[0:00] Well, let's have a word of prayer. Father, it is a privilege and a pleasure to be able to be here this morning. Thank you for the presence of each one. Thank you for the content that has been provided for us by the Spirit of God.
[0:14] We pray that as we examine the materials that you will give us a sense of objectivity and open-mindedness to the truth and an ability to understand the implications of it.
[0:26] Thank you for your great faithfulness to us. Thank you for the meal that we've just shared and enjoyed together. Thank you for being the all-sufficient God for whatever lies ahead of us this day.
[0:37] We commit this time to you with thanksgiving in Christ's name. Amen. We are entering chapter 8. And as I mentioned before, it is one of the most extraordinary chapters in all of the Bible because it really sets forth the breaking loose of everything.
[1:00] Chapter 8 represents the beginning of the end of God's long-suffering.
[1:11] Many people ask the question, and I'm sure you probably have too. And you've got to remember that in Revelation chapter 6, the souls of those who have been beheaded for the Lord Jesus who were under the altar were asking the same question.
[1:28] And that is, how long, O Lord, before you exact your vengeance upon those who dwell on the earth? How much longer are you going to allow the injustice and the likes of sinful man to continue?
[1:46] And chapter 8 answers that question. The fury and the wrath of God is unleashed beginning in this chapter.
[1:58] And it is an awesome and a gruesome thing. And I want you to remember one thing from this particular study. And that is, what follows in the balance of Revelation from chapter 8 on, is a perfect illustration or explanation of God's hatred for sin.
[2:24] Humanity has virtually lost track of that. Sin is a big joke anymore. And yet, it remains as an affront to the holiness of God.
[2:35] It is an insult to God. And we cannot begin to grasp the pure, sheer hatred that God has against sin.
[2:48] And the greatest reason he has against sin, the greatest reason he feels that way about sin, is because, first of all, it is an insult to himself. And secondly, it is always damaging and hurtful to humanity whom God loves.
[3:03] And that's the really ugly thing about sin. It is damaging and hurtful to those whom God loves. And yet, those whom God loves are the very perpetrators of it.
[3:16] Not since the flood of Noah has there been divine judgment of a magnitude such as this.
[3:28] And we will see when we get into it that it is utterly cataclysmic and it is cosmic. It isn't only earthbound. It will actually involve the heavens.
[3:40] There are languages used in these upcoming verses, terms used in these upcoming verses that, frankly, we are lost to understand. And I am a great one for taking the scriptures at face value, literally.
[3:56] We recognize that there is a lot of figurative language in the Bible. We recognize that much of Revelation is symbolic. But symbols always represent reality.
[4:08] The symbol represents something that is real. And that's what we will be looking at. So, not since the judgment day of Noah has there been the wrath of God unleashed in such magnitude as what we are going to see here in chapter 8.
[4:24] And before we get to it, I want to just quickly run through this unloosing of the judgments. If you will note that page, please, because this is very, very important. I don't think it's really possible to understand the Revelation without a lot of confusion if you do not see how each of these gives way to the next.
[4:45] I'm not going to take much time on them. We'll just go through it. But remember, when this started in chapter 4 and 5, we see the first seal.
[4:58] And remember, the seven-sealed scroll, it was not a book. It was a scroll that was rolled up and it was sealed with a seal at seven different places. Then it was rolled some more and then another seal.
[5:11] Then it was rolled some more and another seal. And the idea is, when you break one seal, you unroll the scroll and you can read a certain amount. Then you break the second seal and that enables you to unroll some more.
[5:24] And you can read that content and on through. So, the first seal represents the Antichrist. The second seal is war. The third seal is famine. We've been through all of this material, so I'll not take any more time on it.
[5:37] The fourth seal represents death taking 25% of the population of the earth. The fifth seal represents martyrdom. The sixth seal, the heavenly and earthly disturbances.
[5:51] But I want you to note the strategic nature of the seventh seal. Because the seventh seal reveals seven trumpets. That is the seventh seal.
[6:02] So, we go from each of these feeding the next seven. We have three combinations of seven. The first is the seven sealed scroll.
[6:15] The second is the seven trumpets. And the third, the seven bowls. Sometimes they are translated vials. But it is important to note these.
[6:27] And I take it that these are all in chronological order. I know some Bible teachers are of the opinion that all of these, the seals, the bowls, or the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls, all take place concurrently.
[6:42] I cannot make that fit the scheme of Revelation at all. I just do not see that as possible. They do not take place concurrently. They take place consecutively.
[6:55] So that the seals give way to the trumpets. And the trumpets give way to the bowls. And the bowls then brings on the conclusion. And that, I think, is clear in the illustration that we have here.
[7:08] And in the first trumpet, the seventh seal reveals the first trumpet. And earth is smitten one-third. And in the second trumpet, the sea is smitten one-third.
[7:22] And the third trumpet, the rivers are smitten one-third. The fourth trumpet, sun, moon, and stars, one-third smitten. And by the way, this expression one-third is going to be used 12 times.
[7:37] It's very, very significant. And when it talks about one-third, I think it is a full 33 and one-third percent of all that is involved. And this is going to produce a cataclysm the likes of which has never been seen since Noah's day when the flood covered the entire earth.
