REVELATION 8 TRUMPET JUDGMENTS ON EARTH2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Revelation 8 Trumpet Judgments On Earth

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

As we look at chapter 8 of Revelation this morning, we're studying through the tribulation period. And we've been here for a couple of chapters. It's things that are yet to happen. The book of Revelation is actually divided into three parts. Jesus gave us the outline of the book back in chapter 1, verse 19 of Revelation, where he tells John to write down the things which he had seen.

And there on the island of Patmos, John had seen the vision of Jesus Christ that he records for us in chapter 1. That's the first part or the first division of the book of Revelation. The second part of the book of Revelation deals with the present. That is the church age which extends even to right now today. We are living in the church age. It's a time that God is working in the church and through the church in the world.

That church age will come to an end at some point, but not yet. At the rapture of the church, the church age will come to completion, and then that will bring in the rest of the future events that we are studying here in the book of Revelation.

And so chapters 2 and 3, where Jesus writes the seven letters to the churches, deals with and addresses the things that need to be addressed for the church age and for the time of the church, which again extends even to the present day.

The third section of the book of Revelation begins in chapter 4 of Revelation and extends to the end of the book, chapter 22, where God is talking about and sharing with us those future things that are yet to take place. They are the things that will happen and they will take place, but they've not happened yet. We have not begun the tribulation period and the things which follow yet.

Now as we look at these things which are going to happen, they're going to take place, we need to understand that God spent this big chunk of the book of Revelation talking about these things because they're things that He wants us to know.

In some respects, you know, we could think, well, I don't really need to really care about or pay much attention to these things because, you know, we believe the rapture of the church is going to take place first and the church isn't going to be caught up out of this world. And so the events of the tribulation, I won't be here for them. And that is accurate. That is what the Bible teaches.

But God still recorded these things so that He could show them to us, that we would have an understanding of what is going to take place. And so I believe as God recorded it for us, that He wants us to know these things. And that's why we're taking our time, chapter by chapter, looking at the details and considering the implications and the possibilities of what these things mean and what it might look like on the earth during that tribulation period.

And so we're looking at the things which will take place. They will happen. They're going to happen. There's no escaping. These events are going to fall upon the earth. They will be fulfilled.

And what are those future events? What are those things which must shortly take place? Well, we've been talking about it for the past many weeks here in the book of Revelation. It begins in Revelation chapter 4 with the rapture of the church, when the church is caught up to be with the Lord and will forever be with the Lord from that time on.

Then moving forward in the book of Revelation, chapter 6 through 19 deals with the tribulation period, that seven years of tribulation like the world has never seen before. As we will see today here in chapter 8, it's really going to be devastation beyond our ability to actually comprehend or imagine.

Well, then after the seven-year tribulation, Jesus Christ is going to return. He returns right in the middle of the battle of Armageddon. And there He defeats the armies that turn against Him and He establishes His kingdom on the earth for 1,000 years.

Satan is bound in the bottomless pit for that time. The saints who were caught up to be with the Lord come back to rule and reign with him for that thousand year period. And during that time, the earth will be restored and renewed. It will be a time of peace and righteousness.

But at the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released for a short time. He will lead one final rebellion against God. That rebellion, of course, will not be successful. He will not succeed.

God will defeat him and then begins the great white throne judgment the final judgment as Satan and his demons are cast into the lake of fire and Revelation 20.15 tells us that whoever's name is not written in the book of life at that point will also be cast into the lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels

After that final judgment, then chapters 21 and 22 deal with the rest of eternity, the things that God has in store for us. We'll look at the new heavens and the new earth, the new Jerusalem that God creates.

and explore a little bit, begin to understand a little bit about what God may have in store for us for the rest of eternity. Of course, He can't reveal it all to us because our minds can't handle it. He's going to be spending the rest of eternity blowing our minds and making us in awe of how good He is, His grace and His mercy, and that's what He has in store for us for eternity.

And so those are the things which must shortly take place. They're going to happen. They're going to happen suddenly without much notice. And as they begin to unfold, well, that's what we're studying here in the book of Revelation. We've started the tribulation period back in chapter 6.

