The opening verses of this chapter look back not upon chap. 7., but upon chap 6, and they introduce the second great series of Visions, that of the Trumpets. They thus complete one series and anticipate another. Much difficulty has, indeed, been experienced by commentators in the effort to determine... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:1. The opening of the seals is resumed in almost exactly the same strain as before in chap. 6. When the seventh seal was opened there followed A silence in heaven. This silence is generally supposed to relate to the cessation either of the songs of praise spoken of in chap. 7, or of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:2. The SEVEN ANGELS SPOKEN OF STAND BEFORE GOD ready to execute His will. It is implied that this is their usual position, and not merely that they are there for the moment. AND THERE WERE GIVEN UNTO THEM SEVEN TRUMPETS. These trumpets are neither those of festal proclamation, nor are... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:3. As we are here at a higher stage of judgment than before, a greater amount of preparation is made for it. Hence the second angel appears. Who this, called ANOTHER ANGEL, was we are not informed. But, when we compare chap. Revelation 10:1 (see note), we shall probably conclude that, t... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:4. THE SMOKE OF THE INCENSE, now added to the prayers of the Church, WENT UP BEFORE GOD, reminding the Almighty of the sufferings of His people, and of the answer for which they cried.... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:5. The angel FILLED THE CENSER WITH THE FIRE OF THE ALTAR, AND CAST IT UPON THE EARTH. For the thought of ‘filling' comp. John 2:7; John 19:29; John 21:11. For the _Nemesis_ so characteristic of St. John, observe that the sufferings which had been spoken of, endured at the hands of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:6. The prayers of the suffering Church have been heard, and the answer is to be given. Hence we are told in this verse that the SEVEN ANGELS PREPARED THEMSELVES TO SOUND. The words are, strictly speaking, a part neither of the seventh seal nor of the first trumpet. They mark a transitio... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:7. AND THE FIRST SOUNDED, AND THERE CAME HAIL AND FIRE MINGLED IN BLOOD, AND IT WAS CAST UPON THE EARTH. The language used both in this and the following judgments takes us back to the Old Testament, and more particularly to the plagues of Egypt. Pharaoh, who was visited by these plague... [ Continue Reading ]
The first four Trumpets are evidently separated from the three which follow them , both by the words of Revelation 8:13 and by the fact that they refer to things of earth, while in the latter we are brought into contact with the spiritual world. A transition of a similar kind met us at the opening o... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:8-9. These two verses contain the second trumpet, at the sounding of which what resembled a great mountain, AS IT WERE A GREAT MOUNTAIN BURNING WITH FIRE WAS EAST INTO THE SEA. There is nothing in this part of the description to remind us of the plagues of Egypt, but in Jeremiah 51:25 w... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:10-11. These verses record the sounding of the third trumpet, when there fell out of heaven a great star burning as a torch. The star fell upon the third part of the waters of the earth exclusive of the sea, which had been already visited under the second trumpet. These waters are natur... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:12. In this verse we have the contents of the fourth trumpet, which touches the sun, the moon, and the stars. Yet it must not be supposed that, because these heavenly bodies are now introduced, we are taken beyond the condition of men in the present world. Sun, moon, and stars are thoug... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 8:13. The first four trumpets are over, and we might have expected to pass, AS in the case of the seals, directly and without interruption, to the fifth. But we are dealing with A higher potency of judgment than that which met us under the seals; and at this point therefore, when a transi... [ Continue Reading ]