Is God Unjust?
Revelation 8:1-13
Message #18
We often have a real problem with how we see God. More specifically, we have a real problem with how we want to see God. We kind of want God to be like we would be if we were God.
And what we need is a complete paradigm shift. A paradigm is a pattern – a basis – a foundation. Our paradigm determines how we see things, and our paradigm determines how we feel about the things we see.
And before we get any further into the Tribulation period in Revelation, we need a complete overhaul – a paradigm shift in how we see God. We need a better understanding of WHO God IS and WHO we are NOT. We need to stop seeing God as our peer (our equal), and we need to start seeing God for who he truly is.
Our struggles (our wrestles) with God do not come from who God is; they come from us trying to make God who we want him to be.
And we are now going into a section in Revelation that is hardcore. And we are going into a section in Revelation where we must not try to make God who we want him to be. And so, we have to know God’s character so well that we trust God because we know his character, and we know that God cannot be what his character is not. God is immutable. He cannot change.
We must not apply our fleshly, human, sin-nature logic to a perfectly holy and perfectly just God.
We must begin to desire to know more of who God actually is, and we must begin to eliminate our deceived tendency to determine who we think God should be. So, let’s prepare our hearts for a paradigm shift.
We’ve got to change the foundation, the filter through which we see God because that is our only hope to correctly view the earth-rattling scenes we’re about to see.
So, I just want to prayerfully read some scripture with you, asking you to receive God’s Word over your own opinion.
Don’t try to change who God IS. Allow who God IS to begin to change YOU.
Let me read a few verses as you just carefully listen.
Ezekiel 18:25 (NLT)
25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you?
Psalm 92:15 (NLT)
15 . . . “The Lord is just! (that’s his character, his nature. It’s his immutable, unchangeable character) He is my rock! There is no evil in him!”
Job 34:10 & 12 (NLT)
(10) “Listen to me, you who have understanding. Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin! The Almighty can do no wrong (God cannot do wrong because he cannot change his character, and in his character is only righteousness)
. . . (12) Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty will not twist justice.
Isaiah 40:13-14 (NLT)
13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
14 Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?
Guys, it is impossible for God to be unjust. But what (really) is unjust is US questioning the perfect justice of God, and in Revelation, we are seeing the beginnings of the perfect justice of God.
So, in Revelation today, we’re going to see the beginning of the perfectly righteousness, just judgment of God upon the sin of the world. And if you don’t know God’s heart and his character, these verses are rattling anyway – this section that we’ve entered today of Revelation, of the Tribulation – so, we’ve got to hold on to God’s character. When you don’t know or have an answer to a question, here’s what you need to be able to say. “I don’t know that, but I know God. I know who my God is. I know the character of my God.” And then that gives you some peace.
And remember, in our last message, right in the midst of God’s judgment beginning, we saw an incredible display of God’s mercy and grace as God raised up and sealed 144,000 Jewish, miraculous worldwide evangelists, and Heaven was filled with a multitude, too many too count, of those who were saved. Throughout the Bible, along with God’s just judgment, we always see an immeasurable amount of God’s mercy and grace in the midst of his just judgment.
In our flesh nature (our human nature), we might tend to question God’s just judgment upon sin. But, if we’re going to question God about anything, and knowing that God must judge sin, the only question we should consider asking God is, “Why, God, would you freely offer ME salvation when I deserve your just judgment?” If you want to talk to anything about God that’s not fair, it’s that his perfectly righteous, holy Son took on the penalty of our sin and paid every ounce so that God could be just because sin must be judged. And then God also becomes the justifier. He justifies us because our sin has been paid on Jesus, and Jesus has given us the righteousness of God in Christ.
And if you want to question God’s fairness, that’s the thing to question. God is just because my sins were paid for, but it was his great love that caused Jesus to take on the full penalty for my sin and give me his righteousness. And so, if anybody ever says to you about God not being fair, you say – “Let me tell you about my Jesus. Let me tell you what Jesus did. You want to talk about not fair?” That’s a big deal.
So, the last message in the pause between the sixth and seventh seals, we saw God’s mercy and grace in the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the multitude saved through them. But today, the seventh seal must be opened, and as the seventh seal opens, the entire remainder of God’s judgment on the earth unfolds. Remember I said the Tribulation is laid out in three sets of seven. And after every sixth set, there’s a pause that shows the grace and mercy of God, and then the seventh opens up the next set of judgments.
