The Critical Mass

Revelation 8:1-5

The Critical Mass

“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.  Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.  And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.  Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.”[1]

o you ever wonder whether your prayers are heard?  Do you ever question whether your prayers have an impact?  I suspect that each of us has, at one time or another questioned whether our prayers truly make a difference.  I encourage prayer, for your prayers have a far greater impact than you could ever imagine.

In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, I notice a surprising statement concerning what God is doing with the prayers of His people.  The prayers of God’s people appear to be stored up before the throne of God until they reach a critical mass, at which time they will be returned to the earth as mercy is transformed into judgement.

The Seventh Seal — The text describes judgements that will be sent against this unbelieving world during the Great Tribulation.  The one reading the Book of the Apocalypse will see that the book is divided into three parts: the things that John saw—the Risen Son of God, the things that are—a description of this present age, and the things that are to take place [see Revelation 1:19].  As John opens the Fourth Chapter, he directs the gaze of all who live during this present Age of Grace to a dark future following the removal of the people of God from the earth.

The next event on God’s Timetable is the removal of His people out of the world.  Paul speaks of that event in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.  “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”  This knowledge provides great encouragement to the weary child of God.

This same truth is declared in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.  “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

The child of God can take great comfort in the knowledge that “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him” [1 Thessalonians 5:9].

In John’s vision, after God’s people are removed out of the earth, the Court of Heaven is convened and John sees a scroll in the hand of Him who is seated on the throne [Revelation 5:1].  It has been suggested that the scroll that the Lord God holds in His hand is the title deed to the earth.[2]  Perhaps Dr. Criswell’s suggestion is correct.  He says that this is “a book of redemption,”[3] including the account of God throughout the long ages of history until the consummation of His salvation.  However, I am forced to confess that I do not know what the scroll is, though it is obviously important to God’s work.

Whatever the book may be or whatever it may represent, it is important in bringing about the consummation of salvation.  Writing is seen both on the inside and on the back of this book; there is no room to add anything to what has been written in this scroll.  The scroll is sealed with seven seals so that no one will be able to open the scroll.  John was so distressed by this knowledge that he wept loudly [Revelation 5:2-4], until his lamentation was interrupted by the word of one of the elders who stopped him and consoled him, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals” [Revelation 5:5].

The Lamb of God, the crucified and resurrected Son of God, amidst songs of praise by the redeemed saints of God and to the accompaniment of loud acclamations delivered by myriads and myriads of angels, takes the scroll from the hand of the True and Living God.  Then, as He breaks each of the seals in succession, divine judgements are pronounced upon earth dwellers.  At last, those who have chosen to be fully identified as belonging to the present world are held accountable for rejecting divine mercy and grace.  What frightful judgement awaits those who live for self and for the moment.

As each seal is broken, the successive judgements pronounced are accompanied by loud commands and cries.  When the first of the seven seals was broken, one of the Cherubs—one of the “Living Creatures”—roared, “with a voice like thunder, ‘Come’” [Revelation 6:1]!  The second “Living Creature” likewise boomed out a deafening command as the second seal was broken [Revelation 6:3], and the third “Living Creature” spoke with that same thunderous voice as the third seal was broken [Revelation 6:5].  In the midst of the “Living Creatures,” John heard another voice crashing upon his ears.  As the fourth seal was broken, the fourth “Living Creature” commanded with a voice like thunder, “Come” [Revelation 6:7].

As the fifth seal is broken, John saw “the souls of those who were slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne.”  Under the altar of God, they cry out, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth” [Revelation 6:9, 10].  As the sixth seal is broken, those dwelling on the earth cry out to the mountain and the rocks, asking them to fall on them so that they can escape the judgement that has at last come on them [Revelation 6:16].

With the opening of this seal, there is “silence in heaven for about half an hour” [Revelation 8:1].  This is an astonishing observation by the Apostle John.  In every other instance where he gives a description of Heaven, that holy place is filled with praise and sounds of worship.  Heaven is a noisy place, filled with joyous shouts and songs that have never been sung on the earth.  However, as the seventh seal is broken, there is silence for “about half an hour.”  No angel speaks; no elder shouts for joy.  Silence reigns.

