Revelation 8

When Christ, the Lamb, opens the final seal on the Lord's scroll for the Age of Resurrection, we are expecting nothing less than God's Grand Finale. Instead, since the Lord is not finished yet with John's book of apocalyptic visions, we soon find that we have seven trumpets, and then there will be seven bowls that must be poured out upon the earth, as we will see in a later chapter.

But just for a moment, just for half an hour, let everyone keep silence before the Lord. We are in the house of God. We must not offer the sacrifice of fools. We place our hands over our mouths, and we take in this moment.

It is amazing that the Almighty has a place in His divine ordering of all things for our prayers. There is something here that seems impossible. We do not know the beginning from the end. We were not there when God laid the foundations of the universe. We have so little understanding of the entire realm of heaven. Yet this is part of the majesty of God's sovereign rule. He invites us to pray, and He uses our prayers, all while working out His own unchangeable will. Yet it would be wise if we would listen for half an hour before we speak about what we cannot possibly understand.

Think of all the prayers that one parent prays for just one child. Through all of those prayers, sighs, and tears, he still cannot really know what the Lord's purpose is in granting him the blessing of that child. Yet he continues to pray, and God somehow uses it. Those prayers ascend to the throne above, but the Lord has much incense that he gives to the angelic host to burn alongside the many prayers of devout men and women, and even the prayers of little ones. Somehow, through the Lamb, our prayers, which must so often be way off, are perfected before they are brought before the Lord.

It is from the prayers of God's people on earth, as they are perfected and then rise to the altar of God in heaven, that something else now comes forth from heaven and is cast down upon the earth. The angel takes fire from the altar, where the incense-covered prayers of God's people had ascended, and he throws that fire upon the earth.

Whatever happens now, could it be that it bears little resemblance to the original cries and tears of the one who was originally calling out to God from his bed at night? He did not know enough to ask for the things that needed to happen. We ask for peace and prosperity. God hears His beloved children, perfects their prayers with the sweet smell of incense, and down from the altar come several more years of war, and even considerable loss of life. No one asked for that. Our prayers went up and were used by God. But what happened to them? The mystery of God's decrees are a better answer than what we imagine to be best.

What follows in Revelation 8 is the story of nearly fatal judgments upon the world. If a table has three legs, you cannot cut off one and suppose that your furniture is still stable. The trumpets are blowing now. First a third of the earth is burned up. With the second trumpet a third of the sea turns to blood. Then the third angel blows his trumpet and a third of the water becomes bitter. With the blowing of the next trumpet by the fourth angel, a third of the light from the heavenly host in the skies turns to darkness.

The last verse of the chapter warns us that there is more to come. Already the impact of the Lord's judgment is devastating. The power of heaven, a power that came from the very center of existence there, a power that springs from the altar where the blood of Christ speaks a good Word for our lives, a power that has somehow come from our own prayers in a way that we cannot understand, is now bringing about something that no one knew to be right but God.

The world after the fall of mankind in Adam, is a place of much trial. There is trouble on land and sea. There is even trouble in the skies. One tsunami can result in the death of millions. One evil leader can destroy a whole nation in just a few short years. How are we to view these calamities?

Most people live with a very impersonal view of how the world works. They imagine that troubles just happen. They have come to understand that the incidental collision of natural forces causes the hurricane. They will not see the hand of God in the events all around them.

We who believe that God is working out His eternal purpose in Christ have embraced the fact that the judgment that we deserved came down from another realm and landed on the body and soul of one Man who became our Sin-Bearer. We don't understand that very much more than we understand why an earthquake destroys one city and leaves another untouched.

We prayed for grace and mercy, and for relief from the ravages of the fall. What came back to us from heaven was Christ the Son of God dying for our sins. We have come to trust Him on this matter of our eternal salvation. Now we must also trust Him concerning the way He answers our other prayers in this strange era of loss. It would be impossible for any good result to come from any man having absolute sovereignty so that his every imperfect desire was instantly and completely granted to him. The Lord has something much better in mind for us. He will bring about all of His own holy will, and He will use us as His servants in the process.

We have trusted Him concerning the death of His own Son. We can trust Him now concerning His disposition of all of our heartfelt requests, even on the day when it really does seem like the sky is falling. Let all mortal flesh keep silence for a time.