"The Seven Trumpets" - Study Hour - Lesson 7

well with that being said let's ask the Lord to be with us as we pray father in heaven we want to thank you for the opportunity to be able to come together I want to thank you for all those who are both locally here in the Sacramento Granite Bay seventh-day Adventist Church as well as those who are watching online on the different television networks want to pray that you will bless each and every one of us that you will guide us with your spirit as we claim that promise that your spirit will guide us into all truth as we come to your word with an open heart please bless our teacher today as well in Jesus name we pray these things amen like to induce our teacher today which is pastor John Ross one of our local pastors as he teaches us we want to pray and wish him all of God's blessings god bless you Pastor Ross thank you Pastor Sean good morning everyone and welcome to Sabbath school study our study through the entire quarter has been on the book of Revelation today we're gonna be delving in well probably one of the most interesting and complicated and may even add difficulties hearts of this prophetic book we're gonna be talking about the seven trumpets now if you're following along in your lesson Courtley we're on lesson number seven and it's simply entitled the seven trumpets if you have your lesson quarterly it's page 52 we have a memory verse that we find right at the top of our lesson it comes from Revelation chapter 10 and I'd like to read that to you it's revelation 10 and it's verse 7 a very important verse it says but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel when he's about to sound the mystery of God we'll be finished as is declared unto his servants the prophets a couple of things to note in this verse it's talking about the sounding of the seventh trumpet that says when the seventh trumpet is about to sound a mystery will be revealed a mystery that was given to the prophets now the question we want to ask this morning is well what is that mystery who was the Prophet that had that mystery and what does that have to do with the signing of the seventh trumpet some very important information that we want to study today on Sabbath afternoon Nilus and courtly we have the third paragraph on the introduction section I'd like to read that because that sets the stage for our study today the last paragraph says the vision of the seven trumpets shows that throughout history God already has intervened on behalf of his oppressed people and has judged those who harm them the purpose of the seventh trumpet sister sure God's people that heaven is not indifferent to their sufferings now in the book of Revelation we have a series of sevens and you can see if you can help me out with this we begin by reading about Revelation chapter two and three we have the seven wat seven churches and then if you read a little further in chapter six we have something called the seven seals very good and then chapter 8 and 9 we read about the seven trumpets the seventh trumpet we don't read about until Revelation chapter 11 beginning in verse 15 we'll talk about the significance there but the seven churches the seven seals and the seven trumpets cover roughly the same time period it's the Christian era beginning with the first century and then going all the way through to the time in which we are now living so when you look at the seven churches the Church of Ephesus was the Church of the first century the church that describes the Christian Church at the time that John wrote the book of Revelation you look at the seventh Church in Revelation chapter three it's called the Church of Laodicea it spiritually lukewarm it really describes the condition of the church even today when you look at the seven seals you see something similar the first seal represents the gospel going forth victorious and powerful and then if you look at the sixth seal it brings you right up till the second coming of Christ and it's not until you get to Revelation chapter 8 verse 1 where you have the opening of the seventh seal and that's what we're going to start with today so if you have your Bibles turn to Revelation chapter eight and we're gonna start reading here Revelation chapter eight we're gonna finished the seals and then we're gonna move on into the trumpets Revelation chapter eight and we're gonna begin in verse one Revelation chapter eight beginning then in verse one says when he had open up the Seventh Seal There was silence in heaven for about a space of half an hour so the Seventh Seal is open what happens just before the seventh seal opens you have Revelation chapter 7 which talks about the hundred and forty-four thousand those who have the seal of God in their foreheads and you remember that chapter seven of Revelation as we discussed last week is really an answer to the question that's asked at the end of chapter 6 chapter 6 brings you up to the opening of the sixth seal brings you right up to the second coming of Jesus and a question he's asked in Revelation chapter 6 if you look in verse 17 it says revelation 6:17 for the great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand so the sixth seal brings you up to the second coming of Jesus a question is asked who's gonna be able to stand when Jesus comes again that question is answered in Revelation chapter 7 it describes a group of people that have the seal