This is the seventh seal. The two final sets of seven – the seven Trumpets and the seven Bowls are both contained within this seventh seal. This seventh seal – it opens the seven Trumpets and the seven Bowl judgments – which, in the end, God fully and completely deals justice upon sin – upon the sin of the world, upon the sin of Mankind, the sin nature, and upon the devil himself. So, it is judgment, but it must be, or God cannot be God.
At this point, the world is more and more under the direct control of Satan. We are really probably more in the middle of the Tribulation, though some of the events that we call the events of the mid-Tribulation haven’t been written yet. Most people agree that’s where we’re entering.
The Antichrist isn’t on the scene yet, but we had all these people under the judgments of the first six seals that were crying out to God for salvation, and God made a way for them to be saved. And we saw even in chapter 6 the martyrs of the Tribulation that were saved, that their souls were under the altar.
And now, what we are going to see from here on is as these judgments begin to unfold, instead of men crying out for salvation, Mankind is going to become more and more hardened and hateful toward God – leading ultimately to the control of the Antichrist.
We have two choices when we understand God’s judgment. We either repent and receive his free gift of salvation, or our heart becomes hardened towards him. And the more our heart becomes hardened towards him, the more we move towards a permanent hardness towards him.
So far in Heaven, we’ve seen one non-stop worship celebration with singing and shouting, and praise from all of Heaven. Every time we look at the throne room, it’s exploding in greater and greater amounts and intensity in worship.
As we come to Chapter 8, there is this huge, ominous silence that hits the room. Forebodingly, Heaven becomes perfectly silent. One commenter said Not since the final three hours of Jesus on the Cross has Heaven been in SHOCK like this.
Revelation 8:1 (NLT)
1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour.
What is about to happen is so solemn, so serious, that it is preceded by an “ominous silence” to mark its coming.
All of Heaven is “holding its breath” because of what is coming.
Revelation 8:2-3 (NLT)
2 I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.
3 Then another angel with a gold incense burner (a censer – a fire pan on the end of a long pole) came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne.
(Both the Tabernacle and the Temple are earthly pictures of what the throne room of God looks like in Heaven. And it’s a super cool study – it’s really good. Get a good Bible teacher that parallels the Temple and the Tabernacle with the throne room in Heaven; it will blow your mind.)
In the Temple, there was the “altar of incense,” and the priests were responsible to keep the incense on the altar inside the Holy Place constantly burning. To do this, they used a censer (“fire-pan”) just like this one. They’d scoop up coals from the Brazen Altar where the sacrifice was done and carry the coals to the Altar of Incense to keep the incense burning. And so, this aroma of incense would fill the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. And many times throughout the Bible, that incense rising up to the Lord is referred to as the sweet aroma of the prayers of the Saints. And so, all those things we see in the Temple we see here in Revelation in the throne room of God.
Revelation 8:4 (NLT)
4 The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.
This is just as it was in the Tabernacle and the Temple on earth. The smoke from the Altar of Incense filled the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, and it represented the prayers of the Saints rising up to God. And it was a “picture” of what we see in Heaven right here.
But suddenly, this serene picture of prayers rising to God changes to the ominous acts of judgment that must begin to unfold.
Revelation 8:5 (NLT)
5 Then the angel filled the incense burner (the same one) with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.
Because this censer (incense burner) is so connected to the prayers of the Saints here, it seems there’s a connection between the prayers of the Saints and this judgment beginning.
Back in Revelation 6:10, those who had been martyred in the Tribulation asked God, “How long before your final judgment begins?” And certainly, that prayer is about to be answered.
So, we’ve turned a corner in the Tribulation. The long prophesied “Day of Jacob’s Trouble” or the “Great Tribulation” has come upon the earth. And God is beginning the final judgment of the sin of this world and of Satan, and these seven Trumpet judgments are the beginning of that final, just judgment. (The seven Bowl judgments are still to come.)
The first four Trumpets are directed at the environment.
Remember, the earth was cursed under the curse of sin also. And Romans Chapter 8 says that all of creation is waiting for us to be revealed as the sons and daughters of God because then all of creation will be freed from the curse of sin. These first Trumpet judgments are all affecting the environment.