We saw the scroll that was sealed with seven seals in chapter 5 and then in chapter 6 Jesus began to open the scroll or open those seals that were sealing the scroll. And as he opened each seal a certain particular thing happened upon the earth. There was a judgment that was brought forth as he opened each seal.

The first seal brought upon the earth the Antichrist and the Antichrist came forth conquering. He rose up as a conqueror and he became a world leader right there in the beginning of the tribulation period. The tribulation actually begins, remember, as he makes a covenant with the nation of Israel.

Well, as Jesus opened the second seal, then what we have is war breaking out upon the earth. Again, we saw this in chapter 6. And as war broke out upon the earth, of course, there's the result of death, the devastation of the bombs and the battles and the things that take place as well.

And then as Jesus opened the third seal, then we have famine upon the earth. And famine was severe. It was great. We talked about the value of bread being, you know, about $80 or a full day's work, a full day's labor just to be able to have a little bit of bread to be able to survive.

No more comfort, right? No more, you know, yesterday I was wondering, well, should I have a hamburger? Should I have macaroni and cheese? Should I have a pot pie? No more luxuries like that. No choice. It's just the bare minimum to be able to survive. That's what it will be reduced to in that time. As Jesus opened the fourth seal, death came out with Hades following along with him. And a fourth of the earth was killed at that time. Great devastation upon the earth.

As Jesus opened the fifth seal, John sees the martyrs there before God. They're waiting for vengeance. They're waiting for God to bring justice to their blood being shed for believing in Jesus Christ. And then Jesus opens the sixth seal and that unleashes some catastrophic events. You remember the great earthquake and the sun being darkened and all of the things that were going on there as Jesus opened the sixth seal.

Well, last week as we looked at chapter 7, we kind of took a break from the sequence of events and we were looking at and talking about the 144,000 who were sealed, the sealed servants of God, and the multitude that was before the throne.

And so we kind of took a pause, a break from the sequence of events. But now as we go into chapter 8, we're going back into that sequence and we're looking at the seventh seal that was opened.

The seventh seal, as it's opened, we're going to see silence that takes place in heaven for about half an hour. And then the seven trumpets are going to be sounded and judgments that correspond with each of those seven trumpets. And then as we go further into the book of Revelation, we'll also see the seven vials or the seven bowls of judgment that are poured out upon the earth. And so the seventh seal encompasses judgment.

That silence, it encompasses the seven trumpets and the seven bowls. And so the seven seals that seal that scroll really encompass the entire tribulation period. And so as we look at these things, we're dealing with that seven-year period and things are getting more and more intense.

That seventh seal begins a whole new level of intensity as now seven new judgments are about to be unleashed. We'll look at four of them today and in the rest in coming weeks. Well, as we look at chapter 8 this morning, we start out looking at the opening of the seventh seal, which is really the calm before the storm. Verse 1 says, When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

And that's interesting to consider. Silence in heaven for about half an hour as Jesus opens this seventh seal. As we've studied thus far in the book of Revelation, as we've seen the heavenly scene and what's taking place before the throne of God, we've seen quite a lot of commotion.

And so this silence in heaven would be dramatic. It would be a stark contrast from what we've seen already. We've talked about several times how heaven will be full of worship. The four living creatures who are day and night without ceasing crying out to the Lord, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.

Then we saw the 24 elders, the church there in heaven, worshipping God. Different songs depending on the occasion and what was taking place, but they were worshipping God. Then we also saw the martyrs and the other believers there in chapter 7 last week.

and how they were worshipping God and crying out to the Lord. We also saw the multitude of angels on top of all these others who were also crying out to the Lord and worshipping the Lord. And so, you know, it's being described as full of worship, great commotion, lots of things going on. But as Jesus opens the seventh seal, that was just a couple seconds of silence. And it's a little awkward, right? But this will be 30 minutes of silence.

Pause from everything. Everybody put it on hold. Silence for half an hour.

Now there's lots of speculation, lots of people guess why there's silence, but God doesn't really tell us. It seems to be that it's in preparation for the things that are going to happen. It's in kind of a reverence, an awestruckness of the judgments that are about to take place. It's the calm before the storm, because as we begin these trumpet judgments, things get radically worse.

