SCRIPTURES on SCREEN: Rev 1:16-19; 7:2-3; 5:6-9; 1:20; 22:16; Ex 12:12; 13:9; Rev 2:18-25; 3:19-20; Eph 6:10-20
PRIMARY ENCOURAGEMENT: If I am growing in fear and angst, as I read this revelation,
then I am not understanding this in the way that Jesus instructed.
REV 8:1-4
- Tent of meeting: See Heb 9:1-11
- Prayer & Praise: Who is singing? In Revelation, it’s everyone and everything! The heavenly hosts—the angels, the living creatures; humanity—the elders, the multitudes; specifically every creature created—everything joins in praise to the Lamb of God (see Rev 5:8, 11, 13; 7:9, 11)
- Angelic Incense = Human Prayers
- Musuc in one hand; prayer in the other.
REV 8:5-6
- 7th seal just opened! It contains 7 trumpets…
- “thunder, rumblings, lightning”: See Rev 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (each progression adds something new)
REV 8:7-12
- Recall: “land, sea, trees & sealed servants”
- On mountain: See Jer 51:25
REV 8:13
- “Inhabitants of the earth”: See Rev 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 12, 14; 17:2, 8
REV 9:1-19
- “Stars” as spiritual beings: See Rev 1:20; 22:16
- “Fallen star” is a bit confusing. Could be (1) abyss-demon-king from 9:11 (see also 12:4); (2) Dragon, aka Satan in Rev 12:7-9; or (3) the conquering Angel in Rev 20:1-3.
- To me, it seems the “good” angels “come down” from heaven, while the “bad” angels “fall” from heaven. This star has command over the creatures of the abyss, and is known as the terms:
- Abaddon: Associated in the OT Hebraic as “sheol” or in Greek, “hades.” See Job 26:6; 28:22; Prov 15:11; 27:20
- Apollyon: “This may indicate a connection to the Greek god Apollo, for whom the locust was often used as a symbol. Domitian—who may have been the emperor at the time Revelation was written—thought of himself as Apollo incarnate. Thus, this may be John’s way of presenting worship of the emperor as evil and demonic.”
- John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Re 9:11.
- “Abyss”: See Luke 8:31, Pet 2:4; Jude 6; and consider the Jewish work of 1 Enoch 90:22–27
- “Abussos (abyss) was originally an adjective describing something unfathomable with no apparent depth or bottom. In the Greek OT, abussos envisions the fathomless ocean depths (watery depths, Gn 1:2; 7:11; 8:2; Is 51:10) and possibly the realm of the dead (depths of the earth; Ps 63:9; 71:20). In the few centuries preceding Christ, abussos evolved to refer to the place of imprisonment for disobedient angelic spirits. This highly developed meaning carries into the NT, where abussos typically refers to the place of punishment in which demonic spirits (including the devil) are held (Lk 8:31; Rv 9:1–2, 11; 20:3), and the place from which the beast originates (Rv 11:7–8). Abussos may also refer to the present realm of the dead (Rm 10:7), a concept similar to that of the Greek term Hadēs and the Hebrew term Sheol (cp. Ps 16:10; Ac 2:27).”
- A. Boyd Luter, “Revelation,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 2030.
- “Abussos (abyss) was originally an adjective describing something unfathomable with no apparent depth or bottom. In the Greek OT, abussos envisions the fathomless ocean depths (watery depths, Gn 1:2; 7:11; 8:2; Is 51:10) and possibly the realm of the dead (depths of the earth; Ps 63:9; 71:20). In the few centuries preceding Christ, abussos evolved to refer to the place of imprisonment for disobedient angelic spirits. This highly developed meaning carries into the NT, where abussos typically refers to the place of punishment in which demonic spirits (including the devil) are held (Lk 8:31; Rv 9:1–2, 11; 20:3), and the place from which the beast originates (Rv 11:7–8). Abussos may also refer to the present realm of the dead (Rm 10:7), a concept similar to that of the Greek term Hadēs and the Hebrew term Sheol (cp. Ps 16:10; Ac 2:27).”