[7:57] The fifth trumpet, the locusts torment men for five months. This is a very bizarre kind of situation. I don't know exactly how to approach this.
[8:10] And we'll see that when we get there. The sixth trumpet, 200 million horsemen slay one-third of the men. And then the seventh trumpet reveals the opening of the heavenly temple.
[8:24] And here we have the first bowl or vial. And these are literally, these bowls are symbolic. And they are upended.
[8:35] And the contents of the bowls are poured out. And they are poured out upon the earth. This is what John is witnessing. Now, be advised that John is elevated to a heavenly venue when he was here, when he was there on the island of Patmos, and he was told to come up hither, and I will show you the things that must shortly come to pass.
[9:00] And John is given a panoramic view of all that is going to transpire in the future. And he is told to write down what he has seen.
[9:13] We are reading what John wrote down. That is the content of the revelation. And as John sees these things unfold, he describes them with the only language that he has access to.
[9:31] And that's one of the reasons why he uses the expression, and I saw, as it were, I saw something like.
[9:42] Because he didn't know what else to call it. He had his own frame of reference for what he had experienced in his lifetime up to then. And that's what he's doing, using human language to describe as best he can what he is witnessing.
[9:57] And this is what he has written down. So the first bowl, or the vial, reflects sores upon the worshippers of the beasts. The second bowl, the sea is smitten entirely.
[10:12] The third bowl, the rivers are smitten. And if you have an appreciation for this, and you realize that upon the surface of the earth, three-fifths is water.
[10:26] This is tremendously significant. I mean, we often, we landlubbers often lose sight of how dependent we really are upon lakes and rivers and oceans.
[10:39] But they are very strategic, and they are part of the divine provision in the original creation. So these things are going to be absolutely devastated. The fourth bowl, the sun scorches men.
[10:53] And this is going to have to do, perhaps, with men. I can't say this for sure. I don't know that much about scientifically. But it could very well be that the earth's atmosphere is going to be disturbed in such a way that we will be lacking the protection that we now enjoy in the atmosphere from ultraviolet rays.
[11:18] And this is going to be stripped away. And it's going to be like you step outside and you have a sunburn in five minutes, as opposed to a couple of hours for what it takes now.
[11:28] This is just a whole different thing that we cannot begin to identify with. The fifth bowl, darkness upon the kingdom of the beasts, and the sores give pain.
[11:38] The sixth bowl, the Euphrates, is dried to prepare the way of the kings of the east. Seventh bowl, exceeding great earthquake and hail. And Babylon is remembered for destruction.
[11:49] And before we actually engage chapter 8, I want to stop right now and ask if there's anything I said that needs clarification, or if you have a comment or question. Carolyn? The word smitten, what would you give for identification?
[12:03] The word for smitten, I would say attacked, clobbered. But not destroyed? No, not destroyed, but violently engaged upon.
[12:18] Confronted in a violent way. Devastated, yes? Back on the forest field, death takes the border of the earth.
[12:31] Is that both believers and non-believers? I think it's talking about general population. And there will probably be a number of believers as well as unbelievers.
[12:44] And we take the position that all of this is transpiring after the rapture of the church. But there are going to be an enormous number of people who are going to come to faith after the church has been raptured.
[13:04] And we saw the activity of the 144,000 in the chapter that we considered just last month, Revelation chapter 7. These are 144,000 Jewish evangelists who have come to faith in Jesus as their Messiah.
[13:20] And they have the seal of God on their foreheads. Otherwise, they would not survive very long at all. But they are going to be tremendously successful evangelists during this time.
[13:31] So there's going to be a lot of unbelief. There's going to be a lot of evangelism. There's going to be a lot of people come to faith in Christ. There's going to be an enormous number of people martyred for their faith in Christ during this time.
[13:48] These are going to be relatively new believers. And all of this, of course, figures in with the mark of the beast and not being able to buy or sell unless you have the mark and so on. Yes, Ron? I've never heard anybody mention this, but when the sea and the rivers are smitten, I would think it would be a horrible stench.
[14:07] Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. There will be odors. Odors emitting from the earth the likes of which human beings have never experienced before.
[14:19] And if you have ever had the unfortunate, unpleasant experience of being around decaying corpses, you know that there is a peculiar odor that is involved there that is virtually indescribable.
[14:34] And in fact, the only thing we can do with a dead body is bury it and put it out of the way. You cannot live with it. And it's going to be like that on a scale the likes of which you cannot even imagine.
[14:49] Breathing is going to be a problem. Clean air is going to be a problem. Finding water to drink is going to be a problem. These things will be at a premium during this time. And when you see what's happening, you'll know why.
[15:02] Yes, John? That won't be death. There are four seals that take on forth in the earth. Is that just human life or is that animal life included? Well, let's look back there and see.
[15:19] Chapter 6, is it? I don't remember right off the top of my head. Chapter 6 and verse...
[15:30] What? That's the fourth beast. And it is with the beasts of the earth. So the beasts are put...
[15:47] Chapter 7 and verse 8. Yes, it is. Yeah. Fourth part of the earth. To kill with sword and with hunger, with death, with the beasts of the earth.
[15:59] It's pretty much across the board. Yeah. Now, we look at these numbers and we tend to think, well, that's hyperbole.
