CHAPTER EIGHT In chapter 6, especially in the first four seals, we see death and destruction at the hand of man. Even though these are the judgments of God upon this sin cursed earth, still He uses man to slay man. In these four seals we see God’s “four sore judgments” which are given in Ezekiel 14:21 as “the sword and the famine and the noisome beast, and the pestilence.” All this is brought on by natural means in the hand of God. But when we come to the sixth seal God takes over and man flees to the dens and the rocks of the mountain. The seventh seal brings before us our Lord’s “strange work” of Isaiah 28. There we read in verse 17 “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place”. And in verse 21 we read, “For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work.” But
before He starts His strange work we see in verse 1 of
our chapter before us that “there was silence in
heaven about the space
of half an hour.” How this reminds us of Isaiah 18:4
where we
read, “For so the LORD said unto
me, I will take my rest.” How this ominous silence is a
portent of
the terrible things to come. Not only is there silence on the throne
itself,
but the four living creatures and the twenty four elders lay down their
harps
and stop their singing for half an hour. The loud voices of the
millions of
angels of Revelation 5:11-12
are heard no more during this time. The glorified saints stop their
audible
worship of the Lamb, and the disembodied tribulation saints refrain
from crying
out for revenge on their enemies until the half an hour of silence is
over. How
awesome is this terrifying silence, and how near at hand it must be to
this God
hating world. John
saw seven angels standing before God and to them were given
seven trumpets. The blowing of trumpets has played an important part in
the
life of God’s people. In Exodus 19:16 the voice of the trumpet
heralded
the giving of the law. It was used to gather the congregation together,
Numbers
10:7, to announce the year of Jubilee, Leviticus 25:9, to bring about the fall of Jericho, Joshua 6:20,
to bring about the defeat of the Midianites Judges
7:22,
and how we do long to hear that “last
trump” of I Corinthians 15:52 and I Thessalonians 4:16
which
is to herald the rapture of the saints that we may ever be with the
Lord. But,
before the seven angels sound their trumpets John saw another
angel come and stand at the altar. This angel had “a golden
censer”. The “censer”
(LIBANOTOS) has a primary meaning of
frankincense and a secondary meaning of a vessel in which incense is
burned. It
is used in its secondary sense here in this Scripture. We see that much
incense
was given to this angel. This “incense”
(THUMIAMA) is frankincense which is
a resin or gum from the ARBOR THURIS or incense tree. It is a very
fragrant
substance that is used for perfume. But what we want to notice here is
that
much of it was given to this angel. The fragrance of this “much
incense” speaks of our Lord’s sacrifice of Himself on the
Cross. We note that the “much incense”
was offered with “the prayers of all
saints” on the golden altar. How this does tell us that our prayers
are not
forgotten. In some way our prayers help to usher in the judgments on
this
wicked world. The prayers of all saints in connection with the incense
which
represents our Lord’s person and work on the Cross is very effectual
before our
God. There
are Bible commentators who hold that the angel priest before
us is the Lord Jesus Christ, but I am persuaded that when this time
comes our
Lord has laid aside His priestly robe and is now attired with the
garments of
the judge. There is no salvation before us here, but judgment in great
profusion. The judge’s role of this angel is clearly set forth in verse
5 where he fills his censer with fire
from the altar and casts it into the earth. Let us remember that fire
speaks of
judgment, not of salvation. We find that when the fire is poured out “there were voices, and thunderings, and
lightnings, and an earthquake”. In nature the lightning must
precede the
thunder, but when God sets His hand to confound this old sinful world
He
reverses the order. Just think of the terrifying effect upon the wicked
world
when they first hear the thunder and then see the lightning. But even
though
the fire is poured out upon the earth, still God says in Zechariah
13:9 “I will bring the third part through the fire.” Even
fire from heaven itself cannot hurt those whom the Lord chooses to
protect. In
verse 6 of the chapter before us we see the seven angels who
have the
seven trumpets making preparation to sound their trumpets which in turn
brings
such sore judgments upon a God dishonoring world that deserves every
one of
them so much. How
Scriptures like the verses before us do literally throw us at
the feet of our Lord begging for light that we may see what is there
for us. It
would be so much easier to just follow the line of least resistance and
say
with many other writers on Revelation that we should take what we have
before
us literally. Some of them say all we need to do is believe what it
says.
