Worthy is the Lamb: Look Out Below! Part 2

David Krueger

Worthy is the Lamb • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Revelation 8:6–9:21

Judgment

Seven Angels Blowing Trumpets

Judgment of God

Seven Angels Pouring Out Plagues

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The judgments of God upon a wicked rebellious people are catastrophic, and still the rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands ... .

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Text: Revelation 8:6-13

Theme: The judgments of God upon a wicked rebellious people are catastrophic, and still the rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands ... .

Date: 07/01/2018 File name: Resurrection21.wpd ID Number:

The eighth chapter of Revelation, introduces us to a series of cataclysmic judgments poured out upon the Earth’s inhabitants at the end of the age. In Revelation 8:6 we read, “Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.” (Revelation 8:6, NIV84). One-by-one the trumpets will blow, and judgement rains down upon the earth

The Seven Trumpet Judgments are explained over three chapters:

Chapter 8 records four trumpets sounding

Chapter 9 records two trumpets sounding

The seventh trumpet is not sounded until Rev. 11:15. Just as there is an intermission or interlude between the breaking of the 6th and 7th seals, so also there is an interlude between the sounding of the 6th and 7th trumpets.

Revelation 8:6 pictures seven angels standing by, prepared to sound their trumpets, each one of which will usher in a Devine judgment upon the earth and its inhabitants. The adversaries of God will receive their due rewards while God’s people are protected against God’s wrath.

As I begin this morning, I want you to notice that these Trumpet Judgments can be divided into those judgments that afflict the physical earth, and those that specifically afflict human beings. I will tell you that I’ll not be going into great detail regarding what each of these judgments might be. Each has much speculation. There are two primary issues: 1st, are these judgments past or future? and 2nd, are these judgments figurative or literal? To the first issue, I believe these events are future. As to the second issue, I believe these events will be actual God-wrought events though we may not be able to discern how the event will take place.

I. CATASTROPHIC JUDGEMENTS UPON THE EARTH

1. the Earth itself will experience the judgment of God

A. CATASTROPHE #1

“The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” (Revelation 8:7, NIV84)

1. the 1st Judgment involves the destruction of much of the Earth’s vegetation—a third of the trees and all of the grass

a. all over the world there are still great grasslands—they make up just over 40% of the world’s land surface

ILLUS. Among the most important are the Eurasian Steppes that stretch from Mongolia and northern China to Europe, the Tibetan Plateau, the North American Great Plains, and the Pampas of southeastern South America.

1) weather you call them Savanna, steppe, prairie or pampas, grasslands are the globe's most agriculturally rich habitats producing both crops and grazing lands

2) imagine every single blade of grass burned up

3) imagine all the animals that depend on that habitat dead or dying very quickly due to lack of grazing land

b. but also a third of the earth’s trees are burned up as well

ILLUS. In 1988, fire destroyed nearly one-third of Yellowstone National Park. I vividly remember the aerial pictures. Nearly two million acres of land were blackened by the disastrous fire. Nothing remained of the vegetation, and the trees were nothing but charred remains. Now, image ten-time that destruction. The destruction of a third of the earth’s forests would be 19 million acres burned.

2. the cause of this destruction is hail and fire mixed with blood

a. the results are catastrophic—famine, pestilence, crime, and death will all begin to quickly rise

b. this is a horrific, far-reaching judgment

B. CATASTROPHE #2

“The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.” (Revelation 8:8–9, NIV84)

1. the 2nd Judgment involves the destruction of much of the world’s ocean life, and commercial shipping

a. oceans cover 75% of the world’s surface, and contain 750,000 marine species

1) imagine one-third of even just the Pacific ocean devastated by such a judgment

2) an ocean that turns to blood would result in a tremendous loss of marine life

b. right now more than 3.5 billion people depend on the oceans for their primary source of food

c. also try to imagine one-third of the world’s shipping destroyed—fishing trawlers, and factory ships, Cruse Ships, and huge container ships, as well as navel ships from dozens of nations

1) food manufacture and distribution is disrupted, trade in important commodities like oil and natural gas are affected, and the balance of sea power is destabilized

2. the cause of this destruction comes from something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, ... thrown into the sea