[16:13] You don't take that literally. It just means a whole lot of people. Well, I am satisfied that if the Spirit of God simply wanted to convey that a multitude of people died, he could use the word.
[16:25] But when you use something like a fourth, I don't think we have the right to play fast and loose with that terminology. I think God has the ability to say what he means. And when he says a fourth of the earth, I think it's 25% of the earth.
[16:39] And I recognize that that depicts a number that is in the billions.
[16:50] There isn't anyone here, myself included, no matter how much you listen to Congress talk, there isn't anyone here who really knows how much a billion is.
[17:03] And a billion is a whole lot more out of range. And when you talk about a fourth of the population of the earth, what have we got now? Six billion?
[17:14] Something like that? And who knows how many we'll have when this time transpires. I mean, this could be very close to us right now, or it could be 50 years away.
[17:25] We don't know. But at any rate, you're going to be talking about billions and billions of people, and we just cannot fathom anything. And we say, oh, surely it doesn't mean it.
[17:37] Well, we don't know how many people were destroyed in the Noahic flood. We only know there were eight survivors. What the population of the earth was at that time, we don't know.
[17:53] But there were a whole lot more than a fourth of the earth's population destroyed then. It was probably like 99 and 9 tenths percent of the population was destroyed then.
[18:06] And why these great numbers? Why this much devastation? Don't lose sight of this one fact. This is God's pented up release of his anger and justice against human sin.
[18:25] Nothing else. Nothing else. That's what this is all about. And once you understand that, it puts human sin in a different perspective.
[18:38] That coupled with the fact that God gave his son 2,000 years ago to be a remedy for man's sin, which remedy has been consistently minimized, vilified, spurned, mocked, rejected, and everything else.
[19:03] And what man is doing is what Romans says, treasuring up wrath unto himself. That's what humanity has been doing since the days that Noah came off the ark and started repopulating the earth.
[19:21] Man began then treasuring up God's wrath. Think of that. When we think of treasuring, saving something, amassing something, what is being amassed?
[19:35] What is being saved up? God's wrath is. And it's as though the wrath and the anger and the righteous indignation of God has been building and building and building and building and building.
[19:48] And it goes on and on. And we wonder, how long can this go on? How much is God going to tolerate? And then in chapter 8, that dam breaks and everything comes flooding out.
[20:03] Ron. Does this scenario apply to believers? Believers experience this as well. You said this is after the rapture. Well, this is after the rapture, but there will be believers who will come to faith after the rapture.
[20:19] The current day believers will be raptured away and spared this. I don't know. Are we spared this? Well, we are not appointed unto wrath but to obtain salvation.
[20:34] So, we are going to be raptured whenever the Lord, according to 1 Thessalonians 4, whenever the Lord comes forth. We are removed from this scene.
[20:45] But only believers are removed. Everybody that's left behind that is not in the body of Christ by virtue of their faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, they are left behind.
[20:57] But those left behind, many of them are going to become believers. They are going to be raptured upon their belief. They are going to be here. They are going to be subjected to this.
[21:08] They are not going to be providentially protected from it any more than believers today are not providentially protected from robbery or mayhem or cancer or anything else.
[21:20] They are going to be subjected to that. But believers who died during that tribulation period, of course, will be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Anything else before we go on?
[21:35] All right, let's open up with chapter 8 then if we may please. And we've just got a couple of verses on this page and we'll go on to the next.
[21:48] But just remember, beginning here. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
[22:11] Talked a little bit about this in our last session, I think. I never understood that God was outside of time and in heaven there was no time. Well, the only answer that I can give is that God can inject or subtract time from any situation that he wants.
[22:30] And John is here witnessing these events. And he obviously is plugged into a time reality because this is an excellent translation.
[22:46] All the other renditions, versions render it the same way. Silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And what was taking place prior to this time?
[22:56] As we read in the previous chapters, we see this enormous outpouring of worship and praise and adoration on behalf of saints and angels.
[23:11] And they are worshiping God before the throne. It is a huge throng of people. And the noise must have been absolutely deafening.
[23:21] Because we are talking about a number of the likes of which we can't identify with. And this is taking place prior to this time here in chapter 8.
[23:32] And then, all of a sudden, all of the worship, all of the praise, all of the adoration, all of the accolades of glory, all dies down.
[23:43] And it is deathly silent. But sometimes silence can be deafening. And I agree with the majority of scholars who tackle this question about this half an hour of silence.
[24:04] I think they are right on. This is a time of incredible suspense building. And we do not know exactly who all there is in the know as to what is going to happen.
[24:24] But the word is out. Nobody says anything. Everybody is silent. The anticipation and the tension must be incredible.
[24:36] You realize how many bodies, how many angelic and human people we are talking about that are worshiping God there before the throne.
[24:49] And for that number to be silent, nobody is talking, nobody is saying anything for 30 minutes.
[25:00] Have you ever been to a public event where somebody is being recognized? Maybe it's somebody that passed away.
[25:14] George Steinbrenner with the New York Yankees passed away. And of course, Yankee Stadium, why they said, you know, we're going to have a moment of silence in honor of George Steinbrenner.
[25:30] And do you know how long that moment of silence lasted? About 15 seconds. And yet when you have 80,000 people there and you're trying to get 80,000 people silent, it's a real trick if you can do it for 15 seconds.