Certainly I believe that God can do all these things found in this
Scripture
plus any other things He might wish to do. And it would be much easier
to just
say I believe it just as it is written than it is to search the
Scriptures to
see what all this signifies. But the very first verse in the book tells
us that
this revelation was signified, that is, it was given in signs and
symbols. In
verse 16 of chapter one we see our
Lord holding seven stars
in His right hand. To be sure, my Lord could hold seven actual stars in
His
hand if He chose to do so. But in verse 20
we are told that these seven stars are the angels (pastors) of the
seven
churches. The Holy Spirit gave us the meaning of this sign, but if He
stopped
every time He gave a sign in this book and told us what it meant, He
would have
made a lazy man’s book of it. But our Lord had no desire to make a lazy
man’s
book of this wonderful book of Revelation. He wanted us to be forced to
search
the Scriptures for the meaning of these signs. It is just that which
makes us
grow into spiritual Christians. In
verse 7 the first angel sounds his trumpet “and
there followed hail and fire mingled
with blood”. In Isaiah 28:17 hail is spoken of as that
which sweeps
away the refuge of lies. And in Isaiah 28:15 we see those who
have made
lies their refuge. What is the lie that is the refuge of millions of
people in
our day? Is it not that their salvation is in their church? If their
church is
destroyed from off the face of the earth, would that not sweep away
their
refuge of lies? In Revelation 17:16-18
we see the utter destruction of the mystery Babylon
which is none other than the Catholic Church. The fire mentioned in the
verse
before us may very well represent God’s fury that is being poured out
upon this
ungodly thing. In Nahum 1:6 we are told that His fury is
poured out like
fire. As
a result of all this we see one third of the trees and all the
green grass burned up. It would be a little thing for our great God to
do all
this literally, but, if we are to look upon this as signified prophecy,
we must
try to find what these things represent. From Deuteronomy 20:19
we learn
that the tree represents man’s source of food. So, if one third of the
food
resources are destroyed, you have what we find in Revelation 6:6
where
food becomes so expensive that a man can only make enough to buy his
own food.
In 1 Peter 1:24 we see the grass speaks of the glory of man. If
man
glorifies his church and his church is utterly destroyed before his
very eyes,
quite naturally his glory will all be gone. When
the second angel sounds his trumpet John saw what appeared to
him to be a mountain that was burning with fire being cast into the
sea. Some
writers tell us that this thing that looked like a mountain was a
meteor. But,
if you notice, they do not back up their thinking with the Scriptures.
I am
unable to find any Scripture that would liken a meteor to a mountain,
but I do
find references which liken a kingdom to a mountain. In Daniel 2:44
we
are told that “In the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” Then in Isaiah
2:2
we read “And it shall come to pass
in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be
established in the top of the mountains.” And in Isaiah
11:9
the Lord’s holy mountain can be none other than the kingdom He is to
set up. So
it is with the great mountain that filled the whole earth in Daniel
2:35. The
Catholic Church is certainly a great kingdom, or empire. It is
not only a great religious empire but it is also a great political
empire as
well. Even today (1969) she tells the nations of the earth what they
can do and
what they cannot do. Our own elective officers in the greater part of
our own
country are afraid to say “no” to her. And when the beast comes on the
scene
and heads up the ten kingdom empire of the last days we see her sitting
upon
the beast, Revelation 17:3. That is, she is telling him what to
do and
what not to do. This great monster looked like a kingdom to John and it
certainly looks like one to me. This thing that looked like a mountain
was
burning with fire. In Revelation 17:16 we are told that the
beast and
the ten kings shall “burn her with fire”.
The “her” here certainly appears to
be the Catholic Church. This
thing that is burning with fire is cast into the sea. Some
writers tell us it is the Mediterranean Sea. Others say it is all the
oceans
and seas. But in Revelation 13:1 John saw “a beast
rise up out of the sea”. This beast is most certainly a
man. His activities prove him to be a man and not some wild, untamed
beast.
Then in Revelation 19:20 we see him being cast into hell alive.
So it is
not the sea that brings him into power, but rather that of which the
sea speaks.
To learn what the sea represents let us go to Revelation 17:15
where we
read, “The waters which thou
sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and
nations and
tongues”. In other words the sea represents chaotic
conditions in
the world. We see that a third part of this sea becomes blood and a
third part
of the creatures died. When the beast and the ten kings set their hand
to
destroy this great and ferocious monster, the Catholic Church, blood
will flow
and people will die. This terrible monster will not lie down and die
peaceably.
I am told that the basements in the large Catholic churches are today
literal
arsenals. She is even now (it seems) preparing herself for that day. We
are told in the Scriptures before us that one third of the
ships are destroyed. In Revelation 18:9-19
we see the effects of the destruction of this great
empire. We see the merchants of the earth wailing and casting dust upon
their
heads because of the loss of such a lucrative business. The average
person does
not have any idea of the amount of business that will stop when this
great
kingdom is destroyed. In verse 19 we read, “Alas,
alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships
in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made
desolate.”