ILLUS. One of the most powerful and devastating oceanic disasters in recorded history took place in 1883, when the volcano called Krakatoa blew up. Its eruption was one of the most catastrophic ever witnessed and provides us with just an inkling of what the future holds in the time of the Tribulation. On the afternoon of Aug. 26, 1883, the first of a series of increasingly violent eruptions occurred. A black cloud of ash rose 17 miles above the island. On the morning of the next day, tremendous explosions ripped the island apart. Those explosions were heard 2,200 miles away in Australia. Ash was propelled to a height of 50 miles, blocking the sun and plunging the surrounding region into darkness for two and a half days. The drifting dust caused spectacular red sunsets around the globe throughout the following year, and lowered average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere by 2 degrees. Tsunamis reached as far away as Hawaii and South America. Dozens of ships floundered. The greatest wave reached a height of 120 feet and took 36,000 lives when it hit the coastal towns of nearby Java and Sumatra. Near the volcano masses of floating pumice produced from lava cooled in the sea were thick enough to halt traveling ships. Everything on nearby islands was buried under a thick layer of ash. Plant and animal life did not begin to reestablish itself to any degree for five years.

C. CATASTROPHE #3

“The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky 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 turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.” (Revelation 8:10–11, NIV84)

1. the 3rd Judgment involves the destruction of much of the world’s fresh water supply

a. one-third of the fresh water supply of the Earth is made unfit for human consumption

b. this is the first judgement where we are told that many people died from the affects of the catastrophe

2. the cause of this destruction comes from a great star, blazing like a torch that falls upon the rivers and on the springs of water

a. this star even has a name—it’s called Wormwood

ILLUS. Wormwood is a type of woody plant growing throughout much of the world, and is considered an invasive weed. Most species have strong aromas and bitter tastes. In ancient Israel, it was used to deter moths from eating garments. Imagine the five Great Lakes of North America all becoming so bitter as to be undrinkable. The five Great Lakes make up the largest body of fresh water on Earth, accounting for 21% of the globe’s freshwater surface at 6 quadrillion gallons, and accounting for 84% of North America's surface fresh water. More than 30 million people live in the Great Lakes basin, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This equals 10% of U.S. residents and 30% of Canadian residents. But the Great Lakes supply drinking water to just over 40 million people.

b. imagine if all the water in the Great Lakes was suddenly undrinkable

D. CATASTROPHE #4

“The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, 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 turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.” (Revelation 8:12, NIV84)

1. the 4th Judgment involves the destruction of much of the heavens

a. as in the first three judgments, we are only talking about one-third of the sun’s light being diminished, and one-third of the moon’s light being diminished, and one-third of the star’s ceasing to shine

1) the word struck in vs. 12 is a word that means to physically strike so as to cause injury or damage

a) it’s the same word used to describe the Jewish Temple Guards blindfolding Jesus and then striking him

b. and yet the damage sustained by that judgment is, yes, catastrophic

1) now we’re talking global-cooling on an epic scale!

ILLUS. Remember the total eclipse last August? Remember how it was still the middle of the day light but eerily twilight? Remember the noticeable change in temperature? Try to imagine that on a global scale for who knows how long.

2) imagine one-third of the visible stars in the sky suddenly ceasing to shine

ILLUS. The Yale Bright Star Catalog is a booklet that lists every star in the sky visible to the naked eye. According to the Yale Bright Star Catalog there are 9,096 stars visible across the entire sky or about 4,500 per hemisphere. If this passage is talking about the darkening of one-third of the visible stars, than 3,000 stars are snuffed out in a moment when the fourth angel blows his trumpet. If you’re talking one-third of the stars in the universe ... well, none of us can count that high.

3) in some way God will strike the heavenly bodies by which we tell time and know night from day so that only a third of their light reaches earth

c. the cause of this destruction is simply by God striking the heavenly bodies that He, Himself, spoke into existence

3. so here are the first four judgements of God

a. they are ecological judgments: God reveals his wrath against unrepentant men by afflicting the environment they live in: the earth, the seas, the lakes, and celestial bodies

b. with the 4th Judgment comes a solemn warning to heaven’s inhabitants

“As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”” (Revelation 8:13, NIV84)

1) in fact, the next three judgements are so severe, that a three-fold woe is uttered against the inhabitants of Earth