As a boy, growing up in Kansas, I have frequently watched storms arise in the West and move toward the east.  A cloud would rise, and in a very brief time grow to an immense thundercloud.  The wind would pick up, and the hot, humid air would turn cold.  Soon, the wind would begin to blow.  No one panicked, even as the wind began to blow.  However, all at once, the wind would cease and a pervasive silence would blanket the earth.  The birds would cease singing; no breeze whispered through the leaves; the livestock would grow quiet.  It was time to find shelter; a storm was coming.

The breaking of the seventh seal unleashes the next heptad of divine judgements.  The judgements of God cascade onto the earth dwellers, each set of seven judgements concluding with the announcement of yet another septenary of judgements.  However, it is not the judgements that attract my attention at this time; it is not even the drama of watching the worship in Heaven unfold before my eyes that occupies my attention at this time.  It is the fact that as the people of God pray, their prayers play a role in the consummation of the ages far beyond anything that anyone could ever have imagined.

God is Creator of all things; and as Creator, He alone has the right to rule.  Awesome though His judgements are, He is just and righteous even in His judgement.  Christians, particularly, should read these words with understanding of what God is doing and why He is telling us what is coming on the earth.  He is telling us so that we will be moved with compassion to warn those who have tied their lives to this transient moment called “now.”  He tells us so that we will have confidence that despite the appearance that chaos now reigns, He is in control and all history is moving toward a consummation that He has foretold.  He informs us of what is coming on the earth so that we will prepare ourselves for that day, living righteous and holy lives that glorify Him and earn the respect of those watching the impact of His Spirit in our lives.

The Impact of Your Prayers in Heaven — As John watches the worship of the redeemed in Heaven, he is careful to note that the prayers of the saints ascend from the golden altar situated before the throne of God.  As the prayers ascend, they are accompanied by incense to ensure a sweet aroma rising before the Lord.  The scene is reminiscent of Noah worshipping when the ark had at last alit on Ararat.  Upon stepping out of the ark, “Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma” [Genesis 8:20, 21], He blessed mankind.

Incense on the altar pictured God’s view of prayer for ancient Jewish worshippers [e.g. Exodus 30:1; Psalm 141:2].  When the Master taught that men “ought always to pray” [Luke 18:1], He implicitly spoke of God’s delight in receiving prayer.  Moreover, He spoke in an eschatological context.  Did you notice how this particular periscope ends?  “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth” [Luke 18:8]?

As I review the text before us, I note several points of greatest significance.  First, the prayers of the saints arise as a sweet aroma before the Lord God.  John states, “the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God” [verse 4].  This is not the only time that the Revelation equates the prayers of God’s people to incense.  In Revelation 5:8, we read of the blood-bought redeemed as they worship in Heaven, “the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”  The twenty-four elders symbolise the redeemed people of God who have been removed at the Rapture.

John uses poetic language to inform us that God delights to receive our prayers.  Among the Psalms is a statement that is an encouragement for us as we pray.  David says,

“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you.”

[Psalm 141:2]

Perhaps it is beneficial for us to remember that when we speak of prayers, we are speaking of requests.  The Greek term is proseuché, which when used as a technical religious term implies a request for help, made by speaking to a deity.  “Prayer is usually in the form of a petition…”[4]  Prayer is asking.  This is not to disparage meditation on the Word of God or even praising God, but prayer is asking.

Prayer, as taught in the Word of God, implies awareness of the One to whom we are speaking.  It is not simply that we are reciting words; but, rather, it is that we are actually communicating needs to Him who hears and answers prayer.  Prayer implies that we anticipate an answer, in contradistinction to merely flinging a wish heavenward.  Prayer indicates that we know God and that we anticipate His answer.