- “Snakes and Scorpions”: See Luke 10:18-20
- “Four Angels” at Euphrates: Four angels were bound in Rev 7:1-3
- For association with four judgments/destroyers see Rev 6:8; Jer 15:2-3; 24:10; Eze 5:12, 17; 14:21
- Last week, Justin mentioned three ways to approach understanding Revelation in respect to Satan’s being bound. Justin said he would be in the camp of one where Satan is already bound… Here we can see that at least someone or something has been bound.
- Jesus talked about “binding the strongman”: See Matt 12:29; Mark 3:27, Luke 11:21–22. In these passages, Jesus uses the analogy of a strong man guarding his house (that is, the earth) to explain that Satan is the strong man and Jesus is the stronger one who binds him to plunder his goods (that is, free His people).
- The four angels that are bound by the great river Euphrates may or may not be the same four which restrained the four winds in 7:1; scholars are not agreed. The answer will be determined largely by one’s opinion concerning the relation of the woes of the seven seals to those of the seven trumpets. If the two series are entirely different, the two sets of angels are probably not the same. There is some argument for this. The first four are said to be at the “four corners of the earth” while the second are at the River Euphrates. The first restrain destructive forces and the second are loosed in order to initiate destruction. But if the trumpet woes are largely the same in substance as the seal plagues (which is the position of this commentary) the two groups are made up of the same four angels. They come at the point of the sixth woe in each series. In the first they hold in check the devastation until the righteous are sealed. In the second they release the evil forces after the righteous have been sealed against their effects. Moreover, the four angels of the present vision are referred to as the four, as though they had already been identified.
- Harvey J. S. Blaney, “Revelation ,” in Hebrews-Revelation, vol. 6, The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966), 459–460.
- The four angels that are bound by the great river Euphrates may or may not be the same four which restrained the four winds in 7:1; scholars are not agreed. The answer will be determined largely by one’s opinion concerning the relation of the woes of the seven seals to those of the seven trumpets. If the two series are entirely different, the two sets of angels are probably not the same. There is some argument for this. The first four are said to be at the “four corners of the earth” while the second are at the River Euphrates. The first restrain destructive forces and the second are loosed in order to initiate destruction. But if the trumpet woes are largely the same in substance as the seal plagues (which is the position of this commentary) the two groups are made up of the same four angels. They come at the point of the sixth woe in each series. In the first they hold in check the devastation until the righteous are sealed. In the second they release the evil forces after the righteous have been sealed against their effects. Moreover, the four angels of the present vision are referred to as the four, as though they had already been identified.
- “Fiery Red” and “horse riders”: See Rev 6:3-8
- “Sulfur”: See Ps 11:6; Isa 30:33; Eze 38:22. Note here who sulfur comes from and seems to belong to, then see how it brings about its own demise in Rev 14:10; 19:20; 20:10; 21:8.
- Recall: “Jesus holds keys to death & hades”
THE COMPARISON TO EXODUS
- Some plagues affect all; some plagues affect only Egyptians.
- Some Egyptians turned to the Lord in the plagues: see Ex 11:3; 9:20
- This can be countered by noting that no foreigner or alien living among the Israelites are to eat Passover unless they are circumscised (Ex 12:43-49). Nonetheless, this seems to be tempered by noting that it is instructions for the observations into the future, and not for the blood on the doorposts the night of the Firstborn plagues in Egypt. The instructions for the first night do not seem to have these restrictions.
- These plagues mimic the showdown of the gods in Egypt. See Ex 12:12; Num 33:4
- Those who turned to the Lord left Egypt with the Israelites. See Ex 12:38; Num 11:4; Josh 8:35
- This exodus is not fleeing into a Promised Land; this exodus is flipped – death and destruction must depart and run for their lives!
REV 9:20-21 (The Twist)
- This was written to churches and for churches. See Re 2:18–25, esp 20-23
- This is not only a call to the people out there; this is a call for us in here: cleanse ourselves and become wholly and fully allegiant to Jesus! See Rev 3:19-20
