CONNECTING HEAVEN AND EARTH

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Opening Prayer

Father, may Your Word penetrate my heart, enliven my mind, infuse my spirit and encourage my walk with You.

Read REVELATION 8:1–13

^[1] When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ^[2] And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. ^[3] Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. ^[4] The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. ^[5] Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. ^[6] Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. ^[7] The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on 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. ^[8] 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. ^[10] 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. ^[12] 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. ^[13] 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!”

Meditate

“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” (Ezek. 18:23). Praise God for his grace.

Think Further

As the focus again turns to judgment, we are confronted with the contrast between the tranquility and order of the heavenly scenes and the chaos and turmoil on earth. There is something connecting the two, however—the prayers of the saints, mixed with the incense. We have heard the worship of the elders (representing the people of God; Rev. 4,5) and the cry of the saints under the altar (Rev. 6). Each time we pray “hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done,” we make connections between earth and heaven (Matt. 6:9,10).

The disasters that unfold as the trumpets are sounded follow the pattern of the seven seals, though with greater intensity. There are echoes of the plagues sent on Egypt as a warning to recognize God and let his people go, and echoes, too, of real events in the world of John’s readers; the blazing mountain (8) looks very much like the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. If the recipients of the seven messages in chapters 2 and 3 are going to compromise their faith to retain a stake in the world around them, they need to know the wrath that will be unleashed on that world.

John has already presented God as Almighty (Rev. 4:8), the one who sees all and is sovereign over all. Yet he is reticent to portray these events as being directed by God. Although the angels stand before the throne, they have only an oblique role in what is happening. The earth “was burned up” (7), the mountain “was thrown” (8), and the sun, moon and stars are “struck” (12). These events represent the outcome of the outcome of humankind’s rebellion, and not God’s desire for his creation. The first time God acts directly, from the throne, it is to pronounce that God is now present with humanity, that all pain is over and that he is making “everything new” (Rev. 21:3–5).

Apply

When you are at home, do you need to have some noise around you, or do you need silence (1)? Which one and why?

Closing prayer

Gracious Lord, may Your name be hallowed, Your kingdom come and Your will be done in my life today.

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