Undoubtedly, you remember the promise Jesus made to all who are His disciples.  “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” [John 14:13, 14].  Whenever we petition the Master, we are encouraged to present our requests in a submissive spirit, willing to accept God’s decision and knowing that He will do what is right.  When we pray, we stand in the place of the Son of God, asking as though He were making the request.  Moreover, we have assured ourselves that the request seeks God’s glory and not our own ends.  We deliberately are asking that the glory of the Son will be advanced as God gives what we ask.  Jesus says that if we pray in this manner, He will do what we ask.

No wonder, then, that the prayers of the saints delight the Lord God.  They ask to the praise of His glory, and they are seeking to glorify His beloved Son.  God delights to receive such prayers, knowing that they arise from hearts that love Him and that seek His honour.  Recall the stern warning the Lord issued against His people through Malachi.  “A son honours his father, and a servant his master.  If then I am a father, where is my honour?  And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you”  [Malachi 1:6].  We honour the Lord by praying as Jesus taught, and we know that our prayers are received as beautiful and glorious before the Lord God.

The prayers of the saints are heard by Him who is seated on the throne.  One of the beautiful titles given to the Lord our God is “You who hears prayer” [Psalm 65:2].  On one occasion, Jesus called for those professing to follow Him to commit themselves fully to Him.  However, many of those disciples, hearing His words, said, “This is a hard saying, who can listen to it” [John 6:60]?  When the Master continued by pointing out that mere association was insufficient to secure eternal life, “many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him” [John 6:66].

Observing the fickle nature of these professed disciples, Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”  Peter, answering for the entire group, responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” [John 6:68, 69].

To whom shall we go?  To whom shall we turn?  God, and God alone, hears prayer; and God alone answers prayer.  So it is that John sees the prayers of the saints ascend before the Lord, knowing that God observes His people and that God hears their cries.  In the Psalms, the Psalmist asserts, “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” [Psalm 34:17].  Solomon attests that the Lord “hears the prayer of the righteous” [Proverbs 15:29].  There is no other to whom we can pray, for there is no other God who hears our cries.

The Prayers of the saints are turned against those who reject God’s mercies.  Perhaps you have not presented imprecatory prayers before the Lord, but at some time, you have undoubtedly asked for relief from the pressures arising from opposition and protection from calumny that you faced.  You have quite likely sought His righteousness in your decisions.  You have no doubt asked for mercy and pleaded for divine comfort when you were ridiculed for righteousness sake.  As you sought Christ’s glory and as you pleaded for His righteousness to be known throughout the world, you were setting the stage for God’s wrath to be poured out on an unbelieving world.

Whenever we pray,

“Your Kingdom come,

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven,”

[Matthew 6:10]

we are in fact praying an eschatological prayer—we are praying for the Millennial reign of our Lord to come and for the will of the Father to be accomplished.  We are asking that all that is associated with the rule of Christ the Lord will at last be implemented.

God does not ignore His saints.  During the Great Tribulation, many of those turning to the Messiah Jesus will be violently killed.  John writes, “When [the Lamb] 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 witness they had borne” [Revelation 6:9].  When speaking of those killed during the Great Tribulation, the Word of God uses a graphic word that means “to butcher,” or “to violently murder.”  It is a ritualistic word used of the slaughter of an animal for sacrifice, properly slain by cutting the animal’s throat.

Consequently, this is the same word used to describe the Lamb who comes to take the scroll from the hand of the Father in order to break the seals.  In Heaven, the Lamb of God will bear the marks that reveal His sacrifice on our behalf.  His life was violently taken from Him, and eternally, those marks that purchased our salvation will be apparent.

These slaughtered brothers, counted by the earth dwellers as dead, still speak.  Their blood cries out to God, as surely as their words pleaded with Him for mercy, and the plea rising up to the heavens is “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth” [Revelation 6:10].

God does not ignore them, but they are “told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete” [Revelation 6:11].  God is patient, extending mercy to all; yet, His seeming inactivity permits the death of saints.  In the same way, as the people of God now pray, so the God of Mercy hears their cries.  He has not forsaken His people, and He shall at last turn back on the heads of all who have persecuted His holy people the judgements they meted out against the godly.

