Revelation Chapter 8 – A Terrific Verse By Verse Study

Revelation Chapter 8 – A Verse By Verse Bible Study

In this chapter, John continues writing about the events that will happen after Christ opens the seventh and final seal of the seven-sealed book that God held. In chapter 6, with each seal that Christ unloosed from the book, there was a judgment. These judgments collectively are called “The Seal Judgments.” Now, in chapter 8, Christ opens the last seal of the book. John saw the results of the opening of the seventh seal, which Bible scholars call “The Seven Trumpet Judgments.” Revelation chapter 7 describes the first four of the trumpet judgements.

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Summary of the Seven Seal Judgements

The events caused by the Seven Trumpet Judgments is a fulfillment of Joel 2:30-31. “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.” (KJV)

First Seal: World conqueror on a white horse who will bring false peace.

Second Seal: Red horse rider who will bring war.

Third Seal: Black horse who will bring famine.

Fourth Seal: Pale horse associated with Death and Hell.

Fifth Seal: Martyred souls asking God for vengeance on those who put them to death.

Sixth Seal: Earth shattering events ─ a great earthquake, sun darkened, moon becomes as blood.

Seventh Seal: The seven trumpet judgments.

Revelation 8:1 – Seventh Seal Opened

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

Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is the subject of this verse. He opened the last seal of what I believe is the Book of Life. It was the book He took from God the Father in which He was the only One who was worthy of opening this very special book. With all the other seals, great judgments followed on the Earth.

Now, after He opens the last seal, John observed silence ─ ominous silence ─ in heaven for about a half hour. It is my opinion that the angels, and all the other heavenly creatures, seeing the horror of what will follow, made them pause as they considered this appalling and immediate judgment. The judgment of the seventh seal judgment is the sevenfold Seven Trumpet Judgments.

Revelation 8:2-7 Angels With 7 Trumpets

“And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.” (KJV)

This group of seven angels sound the alarm of God’s judgments on the Earth, and they will do so with trumpets.

Revelation 8:3-Incense And Prayers

“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.” (KJV)

John saw an angel doing the work of a Jewish high priest at the altar in heaven. Years before, God showed this same altar to Moses in Mount Horeb when God gave Moses His law to give to His people, according to  Exodus 25:40. “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.” (KJV)

 John does not tell who gave the angel incense, but Bible scholars believe Jesus Christ Himself gave this special incense to the angel. The angel took the provided incense and offered it up to God with the prayers of the saints.

Revelation 8:4-Prayers and Incense Came To God

“And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” (KJV)

This verse assures the reader that, just as the incense came to God, so, too, does the prayers of His people. With all the prior judgements that resulted in so many deaths on Earth, and with even more and more terrible judgments coming, it is not surprising that God’s people are praying. God desires to hear the prayers of His people. When God hears His people talk to Him, it is like the welcome smell of sweet incense.

Revelation 8:5-Censer With Fire Cast To The Earth

“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.“ (KJV)

The angel took the incense censer and after filling it was fire from the heavenly altar, he threw this burning object into the Earth. This action symbolized God’s wrath, which will be poured out upon the nations. Despite the prayers that were uttered by the saints and received in heaven, God still sent His judgment on the Earth.  

The result of the fiery censer was noisy chaos on Earth, which included not only verbal shouts of agony, but also the noise of chaos, calamities, and commotions occurring in the natural world because of God’s judgments.

Revelation 8:6-7 Angels Preparation

“And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.“ (KJV)

The action of casting the fire of God to the Earth was not one of the Seven Trumpet Judgments. As terrible as this was, this heavenly fire sent to the Earth was only the prelude to the seven angels with the seven trumpets who would immediately introduce these seven earthly judgements.

Revelation 8:7-1st Angel Sounded

“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.“ (KJV)

The first ofthe trumpet judgments was a worldwide plague of both hail and fire. This deadly combination harks back to the plague in Egypt, recorded in Exodus 9:23. “And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.” (KJV)

After this massive, worldwide brush fire consumes all the green grass, including massive crop fields and grazing grounds of plant-eating cattle, it will end up destroying the world’s source for meat.