The last three Trumpets – spread over the next three chapters – all fall more specifically and directly on Mankind from Heaven.
And again, we saw people moved by judgment to repentance last week. Today and over the next few weeks, we see people’s hearts harden towards God because of the judgment that must fall upon sin.
Revelation 8:6-7 (NLT)
6 Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.
7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned.
This is catastrophic judgment beginning to fall on the earth. This is where people would say, “Well, why would God do that?” Because he must. Because he is just. But notice, God limits these first four Trumpet judgments to one-third of the damage he could do with them. This means that God is still holding back the full judgment on the sin of this world – still giving people a chance to repent, and the 144,000 sealed evangelists are still safe and working on the earth.
As we add these things in Revelation, the one we did previously doesn’t stop. All these things are building. So, the 144,000 are still here, and in a way that takes a little bit of explaining, people are still getting saved even though the Temple of the Holy Spirit (the Church – the Called-Out Ones) have been “called out” (we believe) in chapter 4 (at least that’s how we see it, we don’t make a big deal of it). People are still being saved on earth.
Revelation 8:8-9 (NLT)
8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood,
9 one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.
One-third of the sea becomes blood
One-third of the life in the sea dies
One-third of the ships on earth are destroyed.
One commentator said that the Atlantic Ocean (not the Pacific, but the Atlantic – the Pond between the East Coast and England) is about a third of all the oceans. That’s a really big ocean.
This is unimaginable judgment. But again – it is RESTRAINED judgment, as God limits these judgments (for now) to one-third of the earth.
So, first, it was the land
Then, it was the sea
Now, it’s the fresh water
Revelation 8:10-11 (NLT)
10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky. (notice these are all judgments coming directly from Heaven. The people know they’re coming from Heaven, and that’s why the decision to either repent or harden your heart becomes so clear here), burning like a torch. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
11 The name of the star was Bitterness (or wormwood). It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died from drinking the bitter water.
Another meteor-type judgment and this one destroys one-third of the fresh water. The earth is already reeling from the previous seal judgments (Chapter 6), and now these Trumpet judgments ratchet it up to one-third of everything.
Land – Sea – Fresh Water – and now, one Trumpet left, and it deals with the things in our atmosphere, the Sun, Moon, Stars
Revelation 8:12 (NLT)
12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark, and also one-third of the night.
With this fourth Trumpet judgment, the entire earth and the sky have suffered one-third of God’s judgment. The devastation on earth is unimaginable, and the worst is still to come.
God must judge sin, or he cannot be God. This earth, handed over to Satan, and the curse of sin brought in by Adam, has to be addressed and dealt with. And God will deal with it – and this is it.
Revelation 8:13 (NLT)
13 Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror (Woe, Woe, Woe) to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”
John is reeling. He is rocked on his heels. He’s trying to take in what he is seeing, and now he has to process a talking eagle flying through the air. He looks up, and there’s an eagle flying through Heaven crying loudly,
WOE (Terror) to all who belong to this world because things are about to get EVEN WORSE
Let me give you the answer to this dilemma – don’t belong to this world; belong to God.
IT WILL GET BETTER
But the judgment of God – must come
Before the restoration of God – can come
God cannot restore this earth to its original intent of us being in a perfect relationship with him, in a sinless environment, until he deals with sin. And because God is first holy, and just, and righteous, he can’t just overlook sin. He must judge sin before he can restore the earth – the new Heaven and the new Earth.
As we’ve been going through the Tribulation, we’ve been trying to follow the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. This is kind of a personal thing for me because I’ve heard a lot of people use Matthew 24 as “get ready for the Rapture” scripture, and that’s okay. Listen, the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 directly parallels the Tribulation, and it’s a cool study, and someday maybe I’ll teach it.
Just write Matthew 24:29-30 in your margin.
Matthew 24:29–30 (NLT)
29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. (that’s what we’ve just been reading)
30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man (Jesus’ favorite title for himself) is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And we are seeing the beginning of that occur. That’s what we’ve seen. That’s where we’re at in the Trumpet judgments, and that’s where we’re at in the parallel in the Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24.
