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Grace & Peace: Revelation 60

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)

“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; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed” (Rev. 8:8–9).

The doom predicted by Jesus is falling upon Jerusalem, and these events are fulfilled in the Jewish War of 66-70 A.D. In order for this to become plain to us, we have to begin with how the Bible talks about such things. Kingdoms are frequently spoken of as “mountains,” and the judgments that fall upon them are described with appropriate imagery. We see this both with expressions of faith in times of trouble, and expressions of dismay in times of judgment.

Here is an expression of faith:

“Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” (Ps. 46:2; cf. Is. 2:2; Zech. 4:7).

And how is a terrifying judgment against Babylon described?

“Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, Which destroyest all the earth: And I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain” (Jer. 51:25).

So we have Old Testament expressions of judgment on nations in terms of mountains being burnt, and mountains being thrown into the sea. And recall what happened when Jesus cursed the fig tree—which was a sign of the coming judgment upon Israel. What does Jesus say?

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done” (Matt. 21:21).

What mountain? This mountain, the mountain they were standing on, the mountain that the city of Jerusalem was built on (Matt. 21:18). In other words, Jesus cursed the fig tree, representing Israel, and then told His disciples that their authoritative command, delivered in faith, would be the instrument that would cause Jerusalem to be thrown into the sea. Who overthrew Jerusalem? In one sense, the Roman Titus did. But in another sense, Jerusalem was thrown down by the twelve apostles.

That sea probably represents the Gentile nations, as it does throughout Scripture. The image of a mountain city being thrown into the sea is an image of judgment, and is not meant to be taken literally—as though Mount Zion was destined to go whistling overhead. And in the same way, the sea is symbolic of the Gentile world, into which the Jews who survived the war would be dispersed. The burning object, like a mountain, was thrown into the ocean and quenched, and it caused devastation there as well.

There may be a literal element in the fulfillment however. Josephus records a battle between the Romans and the Galileans that occurred on the Sea of Galilee. It was a slaughter—“one might see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped.” The result is not hard to compare to the results of the second trumpet: the “dead bodies all swelled; and as the dead bodies were inflamed by the sun, and putrefied, they corrupted the air . . .” (Wars III.10.9).

Jerusalem was cursed. Jerusalem was burned in 70 A.D. Jerusalem was settled on a great mountain. Jerusalem persecuted the apostles as they had done with their Lord. And so the apostles commanded, and it was done.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 59

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)

“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 trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up” (Rev. 8:7).

The seven trumpets follow the same general pattern that the seven seals did—in that the first four are divided from the final three. In this case, the last three trumpets are identified as “woes.” With the seals, the first four were associated with horsemen. There is no pressing reason to take all these in a serial fashion, as though we now have a total of fourteen railroad cars, or beads on a string. The description is of the apocalyptic destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and each trumpet gives us a fuller picture of what was going to happen in the one cataclysmic judgment that was going to fall upon that wretched city. The symbolic language here is of an exhaustive devastation, but the plain warning of Jesus indicates that these symbols are not overblown when we consider what was actually going to happen to the city and the surrounding territory of Judea.

“Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt. 24:16).

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21).

The sounding of the trumpets signals the commencement of battle—this is God’s war against an apostate nation. The combination of hail and fire and blood make us think of the judgment that God rained down upon Egypt (Ex. 9:23; Ps. 18:13; Ps. 78:48; Ps. 105:32). The destruction of Jerusalem occurred in 70 A.D. but there was plenty of devastation to Judea in the years running up to that fateful year. Israel, once gloriously delivered from Egypt, had herself become Egypt.

In this passage, it says that a third of the trees were destroyed. Josephus records that the Romans cut down all the trees around Jerusalem for about ninety furlongs out (with a furlong being 220 yards). Jerusalem was also surrounded with pleasant gardens, which were also wiped out. This was devastation enough, but it is also possible that the grass and the trees represent men (as possibly indicated in Rev. 7:3 and 9:4)—the trees being kings, princes and rulers, and the grass being the ordinary folk. In any case, whether it was one or the other, or both, it was a grim situation.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 58

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)

“And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; 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. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. 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. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound” (Rev. 8:2–6).

The seven seals of the scroll have been opened, and we come now to the next round—the seven trumpets. Seven angels stood before God (which would be standing before the throne), and each was given a trumpet (v. 2).

Another angel came, and because His functions at the altar are priestly in nature, most commentators assume that this is a representation of Christ in another of His offices. Another argument for this is that it would be odd for a mere creature to be presenting the prayers of the saints to God. That is reserved for our great High Priest. Still less would it be appropriate for a mere angel to answer those prayers.

