Chapters 7,8 and 9 Revelation 7:1 – 11:19
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER 7: AN INTERLUDE FOR REASSURANCE
7.1: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.
This is a picture of world-wide scope. "The four corners of the earth" is a phrase used in Isaiah 11.12 of the ultimate regathering of the exiles of Judah and Israel, and in Ezekiel 7.2 (where in its context it must be so limited) to the entire compass of the doomed land. So the four corners mean the uttermost limits of the area under consideration. In Revelation, where the kings and mighty men of the earth have just been introduced to us (6.15), it is clear that the entire earth is intended.
The point is still further emphasized by the four winds of the earth, a phrase used in Jeremiah 49.36 of the international forces to be gathered against Elam, as a result of which "there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come". In Ezekiel Israel is to be scattered to "all winds" or "every wind" (5.12; 12.14; 17.21), and it is "from the four winds" that the breath is to come to the land to give life to the nation's dry bones (37.9), interpreted on the spot as the regathering of the people from among the nations (37.12, 21). More directly to the point, when in Daniel 7.2; 8.8; 11.4, the four winds strive on the Mediterranean Sea, or the legatees of Alexander assume power in four directions over his wide empire, the nations of the world are clearly involved. Zechariah 2.6-13 refers to the widespread scattering of exiled Israel and Judah and their regathering.
In the New Testament the symbolism of Ezekiel and of Zechariah is taken up of the gathering together of God's saints from all nations (Matthew 24.32; Mark 13.27), a fact particularly appropriate to this chapter, where it is the sealing of God's saints, wherever they may be found, which we shall discover to be its theme. It is true that the winds here are winds of retribution and judgement for the world, but it is for the wide world in which the saints of God are living.
7.2:7 saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the Living God: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the
servants of our God on their foreheads.
The servants of our God are to be told that they are safe in God's care before He pours out His judgements on a wicked world. No wind shall blow until they are sealed on their foreheads. The word forehead is a speciality of this book, for the Greek metopon occurs here eight times (7.3; 9.4; 13.16; 14.1, 9; 17.5; 20.4; 22.4), and elsewhere in NT not at all. It is used in the Greek of Exodus 28.38, 38 for the forehead of Aaron on which the golden plate, engraved HOLY TO THE LORD, was to be exhibited; in 1 Samuel 17.49, 49 for the spot where David's stone struck Goliath; in 2 Chronicles 26.19, 20 for the spot where the leprosy broke out on rebellious King Uzziah; in Isaiah 48.4 for the hardened brow of rebellious Judah; and especially in Ezekiel 9.4, which we quote in' detail:
Set a mark in the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations . . . Goye through the city and smite; let not your <ye spare . , . but come not near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at My sanctuary.
The brow of the saint of God is not hardened against Him. He is a priest to his God and bears gladly for all to see the inscription HOLY TO THE LORD (for that is what a saint is). Like the chosen faithful of Ezekiel's sad times, he is to be saved from the things that God will soon inflict on the world. In what sense he will be "saved" more must later be said, but ultimately, at all events, "not a hair of his head will perish". It is his safeguard, specifically, under the Fourth Trumpet (9.4), and it stands in sharp contract to another mark imposed by another power upon its own follow-ers(13.16; 14.9; 20.4). It becomes plain as the Book proceeds that these are the two divisions into which mankind will be irreconcilably divided shortly before the Lord returns.
The reference to the earth, the sea, or any tree anticipates references later to judgements on all these spheres: on the earth in 8.5, 9; 9.1, 3; 16.2; on the sea in 8.8; 16.3; and on the trees in '8.7; 9.4. These, then, are the judgements which are to be deferred until the sealing process has been carried out: that is, before God brings any of these afflictions on the world, He will have assured His own people, as He is doing here, that their own ultimate security is safeguarded. The four angels, who are charged with delaying their punishments on the earth until the sealing is concluded, are very probably the same as those in the Sixth Trumpet (8.2; 9.13) "bound at the great river Euphrates", and at that point we are very close indeed to the last phase of God's conflict with the world, when the saints will need all the assurance which this Book offers that they are safe in God's keeping.
