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Psalms 104:1-17 Bless the
LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor
and majesty, Who cover Yourself
with light as with a garment,
Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper
chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the
wings of the wind, Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.
You who laid the foundations of
the earth, So that it should
not be moved forever, You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains. At Your
rebuke they fled; At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. They went up
over the mountains; They went down into the valleys, To the place which You
founded for them. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That
they may not return to cover the earth. He sends the springs into the valleys;
They flow among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field; The
wild donkeys quench their thirst. By them the birds of the heavens have their
home; They sing among the branches. He waters the hills from His upper
chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works. He causes the
grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he
may bring forth food from the earth, And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man's heart. The
trees of the LORD are full of sap,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, Where the birds make their nests; The
stork has her home in the fir trees.
In the name of Jesus we pray to you Father God. Bless us
and our loved ones, and guide us in the truth of you Holy Word. Convict us of
the truth Holy Spirit in a way that will bring us to our knees. Amen!
Revelation 8:1-6 NKJV
This
lesson brings us to the introduction of the Seven Trumpet Judgments. As stated
in a previous lesson the seventh seal introduces the first of the seven
trumpets. All the judgments are recorded in the scroll that Jesus is unrolling.
As we go through these judgments the intensity of each one gets greater and
deadly for mankind and the universe. Do you remember what these judgments are?
They are the Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, and Seven Bowls.
As I
read ahead about these judgments that God will pour out on people and the
universe I shudder. These will not be pleasant times. You do not want to be
here on earth during this time. Those that will be in close proximity to some
of these disasters, will die out of fear. Luke 21:25-26 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in
the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and
the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them
from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
I pray
that the Revelation lessons so far has gotten you to think about your
relationship with Jesus, and if you’re not saved, I ask the Holy Spirit to
convict you in such a way with future lessons, you will seek Jesus in a whole
new dimension and ask Him into your heart to rule and reign your life, so you
will not have to go through the Tribulation if you are alive when it starts.
How far away is the Tribulation? No one knows, but with each passing day and
the events that are happening around the world, it isn’t far off. Do a little
research and you will find the natural disasters that are happening are on the rise
compared to 50 years ago. Yes society blames these things on global warming,
but the truth is, God is sending wake up calls to the world, but the world is
ignoring them because man thinks and believes they have all the answers through
science.
After
reading the last paragraph you are probably thinking, Bill what are you saying?
Is the only reason to get right with God is so you won’t go through the trials
of the Tribulation? No, I’m not saying that at all. If a person is not saved
they need to seek a personal relationship with Jesus so that when one dies or
is alive when the Rapture happens they will go to Heaven for eternity and be
with their Creator and Saviour. What I’m saying is the Book of Revelation has
brought fear into people’s lives by realizing they are sinners by birth, and
they have repented of their sins because they realized there is a Hell which is
eternal punishment. Just like the Book of Romans that has brought multitudes to
their knees in repentance by means of the Holy Spirit convicting them of the
truth of God’s Holy Word, and revealing the deception of what Religion and
manmade doctrine teaches.
It is
the Holy Spirit that opens the door of our soul and spirit to be convicted of
our false beliefs and the truth is revealed if we will allow it. Many times our flesh will not allow it
because we think we know best and cling to our tradition, religious beliefs,
manmade rules, upbringing, etc. and will not allow the Holy Spirit to work in
our lives.
OK, I’d
had better get going on this week’s lesson, so let’s see what scripture has for
us.
1 When He
opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
When
He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven; This silence that takes place in
Heaven is in expectation of what will happen next. So far the opening of the
first six seals some pretty awful things took place, or will take place. Do you
remember what the first six seals revealed? The four horsemen, seals 1-4
representing the Antichrist, wars, famine, and death; the martyred souls under
the altar that would not deny Jesus name, seal 5; and the shaking of the earth,
seal 6.
With those in Heaven
seeing what has happened with the opening of each seal, are they concerned
about what the seventh seal is to reveal? Yes they are! The expectation of what
woe it will bring upon those on earth, is such that its opening has caught the
attention of all in Heaven causing silence.
Have you ever experienced
silence due to some type of expectation about to take place? What about at a
basketball game and the winning point rests on a free throw shot; or at a
graduation and the silence of the audience in expectation of what the speaker
or valedictorian has to say; or watching a suspenseful movie and all the
previous scenes are leading up to something but you don’t know what. This is
what takes place in Heaven causing those to be silent in great expectation of
what is going to happen next. Jesus is reaching for the seventh seal and
everyone sees Him reaching for it and this creates silence of great
anticipation.
For
about half an hour; John
states the silence is about ½ and hour. We don’t really know how long of time
span this will be, but with the suspense that is building it seems like ½ hour
to him. It is the suspense of what is to come next that causes this to seem so
long.
