Is the sky really falling? In Revelation 8, the seven angels who stand before God prepare to sound their trumpets, and when the first four blasts ring out, judgment falls on every part of creation. Hail and fire mingled with blood burn up a third of the trees and all the green grass, a great mountain burning with fire turns a third of the sea to blood, a star called Wormwood makes a third of the rivers and springs bitter, and a third of the sun, moon, and stars are darkened.
In this message from our series Revelation: Jesus Revealed – The View Behind The Veil, we walk through Revelation 8:2-13 and see that these trumpets give no uncertain sound (1 Corinthians 14:8). Each one echoes the plagues God sent on Egypt in the days of Moses – the hail and fire, the waters turned to blood, and the darkness that covered the land for three days.
These judgments are not random. They fall on a world that has exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped the creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). And as an angel flies through the midst of heaven crying, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth,” we are warned that even greater judgments are still to come – and that now is the time to be a friend of God rather than a friend of the world.
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Sermon Notes:
Revelation 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them
were given seven trumpets.
Revelation 8:6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared
themselves to sound.
Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled
with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were
burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
Revelation 8:8 Then 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.
Revelation 8:9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third
of the ships were destroyed.
Revelation 8:10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven,
heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs
of water.
Revelation 8:11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became
wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
Revelation 8:12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck,
a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened.
A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.
Revelation 8:13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of
heaven saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth,
because of ‘the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are
about to sound!”
I. THE SOUND OF TRUMPETS.
Revelation 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them
were given seven trumpets.
1 Corinthians 14:8 For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare
for battle?
1. THE FIRST TRUMPET: A THIRD OF THE TREES AND ALL THE GRASS
Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled
with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were
burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
Exodus 9:23 And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent
thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the
land of Egypt.
Exodus 9:24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that
there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
2. THE SECOND TRUMPET: A THIRD OF THE SEA CREATURES
AND A THIRD OF THE SHIPS.
Revelation 8:8 Then 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.
Revelation 8:9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died,
Exodus 7:20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he
lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of
Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river
were turned to blood.
Revelation 8:9 “… and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
3. THE THIRD TRUMPET: A THIRD OF THE FIRST WATER SUPPLY POISONED
Revelation 8:10 Then 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 water.
Revelation 8:11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became
wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
Psalm 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.
4. THE FOURTH TRUMPET: A THIRD OF THE SUN, MOON AND
STARS DARKENED
Revelation 8:12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck,
a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened.
A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.
Exodus 10:23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place
for three days.
II. THE SINNERS’ PUNISHMENT.
Revelation 8:13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of
heaven saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth,
because of ‘the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are
about to sound!”
Romans 1:25 (CSBA) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped
and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised for
ever. Amen.
James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with
the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the
world makes himself an enemy of God.
James 4:4 (CEB) You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that friendship with the
world means hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend
becomes God’s enemy.
Zephaniah 1:2 “I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land,” says
the Lord;
Zephaniah 1:3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the
heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the land,” Says the Lord.
