Revelation 8:6-9:21- God's gracious warnings!

Revelation 8:6-13

Revelation 9:1-20

“God’s gracious warnings”

In Italy, in 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, and the Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed. The volcano spewed toxic gas 20 miles into the air, and Pompeii and its 10,000 residents vanished under a blanket of ash.

In the middle of the day, when the sun should have been shining, everything was black, and hot ash rained down on the city.

The hot lava which gushed out of the volcano, rushed down the volcano at 180 miles an hour and destroyed everything in its path.

Thousands of people died within hours.

Some people managed to escape as they ran!

But sadly, many could not out run the fast flowing lava and they perished.

Others perished as they stayed in their houses, hoping it would pass.

This eruption of Mount Vesuvius, caught everyone unaware…..even the Romans….The Romans, who were the kings of the world.

The Romans were known for being extremely interested in predicting the future. They had a wide range of ways of trying to predict what was going to happen, by observing weather events, tremors, and so on…..

Pliny who was a Roman administrator and famous poet, wrote an account of how his uncle reacted to this volcanic eruption. His uncle was stationed at Pompeii as a commander of the navy.

Pliny’s uncle was well known for his knowledge of natural science. He had written a 37 volume book on natural history and yet, even he wasn’t ready for the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius which wiped out the city of Pompeii.

Pliny wrote that his uncle was actually relaxing, having lunch after a bath, when Vesuvius first started to erupt. He saw the first column of smoke and was more intrigued than alarmed.

Instead of his uncle running from the oncoming disaster, he stayed, hoping his Roman built house and Roman built city would save him……… but sadly for him the disaster overtook him.

His uncle wasn’t particularly concerned about the earthquake tremors which happened the previous days before the eruption. Pompeii was known for its tremors and so they thought nothing of those early warning signs.

There was no previous records of Mount Vesuvius being active and so they had no reason to believe it would blow.

Friends, as we look at the this passage today, we see that God graciously warns us again and again to repent, that is turn away from sin and believe in Him, before it is too late. Repent before we see the lava flowing and it’s too late.

These seven trumpets that are blown by God’s seven angels here in Revelation, are God’s warnings to us that His final day of judgement is coming and we need to be ready.

Now, we can ignore these warnings and continue in our ignorance like Pliny’s uncle who soaked in a bath and had lunch, while Mount Vesuvius erupted, or we can take heed and run, and when I say run, I mean run from our sinful fleeting pleasures and run towards Jesus.

In the Old Testament, trumpets were often used as a warning for God’s people to get ready.

The trumpet was blown at Mount Sinai as a warning for the people not to go up the mountain, since they were not able to be in God’s very presence. The trumpets were blown at Jericho as a warning that the walls were about to come tumbling down. The trumpet is mentioned by Jeremiah the prophet as a warning that Babylonwas going to come and destroy Jerusalem. The prophet Joel mentions that the trumpet is blown as a warning that the day of the Lord is coming.

And so brothers and sisters, as we read through these first six trumpets that are blown here in Revelation, let us hear God’s warning loud and clear. As we read about these trumpet blasts and are presented with such horrific scenes, such as hail, fire, blood, darkness, scorpions, smoke, locusts, the angel destroyer, and more…..we are meant to sit up and take notice because God is speaking loudly and hopefully clearly to us today.

Sadly, it sometimes takes a disaster for us to listen to God.

Sadly, it sometimes takes something painful for us to listen to the voice of God.

God in his mercy sometimes jolts us out of our comfort zone so that we will listen to Him.

C.S. Lewis who wrote the chronicles of Narnia, wrote this:

“God whispers to us in our pleasures,

Speaks in our conscience

But shouts in our pain”

With all that said, let us look at these first six warnings that God graciously gives us, as we look at the first six trumpet blasts.

And as we look at these six trumpet warnings, we are going to compare them with the ten plagues of Egypt, we are going to think is these are literal things, and finally we are going to look at their symbolic meaning.

The first warning is hail and fire, mixed with blood that was thrown on the earth.

Now, this reminds us of the seventh plague of Egypt, when hail was thrown on Egypt and all the crops were destroyed.

Now, could this warning be literally hail and fire? It could be!

But more than likely, it is symbolic for the plague of famine. When there is hail and fire, crops are destroyed, food becomes scarce.

This plague of famine was also represented by the black horsemen in the opening of the third seal.

And so whenever there is time of famine in this world, it is a reminder that God’s full judgement is coming. No matter how bad famines have been in the world and will continue to be, they are not as bad as they could be, since God is holding back it’s full effect, hence only part of the earth is affected. This is what the third represents- it means God is restraining his full judgement.

When God allows famines to happen, it is his warning, it is an opportunity for people to repent- run from their sin, and trust him.

The second warning is something like a great mountain burning with fire and falling into the sea and a third of the sea becoming like blood. Again this has echoes of the first plague in Egypt, where the river Nile was turned into blood.

If this was a literal warning, it could literally be a volcano, like Mount Vesuvius erupting, but more than likely, we should read this symbolically, since the text itself says, “like” a mountain, and we know from Revelation 18, we see a similar picture of an angel throwing a stone into the sea, and that stone, or mountain was Babylon, which represents the kingdoms of the earth.

And so this second trumpet blasts represents the same warning as the white horse: the fall of kingdoms. And so whenever mighty kingdoms fall, it is God’s warning sign to us that his kingdom is coming, his eternal kingdom and so we must repent, run from our sin and be ready.

The third warning sign is the poisoning of the waters.

Again, this echoes the first plague in Egypt where the river was turned to blood and the fish died.

