Revelation 8
-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)
“The time has come,” the walrus said, “to talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax— Of cabbages—and kings” – Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter, (Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 4, 1871)
Forget all that other stuff, today we’ll be be speaking of kings. There is a famous line from a Mel Brooks movie where Mel repeats numerous times throughout the show, “It’s good to be the king!” Being the king isn’t always a fun job though, sometimes being the king means doing the hard things that need to be done, sometimes doing the hard things that no one else can do.
There is a nice little supplemental to the many prophecies of the coming Messiah, when it says in Isaiah 16:5: “And a throne will be established in lovingkindness, And a judge will sit on it in truth in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice And be prompt in righteousness.” (LSB). This seems to be a nice foreshadowing of our king Yeshua, the Messiah, the Christ. These little bits are all throughout the Old Testament, just a little nod that one day our king will be coming, and a reminder that he will be from the house of David, and that he will also seek justice and be righteous.
Here’s the thing though: most of us don’t want justice, we want mercy (and with good reason, if we’re being honest). In our Revelation reading today we see an ominous revelation (thus, the name of the book) of things to come, and we begin to see some of the harder things that the king must do to fulfill his function.
Earlier on in the book (Rev 5) we see that God has in His hand a scroll with 7 seals and that initially no one was found in heaven or on earth or under the earth that was able to open the scroll, and then we see that our king, the lamb of God, the Christ (or Messiah) from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the scroll and it’s 7 seals.
Revelation 5 is a very clear picture of the hierarchy of heaven. There is God, all powerful and holy, surrounded by “myriads upon myriads” of angels and the elders, sitting on the throne and holding a scroll of great power that is sealed. Then coming before the throne is the Lamb who was slain and by his obedience granted authority by the God who rules over all, the man chosen from the house of David to be given authority, by God. This is a very clear and unambiguous picture of the relationship of the Most High God, and of His chosen king whom He has granted authority: the Lamb of God.
In Rev 6 we see that the Lamb (whom we understand to be Yeshua/Jesus) takes the scroll from the right hand of God and begins to open the seals. It’s important to understand that only the ruler whom God granted authority and dominion would be able to do such a thing. There was no one else found worthy in heaven, earth, or under the earth to do this job. We see back in Rev 5:9-10 that he is worthy specifically because: “…you were slain and purchased for God with your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you made them to be a kingdom…”. Observe that God is still seated on his throne, the ultimate power, when the Lamb (Yeshua/Jesus) begins to open the seals, to perform one of his first functions as the chosen king.
We see clearly that the Lamb is the one who is opening the seals in Rev 6:1, under the authority of God. This is what I referred to earlier as having to do the hard things as king. It should be noted that all of these seals as they are broken have a calamitious effect upon the earth, getting progressively more horrific. The first 6 seals that are opened (in Rev 6) sound pretty scary. When we get to our reading today of Rev 8, it sounds downright terrifying. When the 7th seal is opened, there is complete silence in heaven for about half an hour (Rev 8:1). That sounds ominous. I have a couple points to make here.
Point 1 is, we aren’t 100% sure of the timeline of these events. Like all prophecy, it is somewhat obscured. Different folks have different beliefs on how much of this we’re going to have to endure. There are Pre-tribulation, Mid-tribulation, and Post-tribulation theories on when the faithful will be taken, each theory having their own supporting scriptures or interpretations. I have my own opinions, but I also believe that stating them dogmatically is foolish since I’m just a man. Here is my suggestion though: hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. I would also suggest that it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better.
Point 2 is: all of the earth, and everything (and everybody) in it belongs to God (See Ps 24:1). Before we get all “ach, waily waily waily, how could a merciful God…”: stop it. It’s all God’s, including us, and He can do whatever He wants with His stuff. Yes, this might be a terrible time, but consider that anytime you are building a new and magnificent structure, the first thing that needs to be done is a demolition of the old rickety structures that were there already. This is that. Do you remember that guy who lived in the bamboo hut underneath where the Taj Mahal is located now? Me neither, because that hut had to go to make room for the new building. That’s what’s going on here. All of these things need to happen so that the kingdom of God can be established here on the earth.
After the 7th seal is broken, the trumpets begin to sound. The 1st trumpet brings hail and fire mixed with blood and a third of the earth and trees and all of the grass is burned up. Trumpet 2 brings a great burning thing thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea turns to blood and a third of the living creatures in the sea die and a third of the ships are destroyed. The 3rd trumpet brings a star falling that causes a third of the waters to become poisoned, or “wormwood”. The 4th trumpet causes a third of the sun, moon, and stars to be struck so that a third of them would be darkened. This is literally some apocalyptic stuff going down.
As if that wasn’t enough, the last verse in chapter 8 is the most worrying: “13Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”” (LSB). This is going to be a dark and scary time for any of those left on the earth. Knowing this, we as Christians should be taking extreme steps to make sure that we’re living a holy life that is pleasing to God, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Are you living in a bamboo hut right now? Well, act right and you might be relocated once the new facility is in place.
The best advice I can offer is from Zeph 2:3 –
“Seek Yahweh, All you humble of the earth
Who have worked His justice; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of Yahweh’s anger.” (LSB)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS -based on the above verse
- Are you humbly seeking Yahweh?
- Are you working His Justice here upon the earth?
- Are you seeking righteousness and humility?
PRAYER
Father God, blessed be Your name. You have created the earth, and all that is in it. You have told us in advance of the things to come. Please help us to humble ourselves and to be servants who please You. Help us to work Your justice. Help us to be a righteous and holy people who do Your will. Protect us in the coming troubles. In Jesus name, Amen.
Seek Grow Love 