Introduction

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In the leadup to September 11 … there were several red flag moments in intelligence … that were seemingly ignored or downplayed by the US government.

• So in December 1998 … the CIA’s counterterrorism unit reported to President Bill Clinton that al-Qaeda were planning attacks on US soil … that might include hijacking aircraft.

• In April 2001 … five months before the attack … Afghanistan officials told the European Parliament in Brussels of credible intelligence of an imminent large-scale terrorist attack on US soil.

• In the months leading up to the attacks … terrorists on watchlists were going into hiding … and known terrorist training camps around the world were closing.

• On July 10, 2001 … just 2 months before the attack … the head of the CIA … George Tenet, along with the chief of the CIA’s counterterrorism unit … Cofer Black … told George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor … Condaleeza Rice … that there will be significant terrorist attacks in the US in the coming weeks or months.  They will be spectacular … and many Americans will die.

George Tenet and Cofer Black to this day are still dumbfounded that their warnings were not heeded.  Today’s passage is about the 7 Trumpets of Revelation.  And the reason you blow trumpets … is to warn people of imminent danger.  And just like America suffered intensely for failing to heed the warning signs of Sep 11 … so too will WE … if we fail to unpack, understand and undertake the warnings of Revelation 8-9.

But as we begin … be honest.  As this passage was being read for us … how many of us found our eyes glazing over?  Like all this talk of censers being thrown to earth … and fire and hail … and talking eagles … and locusts with women’s hair … are a bit much … aren’t they?  Like how are we supposed to heed the warning signs from a passage we cannot even understand?  Well the Apostle John understood it … as did his original readers.  So if we can get our heads around this strange imagery and symbolism … then we’ll be able to access these important warnings.

And the reason I say they’re important is because THIS is the message Jesus Himself gave to his best friend in earth … John … while John was in prison.  The enemies of the Christian church had captured the great Apostle John … and had exiled him to the island of Patmos.  John has been completely silenced … subdued … and seemingly defeated.  And Jesus comes to him in this dramatic vision … and gives him THIS message.  And friends we TOO are under attack today.  The Victorian government has passed legislation making it illegal for Christians to pray for people with unwanted same sex attraction.  If someone comes to one of our Christian brothers or sisters in Victoria … and confesses unwanted same sex attraction … and that Christian offers to pray for them … they COULD potentially go to jail.  We NEED this message.

So what I want to do today is to listen to … and heed the warnings of these trumpets.  And I’ve got 4 points to help us do this.  We’re going to begin by looking at what is the CAUSE of these trumpet blasts.  We see this in v. 1-5 … which I’ve titled (i) The source of these warnings.  We’ll then unpack the imagery of these warnings … by looking at the first 4 trumpets in v. 6-13 … which I’ve titled (ii) The warnings upon creation … followed by trumpets 5 and 6 in chapter 9 … titled (iii) The warnings upon humanity.  We’ll then conclude by looking at the application of this whole passage … in 9:20-21 … which I’ve titled (iv) The purpose of these warnings.  And our goal is all of this is to NOT make the mistake of sleeping through these trumpet blasts.  They are being sounded for a reason.  So let’s dive in and see if we cannot figure out this reason … and respond appropriately.

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The source of these warnings (8:1-5)

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And our passage begins with the opening of the 7th and final seal … Rev 8:1.  So as we saw 2 weeks ago … Revelation chapter 6 is all about the Lamb opening the 7 seals on the scroll of God’s final plans for creation.  And the 6th seal brought in the Day of the Lord … the final day of our world.  So if the 6th seal brings in the end … what on earth does the 7th seal do?  Well … it introduces the 7 trumpets.  And the 7 trumpets bring a wave of judgments upon the earth … just like the 7 seals did.  BUT … what we need to understand … is that the 7 trumpets are not a NEW set of judgments … that come AFTER the 7 seals.  The 7 trumpets are a repeat of the 7 seals.  They are a second warning … a second recounting of the judgments to come.