of God in their foreheads yes they are the ones who will stand when Jesus comes then in chapter 8 we go back to finish up with the seals and when the Seventh Seal is opened verse 1 it says there's silence in heaven about the space of a half an hour why is there silence in heaven well that's because most of the inhabitants of heaven have left where have they gone well if you look at the sixth seal it talks about the second coming of Jesus I mean Jesus comes a second time who comes with Jesus all the angels so Jesus and all the angels have left heaven they've come to the earth it's the second coming Jesus come to gather the righteous thus there is silence in heaven about the space of a half an hour now time prophecies in the book of Revelation are rather significant and we actually have a specific time period given here about the space of 1/2 an hour now we need to do a little math it's not too complicated but let me walk you through it the Bible tells us that one prophetic day is equal to one literal year did you get the principal one prophetic day is equal to one literal year a Hebrew year had 360 days so keep that number in mind and a day has 24 hours it had 24 hours back at the time of the Old Testament it has 24 hours today so if we take a year 360 days and we divided by 24 because there's silence in heaven about the space of 1/2 an hour so we begin by dividing it by 24 we end up with 15 days that would be roughly the equivalent to one hour about 15 days how long is there silence in heaven it says about the space of a half an hour so we take the fifteen days and we cut it in half and we come up roughly with about seven days so the Bible tells us there is silence in heaven for about seven days when Jesus comes so does that mean it takes seven days to go from heaven to earth and then back to heaven well of course Jesus and the angels they could be here instantaneously but it does give us the idea that the journey back to heaven seems to take about seven days there are some things that Jesus wants to reveal to the redeemed on their way back to heaven I'm not quite sure what it is that God wants to reveal or Christ wants to reveal to us as we journey back to heaven but I'm sure as we travel those seven days back to the golden city our anticipation is growing because there is somebody waiting for us in heaven who's waiting for us in heaven God the Father and Jesus is about to introduce us face to face to his father that journey from Earth to heaven about the period of seven days so that's the opening of the seventh seal rather interesting okay now gears shift just a little and we get into the trumpets if you look in verse two all the way through to verse two while verse two through to verse six sets the stage or is the introduction to the signing of the seven trumpets trumpets back in Bible times were often used as announcements for war or judgment or calling people's attention to something perhaps the General Assembly a trumpet would sound you remember when judgment came upon Jericho back in the old there were angels that marched in front of the ark and they sounded on silver trumpets they sounded actually there were the ram's horn trumpets they sounded trumpets they were a sign of judgment that was about to come so these trumpets represent certain judgments that come upon the earth now we have the introduction to that the point that I just want you to note we don't have time to read all the verses in chapter 8 and 9 I wish we did but we'd never get through chapter 10 and 11 if we did so so I'm just gonna give you the high points what I want you to notice then is the imagery of where this takes place look at verse 2 and 3 it says and I saw seven angels who stood before God and to them were given seven trumpets then another angel having a golden censer came and stood by the altar and he was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar altar which is before the throne now the earthly sanctuary is a shadow of the heavenly sanctuary and the earthly sanctuary there were three articles of furniture in the first compartment known as the holy place the table of showbread the seven-branched candlestick and our altar of incense now what John is seeing here in Revelation is a description of the heavenly sanctuary we're about in the heavenly sanctuary just John see these things taking place in the first compartment the Holy Ohr in the most holy place which is the second compartment where do you find the altar of incense in the first compartment of the second you find it in the first compartment of the sanctuary so these judgments were to take place on the earth the signing of the trumpets the judgments take place on the earth they are to take place before probation closes before there is a transition from the first compartment to the second compartment that's important to note incidentally when the seventh trumpet sounds that we can read about in Revelation chapter 11 suddenly we see the Ark of the Covenant in the temple of God in heaven whereas the Ark of the Covenant in the most holy place so between the sounding of the sixth trumpet and the sounding of the seventh trumpet there is a shift of focus in the heavenly sanctuary from the first compartment into the second compartment all right put that in the back of your mind we'll come back to it when we get to Revelation chapter 11 but that's an important part to note now what does this altar