And so there's silence in heaven to mark the occasion and to make it significant. This is when it starts to get really bad. In verse 2, he says, And I saw seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

And so here's seven angels that are standing in the presence of God. They're given seven trumpets and they're going to be prepared to sound these trumpets. And as they sound each one, there's going to be judgments that are unleashed upon the earth.

Well, then heading into verses 3 through 5, now we see a censer of prayers being offered to the Lord. Verse 3 says, 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. Here is... This seventh seal is open and there's been silence for 30 minutes. Now...

prayers are going to be offered to God in the form of incense or along with the incense. And so this other angel comes into the picture. Another angel similar to these other seven. He comes in with a golden censer. Now a censer is kind of like a saucer or a plate or if you could think about, you know, as the cracker was being handed and it's in that tray, that plate, that's similar to what a censer would be.

And so they would fill a censer with incense, with coals, with fire, to be able to burn incense before the Lord. That was there in the tabernacle, in the temple. And it's, as we know, a model of what was taking place in heaven. And so here in heaven we see the fulfillment of the instructions that God had given to Moses.

You remember God gave Moses specific instructions and he told Moses, make sure that you do these things, that you build the tabernacle and that you perform these activities exactly the way that I have shown you, exactly what I revealed to you on the mountain. The reason why is because God gave him the designs, he gave him the model for something that actually exists in heaven.

In Hebrews chapter 9, the author of Hebrews tells us that these on earth were the copies of the heavenly things. And so this is what heaven actually looks like. As God is there in the throne, it's the holiest of all, the holy of holies.

And if you remember, in the tabernacle there is that curtain, that divider between the holiest of all where God's presence dwelt and then the rest of the sanctuary. And right in front of that curtain was a golden altar. It was the altar of incense.

And there Aaron, the priest, were to offer incense to the Lord continually. And it was representative of the prayers that were being offered up. And it foreshadows what we see here in the heavenly scene as the angel here is there before the altar and he's offering up these prayers to the Lord. Verse 4, And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.

And so here the prayer is ascending with the incense. It's being offered up to the Lord. And what we have here is that all of this prayer is being presented now to God in that He is going to be answering a lot of prayer.

Have you ever looked around the world and perhaps read the headlines or watched the news and cried out to the Lord and prayed, Lord, when is justice going to be done? When is righteousness going to be performed? When are these things going to be, you know, taken care of, Lord? When will you have your way upon the earth as it is in heaven?

Well, those prayers that we've been praying as we see the things going on in the world around us are now going to be offered to the Lord at this time. And these prayers are going to be offered up along with the incense and now God is going to answer those prayers as he brings his righteous judgment upon the earth, upon mankind that deserves the judgment that is being unleashed.

I think it's an important reminder for us as we see this part here in Revelation chapter 8. It's a reminder that God answers prayer. You know, of course, He doesn't always do it according to our timetable. He doesn't always, you know, we say, Lord, I need to pay this bill. I need the money. We hold out our hand.

Okay, Lord, where's the money? You know, that would be nice, right? If it just, according to our timetable, we asked for it and it was there in our hand. It just doesn't work that way. God works according to His will and in His timing. And so we've been praying for righteousness, for justice, and at that time, then God is going to answer those prayers. But the point is that God does answer prayer. Jesus taught us in Luke chapter 18 that we are to always pray and to not lose heart.

And sometimes we pray for things for a while and the longer we pray, the more we lose heart.

You know, those that we love, those who need the gospel message, that need to get saved, we pray for them. Don't give up. Don't lose heart. Continue to be faithful. Continue to pray. You know, there's things that we're desiring for God to do, things that God has put upon our hearts, and we must not lose heart. We must continue to pray because at the right time, those prayers will be offered up to God and He will answer those prayers just as He's answering the prayers here during the tribulation period.

Verse 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. After he offers up the prayers, after the incense has been burned, he fills that censer now with coals from the altar. And this angel hurls those coals to the earth. As he throws those coals to the earth,

The earth experiences noises and thunderings and lightnings. A storm is brewing. An earthquake takes place. Again, it's preparation now. The angels are about to sound the seven trumpets. I think this is an important verse as well as we consider it because what we see here is not just some natural events taking place. It's not just nature taking its course.

