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SURVEY OF CHAPTERS 8 AND
9
[McGuiggan: Chapters
8-9 introduce us to the seven trumpets. (The
trumpets come under the heading of the seventh seal as subordinate
points, in a speech, come under the heading of major points.)
Trumpets, in the Old Testament, were to gain attention and give
alarm. By trumpets, the nation was assembled or warned of
approaching danger. The trumpets are warning judgments on the
ungodly, the oppressors of God’s people. We are
explicitly told they refuse to repent.]
In
Revelation, chapters 8 and 9, we learn that the
prayers of Christians entered the realm of Heaven as a sweet
incense [verses 3-4: “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. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the
saints, ascended before God from the angel's
hand.”], while the wrath of God was poured out on evil
men. Again, think about that image. Here are these
poor, dear, down-trodden, persecuted saints and they are praying
fervently. If they know what James said about “the
effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man,” they are
struggling, because they are not seeing it! [James
5:16: “Confess your trespasses to one another,
and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The
effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails
much.”] But yet, here John portrays that their
prayers are coming up into the nostrils of God as a sweet savor, as
a welcome aroma! And meanwhile, God’s wrath is coming
upon those who are treating them this way, persecuting
them.
In spite of the
fact that both the love of God and His wrath were extended toward
the wicked, neither phased those sinners, chapter 9, verses
20 and 21 [“But the rest of mankind, who were
not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their
hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold,
silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor
walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their
sorceries or their sexual immorality or their
thefts.”]. But in the day of the Lord—in the
day of the judgment of the Lord—they will be
vindicated.
SURVEY OF CHAPTERS 10 THROUGH
12
[McGuiggan: Chapters
10-12 speak of conflict and comfort. Chapter
10 assures the saints of ultimate judgment on the
oppressor because he spurned the warning. Chapter
11 speaks clearly of the conflict which at times appears
to be going in favor of the enemy. However, it just as
clearly sets forth the ultimate triumph of the Church.
Chapter 12 makes it very clear that the Devil is a
three-time loser. All this comfort is needed because of what
we are about to be shown.]
Chapter
10 is a clear
reminder of Ezekiel, chapter 3, where God told His
servant to take the word and eat it up [verses
1-4: “Moreover He said to me, ‘Son of man,
eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of
Israel.’ So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat
that scroll. And He said to me, ‘Son of man, feed your
belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give
you.’ So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in
sweetness. Then He said to me: ‘Son of man, go to the
house of Israel and speak with My Words to
them.’”]. Ezekiel, in his day, and John, in
his day, were to thoroughly take in—to
ingest—the Word of God, the sacred text, and then
share it with others. It was sweet to their taste, but became
bitter in their stomachs [Revelation 10:9-10:
“So I went to the angel and said to him, ‘Give me
the little book.’ And he said to me, ‘Take and
eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as
sweet as honey in your mouth.’ Then I took the little
book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as
honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became
bitter.”].
You will
remember that Ezekiel was the servant of the Lord and prophesied
during the Babylonian captivity of the children of Israel, while
John labored for Truth during the sad moments and despicable
treatment that was given to God’s people of the
1st Century under Roman domination. So we see
Ezekiel functioning or operating during the days of the Babylonian
captivity, and we see John functioning as God’s servant, His
messenger, during the domination of the Roman Empire over
Christians. In each era, it was serious business, of course,
to be servants of Jehovah. In Psalm 34, verse
8 [“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”] and in
Jeremiah 15, verse 16 [“Your Words were
found, and I ate them, And Your Word was to me the joy and
rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your Name, O LORD God of
hosts.”], we learn that the Holy Scripture is sweet to
the spiritual taste, but it can become a bitter pill to swallow
when digested and shared with an evil world, and with worldly and
indifferent brethren.
In
chapter 11, John is told to measure the people by
the standard of righteousness to see if they are pure and holy
[verse 1: “Then I was given a reed like
a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and
measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship
there.’”]. And John is blessed to see that
eventually the kingdoms of this world will become subservient to
the Kingdom of Christ in every way [verse 15:
“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud
voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall
reign forever and ever!’”]. As Paul writes
in Romans 13, verse 1, “there is no
authority but God,” [“Let every soul be
subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority
except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by
God.”] And the Psalmist declared, God
“rules by His power forever” [Psalm
66:7: “He rules by His power forever; His eyes
observe the nations; Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.
Selah”]. What a declaration of glory at a time
when Rome seemed to dominate Christianity! Here, Christians
are reminded that there is no power but God, and that God rules by
His power forever [verses 17-18:
“saying: ‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One Who is and Who was and Who is to come, Because You have
taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry,
and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should
be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the
prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your Name, small and
great, And should destroy those who destroy the
earth.’”].
In
chapter 12, there is a sort of a dividing line
here where you can see the tumultuous struggle between Satan and
Christ. And John beheld the tenacity of the “Devil who
is the deceiver of the world,” he says there in
chapter 12, verse 9 [“So the great
dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and
Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him.”]. And he is
one so awesome that he can only be defeated by the “blood
of Christ,” by the “Word” of God,
and by those who are devoted to the Truth of God’s Word, and
who are willing to die for that cause, Revelation 12, verse
11 [“And they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the Word of their testimony, and they did not love
their lives to the death.”]. When that old serpent
is unable to overthrow the Lord, he tries desperately to demolish
those who follow the Savior. This, again, is part of the
Message there in chapter 12.
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