Jesus Christ IS coming back to take full possession of the earth he created
But he cannot make things right until the wrong of sin – is fully dealt with.
And we are seeing the beginning of that occur.
And as we continue, these judgments from God will lead to the rise of the Antichrist and his false prophet.
And the hearts of the people who belong to this world will finally harden completely toward God, and God will finally, and ultimately, deal with sin and the devil.
And listen, you maybe know somebody (usually it’s somebody that has been hurt by the Church – not by God) that somebody has done something that has hurt somebody. Or some crazy doctrine of a church has caused somebody to get angry at God. And then they just get more and more and more angry until their heart becomes so hardened towards God that they can’t receive his grace and his mercy. Don’t do that. That’s what’s happening to the people who belong to this world. But God must finish the renewal of the world, and that involves judging sin.
And what we’re seeing here (and will continue to see) is God’s process for bringing that final just judgment upon sin – which he MUST DO, or he CANNOT be God.
So, we started the message asking Is God Unjust? And we talked about needing a paradigm shift, a new perspective on God.
Because so many people say, “If God was such a loving God, why this, why that? Why does this happen? Why does that happen?” Listen, this is such a hard question because some of these people are talking about really deep trauma personally. And it breaks my heart when I’m face-to-face with those people. I can’t get into how I try to help them with the love and grace of God because it would change the topic.
It’s not because God is unjust. It’s not because God is evil. It’s not because God has done something wrong. We live in a SIN-FILLED, FALLEN, CURSED WORLD, and bad things happen. And ultimately, God will judge the source of those things that occur because of the sinful, fallen world. That’s what we’re seeing.
And so, if we shift our view of God and say, “God, this is terrible! It’s terrible what’s happening in this sinful world. But I know YOU! And you are at work for good, and you are going to make things right.” And God is going to make things right because God is right, and he can’t be wrong. God cannot be sinful, wrong, evil. He can’t be because he can’t change his character. He’s perfectly just, righteous, and holy.
And here is that paradigm shift:
God is JUST!!! He is perfectly, righteously, totally JUST.
And in order to be just – God must judge sin.
But in the light of God’s holiness and his justice, there does seem to be one thing that doesn’t seem just.
When I try to grasp the absolute justice of God’s judgment upon sin, I ask God, “Is it just or fair that you would take the judgment due for MY sin upon Yourself?” It’s because of his love – it’s because of his great love.
God must be just, but he is also the justifier, and he does that by pouring out the judgment that must fall on your sin on his own son, Jesus Christ, so that Jesus Christ can exchange with you, his righteousness.
If there’s one thing that doesn’t seem just or fair to me, it’s that Jesus Christ would take the full judgment (in my place) that is justly due for MY sin.
And what seems even more unfair is that after he fully paid for my sin in my place – THEN, he gave me his perfect righteousness in exchange for MY sin. So now, Jesus stands before God as the One who paid the price for my sin, and I stand before God in his full righteousness that I could never earn and never deserve.
If there’s anything that seems unjust and unfair – it’s that.
And so, the next time you’re tempted to ask, “Is God just?” you ask yourself how fair it is that he died to pay for your sin so that you could live forever with him – in his righteousness.
God IS perfectly JUST.
And he made a way for you to escape the judgment that must fall. And that understanding for you personally is the same understanding of the wrath that must be poured out at the Tribulation. The judgment must come, but God has made a way for us to escape that judgment.
So, when we get to Heaven, it’s pretty clear in Revelation that Jesus – in some way – will bear the marks of our salvation. Many believe that when he returned to Heaven in the glorified body that in some way, he maintained that glorified body as the first fruits of the Resurrection, the pioneer of our resurrection. It doesn’t mean his deity is any different. And if you read Revelation Chapter 1, you can see that his glory is still overwhelming.
But the fact that he will bear some mark for eternity for paying for my sin is what’s not fair. And it’s a free gift that God offers us.
God IS perfectly JUST. But he is also perfectly loving, and he has made a way in Jesus Christ to pay for your sins and give you his righteousness. And if you’ve never received that free gift of forgiveness by putting your faith in Jesus Christ, you can do that today.
You can just acknowledge – you can just say, “Lord, I believe.” Ask Jesus to be who he is in your life. Jesus IS who he IS. We can’t change that. But we can ask him to be who he is in our life, to come into our life, and to transform us for eternity.