At any rate, this angel comes and stands at the altar, carrying a golden censer. He is given much incense, which He mixes with the prayers of the saints, and presents it on the golden altar before the throne (v. 3). The smoke of the incense, mixed together with the prayers of the saints, ascend up to God from the hand of the angel (v. 4). And then, in an obvious answer to prayer, the angel fills up the censer with fire from the altar, and casts it all down upon the earth (v. 5). As a consequence, there was a dramatic impact on the earth—voices, lightning, thunder, and an earthquake (v. 5). With that preliminary judgment completed, the seven other angels prepared themselves to sound their trumpets (v. 6).

The prayers represented here are no doubt the prayers of the martyred saints who were under that same altar back at the fifth seal. They were crying out for vengeance, and were told to be patient for “a little season” (Rev. 6:11). That season of waiting is apparently now complete, and it is time for their prayers to be answered.

Given that the prayers being answered here are prayers from first century martyrs, we may conclude that this battery of judgment coming from the seven trumpets are judgments that are going to be falling on Jerusalem in the course of the Jewish War (A.D. 66-70).

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 57

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)

“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour” (Rev. 8:1).

We now come to the seventh and final seal of the scroll. Given the dramatic nature of what happened when the first six were opened, we are expecting some sort of earth shattering explosion when the final seal is broken. But . . . nothing. Nothing but silence.

There are two possible scriptural settings that may be in view here. One is that just a few verses down, an angel is going to offer up incense, and that incense is representative of the prayers of all the saints (Rev. 8:3). These prayers are offered up on the golden altar that is before the throne. A few chapters earlier, when the fifth seal was opened, things were not silent in Heaven when the souls under that altar were crying out to the Lord to avenge their blood. Now it appears that an angel has gathered up their prayers and is presenting them as incense, and everything is quiet for that formal presentation.

This appears to match the custom of the Temple. When Zacharias is serving in the Temple, during the time that the incense was being presented, the people were waiting outside quietly, silently praying. “And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense” (Luke 1:10). “And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple” (Luke 1:21). Here an angel is presenting their prayers in the form of incense, and that presentation takes about half an hour.

Another possible allusion is to the siege of Jericho. The opening of the seventh seal here is followed by the blowing of trumpets (Rev. 8:6), which is what happened when the walls of Jericho fell. Not only so, but prior to blowing of those trumpets, the Israelites marched around that fated city in silence. And so in both instances you have silence > trumpets > conquest of God’s enemies.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 56

Douglas Wilson on

“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 7:9–17).

Having heard the number of 144,000, John turns, looks and sees this innumerable host. The earlier number is specifically cited as being numbered as Israel, and this throng is from all nations, peoples, languages, etc. Some believe this necessitates taking them as distinct groups. I follow the other view which takes the symbolic number of Israel as representing the innumerable host of the Church. The previous group was sealed on earth and the latter group is saved in Heaven.

So this great multitude is dressed in white, symbolizing purity, and they are holding palm branches, which symbolizes victory. Dressed this way, and holding their palms, they stood before the throne and the Lamb, and they cried out. How loud might an innumerable host be? They cried out in order to ascribe salvation to God, the God who was seated on the throne, as well as to the Lamb. At that point the angels, the 24 elders, and the four living creatures all prostrated themselves in order to worship God. And they said Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

One of the 24 elders asked John if he knew the identity of the great crowd. He confessed that he did not. The elder says that they are the ones who came out of the great tribulation. If this crowd is identified with the church through the ages, this means the great tribulation refers to something bigger than the tribulation that was to befall Jerusalem in just a few years. Although the fall of Jerusalem is a theme of Revelation, the composition of the very global crowd appears to preclude that reading.

They came out of the great tribulation—the church militant—and are those who washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. They are now the church triumphant, palm branches in hand. They are before the throne, and the one who sits on the throne dwells among them as Emmanuel. This is plainly the company of the saved. They will not hunger or thirst anymore. The sun shall not beat down on them, or any heat. The Lamb will feed them, and lead them to waters, and God will wipe away every tear.

One more thing should be mentioned, which is that this section of Revelation is rich in references from the prophet Isaiah.

“They shall not hunger nor thirst; Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, Even by the springs of water shall he guide them” (Is. 49:10).

“He will swallow up death in victory; And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; And the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: For the Lord hath spoken it” (Is. 25:8).

“And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, And upon her assemblies, A cloud and smoke by day, And the shining of a flaming fire by night: For upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, And for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain” (Is. 4:5–6).

In short, this is the language of salvation that applies to all God’s people.

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