7.4-8:1 heard the number of them which were sealed, 144,000 out of every tribe of the children of Israel. Of the tribes of Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin, 12,000 each.
At first sight this looks like a thoroughly Israelitish picture, with the authentic tribes named and numbers given, almost as though w.e were back at the numbering of the tribes around the Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Numbers 2.1-34; 26.1-62). Even the Tabernacle itself is represented by the heavenly shrine at which John is present in his vision, with its mercy seat and incense and altar (4.2ff; 6.9). But this impression of literality is quickly dissipated. The numbers, at exactly 12,000 per tribe, are too artificial to be a real estimate of the number of faithful people within each of the tribes of natural Israel. No attention is paid to the four tribal groupings in Numbers, Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan (at East, South, West, and North respectively). Dan is omitted completely. Levi is counted among the twelve tribes, while in the Numbers reckoning the tribe was considered apart, centered on the Tabernacle rather than being grouped with any of the other tribes. Is it conceivable that each tribe should produce exactly 12,000 faithful, save Dan which would produce none?
The name of Ephraim, too, appears to be omitted from the list, but this is more apparent than real. Mention is made of both Manasseh and Joseph, and since Manasseh was the elder son displaced from his birthright in favour of Ephraim by his grandfather Jacob, he must appear under his own name, while Ephraim can properly be called Joseph as the legal heir of that son (Genesis 48.8-20).
The meaning of the 144,000.
At first glance there are two groups of saints in this chapter, the 144,000 (drawn from most of the tribes of Israel), and an innumerable multitude (7.8) (drawn from all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues), and many expositors have concluded that they are two different bodies of people. Most notorious among these
Thus Peter Watkins (EAF) writes, "Repeatedly, emphatically, they are declared to be Israelites. The twelve tribes are mentioned, one by one: from each of the tribes 12,000 are sealed. It is not suggested that the numbers are to be taken literally; that there are exactly 12,000 from Manasseh, and not a single one from Dan. . .". He lists three contrasts between the 144,000 and the Great Multitude: ,i. that John heard the former and beheld the latter; ii. that the number is specified for the former and not for the latter; and iii. that the former is Israel and the latter all nations;, and concludes "These three points are sufficient to
are the Jehovah's Witnesses, whose teaching, in brief, is this:
There are to be exactly 144,000 exalted persons who "are to serve as kings in the heavenly New Jerusalem . . . who alone enter the heavenly New Jerusalem . . ." ("Then is Finished the Mystery of God", New York 1969, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society pages 88-89). They are not all Israelites atter the tlesh, but the unfinished number from the time when Jesus Christ came is made up of specially privileged people of all races, the inmost circle of Jehovah's Witnesses. The heavenly Jerusalem where they will live is truly in heaven, of which the Mount Zion of 14.1-5 is symbolic. Some members of this exalted company formed part of the Seven Congregations of Asia (p. 94), because they are called "kings and priests" (1.5). They make up the "little flock" of Luke 12.32, as distinct from the "other sheep" (John 10.16) who are not of this prime fold. "In due time Jesus Christ shares this 'new name' with His 144,000 joint heirs . . . No other creatures in heaven or on earth will be prvileged to share in that very private, most intimate, new relationship of Jesus Christ with His God Jehovah." (p. 179). The "other sheep" make up the "great multitude" who, "although not being spiritual Israelites, are in a proper spiritual condition to have a standing before God . . . God is pleased to give them recognition from His heavenly throne by assigning them a part in the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy . . . The 'great crowd' carries on an expanded part in this Kingdom preaching along with the anointed remnant of spiritual Israelites who act as 'ambassadors substituting for Christ' (2 Corinthians 5.20). . . The 'great crowd' act as envoys under supervision of these Kingdom heirs" (pp. 206-208). It appears that few present-day Jehovah's Witnesses' regard themselves as belonging to the 144,000, and it also appears that there is some subjective means whereby those who are aware of it, for only these partake of that Society's annual breaking of bread.