Now this poisoning of the waters could literally be the poisoning of the waters, but more than likely it is symbolic as it represents disease and sickness, the same warning that the pale, green horse representedin the fourth seal.

And so when there is disease, when there is a COVID outbreak, when there is the black death, it is God’s gracious warning to us, that his full judgement is coming, so repent and be ready.

The fourth warning sign is a darkness that comes over the earth.

Again this has echoes of the ninth plague of Egypt when darkness covered the earth.

Now this darkness could be literal, just as the sky turned black when Mount Vesuvius erupted, but more than likely, this warning is symbolic, as it represents death, the same warning of the red coloured horse.

Friends, every time someone dies, it is God’s gracious warning sign to us that we must repent and be ready.

There is nothing more confronting than death to make someone think about what comes next.

Sadly, it sometimes takes the death of a loved one for people to heed God’s warning, repent- that is turn from their sin and put their trust in him.

Now, you may have noticed that the first four blasts of the trumpet, are the same warning signs as the four horsemen that are released at the opening of the first four seals of the scroll. And that is no co-incidence, since the seven seals, the seven trumpet blasts and the seven bowls of wrath that we get to later on, are all the same warnings, but told from different and more intense perspectives.

This is something we will look at more detail later down the track.

Now, just like in the opening of the seals, after the first four trumpet blasts, the fifth trumpet is blasted and something slightly different occurs.

Look at Chapter 9 verse 1 with me:

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit

As this fifth trumpet blast we are introduced to this fallen star from heaven, who is also called the angel of the bottomless pit in verse 11, who has a name “destroyer” which in Hebrew is “Abaddon” and in Greek it is “Apollyon”

Clearly from this text, this fallen star is Satan, but it is also made clear from Luke 10:18 that this fallen star is Satan. Jesus’ disciples had just returned from their mission trip, where saw healings and demons being cast out of people, and Jesus said this to his disciples:

And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”

It is clear that Satan was given authority to cause destruction on the earth, as locusts and scorpions were released in order to torment people.

Now again, could this be literally locusts and scorpions? Possibly.

But more than likely the scorpions and locusts represent demons.

Again this is shown in the text as the scorpions are described like horses prepared for battle, and the very fact that these scorpions and locusts had the sole purpose of tormenting people, this is exactly what demons do, they torment.

Also, in the same conversation that Jesus had with his disciples about Satan falling from heaven, he mentioned scorpions in the context of his disciples casting out demons.

Look at Luke 10:17-19

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”¹⁸ And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

And so friends, when we see people who have been tormented by demons, let that be a warning to us that God’s final and full judgment is coming. Now is the time to repent and believe, turn from sin and run towards Jesus.

The sixth trumpet is blown and just like the sixth seal that was opened, this seems to be the final warning.

As the sixth trumpet is blown, four angels are released to cause complete chaos. Remember the number four in Revelation represents complete, and so four angels represents all the angels, like the four corners of the earth represent all the earth, and so here, the final warning is given. These angels are clearly the bad kind of angels, since they have a king who is the angel of the bottomless pit, and they don’t come from heaven but from the earth. These are demons.

This final warning like the sixth seal is the most intense, it has 200 million troops going to battle, horses which had lions heads and sulphur and smoke coming out of their mouths.

This sixth trumpet blast, is like the point in AD 79 when the lava from Mount Vesuvius started to flow at 180 miles per hour down the mountain. This was the point where people really had to make a choice, stay and die, or run and live.

Friends, if you haven’t yet surrendered to Jesus, don’t leave it until it is too late.

Today is the day of salvation.

Don’t’ ignore that warning sign from God, but let today be the day where you repent and believe.

Sadly for many in our world, despite God graciously shouting these warning signs at them, they choose to sit in their bath, they choose to eat lunch, they choose to continue to live in their sin, they choose not to turn to Jesus and eventually, one day, God will give them exactly what they wanted, a life without him forever…….and a life without God forever, is death.

Just look at verses 20-21 and let this be a warning for us:

²⁰ The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, ²¹ nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

After all these warnings, these people refused to repent, they refused to repent of their sin, and not just the so-called “less obvious sins” but the obvious sins, such as murder, theft, sexual immorality, sorcery.

Friends, we live in a world where these sins are not only not repented of: but where these sins are now celebrated.

Our world celebrates sin.

“Sexual freedom” is celebrated- homosexuality is considered inclusive and loving

“Abortions” are applauded- mothers are considered brave

“Sorcery” is considered a diverse and tolerated spirituality

“Theft” is considered “just in the right circumstances”

Friends, the message of Revelation 8 and 9 is clear, heed God’s warnings and be ready for his coming in judgement.

And how do we ready ourselves?

Build a bunker underground, hoping these things will pass?

No, we prepare ourselves each day by daily repenting, daily turning from sin and daily running to Jesus.

We prepare for his coming by daily living our lives walking according to the truth of the gospel.

Let me finish with this, and it is from the conversation that Jesus had with his disciples about Satan.

Look at Luke 10:17-20 with me again:

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”¹⁸ And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Just think about this:

Jesus disciples had been casting out demons in the name of Jesus, they had witnessed people being released from their daily torment and yet Jesus told them, not to rejoice on the fact that they cast out demons, but rejoice in the fact that their names had been written in heaven.

Friends, every day we have reason to rejoice.

As believers who have our names written in his book, we can rejoice.

Friends, even though things may be crumbling around us, we can rejoice: Jesus has given us eternal life, we can rejoice, Jesus has prepared a place for us: we can rejoice, not in the things we do, but rejoice that Christ has written his name on our foreheads.

Let us pray.