And what we need is a complete paradigm shift. A paradigm is a pattern – a basis – a foundation. Our paradigm determines how we see things, and our paradigm determines how we feel about the things we see.
And before we get any further into the Tribulation period in Revelation, we need a complete overhaul – a paradigm shift in how we see God. We need a better understanding of WHO God IS and WHO we are NOT. We need to stop seeing God as our peer (our equal), and we need to start seeing God for who he truly is.
Our struggles (our wrestles) with God do not come from who God is; they come from us trying to make God who we want him to be.
And we are now going into a section in Revelation that is hardcore. And we are going into a section in Revelation where we must not try to make God who we want him to be. And so, we have to know God’s character so well that we trust God because we know his character, and we know that God cannot be what his character is not. God is immutable. He cannot change.
We must not apply our fleshly, human, sin-nature logic to a perfectly holy and perfectly just God.
We must begin to desire to know more of who God actually is, and we must begin to eliminate our deceived tendency to determine who we think God should be. So, let’s prepare our hearts for a paradigm shift.
We’ve got to change the foundation, the filter through which we see God because that is our only hope to correctly view the earth-rattling scenes we’re about to see.
So, I just want to prayerfully read some scripture with you, asking you to receive God’s Word over your own opinion.
Don’t try to change who God IS. Allow who God IS to begin to change YOU.
Let me read a few verses as you just carefully listen.
Ezekiel 18:25 (NLT)
25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you?
Psalm 92:15 (NLT)
15 . . . “The Lord is just! (that’s his character, his nature. It’s his immutable, unchangeable character) He is my rock! There is no evil in him!”
Job 34:10 & 12 (NLT)
(10) “Listen to me, you who have understanding. Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin! The Almighty can do no wrong (God cannot do wrong because he cannot change his character, and in his character is only righteousness)
. . . (12) Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty will not twist justice.
Isaiah 40:13-14 (NLT)
13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
14 Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?
Guys, it is impossible for God to be unjust. But what (really) is unjust is US questioning the perfect justice of God, and in Revelation, we are seeing the beginnings of the perfect justice of God.
So, in Revelation today, we’re going to see the beginning of the perfectly righteousness, just judgment of God upon the sin of the world. And if you don’t know God’s heart and his character, these verses are rattling anyway – this section that we’ve entered today of Revelation, of the Tribulation – so, we’ve got to hold on to God’s character. When you don’t know or have an answer to a question, here’s what you need to be able to say. “I don’t know that, but I know God. I know who my God is. I know the character of my God.” And then that gives you some peace.
And remember, in our last message, right in the midst of God’s judgment beginning, we saw an incredible display of God’s mercy and grace as God raised up and sealed 144,000 Jewish, miraculous worldwide evangelists, and Heaven was filled with a multitude, too many too count, of those who were saved. Throughout the Bible, along with God’s just judgment, we always see an immeasurable amount of God’s mercy and grace in the midst of his just judgment.
In our flesh nature (our human nature), we might tend to question God’s just judgment upon sin. But, if we’re going to question God about anything, and knowing that God must judge sin, the only question we should consider asking God is, “Why, God, would you freely offer ME salvation when I deserve your just judgment?” If you want to talk to anything about God that’s not fair, it’s that his perfectly righteous, holy Son took on the penalty of our sin and paid every ounce so that God could be just because sin must be judged. And then God also becomes the justifier. He justifies us because our sin has been paid on Jesus, and Jesus has given us the righteousness of God in Christ.
And if you want to question God’s fairness, that’s the thing to question. God is just because my sins were paid for, but it was his great love that caused Jesus to take on the full penalty for my sin and give me his righteousness. And so, if anybody ever says to you about God not being fair, you say – “Let me tell you about my Jesus. Let me tell you what Jesus did. You want to talk about not fair?” That’s a big deal.
So, the last message in the pause between the sixth and seventh seals, we saw God’s mercy and grace in the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the multitude saved through them. But today, the seventh seal must be opened, and as the seventh seal opens, the entire remainder of God’s judgment on the earth unfolds. Remember I said the Tribulation is laid out in three sets of seven. And after every sixth set, there’s a pause that shows the grace and mercy of God, and then the seventh opens up the next set of judgments.
