Trumpets (Revelation 8, 9)
After the interlude of visions showing who will stand and survive God’s judgement, the scene of the seals resumes. When the seventh seal is broken there is silence. Many interpretations have been offered or speculated (this is Revelation, after all) but it is best to see this in its literary, dramatic context. When all the seals are broken, and God’s ultimate plan to bring fallen creation to a close is about to be revealed, it will be the most dramatically suspenseful moment in history since the incarnation.
During that silent moment of solemnity, John sees the prayers of believers rising as an aroma before God. We do not hear the exact content of these prayers, but one can assume it is not simply the “let me find a good parking spot!” variety. (Not that those are bad.) These are likely more of the calls from the saints for justice like those seen in 6:10.
It may be hard for comfortable, western Christians to identify with the vast majority of believers throughout history, and with John’s first readers; but most followers of Jesus have to balance a love for their lost neighbors with a just desire to see evil against them punished. Oh, western Christians are good at hating and judging evil, but the contexts are usually different.
What we see in Revelation after the seals are broken is God’s patience for man’s evil, in the knowledge that as many as will will be saved, running out. There will come a time when God’s holiness and justice, qualities that are always present in God’s sovereign plan, will judge the evil and rebellion and sin that run rampant in His creation. And for believers suffering persecution and martyrdom in this world, it is a reassuring message to know that God is not blind to what is being done. God will judge.
In the seven trumpets, we see aspects of this judgement, God’s wrath being wielded against evil in creation. We will see more details of this wrath again later in the bowls (which parallel the trumpets quite closely.) But, for now we focus on the response of humanity to God’s wrath.
Because it is telling. In the fifth trumpet blast, also called the first “woe,” men suffer and seek death as an escape. Death, not forgiveness. And in the sixth blast, the second “woe,” we are told that the survivors do not repent of their evil. All those left at the time of God’s wrath are so hardened in their sin that they will not turn to God’s love and forgiveness; even when that path is the obvious way to go.
During that silent moment of solemnity, John sees the prayers of believers rising as an aroma before God. We do not hear the exact content of these prayers, but one can assume it is not simply the “let me find a good parking spot!” variety. (Not that those are bad.) These are likely more of the calls from the saints for justice like those seen in 6:10.
It may be hard for comfortable, western Christians to identify with the vast majority of believers throughout history, and with John’s first readers; but most followers of Jesus have to balance a love for their lost neighbors with a just desire to see evil against them punished. Oh, western Christians are good at hating and judging evil, but the contexts are usually different.
What we see in Revelation after the seals are broken is God’s patience for man’s evil, in the knowledge that as many as will will be saved, running out. There will come a time when God’s holiness and justice, qualities that are always present in God’s sovereign plan, will judge the evil and rebellion and sin that run rampant in His creation. And for believers suffering persecution and martyrdom in this world, it is a reassuring message to know that God is not blind to what is being done. God will judge.
In the seven trumpets, we see aspects of this judgement, God’s wrath being wielded against evil in creation. We will see more details of this wrath again later in the bowls (which parallel the trumpets quite closely.) But, for now we focus on the response of humanity to God’s wrath.
Because it is telling. In the fifth trumpet blast, also called the first “woe,” men suffer and seek death as an escape. Death, not forgiveness. And in the sixth blast, the second “woe,” we are told that the survivors do not repent of their evil. All those left at the time of God’s wrath are so hardened in their sin that they will not turn to God’s love and forgiveness; even when that path is the obvious way to go.
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