Apart from the inconsistency of seeking to be half literal and half not, this reading of the chapter and of the rest of Scripture on the point is readily disposed of on other grounds: so readily, in fact, that it would not have been given attention in this book were not so many people influenced by it, and so many true believers
demonstrate that whereas the 144,000 represent the redeemed of Israel before the door of opportunity was finally closed to them, the 'great multitude' represents, as the words imply, the redeemed from all nations" (pp. 151-152). It is curious that the tribal names are to be taken literally and the numbers not, an evident weakness in the case.
H.A. Whittaker (RBA), however, takes the two groups as being identical, giving independently some of the reasons advanced here (pages 92-98).
The treatment of the same subject by John Thomas is said by JJ. Hadley (I A p. 94) to be voluminous and diffuse, and is in any case concerned with his view that the sealing took place primarily in the days of Constantine, an opinion which cannot be accommodated within the compass of the present exposition, and has little intrinsic probability.
confronted with the necessity of combatting it.
First, negatively: the distinction drawn between the "little flock" of Luke 12.32 and the "other sheep" of John 10.16 is unreal, and can only have been arrived at by sewing crudely together two verses drawn from entirely different contexts. In Luke the "flock" is "little", not in relation to another and larger flock, but in relation to the enemies of the gospel. There are not two different flocks of believers: there is one "little flock" of believers opposed to a large multitude of enemies.
But second, positively, it is remarkable that John "hears" the numbers sealed of the twelve tribes of Israel, but then says "I saw, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, out of every nation, and of all tribes, and peoples, and tongues" (7.9). It is as though John says, "I heard one thing with my eyes closed, but when I opened my eyes I saw something quite different. Instead of a precisely counted 144,000 I saw a countless multitude, and instead of Israel only I saw all nations". How better, in the dramatic guise of this Book, could the Author of all truth have set out for our guidance that the elect of God are not exclusively drawn from natural Israel, but are drawn from all nations. John is witnessing in his vision the inmost truth of the expansion of the gospel to all, wherever they are from, who truly believe in the God of Abraham as He is now revealed in Jesus Christ.
This is further confirmed by the fact that no blessings whatever are referred to the 144,000 as such. They are merely "sealed". It is only of the "great multitude" from all nations that John hears that they are arrayed in white (7.13), that they have come successfully through the great tribulation, and that they stand before the throne of God in His temple (7.15), in the immediate presence of the Lamb (7.17). So far from (as the Jehovah's Witnesses suppose), the 144,000 being in heaven, and the great multitude in some lesser situation on earth, in fact the great multitude is, in the Apocalypse's language, in the heavenly temple, and are plainly in a position of privilege which cannot be bettered. The fact that when the 144,000 are again referred to (in 14.1-5), we are told that they are "redeemed from the earth" (14.3), and "follow the Lamb wherever He goeth" (14.4 = 7.17), further establishes that they are the same people as the "great multitude".
It follows, therefore, that John in his vision is being taught to declare, what John in waking life already knew, that the redeemed of God are not chosen on account of their fleshly descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but on account of their faith in the God of these patriarchs, and in the Seed appointed to them, so that, being in Christ, they are "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promises" (Galatians 3.29). John is conveying to us what Peter learned in his vision at Joppa, that "all manner of four-footed beasts, and creeping things of the earth, and fowls of the heaven" (Acts 10.12; 11.6), had been sanctified by the grace of God. "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common," Peter had learned; and that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek'" was the lesson brought home through John to all his readers in Revelation 7. (See Galatians 3.28; Colossians 3.11). This is entirely as we should expect. It is impossible on the one hand that the gospel should break down the "middle wall or partition" (Ephesians 2.14), which used to divide Jew from Gentile, and that this partition should then be re-erected when we speak of the glory of the future kingdom. The distinction between the Jew who believes in Christ, and the Gentile who believes in Him, is utterly eliminated, and Peter was to be blamed when, no doubt from the best of motives, he allowed himself even for a moment to interrupt his new-found willingness to "enter in unto men uncircumcized and eat with them" (Acts 11.2; Galatians 2.11-16).