But there is a definite supernatural element that is happening here. As God is pouring out this judgment upon the earth, it's clear that these things are really His doing. As this angel scoops up those coals and throws it to the earth, it's not just, you know, happenstance that there happened to be a storm that day, but these are things that God is causing to be accomplished and God is causing to take place upon the earth.

As we look at these four trumpet blasts for the rest of the chapter, there's a lot of similarities and people have compared it to, well, maybe this would be what it would be like if there was a massive nuclear exchange.

and they kind of compare and you can kind of run down the similarities between what would happen in the nuclear fallout, the nuclear winter, and how that parallels with some of the things that we'll be studying. Others will take and compare it to

comments and meteors and I'll talk a little bit about that today and there's different possibilities but whatever the course is whatever God does probably you know not even something that that we're able to understand at this point because God says his ways are not our ways and

And so whatever the case is and however it's fulfilled, then that doesn't really matter. The point here is that this is the work of God, that He is performing these things upon the earth to deal with the rebellion and with the wickedness of mankind. And we'll talk a little bit more about that as we go forward as well.

But so, looking now at the first trumpet blast in verses 6 and 7, we see that a third of the trees of the earth are burned at this time. Verse 6 says, So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to 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.

Here is the first trumpet is sounded. The devastation begins with a fire, with hail that's mingled with fire and with blood, and it comes crashing to the earth.

And the result of this hail coming upon the earth is there's fire among the trees. You know, we have those great fires that happen. I don't mean great in a good way, but those big fires that happen, you know, here in Southern California at the right season and just how many acres and the effects of that fire. Well, those things aren't even a drop in the bucket compared to what is going to take place here.

This hail that's mixed with fire as it comes down is going to light up a third of the trees of the earth. They're going to be burned. They're going to come to an end. And the grass of the earth as well is going to be burned. This is similar...

to something that God did in the nation of Egypt. You remember when God was bringing out His people from Egypt and the ten plagues that were brought upon the nation of Egypt? In Exodus 9, verses 24 and 25, it describes hail that was mingled with fire and the hail was very heavy, heavier than...

they've ever experienced before as far as hail is concerned. And so it came upon Egypt and it brought devastation. Everything that was outside, everything in the field, man and beast and the crops of the field, they were all struck and destroyed when this plague came upon the nation of Egypt. And so this will be something along those lines, something similar to that, except for it's going to be on a bigger scale as it hits the whole world.

And so a third of the trees are destroyed by this judgment that comes at the first trumpet. How much is a third of the trees of the earth? Well, back in 2005 with some satellite data, NASA figured out or calculated, they estimated that there's 400 billion trees on the earth.

just in total all around the earth. So you take a third of that, that's 133 billion trees that would be burned during this judgment. Of course, all the grass would be burned up. Sorry guys, no more golf courses, no more time for golf either. As this judgment comes, the earth is going to be devastated. Now, something interesting to consider.

A couple of thoughts quickly as we consider these things and consider these trumpet judgments. Not things that I have answers for, but just things for you to kind of consider and contemplate as you consider and imagine what this would be like. I wonder how fast the succession of these things will be. You know, as they're blowing the trumpets, is it the first trumpet, the second trumpet, third trumpet? You know, kind of like Job when he was experiencing his calamity,

and the first messenger came, and then while that one was speaking, then the second messenger came, and then while that one was speaking, the third messenger came, and it was just right on top of each other. I wonder, are these trumpets just back to back to back to back, and it's kind of happening simultaneously on earth, but they're separate things as John sees them and describes them, or is there a little bit of time in between?

We don't really know and we can only speculate. But it's interesting to consider what that would be like as these things are unfolding.

Now, if you take the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven bowls, and you kind of divide that out evenly between the seven-year period of tribulation, what you really have is a new judgment taking place every four months. And so it's just like something happening every four months if they were divided evenly over those seven years. I really don't think so. I think it'll be slower at the beginning and then more intense at the end.

