THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS

IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION

Bereans Adult Bible Fellowship

Placerita Baptist Church
Revelation 8:2–13

2 And I saw the seven angels who stand

before God, and seven trumpets were given
to them.
3 Another angel came and stood at the altar,
holding a golden censer; and much
incense was given to him, so that he might
add it to the prayers of all the saints on the
golden altar which was before the throne.
Revelation 8:2–13

4 And the smoke of the incense, with the

prayers of the saints, went up before God
out of the angel's hand.
5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it
with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the
earth; and there followed peals of thunder
and sounds and flashes of lightning and an
earthquake.
Revelation 8:2–13

6 And the seven angels who had the seven

trumpets prepared themselves to sound
them.
7 The first sounded, and there came hail and
fire, mixed with blood, and they were
thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth
was burned up, and a third of the trees
were burned up, and all the green grass
was burned up.
Revelation 8:2–13

8 The second angel sounded, and something

like a great mountain burning with fire was
thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea
became blood,
9 and a third of the creatures which were in
the sea and had life, died; and a third of the
ships were destroyed.
Revelation 8:2–13

10 The third angel sounded, and a great star

fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it
fell on a third of the rivers and on the
springs of waters.
11 The name of the star is called Wormwood;
and a third of the waters became
wormwood, and many men died from the
waters, because they were made bitter.
Revelation 8:2–13

12 The fourth angel sounded, and a third of

the sun and a third of the moon and a third
of the stars were struck, so that a third of
them would be darkened and the day would
not shine for a third of it, and the night in
the same way.
Revelation 8:2–13

13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in

midheaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe,
woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth,
because of the remaining blasts of the
trumpet of the three angels who are about
to sound!"
Place in the Book of Revelation

I. What you have seen (Rev 1).

II. What is now (Rev 2–3)—the seven
churches of Asia Minor.
III. What will take place after these things (Rev
4–22).
A. The Seven Seals (4:1–8:1)
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

1. Preparation for the Seven Trumpet

Judgments (8:2–6)
a. The Seven Angels with the Seven
Trumpets (8:2, 6)
♦ Function of trumpets
Jeremiah 4:19

My soul, my soul! I am in anguish!

Oh, my heart! My heart is pounding in
me;
I cannot be silent,
Because you have heard, O my soul,
The sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
Judges 6:34

So the Spirit of the LORD came upon

Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the
Abiezrites were called together to follow
him.
Exodus 20:18

All the people perceived the thunder and

the lightning flashes and the sound of the
trumpet and the mountain smoking; and
when the people saw it, they trembled
and stood at a distance.
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

1. Preparation for the Seven Trumpet

Judgments (8:2–6)
a. The Seven Angels with the Seven
Trumpets (8:2, 6)
♦ Function of trumpets
♦ “The” seven angels
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

1. Preparation for the Seven Trumpet

Judgments (8:2–6)
a. The Seven Angels with the Seven
Trumpets (8:2, 6)
♦ Function of trumpets
♦ “The” seven angels
♦ Angels and judgment
Matthew 13:39–41

39 and the enemy who sowed them is the

devil, and the harvest is the end of the age;
and the reapers are angels.
40 So just as the tares are gathered up and
burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of
the age.
41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels,
and they will gather out of His kingdom all
stumbling blocks, and those who commit
lawlessness, . . .
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

1. Preparation for the Seven Trumpet

Judgments (8:2–6)
b. The Angel with the Golden Censer
(8:3–5)
♦ Over or at the altar in Heaven
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

1. Preparation for the Seven Trumpet

Judgments (8:2–6)
b. The Angel with the Golden Censer
(8:3–5)
♦ Over or at the altar in Heaven
♦ Who is this angel?
♦ What is this angel’s work?
Revelation 5:8

When He had taken the book, the four living

creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down
before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and
golden bowls full of incense, which are the
prayers of the saints.
Ezekiel 10:1–2, 6–7

1 Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse

that was over the heads of the cherubim
something like a sapphire stone, in
appearance resembling a throne, appeared
above them.
2 And He spoke to the man clothed in linen
and said, “Enter between the whirling
wheels under the cherubim and fill your
hands with coals of fire from between the
cherubim and scatter them over the city.”
And he entered in my sight.
Ezekiel 10:1–2, 6–7

6 It came about when He commanded the

man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire
from between the whirling wheels, from
between the cherubim,” he entered and
stood beside a wheel.
7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand
from between the cherubim to the fire
which was between the cherubim, took
some and put it into the hands of the one
clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
Question for Discussion