And this second TELLING of the end times begins with an angel holding a golden censer full of incense … v. 3.  Now what’s this all about?  Well in OT times … the High Priest would offer incense before the altar at the temple.  It was part of Israelite worship.  And God said that when the smoke of the incense rose before the altar … it was a pleasing aroma to the Lord.  It was one of the ways the nation of Israel PLEASED God.

But THIS incense we’re told is mixed with the prayers of the saints … or as our version says … God’s people.  And these prayers are presumably the prayers of the saints under the altar from chapter 6.  If you recall … the Christians who had been martyred for their allegiance to Christ called out in Rev 6:10 … ‘How long, Sovereign Lord … until you JUDGE the inhabitants of the earth’.  And it is THESE PRAYERS … alright … calling for God to send people to hell … that go up as a fragrant offering before God.

But that’s not the really cool bit.  I mean it’s cool that the prayers of Christians are pleasing to God.  Do you know that … brothers and sisters?  Do you know that when we praise God … or thank God … or confess to God … and even petition God … God is pleased?  He WANTS our prayers.  They are a fragrant aroma.  But even better than that … is that God USES our prayers:

Revelation 8:5 (NIV) 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.

The very prayers … calling for judgment upon the wicked … are hurled on the earth … and BRING ABOUT that judgment upon the wicked.  God USES our prayers.  Now we do not know exactly HOW or WHY God uses our prayers.  That’s one of the questions that’s just going to have to wait for heaven … along with predestination, the trinity and … what DO women want.  But what we know from God’s word is … God USES the prayers of his people.

So let me ask you … are we praying?  Are we praising God for his awesomeness in prayer?  Are we thanking God for his goodness?  Are we confessing our sins … AND the sins of our culture?  In Daniel chapter 9 the prophet Daniel confesses NOT HIS sins … but the sins of his people … and God responds to his prayer.  And are we petitioning God?  Are we praying for a revival?  Are we praying for the school girls kidnapped by Boko Haran back in 2014.  They were mostly Christian girls … and over half are still missing.  And are we praying for the end of the invasion of Ukraine?

Friends … Revelation chapter 8 tells us the end of history finds it’s source in the prayers of the saints.  That’s how powerful our prayers are.  May we not let such power to go to waste.  Pray hard.

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The warnings upon creation (8:6-13)

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Well … following this hurling of prayers upon the earth comes the first 4 trumpets.  And like the first 4 seals … that brought forth the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse … the first 4 trumpets belong together.  These trumpets bring calamity upon creation … that is very reminiscent of the plagues God sent upon Egypt back in the Exodus.  So very briefly:

The first trumpet brings a terrifying hail storm … recalling the 7th plague in Egypt.  The fire likely refers to lightening … that starts a series of bush fires unlike anything ever seen on Earth.  We’re told one third of the trees and grass are burned up.  And this would presumably include orchards and farmlands.  So the first trumpet brings the terror of bush fires … along with the terror of famine.

The second trumpet causes something LIKE a huge mountain to be thrown into the sea … turning one third of the sea to blood … recalling the 1st plague in Egypt.  But please remember … this is all symbolism.  As my wife … the engineer pointed out at Bible study this week … the laws of physics won’t allow for JUST one third of the oceans to turn to blood.  It would dilute across the whole planet.  This is apocalyptic imagery … describing a catastrophe upon the sea.  The death of one third of all sea creatures compounds the famine from the bush fires.  And the loss of one third of all ships means the food and goods that is LEFT is not readily transported to those who may need it.

The third trumpet turns the rivers and springs bitter.  Those who are fans of the Screwtape letters will no doubt recognise the name Wormwood.  It seems the Apostle John has borrowed that name from C. S. Lewis.  But as your NIV text note says … Wormwood is a bitter herb … which makes the earth’s drinking water undrinkable.