The loss of all this Catholic business will put a third of all the
ships out of
business. The word “destroyed” here
does not mean extinction, but non operative. No wonder the world
laments her
great loss. When
the third angel sounds his trumpet we see a great star fall
from heaven. In Revelation 6:13 we saw the stars of heaven
falling. Here
in the verse before us it is the great star. It is my conviction that
the stars
of 6:13 represent the pastors, or priests of the false
churches. That
being the case, the great star of 8:10 would quite naturally be
the head
over all these false churches. I have prayed, begged, pleaded and
waited long
upon the Lord for the way to go in the matter of an explanation of this
great
star that I might not cause some of His people to err. And if He has
led me as
I have trusted Him, and waited upon him, as I believe He has, then this
great
star is none other than the Pope of Rome, the head over the Catholic
Church.
Or, if you prefer to do so, you may call him the Pontifex Maximus, the
head
over the old ancient Babylonian Mysticism. They are one and the same
thing. But
someone may say, this star falls from heaven. That is true.
Our Bible says this star falls from heaven, but does the word “heaven” always mean the place where God
has His throne? Sometimes we are too quick to give our own definition
to Bible
words. In Haggai 1:10 we are told that “the
heaven over us is stayed from dew”. That is, “dew”
is withheld from it. This heaven
is the air immediately above us. And in 2 Corinthians 12:2 Paul
speaks
of “the third heaven”. You must
first have a first and second heaven before you can have a third
heaven. If
there is only one place that is called heaven it would be foolish to
call it
the third heaven, and God does not talk foolishly. You and I do talk
foolishly
sometimes, but our Lord never does. The Greek word for “heaven”
is OURANOS and
it simply means to lift or to heave. We might say it means to exalt, or
lift up
someone, or something. The “third heaven”
where our Lord and Saviour is seated at the right hand of the Father is
a
highly exalted place that is lifted up above all the other heavens. So,
I ask
you, could this heaven from which the great star falls not to be the
high and
exalted position to which the religious world has lifted the pope?
Certainly I
do not believe we would be doing any injustice to the word OURANOS
nor to the precious Scriptures of which it is a part if we
say the word heaven here in Revelation 8:10 means the exalted
position
the pope holds in the eyes of the world. We find this same word is
translated
air in Matthew 6:26 and 8:20 as well as in other
places. So
to me the stars in 6:13 represent the lesser church
dignitaries in this false religious empire. The great mountain in 8:8
represents this false religious empire or kingdom itself and the great
star in 8:10
the head over this empire. The great star is “burning as it
were a lamp”. Let us note, it does not say this star
is a lamp. Most other translations say “burning
like a torch”. Our Lord tells us in John 8:12 that He is
the light
of the world. But to most of the Catholic world the pope is their god.
Therefore, he is their light even though it is only an imaginary one.
But this “burning like a torch” may very well
refer to what we see in Revelation 17:16 where the beast and
the ten
kings “burn her with fire”. This
great star falls “upon
the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of water.”
Job
20:17 speaks of the river of honey. That is, the river speaks of
sweetness. Job 29:6 speaks of the “river of
oil”. Hebrews 1:9 speaks of our Lord anointing His people
with “the oil of gladness”. So the “river
of oil” speaks of “the oil of gladness” in the
Lord. Then
in Psalms 36:8 we read of the river of the Lord’s pleasure.
Since the
pope is all the sweetness, all the oil of gladness and all the river of
pleasure the Catholic world knows about, can we not see how bitter
their lot
will be when he is destroyed? This great star is called wormwood. The
word “wormwood” comes from APSINTHOS
which is a plant that grows
in desolate places, and which is both bitter and hurtful, or harmful to
man. In Lamentations 3:15 wormwood speaks of calamity, and in Amos
5:7 it speaks of injustice. How this
does characterize the pope. What, or who can be more calamitous to
mankind than
the pope of Rome? And certainly many men will die when the beast and
the ten
kings come to destroy this great star. The
fourth angel sounds his trumpet, and once again we are forced
to fall prostrate at the feet of our Lord pleading for an
understanding. How we
do realize that the book of Revelation was not written for the casual
reader.