Why can’t the angel

with the golden censer
be Jesus Christ?
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

2. The First Four Trumpet Judgments

(8:7–12)
a. First Trumpet—Hail, Fire, Blood (8:7)
♦ Cp. 7th plague on Egypt
♦ See Joel 2:30
♦ 1/3 of the trees burn up
♦ All of the grass burns up
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

2. The First Four Trumpet Judgments

(8:7–12)
b. Second Trumpet—“Like” a Great
Burning Mountain Cast into the Sea
(8:8–9)
♦ A large meteorite or asteroid?
♦ 1/3 of the sea becomes blood
♦ 1/3 of all sea creatures die
♦ 1/3 of all ships destroyed
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

2. The First Four Trumpet Judgments

(8:7–12)
c. Third Trumpet—The Star Called
“Wormwood” (8:10–11)
♦ “star” = meteor or comet or asteroid
♦ Wormwood = bitter plant symbolic of
judgment
Jeremiah 9:15–16

15 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts,

the God of Israel, “Behold, I will feed
them, this people, with wormwood and
give them poisoned water to drink.
16 “I will scatter them among the nations,
whom neither they nor their fathers
have known; and I will send the sword
after them until I have annihilated
them.”
Proverbs 5:4

But in the end

she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

2. The First Four Trumpet Judgments

(8:7–12)
c. Third Trumpet—The Star Called
“Wormwood” (8:10–11)
♦ “star” = meteor or comet or asteroid
♦ Wormwood = bitter plant symbolic of
judgment
♦ 1/3 of the rivers and fountains
become bitter.
♦ Many men die.
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

2. The First Four Trumpet Judgments

(8:7–12)
d. Fourth Trumpet—Celestial Catastrophe
(8:12)
♦ Cp. 9th plague on Egypt
♦ 1/3 of the sun darkened
♦ 1/3 of the moon darkened
♦ 1/3 of the stars darkened
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

“so that . . . the day would not shine for a third

of it, and the night in the same way.”
 Shortened day?
 Reduction of light?
 Less intensity or fewer hours?
 Longer night?
Matthew 24:21–22

21 For then there will be a great

tribulation, such as has not occurred
since the beginning of the world until
now, nor ever will.
22 Unless those days had been cut short,
no life would have been saved; but for
the sake of the elect those days will be
cut short.
Question for Discussion

What is the significance of

“one-third”?
Ezekiel 5:1–2

1 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp

sword; take and use it as a barber's razor
on your head and beard. Then take scales
for weighing and divide the hair.
2 “One third you shall burn in the fire at the
center of the city, when the days of the
siege are completed. Then you shall take
one third and strike it with the sword all
around the city, and one third you shall
scatter to the wind; and I will unsheathe a
sword behind them.
Zechariah 13:8–9

8 “It will come about in all the land,” declares

the LORD, “that two parts in it will be cut off
and perish; but the third will be left in it.
9 “And I will bring the third part through the
fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test
them as gold is tested. They will call on My
name, and I will answer them; I will say,
‘They are My people,’ And they will say,
‘The LORD is my God.’”
Revelation 6:7–8

7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I

heard the voice of the fourth living creature
saying, “Come.”
8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and
he who sat on it had the name Death; and
Hades was following with him. Authority
was given to them over a fourth of the
earth, to kill with sword and with famine
and with pestilence and by the wild beasts
of the earth.
 1/4
3/4
Revelation 9:18

A third of mankind was killed by

these three plagues, by the fire and
the smoke and the brimstone which
proceeded out of their mouths.

1/2
1/3
B. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

3. The Last Three Trumpet Judgments—

Three Woes (8:13–11:19)
a. Introduction to the Woes (8:13)
♦ An eagle, not an angel
♦ “Woe, woe, woe”
♦ “to those who dwell on the earth”
♦ “because of the remaining blasts of
the trumpet of the three angels who
are about to sound”
Implications Regarding Jesus Christ

• The wrath of Jesus Christ brings these

judgments (cp. 6:16–17).
• Only three chapters lack any reference to
Jesus: chapters 8, 9, and 18.
• These judgments come upon those who are
not in Christ Jesus—they rejected Him.
Luke 19:41–44

41When He approached Jerusalem, He saw

the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you
had known in this day, even you, the things
which make for peace! But now they have
been hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days
will come upon you when your enemies will
throw up a barricade against you, and
surround you and hem you in on every side,
Luke 19:41–44

44and they will level you to the ground and

your children within you, and they will not
leave in you one stone upon another, because
you did not recognize the time of your
visitation.”