[25:49] And even then, it seems like it's a lot longer. Can you imagine this throng with silence for half an hour?
[26:00] Every minute that goes by, the tension gets greater. The anticipation gets greater. And it is a situation where everyone is anticipating and waiting with bated breath.
[26:17] How long is this going to go on? When is this going to culminate? And what's going to happen next? And it's a hold your breath kind of thing. And I can just envision these who are there looking at each other, questioning and wondering.
[26:32] How long? What is this? When? What? How? And it builds and it builds and it builds. And in anticipation of it coming to an end, it doesn't.
[26:44] It just goes on and on and on. And you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. That's the kind of scenario that I think John is describing.
[26:58] Silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God. And these seven angels, by the way, are not identified.
[27:12] I'm not about to try to assign names to them. Apparently, the spirit of God didn't think that that was important, except they're not human beings. They're angelic beings. They stand before God.
[27:24] And to them were given seven trumpets. Now, there are different kinds of trumpets in the Bible. And one is called the shofar. It is an Old Testament, if you will, trumpet.
[27:36] It's a ram's horn. And it's a long curled thing. And it's the kind of, it's also called a trumpet. It's the kind of trumpet that Gideon had or that Joshua had when they marched around Jericho seven times and were told to blow the trumpets.
[27:54] These were the ram's horns. But this trumpet is a different kind of trumpet. This is metal. It was made specifically for the service in the temple, in the Jewish temple. And it was just a long, it wasn't a curled like our trombone or like our trumpets.
[28:11] It's just a long straight with a flare at the end for the bell. And it took a real hefty amount of wind to blow that thing. And that's the kind of trumpet that is going to be given.
[28:24] If you've ever seen a picture of the Arch of Titus in Rome, you can see it today.
[28:38] It's a major tourist attraction. And there on this huge Arch of Titus, who was the Roman general that took Jerusalem and destroyed it, they have in bas-relief figures there.
[28:51] And some of them involve items of furniture from the Jewish tabernacle. And one of them shows even the Ark of the Covenant. And one of the reliefs is of the trumpet that is being mentioned here.
[29:05] It is just a long, elongated trumpet. And with the blast, it just creates an enormous sound. And these angels, numbering seven, we are told in verse three, And another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer.
[29:25] Now this censer was a container for incense. I don't know if you've seen them today. You've probably seen them on TV. Yes, I'm quite sure Roman Catholics do too.
[29:40] I know the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox do. And they have this long censer. All it is is like a fire pan. And incense is put in it.
[29:52] And it is set afire. And the smoke comes up and creates an aroma, whatever the kind of incense is. And it's usually connected with the chain. And he holds the chain and walks along swinging this thing.
[30:07] And what it does is it permeates the atmosphere with that incense. That's what this angel is doing. And this too is symbolic.
[30:18] But we should note what it is symbolic of. The angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer. And there was given unto him much incense.
[30:29] Not a little dab, not a pinch. But much incense. That he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne.
[30:43] And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. Now, this ties back to Revelation chapter 6.
[30:57] And the prayers of the saints under the altar, How long, O Lord, before we are avenged? These are martyrs. These are people who were martyred for the cause of Christ.
[31:09] And they are looking to God to exact his justice. Because vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. And these souls under the altar in Revelation chapter 6 are saying, We know that.
[31:24] We recognize that. So when are you going to do it? And the answer is, Now. Now. The time has come. Now. The answer he gives them in chapter 6 is, Wait a little longer until your brethren, who are yet alive, are also going to be martyred.
[31:47] Your number is going to be added to, by virtue of martyrdom. And when that number is complete, then God will rise and take vengeance.
[31:59] This is an imprecatory kind of thing. And we see that in the Psalms. You know the imprecatory Psalms of David, where he is heaping curses upon his enemies, which doesn't sound like a very nice thing for a believer to be doing.
[32:15] But it is strictly in keeping with what God has already promised. Because the imprecatory Psalms, where God is saying, Dash my enemies to pieces. Break their teeth.
[32:25] And all kinds of things. Prepare a snare for them. Whatever happened to love your enemy? The imprecatory Psalms are intended to bring forth the righteous judgment of God upon the enemies of the people of God.
[32:46] And this goes all the way back to the promise that God gave to Abraham. I will bless those that bless you, and I will curse those that curse you.
[32:58] And all the imprecatory Psalms are saying is, Curse them, God. Let them have it. And that's exactly what's going to be taking place here in Revelation. It is a justice that is perfect, that is deserved, that is earned, that will not be overkill.
[33:17] It will be precisely what these deserve. And they are going to be given exact justice. The smoke of the incense, verse 4, which came with the prayers of the saints, or represents the saints, but send it up before God out of the angel's hand.
[33:36] And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it into the earth. Now here's what's happening. This incense represents the collective prayers of all of these saints, particularly those who have been martyred.
[33:51] And envision, and envision, if you will, that the spreading of this incense, and this aroma, is coming up before God himself.
[34:03] And as God senses and smells this incense, it is a corporate picture of all of the prayers of those who have been martyred for Christ, and God is ready to act.