This is the seventh seal. The two final sets of seven – the seven Trumpets and the seven Bowls are both contained within this seventh seal. This seventh seal – it opens the seven Trumpets and the seven Bowl judgments – which, in the end, God fully and completely deals justice upon sin – upon the sin of the world, upon the sin of Mankind, the sin nature, and upon the devil himself. So, it is judgment, but it must be, or God cannot be God.
At this point, the world is more and more under the direct control of Satan. We are really probably more in the middle of the Tribulation, though some of the events that we call the events of the mid-Tribulation haven’t been written yet. Most people agree that’s where we’re entering.
The Antichrist isn’t on the scene yet, but we had all these people under the judgments of the first six seals that were crying out to God for salvation, and God made a way for them to be saved. And we saw even in chapter 6 the martyrs of the Tribulation that were saved, that their souls were under the altar.
And now, what we are going to see from here on is as these judgments begin to unfold, instead of men crying out for salvation, Mankind is going to become more and more hardened and hateful toward God – leading ultimately to the control of the Antichrist.
We have two choices when we understand God’s judgment. We either repent and receive his free gift of salvation, or our heart becomes hardened towards him. And the more our heart becomes hardened towards him, the more we move towards a permanent hardness towards him.
So far in Heaven, we’ve seen one non-stop worship celebration with singing and shouting, and praise from all of Heaven. Every time we look at the throne room, it’s exploding in greater and greater amounts and intensity in worship.
As we come to Chapter 8, there is this huge, ominous silence that hits the room. Forebodingly, Heaven becomes perfectly silent. One commenter said Not since the final three hours of Jesus on the Cross has Heaven been in SHOCK like this.
Revelation 8:1 (NLT)
1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour.
What is about to happen is so solemn, so serious, that it is preceded by an “ominous silence” to mark its coming.
All of Heaven is “holding its breath” because of what is coming.
Revelation 8:2-3 (NLT)
2 I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.
3 Then another angel with a gold incense burner (a censer – a fire pan on the end of a long pole) came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne.
(Both the Tabernacle and the Temple are earthly pictures of what the throne room of God looks like in Heaven. And it’s a super cool study – it’s really good. Get a good Bible teacher that parallels the Temple and the Tabernacle with the throne room in Heaven; it will blow your mind.)
In the Temple, there was the “altar of incense,” and the priests were responsible to keep the incense on the altar inside the Holy Place constantly burning. To do this, they used a censer (“fire-pan”) just like this one. They’d scoop up coals from the Brazen Altar where the sacrifice was done and carry the coals to the Altar of Incense to keep the incense burning. And so, this aroma of incense would fill the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. And many times throughout the Bible, that incense rising up to the Lord is referred to as the sweet aroma of the prayers of the Saints. And so, all those things we see in the Temple we see here in Revelation in the throne room of God.
Revelation 8:4 (NLT)
4 The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.
This is just as it was in the Tabernacle and the Temple on earth. The smoke from the Altar of Incense filled the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, and it represented the prayers of the Saints rising up to God. And it was a “picture” of what we see in Heaven right here.
But suddenly, this serene picture of prayers rising to God changes to the ominous acts of judgment that must begin to unfold.
Revelation 8:5 (NLT)
5 Then the angel filled the incense burner (the same one) with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.
Because this censer (incense burner) is so connected to the prayers of the Saints here, it seems there’s a connection between the prayers of the Saints and this judgment beginning.
Back in Revelation 6:10, those who had been martyred in the Tribulation asked God, “How long before your final judgment begins?” And certainly, that prayer is about to be answered.
So, we’ve turned a corner in the Tribulation. The long prophesied “Day of Jacob’s Trouble” or the “Great Tribulation” has come upon the earth. And God is beginning the final judgment of the sin of this world and of Satan, and these seven Trumpet judgments are the beginning of that final, just judgment. (The seven Bowl judgments are still to come.)
The first four Trumpets are directed at the environment.
Remember, the earth was cursed under the curse of sin also. And Romans Chapter 8 says that all of creation is waiting for us to be revealed as the sons and daughters of God because then all of creation will be freed from the curse of sin. These first Trumpet judgments are all affecting the environment.
