Like the calm before the storm, the opening of the seventh seal by the Lamb was followed by prolonged silence in heaven. Then the seven angels that John saw at the start of his vision reappeared, each one of them having a trumpet in their hands. Before the angels sound their trumpets, another angel appeared with a golden censer offering incense and the prayers of God’s people at an altar before the heavenly throne.
Quite fittingly there was a prolonged silence right after the lamb opened the seventh seal as the beings surrounding the throne wait for God’s judgement. Similar to when we offer our personal petitions before Him and quietly wait for His response, the prayers of the people along with smoke ascended up to God.
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.
Revelation 8:5 (NIV)
The Censer filled with fire symbolised the prayers of the saints who are waiting for the second coming of Jesus. In the same censor that the angel took the prayers up, he fills with fire and is hurling it on Earth. The fire symbolises the first step in the coming of Jesus and is a warning sign for the unrepenting people.
In the old testament, while incense is often symbolic of prayers, fire represented acceptance of sacrifices by God. Elijah’s sacrifice was consumed in fire which was the sign that God had accepted his offering (1 Kings 18:16-45). The same happened when Gideon put forward his offering before the Angel of the Lord (Judges 6). So seems to be a sign of God’s acceptance and here it is the acceptance of the prayer of His people.
The First Four Trumpets
As the first angel sounded his trumpet, hail, fire and blood were hurled on earth, causing destruction. A third of the earth was burned up along with the trees and the grass. When the second angel sounded his trumpet, a blazing mountain was thrown into the sea. At the sound of the third trumpet, a star named Wormwood fell from the sky and poisoned a third of the rivers of Earth taking many lives. As the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, darkness engulfed a third of the earth.
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!”
Revelation 8:13 (NIV)
The destruction that followed after the first four trumpets were sounded, seems to be a partial reversal of the creation. The trees and grass are burned up and a fiery mountain is doused in a sea bringing together land and sea. The rivers of the earth that were to sustain and nurture life now harboured bitter death. And when a third of the earth lost its source of light, the very first day of creation is undone. In many ways, the events revealed to John are taking us back to the Garden and eventually will lead to God granting Adam (Mankind) the right to eat from the Tree of Life.
Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:14 (NIV)
The Fifth Trumpet
When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet John saw a star fall from the sky. This star is given the key to the Abyss, and when it opens it, smoke rises and darkens the sun and sky. Some believe that this star could be an angel of God. However, John sees this star fall from the sky and into the abyss. Such imagery is synonymous with the fallen angels as this is most likely one of the rebellious beings that chose to side with the evil forces.
From the smoke, locusts emerge, with power like scorpions, but they are only allowed to torment those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. The agony they cause is compared to the sting of a scorpion. Scorpions along with snakes are creatures that denote the demonic forces at work in the world around us.
While the sting of the scorpion is poisonous, it does not lead to immediate death but a slow and painful death. Similarly, the evil spirit causes a slow and painful death of our souls as we continue with our everyday lives not knowing the extent of their venom. Jesus spoke about these creatures when the twelve returned to Him after their first missionary journey.
… “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:18 (NIV)
He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions…
Deuteronomy 8:15 (NIV)
The locusts were commanded by the angel of the Abyss, known as the destroyer. They had the appearance of horses prepared for battle, with crowns, human-like faces, and hair like women’s hair. They have iron breastplates, thunderous wings, and tails with stingers. The destroyer mentioned first in the book of Exodus (and then in the book of Job) is the angel of death that God sent to kill the firstborns in Egypt while sparing the ones that had painted the doorposts of their house with the blood of the Passover lamb. Similarly, the angel of the abyss is told to not lay a hand on the ones that bore the Seal of the Living God on their foreheads.
The Sixth Trumpet
After the trumpet was sounded by the sixth angel, John heard a voice coming out from the golden altar before God, commanding to release the four angels bound at the Euphrates River. These angels were prepared to bring destruction upon a third of mankind. The horses and riders in the vision had fiery red, dark blue, and yellow breastplates. They had heads resembling lions and breathed fire, smoke, and sulfur. These horses had the power to inflict harm with their tails, which were like snakes. Ultimately, their plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur resulted in the death of a third of mankind.
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. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Revelation 9:20-21 (NIV)
The aftermath of the trumpets almost mirrored the plagues that God sent upon Egypt which only hardened Pharoh’s heart. Similarly, even after witnessing such disastrous consequences of their disobedience, the people who were spared were still unrepentant. They are unwilling to come out of life in darkness and experience the light of God. If they had experienced the light and known what it can offer they would have never desired to stay in their darkness. But the evil one blinds their eyes from seeing the true light that has come into the world (John 3:19).
When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar, she refused to come into the light and kept deflecting His invitations. We limit God in our lives to only what we think we want from Him. Some desire healing from Him, some blessings while others seek Him for guidance. However, like the Samaritan woman, none of them want a complete transformation of their heart.
We must understand that whatever we know about our God, we only know in part. We still lack the knowledge of our Creator in completeness. Thus our prayer to Him should not be to fulfil our desires, or even what we think is His will for our lives but only to let His light shine upon us and guide every second of our journeys on the earth till we meet Him face to face.
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)
Discussion Questions
- The Censer filled with fire symbolised the prayers of the people then why is the angel hurling it back to Earth?
- What is the significance of the events that follow after the first four angels blow their trumpets?
- Who or what is the fallen star and the gigantic furnace-like Abyss?
- What are these scorpions that are torturing the people?
- Even after witnessing such disastrous consequences, why were the people callous in their attitude toward God?
The Jordan Valley 
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