During the dark days of the old Soviet empire, the story is told of Christians who were persecuted under the regime of one of the countries isolated behind the Iron Curtain.  As one of the saints was suffering under the torture of his tormentors, an inquisitor asked, “Where is your God now, Christian?”  The child of God is reported to have quietly looked at the one mocking him, before saying, “He is driving nails in the tyrant’s coffin.”  God will not long ignore His suffering people; He will answer their prayer in His time.

Prayer!  Your Role in the Consummation of the Age — Listen again to the words of the text.  “Another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.  Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake” [Revelation 8:3-5].

God has not called Christians to make prophecy happen, as some mistakenly imagine.  However, God has given us a charge; He calls us to be His “fellow workers” [see 1 Corinthians 3:9].  We fulfil this divine mandate as we obey Him—fulfilling the tasks He assigns each of us; and we especially fulfil this charge through our prayers.  As Christians, we have been assigned the awesome task of telling others of the love and the mercy of Christ the Lord, bringing them into the fellowship of the Body and instructing them in the truths of Christ the Lord [e.g. Matthew 28:19, 20].  We are also responsible to wisely employ the gifts that the Spirit of God has entrusted to each of us in order that together we can build up the Body, encourage fellow saints and console those who mourn [see Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 14:3].

How does prayer fit into our present responsibility as Christians?  As I read the text, I realise there is an amazing connection between the prayers of God’s people and the conclusion of the age.  In our text, the prayers of God’s people are gathered, and as they are offered up to the Lord, they become the instrument God uses to bring the age to its appointed conclusion.  By His sovereign choice, God has appointed the prayers of His people to be the instrument that brings the judgement of the earth to its great consummation.  Let me explore that somewhat more fully with you.

I read that a priestly angel comes and stands before the golden altar that is situated before the throne of God.  The altar is golden, and the censer in his hand is golden, as though God is telling us that the prayers of His people are valuable.  The angel is not a mediator, forwarding our prayers to God, but instead God is informing us that all Heaven joins with us in prayer for the glory of the Lord to be revealed.

Prayer can seem a lonely business for the saint of God.  Perhaps you imagine that you are all alone, that no one knows the sorrow you feel, the desperation you experience.  You perhaps imagine that you are struggling all alone against the forces of darkness.  However, all Heaven joins you in prayer, as God moves time toward a great conclusion.  When the prayers of the saints reach the appointed proportion, God will act.

Perhaps the saints of the Most High appear insignificant in the eyes of mankind; but in the sight of God, you who are His people are of great worth.  Great, cosmic cataclysms are held back on the account of God’s people.  In Heaven, the praise of the angels gives way to silence so that the prayers of God’s people can be heard.  God, with this text, is saying that your prayers are vital to His purpose.

As silence reigns in Heaven, the angel-priest comes to offer incense upon the altar.  All Heaven watches as the prayers of God’s people are gathered up so that they can be offered up before Him.  When the prayers, together with the incense, have at last risen before the throne of God, the priestly angel fills the golden censer he is holding with “fire from the altar” and throws it down to the earth.  At last, the awful silence is broken; there are “peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”  Fiery, terrifying judgement has begun!

Throughout the remainder of the book, we witness a contrast between the smoke accompanying the prayers of God’s people and the smoke of judgement.  Here, the “smoke of the incense” rises up before the throne of God.  We see smoke again in Revelation 9:2, but there, it is smoke rising out of the bottomless pit as incarcerated demons are released to torment the earth.  Here, we see the smoke as worship; there, we see the smoke as judgement.  When we at last arrive at the account of the judgements of those who are lost [Revelation 14:11; 19:3], “the smoke” speaks of their eternal torment.

