REVELATION Chapter 8 "Opening of the Seventh Seal, the Seventh Trumpets of God" This Bible Study was written by Roger Christopherson, and it's transcription is provided with written permission by https://theseason.org Revelation 8:1 "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." We see here the opening of the seventh seal; for then it will start the sounding of the seven trumpets. Though the seals are not in chronological order, the trumpets are sounded to do an action. The trumpets are actions that are in order and acted upon at the sounding of each of the trumpets. Though the white horse of the first seal [Antichrist's arrival] is stated first as a seal, it is the fifth trumpet that sounds his arrival upon the earth. The seventh seal is the final seal and also the seventh trumpet. This first "half an hour" will be completed in the eleventh chapter. This is the hour of temptation; the first part of that hour. This hour is when the Antichrist is on earth, and he is the "son of perdition", which will be discussed in Revelation 17, which includes each of the first six seals. Jesus spoke to His disciples about each of these seals in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, as He sat on the Mount of Olives just prior to his death. The seventh seal of Jesus' warning has to do with the "parable of the Fig Tree". When you observe this tree, it will bring forth leaves, and not fruit. Our generation is told that when we observe this, the reestablishment of the Jews back in Israel, the prophecies of the the end times would all take place, and that generation would observe them all. That generation started in May of 1948, when the Nation of Israel was established. This seal, then is the seal that will allow our generation to witness all the prophecies of the final days. It's not difficult to understand when you see what the seven trumpets are. They will come to pass in order, and with that seal, or knowledge in our minds, we can identify each of them. Revelation 8:2 "And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets." John witnessed these seven angels being given their trumpets. Revelation 8:3 "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden senser; 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." This makes a total of eight angels standing before the throne of God, that are the main actors in this chapter. Seven of the angels hold trumpets, and one will hold the golden censer. The eighth angel is important, for he will use the incense of the golden censer to be offered with all the saints prayers on the altar of God, that is before the throne of God. These prayers are offered to God as part of God's promise to fulfill all prayers that are within God's will. This eighth angel's action is the first of the eight angels to come to pass. Revelation 8:4 "And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand." Only the saint's prayers are in this vial. God was reminded instantly of all these prayers, with the incense offered to Him by these saints. They include all the prayers of vengeance on behalf of the saints. They are all going up before God. Revelation 8:5 "And 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." What is this fire? God is a consuming fire; it's God's glory. God's glory and response to these prayers are going to shake many people up. If you are a true minister of God, telling people the truth of God's Word, it will shake people as the conviction of the truth of God's Word reaches their hearts and minds. It's impossible to be loved by the worldly minded when you preach the justice of God, along with God's love. Everyone loves to hear of God's unspeakable love, but when your sins are in focus, their shaken. Revelation 8:6 "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." As the Word goes forth, and heaven is silent, the trumpets are about to sound. Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth [and the third part of the earth was burnt up]: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." This is the first trumpet. Can you think in a spiritual sense? If you are looking for this to take place in a physical happening, your going to be deceived. The fire is God's consuming fire, and the distruction here is more than on a fleshly level. This deals with the future condition of your soul. Your flesh, as in all mankinds, exists for only a few years [70 on the average], then it goes back to the dust or elements from which it came. It's finished. However, your soul is eternal when it is covered under the blood of Christ. The concern, then, by the Christian is focused on the condition of their soul, and this is spiritual. It is God's Spirit [the Holy Spirit] that will pour out on this earth, as never before. That Spirit is God's will, and control over all things. Within that will of God, is that our Heavenly Father will give Satan the authority to act as the Antichrist and do the things that he shall do, as we will see in the next chapter. The Antichrist will come to this earth and do his deeds so that all the people on the earth can and will be tested. The movement to the religous one worldism will be total. All the "green grass" will fall to that world wide Satanic system. I Peter 1:24, 25 "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." Right now the pastures are green with the gospel, however those pastures of God's holy Word are drying up. In the end we will see where Antichrist and his system will burn up. Revelation 8:8 "And 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;" The great mountain is a great nation, remember the sea are the peoples of the world. This will be discussed later, however when a great nation burns and is cast into the sea, it ceases to be governed as a nation, but falls under a world wide system where boundries don't exist. Revelation 8:9 "And the third part or the creachers which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." The sea are peoples, and nations; and the here death is a spiritual death. The ships that were destroyed were the commerce and trade. The commerce and trade of that great nation was hurt and burned very badly, for it dried up one third of all commerce and trade. Can you see this economic condition happening today? It's going to get worse. To understand this sea, and the waters it contained; Revelation 17:15 defines it for us. "And he saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are the peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues [languages]." This deals with the Harlot, "Mystery Babylon" [the false religious system]; the ten kings, or powers of authority