[34:17] That's the picture. He is ready to act in response to the corporate prayers of all of these believers. And here's what we find. The angel took the censer, verse 5, filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth.
[34:34] Wow. Earthbound. And there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
[34:51] The time to answer the prayers of the saints has come. And planet earth is going to be on the receiving end of it.
[35:04] And verse 6 says, The seven angels, which had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded.
[35:19] RSV says, The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail, and fire mingled with blood. And they were cast upon the earth, and the third part of trees, was burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
[35:43] Now, it is, I think, especially significant, at least it is to me, and I don't think that this is coincidental. These first four trumpets, that are going to sound, will be inflicting judgment, upon the physical earth, in the order in which, they were created.
[36:04] In Genesis 1, there will be trees, grass, sea, rivers, and lights of heaven, and the fifth and sixth trumpets, that will be sounded, will inflict judgment, directly, upon man.
[36:20] So get that picture, if you will. The first four trumpets, inflict, the planet, earth, rivers, trees, grass, oceans, seas, everything.
[36:33] And then, the fifth and sixth trumpets, will fall, directly, upon humanity, themselves. All of this, is from God. And each of these trumpets, sounding, is the sign, for this calamity, to proceed.
[36:50] All of this, comes from God. Now, there is question about, to what extent, and how the, how Satan, and the Antichrist, are involved in this.
[37:01] And there is a sense, in which, they are doing, their worst, as well, during this time, this tribulation time, to wreak havoc, upon humanity. And yet, you've got to remember, that, well, I think it was Martin Luther, who put it as well, as anybody I've heard, said that, the devil has, someone was talking, to Luther, and said, well, the devil has, a great deal of power, and he has, a great deal of, influence, and Luther says, you're right, but never forget, that Satan, is God's devil.
[37:38] And in reality, he is. I envision, Satan, as nothing more, than like a mad dog, on a chain. But he is allowed, to go no further, than what the chain, will permit him to go.
[37:51] And God, holds the end of the chain. And God, put that kind of, restriction on Satan, when he turned Job, over to him. He said, you can do anything, to Job you want to do, but I won't let you, take his life.
[38:04] And we know, that Satan, did everything, short of, taking his life. So, he has the kind of, latitude that God, is willing to give him. And he, and the Antichrist, are certainly going to be, involved in this time, of earthly judgment, and cataclysm.
[38:20] And yet, God is, Satan is God's devil. And he is using him as well. So let's hasten on, if we may. I'd really like to get, through this chapter.
[38:31] So we won't have to, break it up. Second angel sounded. And as it were, and Taylor renders it, and what appeared to be, a great mountain, burning with fire, was cast into the sea.
[38:51] Now he doesn't say, that it was a great mountain. But he is, using language, that leads me to believe, that what John is saying is, folks, I don't know what else, to call this.
[39:03] It just looked like, a massive, piece, of, rock, or material, or something, like a mountain, and it was on fire. Now, do we today, have any idea, what that might be?
[39:20] Some kind of a meteor? Are there any, visitors here to, what was it, meteor crater, it was called?
[39:31] Was that in Arizona? Yeah. Yeah. And Barbara and I, visited that with, with Daryl and Barbara, several years ago. And you stood on the rim, of this thing, and you could see, the imprint, the imprint that it made, on the surface of the earth.
[39:48] And it was big. I mean, it was really huge. And, that probably, is like a pebble, compared to what we're, talking about here. because this is going to be, something that is, really, really large.
[40:02] It was a great mountain, burning with fire, coming through, the earth's atmosphere. Burning up, with, probably, toxins, and chemicals, and who knows what all, it consists of.
[40:18] But as it comes through, and crashes, into the sea, we're told, with, burning with fire, was cast into the sea, and the third part, of the sea, became, blood.
[40:31] That's, really, kind of synonymous, with, with death. Equating it with, blood, or blood shed. And it indicates, that, a third, of the sea, is no longer able, to sustain life.
[40:48] All marine life, dies. Probably because, of the toxicity, in this thing. And, if you can imagine, the kind of heat, that would be involved, and how it would raise, the temperature of the water, for a great area, depending on how large, this thing is.
[41:08] And the temperature of the water, increasing like that, in and of itself, could be enough, to completely devastate, marine life. Besides, the toxicity, and the chemicals, that may be there, we don't know.
[41:21] But the third part, of the creatures, here's that third again, third part, of the creatures, which were in the sea, and had life, died. And the third part, of the ships, were destroyed.
[41:35] We do not know, what kind of atmosphere, or chemicals, this thing, might have created, on impact. It could be, that it was a, kind of, sulfurous, solution, that permeated, the atmosphere, that made it, virtually impossible, to breathe, or deadly, to breathe, if you breathed, in those fumes, because, we've got ships, being destroyed, as well as creatures, in the sea.
[42:03] And the third angel, sounded, I get the impression, that these are, one after another, just like they are, repeated here. There's not going to be, a large gap, of time in between.
[42:14] In other words, let me put it this way, the earth, is not going to have time, to recover, and recuperate, after any of these, because, no sooner will they, address one, and another is upon them.
[42:27] And it will be, in rapid fire order, the likes of which, you just cannot imagine. Third angel sounded, and there fell, a great star, from heaven, burning, as it were, a lamp.