But just to give you an idea, it would just be constant, you know. And sometimes maybe you've experienced stuff like that in life, but this will be a larger scale. You know, you just get past one thing and then boom, here comes the next thing. And you get hit hard over and over. Well, the whole earth will be experiencing that to a great degree. Another thought to consider is when one third of the trees are destroyed...

Is that, you know, one third of the whole earth and so there's damage here, there's damage there, you know, some...

spots on the earth damaged more than other spots on the earth or Another thought to consider is it really focused on one particular? area of the earth so for example if you You know consider all the land that the earth has all the land of the earth if you would combine

The square miles of North America and South America together, those two continents, that would make up about 28% of the Earth's land.

And so could it be, it's possible, something to consider, that instead of, you know, all over the place, it might just be isolated and these two continents could be just completely on fire, completely burned and impacted by this judgment that comes to pass. Don't know, you know, God doesn't give us that clarity, but interesting to consider.

Well, now the second trumpet is going to sound. And as the second trumpet sounds, now a third of the sea is turned to blood. Verse 8 says, 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 so as the second trumpet sounds, John sees something that's like a great mountain. Now it's not exactly a great mountain, but it's like a great mountain. And so what he sees is something big, right? Something massive. It's on fire and it's thrown into the sea. It's hurled into the sea.

And so the likely understanding or what is speculated is this is an asteroid that comes into the Earth's atmosphere. Asteroids are big solid rock type objects that come from space. The largest that's known currently is about 580 miles across.

And so if something, you know, on that scale or maybe a little bit smaller was to hit the earth, you can imagine the kind of devastation that would take place. Now, God could also just create something and hurl that to the earth. It doesn't have to be something that exists right now. But however he does it, it's going to hit the earth and there's going to be, well, incredible effects, right?

If you remember back in chapter 6, I shared with you, you know, there was a website that I found that, you know, you could kind of estimate, you could plug in some variables and find out what, you know, kind of effects there would be if a comet or an asteroid were to hit the earth.

And so I plugged in some new information based upon what we have here, that it was thrown into the sea, and came up with this. And so starting out with, last time I put that we were 50 miles away from impact. That was, if you remember, we were inside the fireball at that time. So I put it back a little bit for this thing. Hey, if we're 5,000 miles away from impact,

And let's say that the asteroid is 300 miles across, so half of the size of the biggest one that's known currently.

and it crashes into one of the oceans. What would that look like or what would the devastation be like? How far reaching would that be? Well, the crater in the bottom of the ocean floor would be 2,000 miles wide and 2 miles deep. The impact would cause not just the water but underneath the water in the bottom of the ocean to be impacted greatly.

There would be, of course, an enormous fireball, which could be seen for over 900 miles away, and it would appear 40 times larger than the sun to look at this fireball. It would be massive. Of course, it would cause a massive earthquake, estimated to be on the Richter scale of about 13.2, larger than any earthquake ever recorded in history by far.

the air blast that would come from the impact, if you were 5,000 miles away, it would take almost seven hours for that air blast to hit you. But it would hit you at a velocity of about 3,700 miles per hour. So you want to make sure you're ducking and covering seven hours after that impact. It would be, of course, more than enough to destroy anything in its path. The tsunami wave that would result would...

about 300 meters high, 390 meters high as compared to the one that happened in 2004. You remember in the Indian Ocean there in Indonesia, the tsunami was about 15 meters high. So it would be, you know, significantly higher. Now, of course, these are just...

Numbers that I made up, they're not the actual size of, you know, whatever it is that's hurled into the sea. But just to give us an idea, a picture of what might happen, what would take place if something were thrown into the sea as John sees this great mountain that's burning with fire that lands in the ocean. Verse 9, And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

And so the result of this, as John describes it, is the third of the sea becomes blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships are destroyed as this impact takes place.

Now again, this perhaps could be spread out, but it seems to be localized. He sees that one big great mountain of fire thrown into the sea. And so what if it was just one particular ocean or sea that was impacted? And again, looking at the geography of the earth, about a third of the earth's water is the Atlantic Ocean.

