God Gloriously Judges the Wicked In Response to the Cries of His Suffering Saints

Revelation 8:1-13

Are we more merciful than God? God sent Christ to save sinners. He suffered God’s wrath on him. That’s why God can offer salvation to all who believe and repent - no matter how wicked they are. No one is too wicked to be saved. God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Yes, we know that those who won’t and don’t believe, are condemned already. And he will judge them. But often, Christians don’t like the idea of judgment. We’re embarrassed by it. We even get squeamish about church discipline. But what are our feelings about God’s judgment today? Yes, it’s right to be slow to rejoice in judgment. But we must also know that when justice is served, it’s not an entirely dissatisfactory thing. In fact, God’s righteous judgment is something believers should hope in.

Today, we come to a section where we see terrible judgments again. As if the 7 seal judgments weren’t bad enough, we now see worse judgment. But before we examine the text, there are 2 pleas I make. Firstly, know that these images are apocalyptic. DA Carson says they’re among the most difficult images in the entire Revelation to interpret. And he’s not alone. But don’t read poetry like it’s prose. Don’t interpret jazz as if it’s classical music. But look at these passages about blood, fire, and a star named Wormwood with apocalyptic eyeglasses. It’s important to put ourselves in the shoes of the 7 churches. Revelation was written to them. It can’t mean to us what it never meant to them.

And secondly, please don’t look at judgment with our 21st century safe-in-Singapore mentality. The 7 churches cried for justice! They were suffering intensely. And God heard them. So please, it’s important to put ourselves in the shoes of Christians persecuted in Pakistan; or bakery owners targeted by gay marriage crusaders; or the Israelites enslaved by Pharaoh. The context shapes the meaning. There are two propositions in this sermon. First, the world will experience more judgment before Christ comes. Second, the judgment is glorious.

Firstly, the world will experience more judgment before Christ comes. But I thought judgment had just come on the world! With the breaking of the seals, the horsemen brought conquest, war, famine, and death to a quarter of the earth. And while the wicked cried out in anguish - unable to escape God’s final wrath of the fifth and sixth seals, the believers were sealed and safe! They were finally in heaven before God in complete satisfaction. Their tears wiped away. It was over! But here, it seems as if God’s not done. There’s further, greater, and more explicit judgment in the vision. We see here in John’s vision of heaven, there was a calm before a fiercer storm. Verse 1 - “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” The Lamb opened the last seal; and there was silence about half an hour. Literally, there came silence. And this is a hinge - it moves us from one vision of judgments to another vision. How do we know? Silence.

There’s been anything but silence in the past few chapters. There was lightning and thunder coming from God’s throne in chapter 4. The four living creatures and 24 elders were singing. Then all the angels and redeemed in heaven praised God in chapter 5. Chapter 6 had loud thunders with the slitting of each seal, and martyrs crying in grief and the wicked crying in fear. And in chapter 7, the redeemed worshiping God for his final judgment. But now, there’s silence. No noise, movement, music, worship, or thunder - for about half and hour. What effect would this uncomfortable silence have on John? The purpose was to instill anticipation - there was another dreadful vision to come. This purpose of silence is seen all over the Old Testament - in Zephaniah 1:7, God said to the wicked - “Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand.” And the rest of the chapter describes the coming judgment. The response of the wicked to God’s coming judgment is silence.

And the silence here shows fiercer judgment. The silence is in heaven, not earth. Meaning, the next vision would be so horrific that even the angels are dreadfully silent. Now, to be clear, the trumpet judgment does not follow the seal judgment chronologically. Why? Because the sixth seal ended with rejoicing in heaven and no more tears. How can there be more judgment after the final judgment? So rather than looking at them as consecutive events, the various visions in Revelation are cycles of judgment. From now until Christ’s final judgment, there will be cycles of judgment. In each of them, there’ll be war, famine, disease, and death. But God’s people will never lose their salvation. They’ll be preserved. But the differences between the judgments are also significant. The seal judgments affected a quarter of the earth. But the trumpets affected a third. Meaning, some cycles of judgment in human history will be worse than others. Now, the million dollar question is why?

It’s because such fiercer judgment is God’s faithful response to his people’s prayers. Remember? God told Moses that he heard the cries of his people in Egypt because of their taskmasters. And he responded with the 10 plagues. Here, we see the same thing. Verse 2 - “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.” John saw the 7 angels who stand before God. We can only speculate who they are, but they’re known to John. And they were given 7 trumpets. Why trumpets? Trumpets were used to sound coming judgment. Like in Joel 2 - we saw this a few months back - God told the people to blow the trumpet in Zion, to sound the alarm because the Day of the Lord was coming. This was also seen in in Jericho. The destruction of the city was sounded every day for 6 days by priests circling the city. But on the seventh day, the priests marched around 7 times and blew the trumpets. The walls collapsed and the city was destroyed. And remember, 7 priests were assigned to sound the 7 trumpets. The number 7 and the trumpets were significant. These suffering Christians in the 7 churches would’ve understood. Just as Jericho had to be destroyed so Israel could enter the Promised Land, the wicked must be judged before God’s people can find rest in the New Jerusalem. These suffering saints would be vindicated. Their enemies judged.