And the fourth trumpet brings darkness … recalling the 9th plague in Egypt.  And this plague will show the nations we cannot survive in our own power.  We need the lights God has given us in creation.

Now before we move on … it’s worth noting that like the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse … these terrifying calamities upon creation are happening right now.  Our waterways are being polluted … our landscape is being burnt … our fish and whales are being killed off … RIGHT NOW.  And these trumpets will continue to happen right up to the Day of Judgment.

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The warnings upon humanity (9:1-19)

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Well just as trumpets 1-4 bring calamity upon creation … trumpets 5 and 6 bring calamity upon humanity.  And as the eagle from 8:13 warns us … these calamities are even worse.

So the 5th trumpet causes a star to fall to earth.  And stars symbolise angels in Revelation.  Now some believe this star is Satan.  My take is it would be very unusual for God to USE Satan in his plans.  This is MORE likely another angel who has been sent to earth … to open the Abyss … Hell.  And when he opens the Abyss … smoke rises.  Why?  Because it’s super-hot down there.  And we read:

Revelation 9:3 (NIV) And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.

Now … these are not literal locusts.  This is symbolism.  They don’t ruin crops … like literal locusts.  They are demons … that have come up out of the Abyss … out of Hell.  And they are told to ruin humans … specifically non-believers … v. 4.  And how do demons ruin people?  Through tempting them into sin.  We see this in their description:

• So down in v. 7 we’re told they wore crowns … symbolising authority.  They’re telling people what they should do.

• They have human faces … to put us at ease.  They’re not scary monsters.  They look trustworthy.

• And they have hair like women’s hair.  What does that mean?  It means there’s an attractiveness about them.  A woman’s hair is part of her beauty.  So there is a beauty to what these locusts … these demons … are bringing.

• BUT … if we look in their mouth … we see their lion’s teeth … designed to rip us to shreds.  As attractive as sin may be … it ALWAYS comes at a price.

And this is what Satan and his minions have been doing since the dawn of time.  The LATEST example is the transgender movement.  There are activists and health professionals out there today … who are telling people with gender dysphoria that their best option to stop the pain is to get on hormone blockers before puberty … and undergo gender reassignment surgery.  And this trans-ideology LOOKS legit.  It LOOKS caring.  We’re LOVING these people by affirming their internal identity.  It’s those horrible conservatives who are the monsters.  It’s those horrible Christians who are causing people with gender-dysphoria to contemplate suicide.  The trans-activists are the ones we should listen to … trustworthy ones … the beautiful ones.

But when we look in their mouths … we see lion’s teeth.  They are encouraging people as young as 14, 12, and even 10-years old to transition.  These are little kids … who are still trying to make sense of the world … being encouraged by tik-toc … by ideologues … and by doctors and nurses … who took an oath to ‘do no wrong’ … they are being encouraged to undergo irreversible medical procedures … that surgically remove their ability to have sex … and to have children.

One recent study said those with gender dysphoria who have GONE through gender reassignment surgery are MORE likely to be treated for anxiety disorders than those who don’t go through with the surgery.  On top pf that … there is a sub-group on Redit for de-transitioners … people who have transitioned to the opposite sex … and now regret it.  As of this week it has over 32 and a half thousand members.  Does that not break our hearts?  That’s just the latest example of the type of calamity the 5th trumpet brings for those who do not follow God … who do not have His seal on their foreheads.

The 6th trumpet releases a terrifying army … riding horses with heads like lions … who spew fire and smoke and sulphur.  And if that’s not terrifying enough … the army is 2 hundred million strong.  That’s 1,000 times bigger than the Roman Army at the time of writing.  We believe that like the 6th SEAL … this army will appear at the end of time … and usher in the eschaton … the new heavens and the new earth.

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The purpose of these warnings (9:20-21)

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So … that’s Revelation 8-9.  I pray this imagery is a little less strange … a little less intimidating now.  The only question left to ask is … what is the purpose of all this imagery?  Well John leaves this question till the end.  Read with me:

Revelation 9:20-21 (NIV) The rest of mankind who 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.