This is not the only time when Revelation represents the multitude of God's redeemed by a symbolism formerly appropriate to natural Israel. The New Jerusalem which John is later to see has twelve gates bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (21.12), like its counterpart in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 48.SI-34); and a provocative parallel is suggested between these facts and a passage in the Gospels already referred to:
The 12 apostles sit on 12 thrones
The 12 apostles have their names on the 12 foundations of the New . Jerusalem
judging the 12 tribes of Israel
whose gates are named after the 12 tribes of Israel
The fact that both utterances come from the Lord Jesus suggest that He may have intended the second to be a commentary on the first, and that, though the disciples were indeed promised high rewards in the kingdom to come, it might be a mistake to link this too literally with the actual tribes of which natural Israel is made up. Just as the new "Israel of God" supersedes natural Israel within the framework of the gospel, and as Peter uses the typically Jewish word diaspora, or dispersion, to describe what is evidently a largely gentile community (1 Peter 1.1; 2.9-10), and James very probably uses both this word and the expression "twelve tribes" in a non-nationalistic way (James 1.1) — for there is nothing in his letter which would restrict its message to Jews
only — so here, certainly in chapter 7 and therefore at least probably in chapter 21, and hence in the promise in the Gospels, the twelve tribes form the basis on which the introduction of men and women of all nations is impressed on the prophet and on his readers (see Acts 10.35).
The omission of Dan from the names of the twelve tribes.
Since no reason is given in the inspired record, any explanation offered must be tentative. One such suggests that, since Dan lapsed into apostacy at an early stage in Israel's history (Judges 18), its name is blotted out. But this cannot be sustained for (1) notorious though Samson's faults were (Judges 13.3-25), he is still reckoned among the men of faith in Hebrews 11.32; (2) Dan figures in subsequent Old Testament history (2 Samuel 24.2; 2 Chronicles 2.14); (3) there is no such elimination of Dan from the list of tribes in the restored land in Ezekiel 48.1, 2, 32.
Possibly the meanings of the tribal names, as given by the mothers of Jacob's sons to their own and their adopted children,
See my ACTS and EPISTLES, pages 223-245.
"The view set out here has been opposed in R. Abel, "Wrested Scriptures", page 63, on the singular ground that it is "usually inconclusive"! The differences between the 144,000 and the great multitude, cited above as evidence in favour of the identification, are there offered as evidence against it. The author emphasizes the word "firstfruits" (14.4), so as to suggest that the 144,000 represents the saints who will be living at the time of the Lord's return (which is acceptable enough, though the same blessing must await all other saints, and is in harmony with the use of the same word in James 1.18). It is hard to see that "Christ the first-fruits" (1 Corinthians 15.22-23) offers any support to either view, since "they that are Christ's at His coming" are not obviously included in the term.
But to go on and suggest that the great multitude refers to the end of the Millennium (20.11-15) is to offer a very improbable interpretation indeed. Quite apart from the fact that those rewarded both at beginning and at end are certainly drawn from all nations, so that there could be no warrant for describing the former alone in Jewish terms, it should be noted that Revelation 7 is not concerned with resurrection and judgement at all. It is concerned with the sealing of the servants of God, so that they can be assured that they are not forgotten in the tribulations which are shortly to come. It would be utterly incongruous to bring in a post-Millennial group at this point, since it is said of this great multitude that "these are they which came out of the great tribulation" (7.14). This fits splendidly with the condition of those who have to endure the persecution to come (9.4), but has absolutely no bearing on the presumedly peaceable lives of those coming to obey the gospel during the Millennium. The objections raised in "Wrested Scriptures", in fact, only serve to strengthen the interpretation offered here.