2) the word woe is a very strong word in the Bible—it means a condemnation or a curse

a) when Isaiah had his vision of the Lord seated in glory in heaven he said, Woe to me (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah condemned himself

b) Jesus said unto the religious leaders, Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 24:13) when he condemned their hypocrisy

c) woe is used in Revelation as a curse on the inhabitants of the earth under the judgment of God (Rev. 8:13)

II. CATASTROPHIC JUDGMENTS UPON THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH

ILLUS. I will admit to you that as I was studying for this morning’s sermon, I got a chuckle out of one of my commentaries. The big debate concerning these judgments is “Are they actual physical calamities that strike the earth, or are they figurative of some kind of social upheaval or chaotic world events?” John Phillips, a British bible scholar, who I usually find helpful, does not help much at all in interpreting these Trumpet Judgments. He repeatedly writes, concerning each judgment, “This could be a literal event. It sure sounds like a literal event. But then again, it could be figurative, representing some kind of future cultural upheaval. Of course each judgement could be literal, with a figurative meaning. Way to take a stand John!

1. with the beginning of chapter nine we see a change in focus in God’s judgments

a. while people die because of the first four judgments, they are catastrophic judgments inflicted upon nature, and while fierce, they are tempered ... only a third of nature being affected

2. but the 5th and 6th Judgments are going to afflict men, and will be world-wide in scope

a. by the time the fifth trumpet sounds, Earth will have experienced a worldwide situation that is so desperate that we can only compare it to the flood in Noah’s day

b. God deliberately puts the whole world in a desperate situation because He kows it is the best way to get everyone’s undivided attention

3. God wants everyone to consider several issues

a. 1st, God wants the world to know that the time has come for the nations of Earth to end

b. 2nd, He wants everyone to know that He is about to establish His kingdom and

c. 3rd, He wants everyone to know the terms and conditions of being a part of His coming kingdom

A. CATASTROPHE #5

“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. 12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.” (Revelation 9:1–12, NIV84)

1. the 5th Judgment sees demons turned loose upon the inhabitants of the Earth

a. John sees a star fallen from the sky

1) this is a picture of Satan, as he is turned loose upon the earth, taking up the role of the Antichrist

“And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Revelation 12:7–9, NIV84)

2. Satan has a key to a place called the Abyss which he opens to release a demon army upon Earth’s inhabitants

a. this is the second mention of such a place in Scripture

1) it is first mentioned in Luke 8:31

ILLUS. It’s found in the story of Jesus healing the demoniac who lives among the tombs in the region of the Gerasenes on the East side of the Sea of Galilee. It’s the story were Jesus drives a legion of demons out of a man, who then enter into a herd of pigs. Just before he does that, Jesus has a conversation with the demons, “Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.” (Luke 8:30–31, NIV84)

2) the Abyss is mentioned three times in this chapter and four additional times later in Revelation

b. the Abyss is the abode of especially foul demons, and is such a horrendous place that even “regular” demons don’t want to be sent there

c. it is here that Satan himself is confined for a thousand years during the reign of Christ on earth (20:1-3)

“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.” (Revelation 20:1–3, NIV84)

3. as John continues to watch, he sees locust-like creatures coming out of the smoke which are likened to scorpions

a. the description of these demons in vs. 7-12 goes beyond what we can imagine

1) John portrays them as swarming out to cover the earth

ILLUS. Arthur Samuel Peake, another English biblical scholar, writes: “Now these descriptions of heaven and hell were meant by the author to be very literally taken. They are not figures of speech; and if we are to be true to the writer’s thought we can scarcely represent the scenes to our imagination with too much realism. And similarly the scorpion locusts are quite literally intended; they are not heretics, or Goths, or Mohammedans, or the mendicant orders, or the Jesuits, or Protestants, or Saracens or Turks, but they are uncanny [demonic] denizens of the abyss, locusts of a hellish species, animated by devilish instincts and equipped with infernal powers.”

b. but notice that these demonic denizens are not permitted to kill, only to torture and terrorize, vs. 4-5 “They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months.”

c. the affliction will be so bad that men will long to die, but will not be able to

d. the good news in this is that they can only harm non-Christians, not believers

B. CATASTROPHE #6

“The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. 17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.” (Revelation 9:13–19, NIV84)

