous work of deliverance from Egypt as a reference point for the way He will deal with His people in the future (cf. Amos 2:10; Amos 4:10; Amos 8:8-9; Amos 9:5-7).' [Note: Thomas," (Dr Thomas B. Constable)
This may be a judgment against a apostate end-time church. “Another major source for this imagery is the prophecy of Ezekiel against Gog; hail and fire mixed with blood were God’s executive judgment on this enemy of Judah (Ezek 38:22-23)…. Fire (Ps. 80:14-16; Jer 21:12-14; Ezek 15:6-7) or hail (Isa 30:30; Ezek 13:11-13) are sometimes used in judgment against Israel for forsaking the covenant… In the prophecies of Ezekiel and Zechariah, judgments against apostate Israel are described in terms of plagues affecting one third after another of the nation (Ezek 5:12-13; Zech 13:8-9). In Revelation 12:4, the tail of the great red dragon in heaven—Satan himself (cf. 12:9)—swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth, meaning one third of the angels followed him and were under his control.
The ‘trees’ and ‘all green grass.’ In the Old Testament, symbols of trees (Ps 1:3; 52:8; 92:12-14; Isa 61:3; Jer 11:15-17; 17:7-8; Ezek 20:46-48) and green grass (Ps 72:16; Isa 40:6-8; 44:2-4) are used figuratively with reference to Israel as God’s covenant people. The New Testament writers confirm the association. For instance, John the Baptist compared the apostate leaders of the Jewish people to trees that did not bear fruit (Matt 3:10). Likewise, Jesus used trees symbolism in referring to Jewish people as the green tree (Luke 23:28-31) and as a fig tree that did not bear fruit (Luke 13:6-9; cf. Matt 7:17-19; 21:18-19)…
The effect of this trumpet blast on the earth is that a third of the trees was burned up, and all of the green grass was burned up… Fire destroying vegetation fitly symbolizes God’s weapons of judgment used against his own people when they became unfaithful to the covenant and are, thus equated with the opponents of God. Jeremiah called the nation of Judah ‘a green olive tree, beautiful in fruit in form,’ which the Babylonians would destroy with fire (Ezek. 11:16). Ezekiel prophesied that God would kindle a fire for unfaithful Jerusalem which would consume ‘every green tree in you as well as every dry tree’ (20:47)… In addressing the Jewish leaders, John the Baptist announced that any who did not bear fruit would be cut down as a tree thrown into the fire (Matt. 3:10; cf. 7:17-19).” (Revelation of Jesus Christ by Ranko Stefanovic)
8 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. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
“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.” (8) ”A mountain in Scripture language represents a kingdom (Isaiah 2:2; Zechariah 4:7; Psalms 46:2; and especially Jeremiah 51:25).” (Arno Gaebelein) "The sea in the Old Testament is often the symbol for the people in their opposition to God (Isa. 57:20; 17:12–13; Jer. 31:41–42; Dan. 7:2-3, 17)." (Stefanovic) The destruction of the trees in verse 7 was that of false religion. And here is a victory of Yahweh against antichrist world governments. The scene “is built entirely upon the description of the fall of ancient Babylon in the prophecy of Jeremiah. The prophet predicted that God would judge Babylon, ‘a destroying nation who destroys the whole earth' (Jer. 31:25a), for 'their evil that they have done in Zion' (Jer. 51:24). Babylon is to be judged by God; it becomes a burning mountain (Jer. 31:25b) which is thrown into the sea and becomes covered by it. (Jer. 51:42, 63–64).” (Ranko Stefanovic)
This is the fall of governments. “A mountain is a natural symbol of strength, and hence becomes a symbol of a strong and powerful kingdom; for mountains are not only places of strength in themselves, but they anciently answered the purposes of fortified places, and were the seats of power. Hence, they are properly symbols of strong nations. ‘The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth,’ Dan. 2:35. Cp. Zech. 4:7; Jer. 51:25.” (Barnes)
"Great disorders, especially when kingdoms are moved by hostile invasions, are represented by mountains being cast into the midst of the sea, Psalm 46:2.” (Adam Clarke)
"The sea becoming blood reminds us again of the plagues in Egypt (Exodus 7:20-21); but we must once more note the variation. It is not an uplifted rod like that of Moses which produces this result: it is the casting into the sea of a huge mass, as it were a great mountain, burning with fire." (C. J. Elliott) Both acts are by the hand of King Jesus.
Some confine these verses to Jewish affairs; and others, point to the doom of Roman empire –"the empire of the Caesars" ( Edwin R. Thiele) But I believe that this represents all governments of this world who have bought into the lies of her mother church— the Roman catholic church.