may contribute to the answer. Thus, "The LORD hath looked on my affliction" (Reuben, Genesis 29.32); "the LORD hath heard that I am hated" (Simeon, 29.33); "now will my husband bejoined to me" (Levi, 29.34); "with mighty wrestlings I have prevailed" (Naphtali, 30.8); "fortunate" (Gad, 30.11 RV); "happy am I" (Asher, 30.13); "God hath given me my hire" (Issachar, 30.18); "now will my husband dwell with me" (Zebulun, 30.20); "the LORD add to me" (Joseph, 30.24); "God hath made me to forget all my toil" (Manasseh, 41.51); "this time will I praise the LORD" (Judah, 29.35); "son of the right hand" (Benjamin, 35.18). All of these contain messages of hope, confidence and reward; but "judgement" (Dan, 30.6) fits ill into this optimistic picture in Revelation 7, which is concerned with blessing and not with possible rejection.
All this being said, though, the interpretation remains conjectural; but what can be said with certainty is that the omission of Dan gives the coup de grace to any idea that the picture is one of the natural twelve tribes of Israel.
7.9: After these things I saw and, behold, a great multitude which no man could number, out of every nation, and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands.
This is the same multitude as that extolled by the heavenly host in 5.9-10, another good reason for believing that it is the same as the 144,000, which would otherwise be unaccountably absent from that scene. John has already taught us that the redemption of this multitude has been accomplished, and now he actually sees them in the glory which will be their own when the coming tribulation is over. Their robes, we learn, are white because they have been "washed in the blood of the Lamb" (7.14), and they bear palms just as the 'babes and sucklings' did when the Lord entered Jerusalem. Then it was to suffer, but now we are anticipating His return in triumph. The palms reflect a sort of Feast of Tabernacles with its thanksgiving and rejoicing (John 12.13; Leviticus 23.39-44;
7.10: They cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation to our God Who sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb.
This must mean, "Let us ascribe to God and to the Lamb praise for the salvation which they have accomplished", as it does in 12.10 and 19.1. It is as though the cry of "Hosanna!" ("Save, we pray!"), which they cried during the triumphal entry long ago, will now be cried again in its fulfillment, when the salvation which was then ignorantly asked for will truly have been accomplished, and translated into, "Thou hast saved us!" (Matthew 21.9, 15 ;
Psalm 118.1-29).
7.11: All the angels were standing round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God.
These are the angels of 5.11, now singing their doxology of ultimate triumph as the saints are seen in the glory shortly to be achieved. First they offer their own Amen to the thanksgivings of the saints and then, uttering their own song of praise, invite the reader of their words to give assent in his turn (see pages 28-29).
7.13: One of the elders answered, saying to me, These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence come they?
That the 'elder' should ask the question is by way of saying to John and all his readers: "You would like to know who these represent, would you not? Ask, and you will be told." For the answer is important to our understanding of much of the rest of this Book. Here we have another of the divinely provided clues as to how the Book is arranged, and only confusion and problems can arise from ignoring it. These people who are seen by John as having been sealed are those who must, when the Seventh Seal is opened, begin the last period of tribulation before the return of the Lord Jesus, and are being told that if they remain firm to the end they will be granted the privilege of entering the temple of God, now depicted symbolically in the heaven where John is given his visions, but then to be set up on the earth.
7.14: These are they which come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The blessings they will enjoy are repeated later of that glorious time, when they shall "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth" (14.4), and "God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes" (21.4).
7.15: Therefore are they before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike on them nor any heat: for the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne shall be their Shepherd, and shall guide them to fountains of waters of life; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
The passage is rich in allusions to other parts of Scripture, in both Testaments. We have Jesus promising Bread of Life, from eating which men shall never hunger (John 6.35), and also the Water of Life, after drinking which there is no thirst (4.14). We have Isaiah using words which are almost exactly quoted here:
"They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat or sun smite them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them (49.10). It would be hard to ignore the echoes of Psalm 23, with its words, "He leadeth me beside the still waters" (23.2); while the words already quoted in 1 Corinthians 15.54 about the triumph of the resurrection sound out again here in: "He hath swallowed up death in victory (for ever, RV); and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces" (Isaiah 25.8).
