REVELATION · Day 6 of 21
The 7 Trumpets
1 · READ THE TEXT
Revelation 8:1-13 & 9:20-21
Revelation 8:1-13
Open in the reader →1And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 3And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. 5And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 6And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. 7The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. 10And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. 12And the fourth angel sounded, and 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. 13And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
Revelation 9:20-21
Open in the reader →20And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
2 · UNDERSTAND
Before the trumpets there is half an hour of silence in heaven — and the incense rising is "the prayers of the saints". This is one of the most striking details of the book: the prayer of God's people is part of the machinery of history. The trumpets follow the pattern of the plagues of Egypt, striking land, sea, rivers and stars, always in part (a third), because they are still warning, not the end. And the saddest line of chapter 9 says the survivors "did not repent". Judgement in the Bible always has a pastoral purpose: it is an opportunity to return. Hardening under it is the real tragedy.
3 · REFLECT AND ANSWER
Read the text again and answer calmly. Your answers are kept only in this browser.
- 1.What does this text reveal about who God is?
- 2.What does it show about people — and about you?
- 3.What will you do differently today because of it?
4 · LIVE AND PRAY
Practical application
Pray today about something you cannot solve — and believe that your prayer rises like incense before the throne.
Lesson prayer
Father, receive my prayers as incense. When I see your judgement in the world, may my heart soften rather than harden. Amen.
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