VENGEANCE AND VINDICATION

At the time John was given the Revelation, he was in exile on Patmos. Intense persecution from pagan Rome was seeking to eradicate Christianity from the earth. The old Apostle had lost all his fellow Apostles, one by one to martyrdom. It would be easy to despair, save Christ came with a Word of hope, to let him know there would ultimately be vengeance and vindication for the church. While it may still seem to us that the other side is winning, may we be reminded that victory is assured!  Let us consider this as we examine Revelation 8:1-6.

It begins with THE SEAL, “When He opened the seventh seal,” (8:1a). Earlier, John had seen a seven-sealed scroll, (5:1). This symbolized the title-deed to the universe. Search was made for someone worthy to possess that title-deed and open the scrolls, and no angel above, nor man on earth, neither the dead or demon below was worthy, (5:2-3). John wept in despair. But John was told not to cry, and brushing the tears from his eyes, he saw the worthy Lion of Judah, who was also the Lamb of God, take the scroll from His Father’s hand. Jesus, the Son of God, is declared the only One worthy to take the scroll and open the seals, (5:4-7).  A great worship celebration rises in anticipation of the consummation of history in Christ’s victory, (5:8-14). 

Chapter six pictures the Lamb opening the seals of the scroll, and under each seal a judgment is unleashed on a Christ-rejecting world. They did not want Jesus then, they do not want Him now, but never forget that He is Sovereign and in giving them what they crave they will find condemnation.

When we arrive at chapter seven there comes THE SILENCE, “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour,” (8:1b). No strumming of harps, no singing of praise, no shouts of worship, no shuffling of angels’ feet as heard in chapter 7. This silence speaks louder than words—a sacred pause in the judgments that fell in chapter six. It is a moment to catch our breath for the opening of the seventh and final seal. The Judge has come into the courtroom.  All gathered there are silent.  The condemned await the pronouncing of the sentence.

Contemplate THE SIGNIFICANCE.

“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’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.” (8‬:‭1‬-‭6‬‬).

Beneath the seventh seal, there are seven trumpets that will sound, and each trumpet blast brings a judgment.  Four of those trumpet judgments are described in this chapter.  Trumpet one sounds—hail and fire destroy one third of earth’s vegetation, (v. 7).  Trumpet two sounds—what may well be an asteroid strikes the sea with the force of a nuclear explosion and tidal waves decimate the ships and the shoreline, (v. 8-9).  The third trumpet sounds—a comet with poisonous gas or a meteor with radioactive matter disintegrates on entering the atmosphere, poisoning a third of the fresh water, (v. 10-11).  The fourth trumpet sounds—smoke from the fires and dust from the impacts upon earth—fills the skies with a third of the light dimmed by the cloud, (v. 12-13).

You do not want to hear those trumpets of doom.  You want to hear the trumpet of deliverance, (1 Thess.4:16-17)!  We must appeal to sinners to come to Christ—to flee to Him for salvation!  There is an urgency to sharing the Gospel globally, for there is rapidly approaching a day when judgment will be fixed and final. 

The prayers of the saints are mentioned as sacred incense in 5:8. We are reminded that our prayers are stored up—not forgotten and left unanswered. Specifically, the prayers of the persecuted through the ages—the cry for justice will in God’s time be answered.  

“When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.” (6‬:‭9‬-‭11‬‬).

We see in chapter 8 and the opening of the seventh seal and the sounding of the trumpets that those prayers for vengeance and vindication will be answered, (8:3-6).