“The third part-died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed; showing that great numbers would perish, business be suspended, and vast amounts of property be destroyed.” (Justin Edwards) Or perhaps the ships being destroyed are not commercial ships at all, but rather warships of the church’s spiritual warfare. When evening had come, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side.” (Mark 4:35b) "Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats or ships were also with Him." (Mark 4:36) There were other folds— other little ships also with Him. It is declared here that “the third part of the ships were destroyed” (9b) - “that is, of the Churches, even those that were planted by the apostles themselves, those principal pilots. Howbeit not all the Churches, but a third part only: when the Church was in the wilderness, when Antichrist most reigned and raged, God did preserve some ships, some fundamental doctrines, and the essence of baptism, and the essence of a true ministry dispensing them; and they, that is, her pastors, fed her there, Revelation 12:6-14.” (Trapp)
10 Then 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 water. 11 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.
Some identify this as the original fall of a third of the angels who rebelled, but stars in the Bible can represent angels (or messengers / teachers) of the church. There is Christ and His life-giving waters. And there is Satan and his false doctrines which make the waters bitter, the effect of which is, that many are destroyed by partaking of it. "Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18) The name of the star is woodworm— "the final Antichrist who first may have claimed to be for Israel [the Church] a great teacher with divine authority... Wormwood is his name and the waters became wormwood and bitter…” (Arno Gaebelein)… by his doctrine. And his works are “according to the working of Satan." See 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12.
The star fell on springs of water. “Springs in the Bible are often a symbol of spiritual nourishment. Isaiah announced that Israel would ‘joyously draw water from the spring of salvation’ (Isaiah 12:3). Solomon stated: ‘The teaching of the wise is the foundation of life’ (Proverbs 13:14). God rebuked the people of Israel through Jeremiah for forsaking Him, ‘the fountain of living creatures,’ and hewing for themselves ‘broken cisterns that can hold no water’ (Jeremiah 2:13). The Psalmist compared a man who has the light of the Word of God with ‘a tree firmly planted by streams of water’ (Psalm 1:3; compare Jeremiah 17:7–8). A strong symbolism of the rivers and springs of water is reflected in Jesus statement at the Feast of Tabernacles: ‘He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’ but this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive" John 7:38-39…” (Ranko Stefanovic)
The name of the star is... a third of the waters became- "woodworm." “In Deuteronomy 29:18, the apostate from Jehovah is a 'root that beareth gall and wormwood,' producing on Israel the guilt and punishment of apostasy. In Jeremiah 23:15, God threatens against apostate prophets, 'I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall.' And as Jeremiah, personating the apostasy and downfall of Israel, says, Lamentations 3:15, 'He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.' This explains that 'root of bitterness,’ of Hebrews 12:15, where the ‘root’ is the apostate, and the ‘bitterness’ the result of his apostasy. Says Wordsworth, ‘Wormwood is very bitter, and in certain cases produces convulsions, delirium, epilepsy, and death,’ a fit emblem of the ruin of mind and body produced by the primal apostasy and by sin. The symbolism of our seer in this passage represents vividly how, by this means, those springs and streams which should, in the ideal, be the sources of delight, nourishment, health, and buoyant vitality, become a bitterness, a miasm, a death." (Daniel Whedon)
Just as Satan and a third of the angels rebelled and were cast down from Heaven; so, have many would-be teachers gone astray by a real lack of love for the truth of God, as revealed in Scripture. “Here is the picture of an immense meteor shooting down out of the sky, filled with a bitter drug said to be a mortal poison which it was able to impart to all waters and springs with which it came in contact. Thus it has happened more than once that men who considered themselves shining lights and bright stars in the firmament of the Church have been found filled with the poison of false doctrine, which they all too often imparted to the sermons and books that were spread broadcast by them. By such men the Water of Life, the pure Gospel of the Savior is made bitter and poisonous, and all men that drink of this poisoned water fall victims to spiritual death. The description fits especially well in the case of the great rationalistic teachers, who poisoned the fountains of the pure inspired Word." (Kretzmann's Popular Commentary)
"The reference to wormwood seems to draw the parallel of the experience of the children of Israel at the waters of Marah (Exodus 15:23-25). There the tree cast into the bitter waters made them sweet. Here the wormwood cast into the sweet water made it bitter. Such also is the contrast between Christ on the cross atoning for sin and making that which is bitter sweet and Christ coming in judgment which turns the vain hopes and ambitions of men into bitterness and despair." (Keathley on Revelation)
12 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.
"The symbolic meaning of darkness in the Bible has its roots in creation, when God created the heavenly bodies of the sun, moon, and stars with the purpose of giving light to the earth (Genesis 1:14–18). As the sources of light, the brightness of the sun and moon in the Old Testament is a token of God's favor and blessing on his people (Isaiah 30:26)." (Ranko Stefanovic) Likewise: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6) Herein only is favor and blessing with Yahweh- Messiah of Israel.