And notice clearly the trumpets were given to the angels. They didn’t take the trumpets themselves. God gave it to them. So the terrible coming judgments were authored by God. And this was in response to the prayers of his suffering saints. In verse 3, John saw a vision of an angel taking the prayers of all the saints and offered them with much incense upon the altar - the prayers of suffering believers. We heard their words in Revelation 6:10 - they cried with a loud voice and asked God when he’d judge and avenge their blood on the wicked. So these prayers and other prayers of all suffering saints were here being offered to God, along with special incense. The preposition “with” doesn’t stress accompaniment - but advantage. The saints’ prayers were strengthened with incense. They were made more pleasing and valuable. And in verse 4, these prayers with the incense smoke reached God. It’s like in Exodus 3 when God said the cries of his people reached him, he heard their cries, he knew their sorrows. Then in verse 5, the angel does something startling - after offering their cries of justice to God, the angel took fire from the altar and hurled it on earth. And when that happened, the silence ended; “…and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” And listen to verse 6 - “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” The cries of the saints were setting in motion God’s fierce and fiery judgments upon the earth.

And we see the judgment was glorious. That’s the second proposition. These judgments that we see in these chapters ahead, are far deadlier than any we’ve seen. The plagues of Exodus pale in comparison. God in the New Testament shows greater apparent grace through the Lord Jesus; but also greater apparent judgment through the Lord Jesus - remember, Jesus Christ is that judge who brings all of these judgments. He’s the enthroned Lamb who slits the seals and gives the 7 trumpets. Are you embarrassed by him or by his judgment? I hope not. Because he’ll accomplish his judgments perfectly against the wicked who’ve harmed his people. The number 7 symbolizes his perfect judgment. It’s completely fair, just, and deserved. Good never gives worse judgment to anyone who doesn’t deserve it. And here we see the first 4 trumpets. What they seem to convey is this - there are times that natural, economic, and political disasters are intensified against the wicked. Verse 7 - “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.”

Remember, we shouldn’t interpret these things with 21st century lenses. If you don’t already know, the internet is a garbage dump - not a treasure trove - of theories regarding these things. There are theories of acid rain from the sky or war in the Middle East that kicks up the red dust making it appear like blood. But we must follow the text. This blood red lightning storm originated in heaven before it was cast to the earth. And it’s in response to the cries of the martyrs who had their blood shed. But whatever specific manifestation it is, the result of that judgment is that a third of the earth was burned up. A third of the trees were burned and all the green grass was burned up. This shows us that this judgment cycle is worse than the seal judgments, where only a quarter was destroyed. This could be war, it could be natural disaster. But the result is famine. With the burning up of trees - there will be a shortage of staples like olives, figs, grapes, etc. With the burning of land and grass, sheep, goats, and cattle would die resulting in the elimination of meat, milk, and cheese.

Now look at the blowing of the second trumpet. Verses 8-9 say that a great burning mountain was cast into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood; a third of marine life died. A third of the ships were destroyed. Famine is intensified because in those days, more people ate fish than meat. But what mountain is this? Some say it’s volcanic activity. For example in AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted. Wicked Pompeii was destroyed. And the Bay of Naples was devastated. Many ships were destroyed as lava flowed into it. But this can’t be. The imagery of a burnt mountain is right out of the Old Testament which frequently used mountains as metaphors for kingdoms and nations. Listen to Jeremiah 51:25, where God said he’d judge Babylon - “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.”

This mountain destruction imagery must’ve brought comfort to the suffering saints then. Rome had done much evil against Christians. She had an economy built on the seas. The Romans ate garum as a staple food. It was a fermented fish sauce. But her fall would bring devastation to her maritime trade. A third of the ships would be destroyed, verse 9. We also see this in Revelation 18 - where the merchants of the earth will weep because Rome is not there to buy their cargo. All the captains and sailors who earn their living from the sea will be ruined. The first trumpet sounds, God assaults the land. Famine results. The second trumpet sounds, God assaults the sea. Famine continues.