Think of that for a moment.  We pray for the salvation of the lost.  We plead with God to save our friends, to be merciful to our family members.  However, should they reject His mercy, they invite His wrath.  You see, divine judgement is nothing other than the dreadful side of rejected faith and of love refused.  At one moment, the censer is used to burn incense to accompany the prayers of God’s people.  At the next, the same censer, the same fire, the same ingredients, are flung to the earth to initiate judgement.  The terrible judgements that will be poured out on the earth are nothing other than the graces that once ascended before the Lord from the golden altar.  Now, those graces that once ascended, having been refused are, flung down to earth where they serve to judge the lost.

Paul spoke of the awful knowledge that our life and our witness serve as both a blessing and as a curse.  “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life” [2 Corinthians 2:15, 16].

Think of that.  When our children witness us praying, when they see us worshipping, when they know that we are seeking to honour the Lord, they are inviting judgement should they reject your testimony.  When our colleagues refuse to heed our pleas for them to consider Christ, the mercy they have spurned will be returned to them as judgement.  Indeed, with the Apostle we marvel, “Who is sufficient for these things” [2 Corinthians 2:16b]?

Surely, the Lord God is merciful to those who heed His call to repent and believe the message of life.  However, should we know what is right and true, and yet reject that truth, what remains for us other than His judgement?  If we treat with casual disdain the grace God offers, what is left except judgement?

In the Letter to the Hebrew Christians, we are warned, “If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’  And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” [Hebrews 10:26-31].

I tremble at the thought that even among those who listen are some who have never received the grace of God.  They are good people; they are kind people.  But, they are lost.  I know that as I have prayed for you, as I have prayed for your families, though some among us are religious, yet those same people remain unsaved.  The knowledge that one day my prayers, together with all the pleas presented by God’s people for mercy, will return in judgement humbles me and causes me to fear for those who are lost.

Those words in that fifth verse are stunning, terrible in their solemnity: “Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.”  With that verse, God is warning us that what awaits this unbelieving world is judgement, death, destruction and eternal ruin for all who say “No” to the spirit of grace.  All who turn from righteousness to pursue what feels right in their eyes shall surely face the awesome judgements spoken of in this book.

With the prophet of old, I plead with you who are yet outside the realm of grace, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”  God now pleads with all mankind, “Turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die” [Ezekiel 33:11].  Believe the message of life and be saved.  Turn now from the judgement that is coming.

Dear people of God, your prayers are powerful.  Would you know what is the greatest power in all the world?  Surely, the prayers of God’s people serve as the greatest power in all the world.  Would you know the deep secrets of our destiny?  It is to judge the world.  And the means of judgement are the prayers we have offered up to the Father.  Those prayers will return to the earth as fire and judgement.  More powerful, more potent that all the dark powers of this fallen world are the prayers of God’s people set ablaze by the fire of God and cast onto the earth.

The message concludes with a call for Christians to commit themselves to prayer.  Commit yourself to pray, knowing that the Lord Jesus is glorified through your prayers.  As you pray, the power of God is increasingly evidenced among His people; and as you pray, judgement is gathering against those who have rejected grace.  Surely, that knowledge alone should impel us as Christians to pray mightily.  Our friends and our family members who are lost need to hear our pleas that are driven by a desire for God’s glory and that are driven by our compassion for their peril.

For all who are outside the precincts of grace, we invite you to receive the grace of God now, while it is freely offered.  God states that His salvation is free to all who are willing to accept it.  The Word of God is quite clear when it says, “By grace you [are] saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” [Ephesians 2:8, 9].

No clearer statement of life is provided that that which the Apostle provides in his letter to the Christians in Rome.  “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”  Paul concludes that plea for all to receive God’s great salvation by citing the prophet Joel: “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10, 13].

Believe the message of Christ and be saved.  Accept His mercy and grace today.  Turn to Him and accept the life that is freely offered in Christ Jesus the Lord.  Do it today.  Do it now.  Amen.

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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] e.g. John MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Revelation 1-11 (Moody Press, Chicago, IL 1999) 164

[3] W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation, Volume Three (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI 1964) 56

[4]Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg and Neva F. Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 2000), 333