1. the 6th Judgment will be so fierce that John writes The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come

a. this Judgment releases four angels declared to be bound in the great river Euphrates who in turn release an army of two hundred million upon the world

b. who makes up this army is vigorously debated (obviously ... this is Revelation)

1) some are throughly convinced that it’s the Communist Chinese perhaps with allies

2) some are throughly convinced that it’s another demonic army turned loose

3) and some are convinced that it’s God’s heavenly host ... the angels of heaven sent to accomplish God’s judgment much like the Death Angel who moved throughout Egypt during the 10th Plague of Exodus

c. whoever make up this army, John hears the exact time for which they have been prepared: the hour, day, month, and year

1) this means that God determines the exact moment and extent of the judgment

2) they cannot act before He allows, and they cannot do more than He allows

d. but what God allows this unbelievably large army to do is kill one-third of the Earth’s inhabitants

ILLUS. By the time of the sixth Trumpet Judgment it’s hard to know how many people remain living. But based on the current estimated world population of 7.6 billion people, during this final judgment, upwards of 2.5 billion of the world’s inhabitants die.

2. never since Noah has such a substantial proportion of the earth's population come under God's righteous judgment

a. those who die, die by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur

III. CATASTROPHIC RESISTANCE TO GOD’S GRACE

“The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20–21, NIV84)

1. I have walked you through six cataclysmic judgments to get you to this verse and the

three great truths I want you to walk away with

2. there is an unbelievable, and catastrophic (spiritually speaking) resistance to God

A. THE DEPRAVITY OF THE HUMAN HEART SHOULD NOT SURPRISE US

1. in spite of the dramatic judgments inflicted by God, those who survive are declared to be unrepentant

a. such is the hardness of the human heart

1) even though faced by worldwide destruction and divine judgment from God men will refuse to repent and turn to God in faith

2. the character of their wickedness is unfolded in these verses

a. 1st, they do not repent of the evil works of their hands

b. 2nd, they do not repent of their worship of devils, or demons, and the worship of idols

3. this is nothing new and should not surprise us

“The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5, NIV84)

ILLUS. Late last week I read something on Facebook posted by one of our young adults. It was one of those tests you can take to find something out about yourself. Facebook is full of that kind of stuff. This one was “Accurate Psychology Test Will Reveal Your Deepest Darkest Self.” Well, yeah. That’s something I really want to know. My response was, “You don't need an online psychology test to teach you about your deepest darkest self. You just need the Prophet Jeremiah!” “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV)

4. when Jonah preached to Nineveh revival broke out at the mere pronouncement of impending judgment

a. at the end of the age actual judgment will not move the hearts of men toward repentance

b. men will be like Pharaoh in the face of the plagues on Egypt ... they will harden their hearts instead

B. THE FIERCENESS OF THESE JUDGEMENTS WILL NOT HARM US

1. I believe that these judgements take place over the course of the first 3½ years of the Great Tribulation

a. how quickly each judgment follows on the heels of the previous judgment we’re simply not told

2. part of God’s judgement even involves turning loose the Devil and his demonic cohorts upon the world

a. but the passage is clear ... they can only afflict those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads

ILLUS. I’ve always wondered what must it been like for the Hebrews in Egypt to witness all their Egyptian masters, and neighbors suffering through those God-wrought plagues while they did not. When the Egyptian pours water out of a pitcher it’s blood. When a Hebrews does so, it’s water! While the Egyptians are lancing boils on their bodies, the Hebrews are given a clean bill of health by their dermatologist. While Egyptians are bedeviled by flies and gnats and frogs, the Hebrews are not. And how the Egyptians must have been agitated that the Hebrews were not suffering. I think this is what it will be like during the Great Tribulation. Just as God miraculously singled-out and protected His people then, so he will single-out and protect His people through these judgments. He did it once. Why can’t he do it again?

C. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD SHOULD COMFORT US

1. as difficult as those days will be—even for believers, these two chapters remind us that the catastrophic events that will take place are never outside of God’s control

a. God will declare when they start and when they stop, He will decide their place and their extent

1) the first four judgments demonstrate that God, as the Creator, is Sovereign over the universe

2) the next two judgments demonstrate that God is Sovereign over the affairs of men—we are not the autonomous, fully-in-control-of-our-destiny people we consider ourselves to be

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