[42:41] And it fell, upon the third part, of the rivers, and upon the fountains, of waters. And the name, of the star, is called, wormwood.
[42:53] And the third part, of the waters, became, wormwood. And many men, died of the waters, because they were, made bitter. Water that, is not potable, you cannot do, anything with it.
[43:07] It is water, that is highly, contaminated. And it, just portends, death, for anyone, who partakes, of it. I don't know, what this could be, other than, some kind of a, cosmic body, another kind of, meteor, maybe larger, maybe a different, composition.
[43:29] But at, at any rate, I want you to understand, that it isn't just, earthly, this is cosmic. thing. And, this is reminiscent, of what our Lord Jesus, was talking about, in Matthew chapter 24, when he talked about, the powers, of heavens, being shaken, and lightnings, and thunderings, and the elements, in the atmosphere, being altered, and changed.
[43:53] We just can't imagine, what this is like. We can get, just a little bit, of a picture, with the recent, eruption, of the volcano, in Iceland, that shut down, Heathrow airport, in London, for who knows how long, and affected air travel, all over that part, of the world.
[44:13] And let me tell you folks, that eruption, in Iceland, was like a firecracker, compared to what, we're talking about here. This is going, to create, an atmosphere, if you've ever, if you've, I've never, I've never been in this, but, my, my sister-in-law, and brother-in-law were, they're out in, central Washington, and they were on, a camping trip, when Mount St. Helens, blew, and, they didn't know, what in the world, was happening, but all of a sudden, the air was filled, with all of this, ash, and it was just, incredible.
[44:54] And, his, his, he was driving a jeep, and they were up, camping, and fishing, and everything, and, it shut down, shut down the, the motor, because the stuff, was so thick in the air, and, and this was in, central Washington, and, and, and, and, and Mount St. Helens, was miles and miles away, over closer to the coast, so they were probably, they were probably, 150 miles, from where the mountain, Mount St. Helens, blew, and, and the only way, he could get home, was he took, took Norrie's, pantyhose, and, and, and, and use them, as a filter, for the air intake, on the jeep, because the thing kept clogging up, and wouldn't run, and that was the only way, he could keep the ash out, and they limped home that way, but if you can imagine, and, and that, is, small potatoes, compared to what we're talking about here, this is going to be something, I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but,
[45:54] Yellowstone, which is just, spectacular, Yellowstone sits, right, on top of a, cauldron, you know all of those, paint pots, and the geysers, and everything, that's all from underground activity, and, the whole of Yellowstone Lake, which is absolutely beautiful, and it is, huge, what Yellowstone Lake is, is the top of a volcano, that is filled with water, and they surmise, that that thing blew, maybe a thousand years ago, something like that, and they said that it could still blow, and if it ever did, God, I don't know that they've got any indication, it's going to, you know they've got seismology, and they can pick up on rumblings, and everything, but they said, if it ever did, the size of that thing, and the magnitude of it is, he said, this geologist said, it would be, pitch dark, if, if the thing in Yellowstone, ever went off, it would create, pitch darkness, in Atlanta,
[47:03] Georgia, and during this time, there's going to be, a multiplicity, of earthquake, seismic activity, volcanoes blowing, earthquakes happening, because, the tectonic plates, and these, volcanoes, are all connected, and, this is nothing more, than a boiling, cauldron, of lava, when you go down, far enough, below the earth's crust, and, all it takes, is for these earthquakes, to release this stuff, and that's exactly, what's going to happen, and again, our Lord referred to that, in Matthew 24, in the Olivet Discourse, earthquakes, in diverse places, earthquakes, in many places, synonymously, and some seismologists, are convinced, that there is, a network, of volcanic activity, that these things, are all connected, if you go down, far enough, and they are going, to trigger one another, like a chain reaction, and, it is just going, to be, unimaginable, let's hasten on, if we may, verse 13, oh I'm sorry, verse 12, we didn't finish, verse 12, the third part, of the sun, was smitten, and the third part, of the moon, and the third part, of the stars, so as the third part, of them was darkened, and the day shone not, for a third part of it, and the night, likewise,
[48:40] I'm reluctant, to go into this, but I've got to mention this, I've got to mention this, in deference, to her majesty, because she and I, used to have some, really, interesting arguments, over, over this, particular event, and it too, goes back to the Olivet Discourse, where our Lord said, and except those days, should be shortened, no flesh, should be saved, and, I always took that, to mean that, this is speaking, of the tribulation, and that, the time, has already been, pre-designated, by God, and it is going to be, seven years, and if it were, extended beyond, that seven year period, which thankfully, it will not be, there wouldn't be, anybody left, because everybody, would be killed off, and that's what, the passage means, and her majesty, would say, no, what it means is, exactly, what it says, the days, are going, to be, shortened, so that, there will not be, 24 hour days, there will be, 16 hour days,
[50:03] I said, honey, that is bizarre, that has, no merit at all, so we would go, around the map, this is the kind of thing, we talk about, when we're, going to Dayton, or someplace like that, and, did she ever change, her mind, did she ever change, her mind, no, but, I'm thinking, I might change, mine, and, she isn't here, to rub it in, and, I don't know, if there's any way, that she could know, or find out, but I'll tell you what, much as it pains me, to say this, the idea, has some merit, and there's some other, key passages, that seem to tie in, with this, now we just can't imagine, days being shortened, to 16 hours, but what that means is, and by the way, what is that, but, a third, that's another third, and, the days, could be, reduced to two thirds, as long as they are, and what that would mean, would be a shorter, period of time, overall, a shorter period of time, in which people could die, as opposed to a 24 hour day, so, maybe we'll explore that, a little bit later on, but I've got the hasten on, and I beheld, and heard an angel, and these angels, are just, really, active, we do not know, to what extent, angelic activity, is taking place today,