And in verse 10, the third angel sounded the trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky into the rivers and springs, and the result is many died. Now, to be sure, the star is a person - not an astronomical event. A star would annihilate the earth. And how we know it’s a person is because Jesus Christ himself is called the morning star in Revelation 2 and 22. Furthermore, in Revelation 9:1, a star that fell from heaven was identified as a person. So who’s this star that fell? Verse 11 calls his name Wormwood - a bitter herb that poisons water. And as a result of this person falling, many are poisoned and died. To be sure, God is not speaking about a literal star or literal poisoned water. The same imagery was mentioned in Jeremiah 9:15 where God promised to judge the people for the sins of her leaders - “Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.” What the third trumpet means is this - a nation or leader will fall and the people will suffer. Infrastructure will suffer - like how water ways and canals will be corrupted. This is all dark and bitter judgment.

This is seen in verse 12, when the fourth angel sounded the trumpet. A third of the sun, moon, and stars became dark. A third of the day and night was darkened, like the 6th seal, where sun was darkened, moon turned into blood. Darkness is a sign of judgment - like Christ experienced at the cross. Amos describes the Day of the Lord as a day of darkness. Joel calls it a day of darkness and gloom. Jesus used outer darkness as a symbol of judgment. And this is what verse 13 says. An angel flew through heaven and shouted, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!”

It’s a triple woe against the dwellers of the earth. Meaning, as if the natural, economic, and political disasters were not bad enough, the next three trumpet judgments would be much worse. And this judgment is the glorious assurance to God’s people that God hears their prayers. How? This glorious assurance comes to us in 3 ways. Firstly, these terrible judgments - even the worse ones to come in chapter 9 - are from God. Jesus opened the seals to unleash judgment that would affect a quarter of the people. Jesus gave the trumpets to the angels to blow that would affect a third of the people. The angel was in heaven - God’s domain - when he cried the 3 woes. These judgments are God’s answers to the prayers of his people. That’s why throughout these judgments, there’s a downward movement. Hail and fire mixed with blood was hurled from heaven to earth. The burning mountain was hurled from heaven to the seas. The burning star fell from the heaven into the rivers. Judgment originates with God. Only when all of these things happen, can the New Jerusalem descend out of heaven. Jericho must be destroyed before God’s people can secure the Promised Land.

You see, the Christians of the 7 churches were facing political problems - they were persecuted for their faith. They had economic problems - they were fired from jobs; they couldn’t buy or sell, because of their faith. They experienced great bitterness because of their faith. That’s why they cried out. And God heard their cry because they were supported with incense. And he answered. Their persecutors will fall and collapse. Their economies will fall and collapse. The wicked will experience great bitterness.

But the second assurance we see is this. This judgment is justified. I hope we’re not more merciful than God. This woe was to the dwellers of earth. This term referred to the unrepentant wicked - not to believers who’ve been sealed. When Israel came to Jericho, the city could’ve surrendered. They could’ve all reacted like Rahab and called upon the living and true God. Or the world who heard Noah preaching for 120 years - instead of repenting, they mocked him. Only when the rains came, when judgment came, when the ark was already sealed, that they wanted to enter the ark. Repentance must be done before final judgment comes. When it comes, there’s no more repentance. Like in Revelation 6:15, the kings of the earth, princes, generals, rich, mighty, slave and free hid in the caves and asked the mountains to fall on them. But they didn’t repent. Hide and suicide, but they were not contrite.

But the third assurance is this. In judgment there is still mercy. Before the fifth trumpet, there was still a chance. A third of the earth was judged. There was hope for the other two-thirds. If these initial judgments before the 3 woes came were heeded, others could be saved from the greater judgment to come. In the weeks to come, as we study the three last trumpet judgments and the woes on the wicked, we will see some horrific imagery and judgment.

We need to ask ourselves. Are we more merciful than God? Can we rejoice that God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven? That the unrepentant tormentors of God’s people will be dealt with? They’re not innocent. They’re unrepentant. Like pharaoh - he caused much harm and was unrepentant desire the plague. Miriam rejoiced when pharaoh - the great star wormwood - and his armies were thrown into the sea. Remember, death and the devil will also one day be thrown into the lake of fire. Do you rejoice in that? You who struggle in body - your health ravaged by cancers and illnesses - yes, you will rejoice when the devil who wrecked creation will be cast into the lake of fire along with sin and death. You who struggle with your sin, the devil sifts you like wheat wanting to have you. Will you rejoice when the tempter is destroyed? Yes! You must! And that’s why we pray. We cry out to God. Against sin. Against the enemies of God’s people. And God will bring glorious judgment. Pray - thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. When you pray, God responds. And for you who are still earth dwellers, you’ve not come to Jesus for salvation yet. Christ can be your savior, or he can be the one who judges you for your sin. Repent today before those woes and he will save you. When you pray, God responds.

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