"Darkening of the heavenly bodies in the Old Testament prophesies is a consistent symbol of the appearance of God in judgment. For instance, Ezekiel prophesied against Egypt: 'When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud,and the moon shall not give its light. All the shining lights of heaven I will darken over you, and I will set darkness upon your land’, says the LORD God. (Ezekiel 32:7–8) [Also] Isaiah portrayed the judgment against Babylon on the day of the LORD in a similar way. ‘For the stars of heaven in their constellations will not flash for their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not give its light’ (Isaiah 13:10). [Moreover] In his judgment prophecy against Israel, Amos described the day of the LORD as ‘a day of darkness rather than light’ Amos 5:18. For Joel, it will be ‘a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness’ (Joel 2:2), when ‘the sun and moon [will] lose their brightness’ (Joel 2:10; 3:15). [Finally] Jesus spoke of the darkening of the celestial bodies in connection with the second coming to the earth and judgment Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24–25; cp. Isaiah13:10).” (Revelation of Jesus Christ by Ranko Stefanovic) But perhaps what happened in the physical to Israel of old, has also happened in the spiritual realm to the church.
The destruction of the heavenly bodies of the sun and moon will not be partial at Jesus’ coming, but rather in whole. See 2 Peter 3:10. So this particular judgment has nothing to do with the cosmos. It is symbolic and likely also has to do with people. “The sun, moon, and stars collectively symbolize the whole governing body, from the supreme head down to all lesser authorities— a complete system of government in all its parts.” (Walter Scott) ”The sun is the symbol of the highest authority; the moon, who has not her own light, is symbolical of derived authority; and the stars are symbolical of subordinate authority." (Arno Gaebelein) “And the third part of the sun- the prelates and patriarchs. And the third part of the moon- the inferior church officers. And the third part of the stars- the community of Christians. All began to be spread over with gross ignorance, not only of heavenly truths, but of human sciences, which are here called the night in comparison of gospel light... And the day shone not.” (John Trapp)
“A third of the day did not shine”— “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:4-5)— “and likewise the night.”— neither did these make it to glory to serve the Lamb forever. "The dimness which thus falls on the lights of heaven carries us back to the plague of darkness (Exodus 10:21-23); but yet there is this difference: there the children of Israel had light in their dwellings while all the rest of the land suffered the darkness that might be felt.” (Charles John Ellicott) But actually remember that here the saints are in glory.
So, it is the same. Israel is not affected by this plague. “In his prophecy against Egypt, Ezekiel envisioned the coming of a renewed plague on the land [whole earth] which is described in terms of the plague of darkness in Exodus (Ezek. 32:7-8).” (Ranko Stefanovic) The end thereof is death.
Let the stars shine in Jesus' name with the warning to Ezekiel the prophet himself applied to us—- the teachers of God: “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand." (Ezekiel 33:7-8)
13 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!”
John heard an angel— “almost every version of note has αετου πετωμενον, an eagle flying" (Adam Clarke)—a solitary bird flying swiftly to the victims. This is “the symbol of judgment descending fatally from on high; the king of birds pouncing on the prey… It was an appropriate emblem: high-soaring as the spirit of the seer, the eagle-glance scanned the borders of the earth… (Jamieson, Faucett, Brown) ready to “fall upon the carcase of dead nations..." (C. J. Ellicott) "The Greek word 'aetos' may mean both 'a vulture' and 'an eagle.'" (Ranko Stefanovic) which are interchangeable. What is important is that they are carnivorous – flesh eating – birds. Jesus speaking of the Second Coming said: "Where the corpse (of the dead) is, there the eagles (vultures) will gather." (Matt. 24:28) "Jesus' reference to the eagles congregating around corpses at the end times should also be revised to vultures, since eagles are usually solitary eaters, whereas vultures generally flock together around carrion." (William Tyndale)
He heard the vulture ”flying through the midst of heaven (μεσουρανήματι)- only in Revelation, here, Revelation 14:6; 19:17. It means, properly, the meridian, the highest point in the heavens which the sun occupies at noon; not the space between heaven and earth." (Vincent)- rather the dwelling place of God. "The use of this bird, described by G. B. Caird as 'a vulture, means that there is a theological reason why the woes are to be worse' than the misfortunes caused by the four first trumpets... James D. Strauss pointed out that the prophecy here of woes that shall be worse and worse 'is in harmony with Paul's teachings (1 Tim. 3:12).'' (Coffman) The destruction of the earth.
"Woe, woe woe to the inhabiters of the earth”— "the ungodly, the ‘men of the world,’ whose ‘portion is in this life,’ upon whom the martyrs had prayed that their blood might be avenged (Rev. 6:10). [for even if some had not killled, they had hated the faithful servants of God, according to Jesus in Matthew 5:21] Not that they sought personal revenge, but their zeal was for the honor of God against the foes of God and His Church.”(Jamieson, Faucett, Brown) "These three are grouped together as if they pertained to a similar series of events..." (Albert Barnes) "The scene is reminiscent of the judgment oracle against Israel announced by Hosea : 'Put the trumpet to you lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and rebelled against my law' (Hos. 8:1)." (Stefanovic) Read Hosea, chapter 8, for a list of complaints against Israel. Yahweh concludes: "But I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his palaces.” (Hosea 8:14b) Our God is a consuming fire!