And so if this were to hit the Atlantic Ocean and perhaps the whole Atlantic Ocean is affected by this great burning mountain that's thrown into it and it could be all the ships there in the Atlantic Ocean, all the living creatures in the Atlantic Ocean are destroyed at that time and it becomes blood as all of these living creatures and organisms die.

Now again, it doesn't have to be that way. God can do it however he wants. But a third of the seas are turned to blood. A third of the living creatures die and a third of the ships are destroyed. Well, now the third trumpet. And at the sounding of the third trumpet, we have a third of the fresh water on the earth affected and it's made bitter.

Verse 10 says, And so here we have something else falling from the heavens and hitting the earth and now it's affecting the fresh water supply.

And so this again might be an asteroid, might be a comet, might be something else that God creates, but it's hitting the freshwater reservoirs or the source of our freshwater. That might be affecting the snow on the mountains or the underwater rivers and reservoirs that are there, but it's penetrating and causing bitterness upon the waters of the earth.

I think you and I today, at least myself, we take water for granted. You know, back in the day, it was not so that, you know, in civilizations, you know, cities, they were built around water because, you know, you needed to survive.

Today, here in Southern California, over 50% of the water that we drink, the water that we have in our tap, is water that's brought in. It's imported from Northern California, from the Colorado River and everything. It's not natural to hear, but we bring it in. And so we're able to build beyond our water resources by bringing in water resources from elsewhere.

And so you can imagine what we would be like if all of a sudden a third of our water supply was cut off or made bitter, undrinkable. It would be devastating for this area. And of course, that would be devastating all around the world. Already, you know, we're in a drought and Corona is telling us to stop the drop. But if a third of our water supply was no longer drinkable, it would be even worse, even more devastating and devastating.

Hard to imagine. Verse 11. He says,

And so the effect of this star that comes, this comet, this asteroid, whatever it is that hits the earth, causes many men to die from the bitterness of this water. And so it's a poisonous water. It's not just that it's bad tasting. You know, you have your preference. I don't like Crystal Geyser. You know, give me Aquafina. You know, it's not like that. It's that it's poison. And so men, you know,

who are dying of thirst, men who are requiring water to survive are drinking the water and they're dying as a result because it's poisoned.

Well, then the fourth trumpet sounds and now we have a third of the stars are darkened. In verse 12 it says, 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 so here we have now the stars, the sun being affected, and of course the moon because it's just reflecting the sun, it's affected as well, that the brightness of the sun, the stars is reduced by a third.

Now, how does this take place? How does this happen? I think only God knows. Some have suggested that, you know, perhaps there's a change in gravity and gravity affects the burning, the brightness, the heat and intensity of stars. And so there's a change in gravity. It could affect the stars dramatically.

That's pure speculation. I think a good option, a good thing to consider is its atmosphere effects that are causing this darkness. All the fires, again, a third of the trees are burning. The impacts that are happening upon the earth, sending all kinds of debris and dust and smoke and everything into the air.

and could very easily cause a great darkness upon the earth as this stuff is in the atmosphere blocking out the sun, the moon, and the stars and cooling off the earth and causing all kinds of problems along with that. However God does it though, He does it. And a third of the sun, the stars, and the moon are darkened. Then in verse 13 He says, 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.

So we've looked at the first four trumpets being sounded. And the effects, again, it's difficult to imagine and probably uncomfortable to imagine the type of things that will go on, the way that it will affect people and the lives that will be impacted by this. Difficult for us to comprehend and visualize. But here, John sees an angel flying through the air.

Crying out, woe, woe, woe. As bad as these have been, as bad as things have been thus far, the first six seals, and now in the seventh seal, the first four trumpets, as bad as things are,

This angel is crying out with a warning saying, hey, there's reason for sorrow, there's reason for woe because what's coming next is even worse. The next three trumpet blasts will be far greater, far worse than what has taken place already.

The angel, in other words, is saying, you haven't seen anything yet. The devastation, the judgment that will be brought upon the earth is going to intensify yet again through these next three trumpet blasts. And so as we look at chapter 8 here in the book of Revelation...