Revelation 8:8-2nd Angel Sounded

“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;“ (KJV)

The second of the trumpet judgment focuses on the sea. The description here seems to be of volcanic eruptions. God can take a volcano, make it erupt, and as it is spewing out deadly lava, cast it into the sea. Another possibility is that this is a meteor that is falling from outer space into the Earth. Regardless, this judgment will make a third of the sea become blood.

Revelation 8:9-Oceans Affected

“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.” (KJV)

The result of this plague will cause the death of a third of the sea creatures and destroy one-third of all ships.

Revelation 8:10-3rd Angel Sounded

“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;” (KJV)

With the trumpet judgment of the third angel, John saw what appeared to be a huge, burning star that targets one-third of all fresh water. Again, perhaps another meteor.

Revelation 8:11-Wormwood

“And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” (KJV)

This star is called “Wormwood,” which is descriptive of the judgments from this star. Wormwood is found in eight verses of the Bible and refers to a wild, bitter herb. But the application of this wild plant is the idea of bitterness, grief, and sorrow.

Another idea is that some Bible scholars believe this star is a man-made object of mass destruction, perhaps a nuclear missile, since there can be an extrapolation between the English word “wormwood” and the Russian word “Chernobyl.”

God can use what man develops. However, I believe this star and its resulting judgment are both of divine, rather than manmade, origin. With all of the chaotic events that have already occurred on the Earth by this time, the remaining inhabitants of the world will probably do all they can to survive, and not add to the mass destruction that will occur because of God’s wrath. The result of this star falling from heaven into the rivers, streams, and reservoirs made one-third of all fresh water undrinkable, which results in many deaths.

Revelation 8:12-4th Angel Sounded

“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.” (KJV)

The judgement of the fourth angel is one-third of natural light being darkened. But despite these judgements, and the deaths that result from the plagues thus far, God still shows His mercy. He is only targeting one-third of the people on the Earth. He is giving time for the other two-thirds of the people of the world to repent. This action of sparing more than what He is destroying shows the longsuffering of God.

Revelation 8:13-Triple Woes

“And I beheld, and heard an angel 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!” (KJV)

This ominous ending to chapter eight, recorded in verse 13, introduces the judgements of the last three angels. These last three trumpet judgments are also called the “Woe Judgements” because of this verse.

Revelation Chapter 8 ─ Review Questions

1. What did John hear in heaven after Christ opened the seventh seal? (Silence in heaven for about a half hour.)

2. What was the judgement of the seventh seal? (The seven trumpet judgements.)

3. Who or what sounded the alarm of the seven trumpets? (One of seven angels.)

4. Where was the altar that John saw? (In heaven)

5. Where was Moses when he saw this heavenly altar? (Mount Horeb)

6. What did the angel offer with the incense to God? (The prayers of all of the people of God.)

7. What happened before the angel sounded the first trumpet? (An angel threw a censor filled with fire from the altar onto the Earth.)

8. What two things did God send to Earth as the first trumpet judgment? (Hail and fire)

9. What was cast into the sea as part of the second trumpet judgment? (A burning mountain)

10. What was the star called that fell from heaven on the rivers, which was the third trumpet judgment? (Wormwood)

11. What was affected during the fourth trumpet judgment? (The sun, moon and stars.)

12. What word did the angel say three times after the fourth trumpet and before the fifth trumpet judgment? (“Woe, woe, woe.”)

Revelation Chapter 8 ─ Personal Reflection Question

After studying this chapter, did your thoughts of angels in general change at all? How did they change?

Revelation Chapter 8 ─ Behind the Scenes Stuff

It was not until I was preparing for this Bible study, I realized that the seventh seal judgement were the seven trumpet judgments. I hope I made that fact clear in this Bible study. These trumpet judgements are judgements upon the Earth itself.

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