2 And I saw
the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
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Seven Angels Seven Trumpets
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Art used; by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
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And
I saw the seven angels who stand before God; These seven angels are not the angels referred to in
previous lessons. The angels mentioned before represented the seven spirits of
the seven churches that are sent out into all the earth. Revelation 1:4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from
the seven Spirits who are before His throne, Revelation
5:6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four
living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had
been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of
God sent out into all the earth.
These seven Angels are
totally different than the seven Spirits of God. Quite possibly Gabriel is one
of these Angels, for he said to Zacharias, “I am Gabriel who stands in the
Presence of God.” So we know Gabriel stands in the presence of God and who the
other six are we do not know for certain. These Angels are God’s elite angels
of high rank and are in the presence of God continually to serve Him. Luke 1:19 And the angel answered and said to him, "I
am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and
bring you these glad tidings.
And
to them were given seven trumpets;
These seven trumpets represent the next seven judgments that God will pour out
on the world. Each of these trumpets will be a different misery to those on earth.
Trumpets were used then for various purposes to summon an assembly; to gather
the troops for battle; to inspire troops in conflict; to announce some type of
decree. Here they are given to announce a series of important events producing
great changes in the world. Trumpet examples:
Exodus 19:16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the
morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the
mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people
who were in the camp trembled. Exodus 20:18 Now all the people witnessed the
thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain
smoking; and when the people saw it,
they trembled and stood afar off. 1 Corinthians
15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came
and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints
upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Then
another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar; This angel is of unknown identity and
the fact that we don’t know who this angel is, makes no difference. If we were
to know who this angel is it would have been recorded by John. This angel has a
golden censer and stands before the altar of incense.
A censer is a small
portable vessel of metal, fitting to receive burning coals from the altar,
which incense was sprinkled on the coals for burning.
The altar is the “Altar of Incense.” This altar is of the
same nature as the one God had Moses build and it stood before the Veil in the
Tabernacle here on earth.
He
was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar
which was before the throne;
This angel was given a lot of incense because the occasion was one on which
many prayers might be expected to be offered. The prayers of God’s Saints on
earth going through the Tribulation, those Raptured up into Heaven, and the
martyred souls under the altar crying out for vengeance. Now remember these
Saints are God’s children. Individuals that have given their heart to Jesus and
are cover by the atoning blood of Jesus. These are not man proclaimed saints.
The purpose of the incense
is that it be burned and offered up the same time the prayers of the Saints are
offered up. It was a Jewish custom to burn incense during prayer time or pray
during the burning of incense. Incense was burned in the Temple twice daily.
When the people saw the smoke from the burning incense, they prayed. Exodus 30:7-8 "Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every
morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. 8 And when
Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual
incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
4 And the
smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from
the angel's hand.
An incense burner filled
with live coals was used in Temple worship. Incense was poured on the coals,
and the sweet-smelling smoke drifted upward, along with believers' prayers
ascending to God. Prayers are very precious in the sight of God, but at the
same time imperfect. Incense added to our prayers is a type of sweet delight that
symbolizes the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
5 Then the
angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were
noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.
This verse is telling us
that God’s wrath will be poured out on earth in such a way that has never been
seen before or in the future. Matthew
24:21 For
then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning
of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. It is also telling us the Trumpet
Judgments will be worse than the Seven Seal Judgments.
God’s wrath is not to be
taken lightly. Many people believe that God will look the other way or they can
barter their way into Heaven. They don’t want to believe that He would send
them to Hell for eternity because He is merciful and He will forgive them. The
problem is that every human being has had a chance in their earthly life time
to accept Jesus as their Saviour. God sent His only begotten Son to earth in
human form to die in our place. What an act of love this was on God and Jesus part.
There is no other definition of love! Yet only a remnant give their heart to
Jesus. Our God is a just God, there is no gray area with God, only black or
white; guilty or not guilty. There were only 8 people saved from Noah’s time
because all other humans were living a life of sin. Only 3 people were saved
from God’s wrath at Sodom and Gomorrah because of sinful life styles. This is
what a remnant is!
Sin is sin in God’s eyes
unless one is washed in the shed blood of Jesus our Saviour. If one is not
saved and they keep all the laws except one and die without repentance, they
are doomed for Hell. James
2:10 For whoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet stumble in one point,
he is guilty of all.
6 So the
seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
The seven angels are
getting ready to sound their Trumpets of Judgment. These Trumpet Judgments will
start to take place a little before mid Tribulation. Next week we will kick off
the Trumpet Judgment!
Romans
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…...
Romans
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans
6:23 For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say
to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Last
Week’s Trivia: Who
was Almodad?
Answer: Almodad was one of Joktan’s sons, a descendant
of Noah through Noah’s son Shem. Genesis 10:26;
1 Chronicles 1:20.
This
week’s Trivia: Who
was Amalek?
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