[51:40] I know you read, bizarre stories, about people, picking up a hitchhiker, and, and the hitchhiker, sitting in the back seat, of their car, and he says, by the way, he says, the Lord is coming soon, and you should be prepared, etc, and blah, blah, blah, and then, the guy turns around, to talk to him, or to answer him, and he's gone, and he was driving, 75 miles an hour, obviously, it was an angel, you hear this kind of stuff, on the 700 club, take it with a grain of salt, a big grain of salt, in fact, you know, those kind of blocks of salt, that they put out for animals, take it with one of those, we don't know, we don't know, to what extent, angelic activity, is active today, all we know, is that verse in Hebrews, it says, angels are ministering spirits, sent to minister to those, who shall be heirs of salvation, so we may have, more angelic activity, involved in our own personal life, than we know, or we may not, I just don't know, how that works, but at any rate, these angels, are going to be, super, super active, throughout, the revelation, and this angel, is flying through, the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, whoa, whoa, whoa, anytime you find, a triplicate like that, it deserves, special attention, because there is, an intensity, involved, the likes of which, we cannot express, it's the same, thing as, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts, it is saying something, with a punch, and it is designed, to get attention, and when an angelic being, pronounces woe, three times over, it is a woe, the likes of which, is unimaginable, basic English, renders it, trouble, trouble, trouble, for them that dwell, on the earth, and we've used, this expression before, we'll see it again, throughout the revelation, they are described as, them, that dwell, upon, the earth, and what that phrase means, it doesn't mean just, people who are on the earth, but it means, people, whose, fixation, is upon this earth, and this earth only, they are earth bound, they are lovers, of the world, this is all they want, this is all they have, this is all that interests them, they are people, who are locked in, to the world, they are those of whom,
[54:23] John spoke when he said, love not the world, neither the things, that are in the world, these are people, who love the world, and the things of the world, they have no interest, in spiritual things, or in heavenly things, and they will look for, every possible explanation, every natural kind, of explanation, they can come up with, to keep God out of this, but it will become, increasingly difficult, as time goes on, whoa, whoa, whoa, by reason, of the other voices, of the trumpet, of the three angels, which are yet to sound, this angel is saying, folks, you haven't seen anything yet, what is yet to come, is far worse, than anything you've ever seen, and we would say, how can that be, and the angel said, whoa, whoa, whoa, it's going to get, even worse, there are three more, trumpet blasts, which the three angels, shall sound, and these, especially the fifth, and the sixth, represent,
[55:26] God's judgment, directly, upon man, and it is really, going to be something, well, our time is gone, and I want to have, just a little bit of Q&A, yeah, what those things are, I'm sorry, do you think those angels, know what those things are, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know how much angels, are in the know, until the time actually comes, we know that angels, are supernatural beings, that they surpass us, in intelligence, and in strength, but we also know, that believers, made in the image, and likeness of God, have access, to spiritual information, that angels don't understand, so, there is a way, in which, our knowledge, surpasses that of angels, but, more ways than not, that there surpasses us, Barb?
[56:16] In the verses, eight and nine, that's talking about, the sea, becoming blood, what, what sea is that, is that the oceans, is that, I mean, if it's an ocean, that's a lot larger body, of water, I take it, it's all the water, on earth, yeah, all the water, I don't think, I stand corrected on this, I don't, think, I can't ever remember, I can't ever remember, saying the word ocean, in the Bible, anybody?
[56:52] It's almost always, sea, or seas, don't take that, to be salt water, and the rivers, to be fresh water, yeah, I think, yeah, and I think it means both, fresh and salt, yeah, yeah, but this object, falls into this body of water, so, I'm just wondering, you know, if it's falling into, a smaller body of water, I don't know, I don't know, if it is one single thing, or if it will break off, and there will be fragments of it, that will fall in multiple places, I don't know, and you don't know, if this is going to land, if something of this magnitude, lands, in the Atlantic, or the Pacific Ocean, can you imagine, what kind of tsunami, that would present, I mean, wow, just, you just cannot imagine, a wall of water, that thing would create, yes, in verse 11, it says, the name of the star, is called Wormwood, and I know, the Lord doesn't put, things in there, just for no reason, so, can you give us, more information, about Wormwood, it is capitalized, well, it is given a proper name, and, and, we do this, all the time, you know, we've got, we name comets, we've got,
[58:14] Haley's Comet, and, the Hale Bopp Comet, remember that, phenomenon, that came by, several years ago, and, there's weird people, with their, strange beliefs, committed suicide, over that thing, remember, they thought they were, going to be on board, and, so we name, we name comets, and, it could well be, that this will be, a designated name, even that man may give to, I don't know, I don't know, if one gets the impression, that, that, this, entity, called Wormwood, is going to have, a toxicity to it, and, a kind of, contamination to it, that will be, very intense, very toxic, very deadly, and, it's going to, who knows, what effect that will have, when it is mixed with water, and a great content, it's just, we're,
[59:15] I guess I'm talking about, something I really don't understand, but, yes. Go ahead, I have a note, in my Bible, that says, that many species of Wormwood, grow in Palestine, and, all have strong bitter, but not poisonous taste, which causes the plant, to be used as a symbol, of bitterness, sorrow, and calamity.