It is one of the most compelling indirect evidences of the divine inspiration of this remarkable Book that it should so artlessly draw on the treasury of Scriptures past, as though the anguished writer in the quarries of Patmos had all the time in the world to consult his concordance, and present us — for all the crudities which they tell us his Greek contains — with so polished a picture of the whole counsel of God.
CHAPTER VIII
8.1: THE SEVENTH SEAL
One of the principles of the present exposition has been, and remains, that we will not impose a structure on the Book of Revelation unless the Book itself tells us to do so. There are those who tell us that the Book has a 'telescopic' structure, which means that the first six seals follow in historical sequence, whereas the seventh seal includes all that is contained in the seven Trumpets which follow; while the seventh of these, in its turn, includes all the 'vials' of chapter 16. Whether this is so or not, the Book itself must inform us. Up to this point the answer is a qualified Yes: the first four Seals may not represent a sequence, but they are succeeded by the Fifth, and Sixth and Seventh, and this Seventh does immediately lead to the sounding of the Seven Trumpets. Even if the sealing of chapter 7 had not prepared us for it, therefore, it is plain that the Trumpets are to be compressed within the short period of time which follows on the expectation of the near return of the Lord, with which chapter 6 ends. The earth and sea are to be sorely "hurt" by the pending judgements of God (7.2-3), and now that the servants of God have been securely sealed there is nothing to prevent those judgements being executed.
8.1: When He opened the seventh seal, there followed silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels . which stand before God; and there were given to them seven trumpets.
Whatever problems may be presented by the "silence for about half an hour", there is no problem about the meaning of "heaven" in the present context. It is where John has been admitted in his vision (4.1), where in symbol the throne of God is to be found (4.2), and in which the Lamb now sits by His Father's side (5.3ff), opening the Book of the future. It is beneath the altar in this symbolic heavenly temple that John has seen the lives of those that were slain (6.9-11). Here is no 'political heaven' where the rulers of this world dwell but God does not. God's angels are here (8.1-5), and hither the prayers of the saints ascend (8.3). And there is as little warrant for convoluted double reasoning about the length of the half hour as there is for ignoring this meaning of the word 'heaven'. To take half an hour as a 24th of a day (which it is not), and, having made that into 1/24 of a year, and then go through the exercise again, taking the 15 days which this would represent and expanding them to 15 years, is to take liberties with
exposition after which nothing would be impossible. If we have to say simply that, when the Seventh Seal is opened, heaven holds its breath ever so briefly to give dramatic effect to the terrible things then to happen, then it is better to leave it so.
8.3: Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand.
During this period John sees enough to occupy the half-hour very profitably. Not only do the seven angels of retribution present themselves before the throne and receive their trumpets (8.2), but another angel emerges, and stands by the altar with his golden censer. Into this censer is silently filled the sweet incense, prepared for the worship of God, and to be used for this alone (Exodus 25.6; 37.29) and, as the prayers of the saints rise up from the afflicted earth, the incense intensifies and sanctifies their petitions, which thus come up acceptably before God. The same vessel from which the incense has been offered is then filled with fire from the altar, which is to be cast down to the earth when the silence is broken. This understanding of the half-hour is enhanced by the parallel between these verses and the great day of atonement (Leviticus 16.12-13), where the period of expectancy would correspond to that of the congregation as the high priest, once in the year, entered into the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 9.3-10); or perhaps also to that silent period when the people waited without at "the hour of incense" (Luke 1.10), where again prayer and incense are linked together (see on 5.8, pages 100-101). "The LORD is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Habakkuk 2.20; Zechariah 2.13).