No dime novel reader can read the first chapter of this wonderful book
and then
close the book and tell you how the book ends. No literalist that I
have heard
on this verse 12 has ever made much sense to me. I heard one
recently
who said, “Let’s just take it for what it says and we won’t have any
trouble
with it”. I grant you that is so much easier than to search the
Scriptures for
the interpretation of this verse. On the surface it sounds real good
just to
say let’s take it just as it is written. But if we are going to be
literalists
let’s be reasonable with it. I believe that God can do anything He
wants to do,
and I believe that He can do it any way He wants to do it. If He chose
to make
a third part of the day dark with two thirds of the literal sun shining
upon
it, He could do it easily. But let us remember that act would be
supernatural,
not literal. Supernaturally speaking, all things are possible. But from
a
literal standpoint it is utterly impossible to have a
third part of the day completely dark while two thirds of that great
and
powerful sun shines down upon it. If we want to take this book for what
it
says, let us go back to the first verse in the book and see what it
says. In
that verse God says that He sent and SIGNIFIED this revelation by His
angel to
John. I
make no boast of being an authority on any part of God’s
precious Word, and most certainly not the portion before us. But, with
a prayer
on my lips that I may be led by the Holy Spirit to the extent that I
may not
cause any of my Lord’s people to err, I humbly give what I believe is
taught in
this verse. In
Genesis 37:9-10
we learn that the sun, moon, and stars speak of a family relationship.
In Malachi
4:2 our Lord is spoken of as the “The
Sun of Righteousness”. His true churches are to make up His Bride.
True
Baptists have made up His true churches throughout the centuries. And
from a
close study of Revelation 1:20 we find that stars in this book
represent
the pastors of the churches. If we say the sun here in the verse before
us
represents “the Sun of Righteousness”,
the Lord Jesus Christ, you may say can the Lord of glory be darkened.
Yes, He
surely can be darkened so far as the religious world is concerned. I
recall a
total eclipse of the sun many years ago that caused such darkness over
the part
of the earth where I lived that the chickens went to roost in midday.
Now the
fact that the moon got between us and the sun did not affect the sun,
but it
surely did affect us. In the day under consideration when the Catholic
Church
has been completely destroyed, I am persuaded that the apostate Baptist
Churches that are left on the earth when our Lord comes in the air for
His
saints will prosper as never before. People are naturally religious,
and
therefore they must cling to some religious organization. But these
Baptist (by
name) pastors who, no doubt, will be the product of professors such as
Dale
Moody, Eric Rust, Frank Stagg, Roy Honeysutt, and a great host of
others of
their ilk will stand in their pulpits ripping and tearing, denying and
denouncing God’s precious Word to the extent that their teaching will
shut out
all semblance of light from “the Sun of
Righteousness” just as the moon shuts out the light of the sun in a
total
eclipse. In
Isaiah 8:20 we are told that “If they
speak not according to this word, it is because there
is no light in them.” And in verse 22 we are told
that “They
shall be driven to darkness.”
In Micah 3:5-6 speaking
of prophets, or preachers that cause the Lord’s people to err we read, “therefore night shall be unto you,
that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye
shall
not divine.” How spiritually dark it will be in that day
because the
preachers will not speak according to this word. David speaking of the
wicked
says, “Let their way be dark and slippery”, Psalms 35:6.
Again he
says, “Let their eyes be darkened
that they see not,” Psalms 69:23. Paul quotes this
statement
in Romans 11:10. Paul also says, “And their
foolish heart was darkened”, Romans 1:21.
And in Ephesians 4:18 he speaks of people “having the
understanding
darkened”. In Isaiah 60:2 we are told that “Gross darkness” shall cover “the
people.” We know this is spiritual darkness because in verse
1
we are told to “Arise, shine; for
thy light is come”. The old devil would like for us to think
that
this darkness in Revelation 8:12 is physical darkness because
that would
keep people looking the other way while he covered them with gross
darkness.
But I do not want to point you the other way while he does his dirty
work. In Ephesians
6:11-12 we are
admonished to “put on the whole armour
of God”, because we wrestle “against the rulers of the darkness
of this
world”. To “put on the whole armour
of God” requires long, tedious, prayerful study of the Word. And it
simply
cannot be done on the run. So, may we all spend more time at the feet
of our
Lord because He says that is the thing that is needful, Luke 10:42.
The
word “day” in Scripture may mean the
time of sunlight, it may mean the time of our life as in John 9:4,
or it
may mean the time of the great tribulation, or some other definite
period of
time. In verse 13 we learn that all these terrible things that we have been studying so far are as nothing compared to those that are to follow when the last three trumpets are sounded. How close this awful time seems to be upon this wicked world, and how little they seem to care. The blindness brought on by the total depravity of man is something that we never cease to marvel at. |