We see lots of judgment, lots of destruction, lots of devastation. It can be, I know, pretty gloomy. Again, not very exciting to think about or to imagine. And yet God gave it to us so that we would know the things that are going to take place.

And I think that something that's important to point out is look at, again, the trumpets and the judgments that are brought upon it. The first trumpet, you have a third of the trees burned. The second trumpet, you have a third of the sea is turned to blood. The third trumpet, you have a third of the water made bitter. And then the fourth trumpet, you have a third of the stars are darkened. It kind of begs the question, Lord, if you're bringing judgment, why not just destroy everything at once?

I mean, why not just wipe them all out? Why go through this process? A third, a third, a third, a third. It gives us very clear insight that these are measured judgments of God. They're measured, they're precise. It's part of His plan. Now, what could He be doing? Why would He not just wipe everybody out right now, here at the opening of the seventh seal? Why would He go through the trumpet process and the bowl process?

Well, I think we have the answer to that in 2 Peter 3, verse 9, where Peter reminds us that the Lord is not slack concerning His promises, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God is delaying the final judgment just a little bit longer. He's bringing judgment, and it's terrible, and it's devastating, but it's not all the way yet.

Because He's still giving man opportunity to turn to Him and to get right with Him. Even in the midst of judgment, our God is gracious and merciful. And He gives second chances and, you know, four billion chances. He gives us chances over and over to turn and to get right with Him. And you know, the time that we have right now is that time where God has given us for us to get right with Him, to make things right, to draw near to Him, to walk with Him.

I think it's an important reminder. God's still going to be reaching out then and He's still reaching out right now because He wants to have that relationship with us and He wants us to have the hope of eternity. And now is the time.

There will be an opportunity then, but you can see, you can imagine, it's going to be rough. And there's no guarantee that any individual will survive. Any particular person will make it through any of these judgments and then later on be able to make a decision to follow Jesus and to receive the offer of forgiveness. The time is now. The opportunity is now. Today, we have this moment. Tomorrow is not promised to us.

we have this moment, this opportunity to turn and to get right with God. And you and I as believers, we have this moment, this opportunity to reach out and to share with others that they would not have to endure these things that are going to take place upon the earth. And so as we consider these things, let it be to you. Let it stir within your heart. Let your prayer be, Lord, put a passion, put a burden into my heart that I would be able to share with the people around me.

That they would not have to endure these things. God has given us this time to repent and to reach out, to fulfill the great commission. That instead of going through these things, those that we have the opportunity to reach out to will be caught up to be with the Lord if they receive the offer of forgiveness and salvation that Jesus extends to us. So I want to encourage you as you consider these things. I know it can be difficult and uncomfortable, but let it sink in.

Consider these things. Understand what it means that this judgment is coming. And let it be used by God to inspire you, to encourage you, to give you boldness, to reach out, to go beyond what you're comfortable in, to go beyond the comfort zone, this complacent lifestyle that we get sucked into so easily. Let it be to you a catalyst, a burning desire to see people get right with God.

Reach out and share the gospel. And if you do not have Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, listen, the time is now. These things can happen tomorrow. We can be thrown into the midst of the tribulation. The church will be out of here. But if you're not right with God, you'll be going through the worst things the earth has ever seen. Nothing else compares to it. So the time is now. Let's pray.

Lord, I lift up our hearts before you and God, for us as believers, I pray, Lord, that you would give us that burden and that passion. Lord, help us to be serious about our relationship with you and our walk with you. Lord, not to be settled in complacency, Lord, and content, Lord, with half-hearted Christian living, but Lord, that we would have a fire and a burden and a passion. First of all, for you, Lord, to get to know you, to love you, to walk with you.

but then also to reach out to others. Lord, help us, Lord, to go beyond. Help us, Lord, to love people enough to share with them the truth and your offer of forgiveness that you extend to us. And God, for any who do not know you, Lord, I pray that you would break down the walls, the barriers, the obstacles, whatever is keeping them. Lord, that you would pierce through to the heart. Lord, that they would be able to see clearly how much you love them and what you did for

by sending your Son to die upon the cross for our sins. Lord, may they see that clearly and respond to your love and your offer of forgiveness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.