8.5: The angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it on the earth: and their followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
The contrasts with the Feasts of the Old Testament are as striking as the parallels. As we found in the replacement of the single lampstand of the Tabernacle with the seven detached lampstands of the Congregations of the Apocalypse, so here we find changes of the type noted so tellingly in the Letter to the Hebrews. In the Old Testament the golden altar of incense, though it appertained to the Most Holy Place, was separated from it by the Veil. Here there is no veil: the altar is "before the throne". The cloud of smoke from the incense is not intended for the protection of the high priest "that he die not" (Leviticus 16.13), for now the High Priest is there, on the throne itself, seated at the right hand of God (3.21; 5.7-14; Hebrews 10.12).
The Lord has already made the atonement, and is there in fulness of power to judge the world, and in fulness of love to be touched with the feelings of the infirmities of His saints, to offer grace to help in time of need. And this is to be a time of need such as never before has been (Hebrews 2.18; 4.14-16; Daniel 12 1-Luke 1.25-26).
It has already been noted that the word translated in Hebrews 9.4 is thumiaterion, and refers to the golden altar. The word so translated in Revelation 8.3 is libanotos, and refers to the portable fire-vessel in which the burning incense was carried. It is the former word which is used of the portable vessel in the Greek of 2 Chronicles 26.19 and Ezekiel 8.11, while the latter word is used in 1 Chronicles 9.29 of frankincense itself. The word normally used of the portable censer in the Greek Old Testament is pureion. Though it is not said that the censer carried in the hand was of gold (and there is a tradition that such a censer was only used on the Day of Atonement), we are told in Numbers 7.14, 18, etc., that the princes of each tribe brought among their offerings each "one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense" at the dedication of the altar. Since we havejust concluded that the 144,000 of chapter 7 no longer refer to 12 natural tribes of Israel, but represent saints of all nations as one body in Christ, it is fitting that the censer whose incense supports their prayers should be one vessel replacing the 12 censers of those natural tribes.
The angel with the censer is "over the altar" (8.3 RV), which is parallel to Amos 9.1, where the prophet sees the Lord (a:dhonai) standing "upon the altar", perhaps overshadowing it, since the altar itself was only about half a man's height. And this is not the only parallel, for in Amos God is about to execute judgement on His people, searching them out wherever they are (9.2) and sending them into captivity. The prophet is himself employing the symbolism of Psalm 139.8 ("Whither shall I go from Thy spirit... If I ascend up into heaven Thou art there; if I make my bed insh:owl, behold Thou art there"), and allowing no-one in the condemned land to escape the coming judgements of God. So it is in Revelation when the fire is cast on the earth.
The altar which receives the incense also dispenses the fire of judgement. The censer which,sweetens the prayers of the saints also casts the fire of God's wrath on the earth. Fire in Scripture is always like this, destroying what is corruptible, and refining that which shall be fitted for survival when once it has been purged. "The sinners in Zion" — and elsewhere — "are afraid" at the thought of dwelling with the "devouring fire and everlasting burnings" (Isaiah 33.14); but though God's refining fire may also be painful for the elect themselves, the "trial of their faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth though it be proved with fire, will be found unto praise, and glory, and honour at the
revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1.7).
8.5: Thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake.
The word for thunder (bronte) is practically a speciality of the Apocalypse. Apart from the nickname given by the Lord Jesus to the sons of Zebedee (Mark 3.17), and the public impression of thunder when God spoke to His Son (John 12.29), the word is exclusive to Revelation, where it is used 10 times: in 4.5; 6.1; 8.5; 10.3,4,4; 11.19; 14.1; 16.18; 19.6. In the four cases emphasized "voices and lightnings" are also referred to, and in the last three of these an "earthquake" too. In all these four cases the portents issue from the throne of God in heaven, and correspond to increasing intensity in the retribution visited on the earth. In 4.5 they are potential only; in 8.5 the visitation is imminent; in 11.19 the signs follow the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet and herald in the coming of the kingdom of God; while in 16.18 they are linked with the Seventh Vial, itself the latest phase of the Seventh Trumpet, and the immediate prelude to the war between the Lamb and the kings of the earth (16.14). When we compare these visitations with similar ones in the Old Testament (Exodus 9 in association with the Plague of Hail; 19.16 and 20.18 at Sinai before a terrified Israel; 1 Samuel 7.10 against the Philistines; and 12.17-18 to reveal God's displeasure on His people for choosing to have a king "like all the nations"), we see how fitting the symbol is for the outpouring of God's wrath. The word in the Old Testament, though, is the common word for 'voice', gVwl, rendered in LXX by the corresponding Greek phdrit, (except for 1 Samuel 7.10 where the verb 'to thunder is used), so that the 'voices' of Revelation relate the phenomena even more specifically to the Old Testament manifestations.