Now … the plagues on Egypt were sent to WARN Pharoah … to ‘let me people go’.  In the same way … the trumpets of Revelation are sent to warn the inhabitants of the earth … non-believers … to REPENT.  That’s the warning the 7 trumpets are sounding.  Repent of your idolatry … v. 20 … and repent of your sin … v. 21 … while there’s still a chance.

So there are 2 things I want to say by way of application as we close today.  And they are (i) the importance of repentance, and (ii) the importance of CALLING people to repentance.  So firstly … WHY does God go to such lengths to call people to REPENT?  The MAIN reason … is because Sin is an affront to God.  It is the most offensive and hurtful thing we can do to God.  The Bible often likens Sin and idolatry … to adultery.  Now western culture has downplayed the seriousness of adultery in recent decades … mainly because we’ve downplayed the sacredness of sex.  But I saw a Jordan Peterson video some years back … saying that adultery … being cheated on by your spouse … completely destroys your past, your present and your future.

• It destroys your past … because you no longer know what in your marriage was real … and what was a lie.

• It destroys your present … because betrayal of that level will crush ANY human heart.

• And it destroys your future … because you’re not sure if you’ll EVER be able to trust again.

Now imagine if YOU were the one who did that kind of damage to someone.  Someone you’d promised to love and cherish till death do you part.  That is what every single human has done … only on a cosmic scale … by betraying our creator.  The only way for us to make amends … is to (a) apologise for our offensive behaviour, and (b) to turn away from it.  That’s what repentance is: (a) saying sorry to God for our sin, and (b) turning away from it.

Yet no one will do that … unless they’re told to.  And this is where Christians come in.  The Great Commission tells Christians to make disciples … through preaching the gospel.  And the gospel has 2 sides to it.  One … is the glorious message of Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins.  And Christians are generally happy to tell people how loving and forgiving our Lord Jesus is.  What we NOT so crash hot as is … the other side of the gospel coin.  Because the OTHER side is telling people they’re deeply sinful … and MUST repent.

So let me ask … when was the last time we told someone of their need to repent?  When was the last time we said to someone ‘you need to turn from your sin’?  Those words don’t cross my lips very often in conversation.  And we have a LIST of excuses as to why:

• Modern people don’t respond very well to ‘fire and brimstone’ preaching.

• Speaking about Jesus’ love is more effective for my friends.

• My neighbours don’t like being told they’re in the wrong.

Friends … do you REALLY think the people of Jesus’ day were more accepting of being told they’re in the wrong than people today?  No!  Let’s call out those excuses for what they are.  They are pathetic attempts to try and justify doing what deep down … we WANT to do … rather than what Jesus TELLS us to do.  Jesus TELLS us what the gospel is.  Let me read to you:

Mark 1:14-15 (NIV) After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Friends … could it be that our evangelism today is so ineffective because we’re missing half the gospel?  We’re fine at telling people to ‘believe the good news’ of Jesus’ wonderful death for our sins.  But we’re really bad at telling people to repent.

Yet that’s the whole purpose of the 7 trumpets.  These 7 angels go out from BEFORE GOD … Rev 8:2.  And the purpose of these warnings is to call sinners to repent … Rev 9:20-21.  How about I pray now for God’s strength … to help us preach the WHOLE gospel to our dying world.

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Prayer

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Our Heavenly Father,

Help us to understand just how offensive Sin is to you.  So offensive … that nothing short of the death of the Son of God could atone for it.  Grant us we pray … the courage to preach the WHOLE gospel to our dying world; not just the salvation Jesus brings … but what he saves us from; the Sin we MUST repent of.  Please grant us opportunities this week Lord … to preach repentance to our non-Christian friends and family … and work in their hearts to receive that message … and repent.  Amen.