The last three Trumpets – spread over the next three chapters – all fall more specifically and directly on Mankind from Heaven.
And again, we saw people moved by judgment to repentance last week. Today and over the next few weeks, we see people’s hearts harden towards God because of the judgment that must fall upon sin.
Revelation 8:6-7 (NLT)
6 Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.
7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned.
This is catastrophic judgment beginning to fall on the earth. This is where people would say, “Well, why would God do that?” Because he must. Because he is just. But notice, God limits these first four Trumpet judgments to one-third of the damage he could do with them. This means that God is still holding back the full judgment on the sin of this world – still giving people a chance to repent, and the 144,000 sealed evangelists are still safe and working on the earth.
As we add these things in Revelation, the one we did previously doesn’t stop. All these things are building. So, the 144,000 are still here, and in a way that takes a little bit of explaining, people are still getting saved even though the Temple of the Holy Spirit (the Church – the Called-Out Ones) have been “called out” (we believe) in chapter 4 (at least that’s how we see it, we don’t make a big deal of it). People are still being saved on earth.
Revelation 8:8-9 (NLT)
8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood,
9 one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.
One-third of the sea becomes blood
One-third of the life in the sea dies
One-third of the ships on earth are destroyed.
One commentator said that the Atlantic Ocean (not the Pacific, but the Atlantic – the Pond between the East Coast and England) is about a third of all the oceans. That’s a really big ocean.
This is unimaginable judgment. But again – it is RESTRAINED judgment, as God limits these judgments (for now) to one-third of the earth.
So, first, it was the land
Then, it was the sea
Now, it’s the fresh water
Revelation 8:10-11 (NLT)
10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky. (notice these are all judgments coming directly from Heaven. The people know they’re coming from Heaven, and that’s why the decision to either repent or harden your heart becomes so clear here), burning like a torch. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
11 The name of the star was Bitterness (or wormwood). It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died from drinking the bitter water.
Another meteor-type judgment and this one destroys one-third of the fresh water. The earth is already reeling from the previous seal judgments (Chapter 6), and now these Trumpet judgments ratchet it up to one-third of everything.
Land – Sea – Fresh Water – and now, one Trumpet left, and it deals with the things in our atmosphere, the Sun, Moon, Stars
Revelation 8:12 (NLT)
12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark, and also one-third of the night.
With this fourth Trumpet judgment, the entire earth and the sky have suffered one-third of God’s judgment. The devastation on earth is unimaginable, and the worst is still to come.
God must judge sin, or he cannot be God. This earth, handed over to Satan, and the curse of sin brought in by Adam, has to be addressed and dealt with. And God will deal with it – and this is it.
Revelation 8:13 (NLT)
13 Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror (Woe, Woe, Woe) to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”
John is reeling. He is rocked on his heels. He’s trying to take in what he is seeing, and now he has to process a talking eagle flying through the air. He looks up, and there’s an eagle flying through Heaven crying loudly,
WOE (Terror) to all who belong to this world because things are about to get EVEN WORSE
Let me give you the answer to this dilemma – don’t belong to this world; belong to God.
IT WILL GET BETTER
But the judgment of God – must come
Before the restoration of God – can come
God cannot restore this earth to its original intent of us being in a perfect relationship with him, in a sinless environment, until he deals with sin. And because God is first holy, and just, and righteous, he can’t just overlook sin. He must judge sin before he can restore the earth – the new Heaven and the new Earth.
As we’ve been going through the Tribulation, we’ve been trying to follow the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. This is kind of a personal thing for me because I’ve heard a lot of people use Matthew 24 as “get ready for the Rapture” scripture, and that’s okay. Listen, the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 directly parallels the Tribulation, and it’s a cool study, and someday maybe I’ll teach it.
Just write Matthew 24:29-30 in your margin.
Matthew 24:29–30 (NLT)
29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. (that’s what we’ve just been reading)
30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man (Jesus’ favorite title for himself) is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And we are seeing the beginning of that occur. That’s what we’ve seen. That’s where we’re at in the Trumpet judgments, and that’s where we’re at in the parallel in the Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24.
Jesus Christ IS coming back to take full possession of the earth he created
But he cannot make things right until the wrong of sin – is fully dealt with.