The thunders and voices are more than mere inarticulate noises: they convey a message too. Men who misunderstood the words to Jesus in John 12 mistook a true message for a mere thunderclap (12.18-20), but there was a real message for those with ears to hear. It is the same in Revelation. To the heedless they are merely formless threatenings, but to those who understand they speak the message of the voice of God fulfilling His purpose. When, later, the "seven thunders uttered their voices" (10.3-5), what they said to John was so clear that he would have written it down had he been allowed. There is something of the same truth on the other occasions also. It is as it was in the Old Testament, where "The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem" (Joel 3.16; Amos 1.2; 3.8; Jeremiah 25.30-31).
CHAPTER IX
8.6-11.19: THE SEVEN TRUMPETS
Before considering any of these in detail, one point of the greatest importance must be developed, which is the striking parallel between the Trumpets here, and the Vials of chapter 16. This is tabulated below:
THE SEVEN TRUMPETS
THE SEVEN VIALS
1 (8.7)
Hail and fire mingled with smoke ON THE EARTH. The third part of earth and trees burned up, and all the grass.
1 (16.2) A noisome and grievous sore, ON THE EARTH on those bearing the mark of the Beast, and worshipping his
2 (8.8)
A great mountain INTO THE SEA: the third of sea, ships, and sea creatures affected.
image. 2 (16.3) Poured INTO THE SEA. Every living soul in the sea dies.
3 (8.10)
A burning star falls on the third part of RIVERS AND FOUNTAINS, of which a third part becomes wormwood, and many die.
3 (16.4) Poured on RIVERS AND FOUNTAINS which are turned into blood of which men drink.
4(8.12)
The third part of SUN, MOON AND STARS are smitten and darkened.
4 (16.8) Poured on THE SUN, which scorches men.
5 (9.1)
Star falls on the earth; abyss opened; invasion of locusts; Darkness. Beast worshippers tormented.
5 (16.10) Poured on throne of the Beast. Darkness. Men gnaw their tongue for pain & blaspheme.
6(9.13)
Angels at Euphrates
loosed, and kill the third part of men. Vast armies assembled.
6(16.12) Poured on River Euphrates, to gather all nations to battle.
7(11.15)
Pending conquest of the world to bring about the kingdom of God, resurrection, and judgement. Lightnings, voices, thunders and earthquakes.
7(16.17ff) Babylon destroyed, conquest of the Beast. Resurrection and judgement. The Millennium Lightnings, voices, thunders and earthquake.
There is no denying the common plan. The capitalized words in the first four cases show that the spheres of operations, whatever their significance, are the same: EARTH - SEA - FRESH WATERS - HEAVENLY BODY OR BODIES. There are torment and darkness in the fifth of each series; the River Euphrates and the assembly of armies are found in the sixth; and the portents of thunder, voices and an earthquake introduce the kingdom, resurrection and judgement in the seventh.
Yet the series are far from identical. In the Trumpets it is repeatedly emphasized that a third part of the area affected is desolated. Suffering is grievous, but it is not universal. No such restriction operates in the Vials, in one of which "every living soul" in the sea is said to die (16.3), and the remainder have every appearance of finality. It is as though two sets of judgements are inflicted by God on the world, Trumpets first and Vials afterwards. And between the two there is strong evidence of a period of witness — which will be elaborated later, but is referred to in 10.8-11; 11.3-12, and 14.6-7 — giving the nations their last opportunity of repentance before "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven . . . taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1.7-8).
Back