that give their authority to the beast [Antichrist and his system]. The system where this whore is sitting upon includes the nations entire world, which is the waters. The sealed of God are the only exceptions to this system. Now back to Revelation 8:9. These "creachers" that had life and died, that were in the sea, are the men and women living on the earth that have become and are part of Antichrist's world wide system. They are the ones who were deceived by Antichrist and his world government. The "death" is a spiritual death of the soul, when they take up the worship and work for the system. They are the ones putting their faith in the Rapture doctrine, and all those other doctrines that will lead their flocks, their families, and friends to the Antichrist. And they will do it in ignorance, for they do not know Gods Word. How could a great mountain fall into the sea? This mountain is a great nation, and when it allows itself to be taken over by these waters of people [the one world government], they will sap the strength right out of that great nation. When it takes the industries, and removes trade barriers, the commerce of that nation is "burnt up". This chapter quite obviously is refering to the United States, the only superpower left on earth, and this verse says one third of our wealth, and strength in commerce and trade will be gone for good. Also adding to the sapping of the strength, or burning up of our wealth, are the heavy taxes our Godless leaders are imposing upon us, to flow through their huge give-away programs, and govermental theft. We are in the end times of this earth age, and there is no more powerful nation of the face of this earth than the United States. America will continue to be drained, as our politicians continue to sell their country out, as well as their very souls to the Kenites, and this one world order. God foretold us this would happen, and the Church world slept and bartered with the devil's kids for crums from their table. They bowed to them for advantage through the tax system, and now with the new tariff and trade agreements in place, America is being dismantled rapidly. Revelation 8:10 "And a third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp [torch], and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;" This is the sounding of the third trumpet of God. Remember Luke 10:18, "And I beheld Satan as lightening fall from heaven." Satan is called "the morning star" in Isaiah 14:12-16. This falling star is the devil, the "son of perdition". Satan reflects as a illuminated lamp, his "Illuminati" shining it's lies out to the world, and is drawing his world wide system together. Do you see it happening today? If you don't, your either blind, or in a convent. The news from all the media today covers only what is promoting the adgenda of the United Nations, then it is so distorted and full of lies it isn't worth the time to watch. The "shining ones" from the United Nations, which is part of the Illuminate, are given whatever authority of credit they need to carry on their murder, thievery, and attacks on the public at large. The "rivers" are waters, or nations, whereas the "fountains" are in reference to "the fountains of the living waters", which are the Christians whose fountains of living water flows from our Lord Jesus Christ. This burning by Satan comes through deception, and many Christians will be deceived by Satan because they do not know the difference between the morning star [Satan], and the Morning Star [Jesus Christ the Messiah]. All except God's elect, are going to be deceived. Revelation 8:11 "And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." Satan may look like Christ and offer fountains of blessings, but his fountains will give only bitterness. You think it is clean, fresh and pure water, but when you taste of that water its bitter. When you drink of it and digest it, it becomes poison to your very soul. This is why Satan is called "Wormwood" [a poison]. One third of the world will become part of Satan's system, and drink freely from the Antichrist waters. Will you? Are you prepared to know the difference, or are you trusting your soul to a pack of Kenites. Many church denominations today are allowing changes to take place in their doctrines to allow for compromise with the world, and Satanic doctrines. They allow for abominations such as sodomy to enter their house of worship and call it of God. The chief shepherd of their Luciferian dogma is the "World Council of Churches". When wormwood is allow this to happen, those churches lose total sight of Our Lord's teachings. They become part of the type of Churches that we saw at Ephesus and Pergamos, from chapter two. Revelation 8:12 And 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. The first three trumpets are well under-way and this is the fourth trumpet sounding. The false teaching; the falling of a great nation; The bitterness of Wormwoods [Satan's doctrine] in bring down churches everywhere; and these events are becoming more final with each passing day. When the true Christ comes, the entire world will be consumed by his authority and power; however with wormwood [Satan], only one third will be consumed by him. When Satan arrives darkness will appear; and the darkening in the heavens will be exactly as you expect it to be when Jesus Christ returns to earth. The universe will even announce both comings. Notice, though, Satan will cause only one thire of the effect, whereas our Lord's return will be complete and total. Revelation 8:13 "And I beheld, and heard an angel [eagle] 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." In the original text the word "Angel" should read "Eagle"; for the word in the Greek reads "Aetos". Why is this ? Their is an urgency to this eagle's cry of "Woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth", by reason of the voices from the other trumpets. This is why the last trumpets are called the "woe trumpets". This is not woe to those in heaven, but woe to those who are living on this earth. It is aimed at our generation, and to you and I specifically, if you are a Christian. This woe is directed to those who are not doing their bible study, and preparing themselves for what is coming. All those who have studied the Scriptures, and used the proper tools of study, will know the true Christ from the fake. If you are rapped up in the rapture theory, or other one world doctrine, you will think the Antichrist is the true Christ, and the waters old wormwood gives you are then poisonous to your soul.
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