And we are seeing the beginning of that occur.
And as we continue, these judgments from God will lead to the rise of the Antichrist and his false prophet.
And the hearts of the people who belong to this world will finally harden completely toward God, and God will finally, and ultimately, deal with sin and the devil.
And listen, you maybe know somebody (usually it’s somebody that has been hurt by the Church – not by God) that somebody has done something that has hurt somebody. Or some crazy doctrine of a church has caused somebody to get angry at God. And then they just get more and more and more angry until their heart becomes so hardened towards God that they can’t receive his grace and his mercy. Don’t do that. That’s what’s happening to the people who belong to this world. But God must finish the renewal of the world, and that involves judging sin.
And what we’re seeing here (and will continue to see) is God’s process for bringing that final just judgment upon sin – which he MUST DO, or he CANNOT be God.
So, we started the message asking Is God Unjust? And we talked about needing a paradigm shift, a new perspective on God.
Because so many people say, “If God was such a loving God, why this, why that? Why does this happen? Why does that happen?” Listen, this is such a hard question because some of these people are talking about really deep trauma personally. And it breaks my heart when I’m face-to-face with those people. I can’t get into how I try to help them with the love and grace of God because it would change the topic.
It’s not because God is unjust. It’s not because God is evil. It’s not because God has done something wrong. We live in a SIN-FILLED, FALLEN, CURSED WORLD, and bad things happen. And ultimately, God will judge the source of those things that occur because of the sinful, fallen world. That’s what we’re seeing.
And so, if we shift our view of God and say, “God, this is terrible! It’s terrible what’s happening in this sinful world. But I know YOU! And you are at work for good, and you are going to make things right.” And God is going to make things right because God is right, and he can’t be wrong. God cannot be sinful, wrong, evil. He can’t be because he can’t change his character. He’s perfectly just, righteous, and holy.
And here is that paradigm shift:
God is JUST!!! He is perfectly, righteously, totally JUST.
And in order to be just – God must judge sin.
But in the light of God’s holiness and his justice, there does seem to be one thing that doesn’t seem just.
When I try to grasp the absolute justice of God’s judgment upon sin, I ask God, “Is it just or fair that you would take the judgment due for MY sin upon Yourself?” It’s because of his love – it’s because of his great love.
God must be just, but he is also the justifier, and he does that by pouring out the judgment that must fall on your sin on his own son, Jesus Christ, so that Jesus Christ can exchange with you, his righteousness.
If there’s one thing that doesn’t seem just or fair to me, it’s that Jesus Christ would take the full judgment (in my place) that is justly due for MY sin.
And what seems even more unfair is that after he fully paid for my sin in my place – THEN, he gave me his perfect righteousness in exchange for MY sin. So now, Jesus stands before God as the One who paid the price for my sin, and I stand before God in his full righteousness that I could never earn and never deserve.
If there’s anything that seems unjust and unfair – it’s that.
And so, the next time you’re tempted to ask, “Is God just?” you ask yourself how fair it is that he died to pay for your sin so that you could live forever with him – in his righteousness.
God IS perfectly JUST.
And he made a way for you to escape the judgment that must fall. And that understanding for you personally is the same understanding of the wrath that must be poured out at the Tribulation. The judgment must come, but God has made a way for us to escape that judgment.
So, when we get to Heaven, it’s pretty clear in Revelation that Jesus – in some way – will bear the marks of our salvation. Many believe that when he returned to Heaven in the glorified body that in some way, he maintained that glorified body as the first fruits of the Resurrection, the pioneer of our resurrection. It doesn’t mean his deity is any different. And if you read Revelation Chapter 1, you can see that his glory is still overwhelming.
But the fact that he will bear some mark for eternity for paying for my sin is what’s not fair. And it’s a free gift that God offers us.
God IS perfectly JUST. But he is also perfectly loving, and he has made a way in Jesus Christ to pay for your sins and give you his righteousness. And if you’ve never received that free gift of forgiveness by putting your faith in Jesus Christ, you can do that today.
You can just acknowledge – you can just say, “Lord, I believe.” Ask Jesus to be who he is in your life. Jesus IS who he IS. We can’t change that. But we can ask him to be who he is in our life, to come into our life, and to transform us for eternity.