[59:34] Yeah, well, the plant, Wormwood, you can, you can take, in biblical times, you can poison a well, by throwing Wormwood, into it, it makes the water, just, you just can't drink it, it'd make you ill, make you sick, or even kill you, and, enemies would contaminate, wells that way, sometimes, to, to, prevent somebody, from, being able, to slake their thirst, so, it's a deadly, it's a deadly thing, and, whatever the chemical is, whatever the chemical composition, of that Wormwood is, this thing is going to contain, in some massive amount, and, it'll have a devastating effect, upon, the bodies of water, into which it falls, yes, when St. Helens blew, I was living out there, how are you, I was in the midst of that, I walked home from church, on a beautiful sunny day, and, went into my, house, and, a couple hours later, not paying attention, to what's outside,
[60:41] I suddenly noticed, no sound of birds, singing, hmm, I went to my front door, and, a gush of this edge, came in, to greet me, and I looked out, there was nothing green, anymore, the trees, were gray, the ground was covered, with this edge, this is a frightening experience, wow, that's bad, I'm thinking that, is this the end of the world, wow, no, no cars could run, because, of the edge, clogging, the filters, yeah, but to see, silence, and gray, everywhere, and, it was so thick, I couldn't see, beyond, maybe, 20 feet, wow, that's something, this has to be, oh, the proportions, proportion of which, we just cannot, get our brains around, because, our frame of reference, is so limited, in what we have experienced, you know, compared to this, we just, well, what she's just describing here, is probably as close, as we've come, but that doesn't begin, to hold a candle, to what, is, is yet ahead, and it was very, frightening,
[62:10] I bet it was frightening, the very idea, of, the greatest, yeah, no light, the silence, yeah, amazing, I'm so glad, I won't be seeing, the rest, did you know, what had happened, with the radio, no, no, I had no idea, I, I turned on, my radio, laser, and heard, that my, St. Helens, had blown, and this, I was, I was away from them, right by the mountain, it must have been, more incredible, than where I was, but being, a couple hundred miles away, this is what, was, yeah, and Mount Rainier, is a lot larger, than Mount St. Helens, and of course, it's a volcano too, and they, every now and then, they, the city fathers, get real rambunctious, and they, make up a bunch of signs, for way of, access, and way of escape, and everything, throughout the city, in the event that,
[63:21] Mount Rainier blows, because they said, if Mount Rainier, would ever blow, it would make, Mount St. Helens, look like a firecracker, because this is so much bigger, and they have evacuation plans, and everything, but you know, it's just human nature, ah, it won't happen in my lifetime, but it's going to happen, in some bodies, it's going to happen, in somebody, just like the, another quake, in San Francisco, it's, it's going to happen, eventually, I mean, maybe 1908, was it 1908, 1907, it's over 100 years ago, but, but it's due, and could be any time, yes, yes, all these one-thirds, the one-fourths, have already happened, so the one-thirds, are, out of the three-fourths left, it would seem so, it would seem so, the population, worldwide, just keeps getting whittled down, with each new devastation, that comes upon, takes a different toll, and the body count, you just can't imagine, there's going to have to be, common graves everywhere,
[64:27] I think the day of, private funerals, will not exist, when this happens, they're just going to be, common mass graves, because that's what, they'll have to do, there'll be no other way, to, to approach it, we just, we just, can't get into this, can we?
[64:46] Even with, everybody who went outside, had to wear a mask, you could not breathe, you just couldn't breathe, that's right, because it was all this, that you're inhaling, you breathe that action, and you know, it does a job on your lungs, and you just cannot survive, well let's pray, shall we?
[65:10] Father, we recognize, that all that we have been, discussing, is a result of, man's rebellion, against you, and the gracious provision, that you have made, for man's sin, man would rather, go his own way, and ignore the provision, you've made, and what we've been, reading about, represents the awful, consequences, that come from it, and yet, as regards, your sense of justice, and holiness, we would not, in any wise, question it, nor doubt it, we are grateful, that you are, the God you are, that you are, a holy being, and that, at the same time, you have made provision, for us to be holy, separated as well, and that we can possess, a righteousness, in Jesus Christ, that you will accept, and we are so grateful, for that, thank you for, more than ample provision, you've made for us, through the Lord Jesus, and we pray, that seeing, that these things, are coming upon this world, what manner, of men and women, we ought to be, in all manners, of our walk, and our conversation, thank you for the privilege, being together, today, and looking into, these things, that are coming upon, the earth, and use it, we pray, to increase our sensitivity, to the real plight, and lostness, of our fellow man, so that we can share, the gospel, whenever we have opportunity, we pray in his name,
[66:38] Amen.