of incense and the smoke that ascends from the altar represent well the Bible goes on to tell us verse 4 says the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the Saints is sin before God so the altar of incense and the smoke represents the prayers of the Saints but then in verse 5 and 6 there is a change an angel takes some of the fire from the altar he puts it in the center but he does not add any incense he takes it any throws it down to the earth so Bible scholars are recognizing this that the next sounding of the trumpets are judgments that come upon the wicked there is no incense mingled with the fire it's just fire a fire is often a symbol of judgment that God brings upon the wicked so with that as the background let's take a look at the first of the trumpets you find this in verse 7 Revelation chapter 8 verse 7 it's just one verse it says in the first angel sounded and hail and fire followed mingled with blood and it was thrown to the earth and a third of the trees were burnt up and all the green grass was burnt out now getting into the trumpets probably the most descriptive and detailed prophetic imagery that you'll find anywhere in the book of Revelation when we get to chapter 9 describes under the fifth and the sixth trumpet talks about these locusts and it says that they breathe fire and they tails are like the tails of scorpions and they wear crowns and the hair is like the hair of woman all kinds of very detailed descriptions it's given so it's a rather deep study the seven trumpets but what does this first trumpet represent this fire being thrown into the earth it says it burns up the trees in the grass well a number of Bible scholars recognize this as an act or at least prophecy concerning the judgment an act of judgment that came upon Israel specifically Jerusalem for the role that they played in crucifying Jesus notice it talks about the trees being burnt up you can read about this in Luke chapter 23 when Jesus was taken to Calvary and he was being led by the Romans and they were beating Jesus and pushing Jesus and he had been carrying the cross and he had stumbled under the weight of the cross and Simon had taken the cross and was carrying it for Jesus and the procession made its way through Jerusalem towards Calvary the Bible says in Luke chapter 23 there that there was some woman people of Jerusalem that wept when they saw what the Romans were doing to Jesus and Jesus stopped and he said to these women that were weeping daughters of Jerusalem don't weep for me but weep for yourselves and then he goes on to say if they meaning the Romans do this when the tree is green what will they do when the tree is dry now that's a cryptic statement made by Jesus he says don't weep for me but he says weep for you and your children for if they the Romans are doing this to me and to the Jews during the green tree what will happen during the dry well the green tree there represents the probationary time that God had given to the nation of Israel after the resurrection of Jesus remember the gospel primarily went to the Jews in Jerusalem for the next three and a half years until the stoning of Stephen in 34 ad which was the fulfillment of the 490 year prophecy in Daniel chapter 9 that probationary time period that God had given to the Jewish leadership the Jewish nation particular to receive the gospel that came to an end in 34 ad at the stoning of Stephen God then withdrew his protection from the city from Jerusalem and what did the Romans do in the dry tree after that probationary time period when God's protection was withdrawn well we just need to go back and look at history in 70 AD the Romans came surrounding Jerusalem and there was a terrible slaughter as one historian put it he said there was so much death and destruction at the temple that blood flowed down the temple stairs like water and the inhabitants in Jerusalem were killed now of course the crew Asians who understood these words of Jesus especially the prophecies given in Matthew 24 they saw the signs that Christ had given and they fled from Jerusalem before its final destruction but here in the first trumpet many Bible scholars see this as a fulfillment of judgment that came upon Jerusalem there in 70 AD okay now looking at the second trumpet this is verse 8 says then the second angel sounded in something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and the third of the sea became as blood I want you to notice the parallel at least the imagery that we have with the trumpets as it relates to the plates it talks about the sea turning to blood both of these are judgments the plagues and the trumpets are both judgments that come upon the earth now in the Bible in the Old Testament jeremiah chapter 51 it talks about a nation being represented by a great mountain even a burning mountain or destroying mountain which you read about in Isaiah 51 and verse 25 so it says this mountain is thrown into the sea many Bible scholars see this as judgment that came upon Rome for the role that they played in crucifying Jesus the first trumpet his judgment that came upon Jerusalem the second trumpet his judgments that came upon Rome and they've identified this as the attack of the Vandals now if you can get a picture of Europe in your mind you know where Italy is and where Rome is the Vandals migrated from the east through what is now France down into Spain they crossed the Mediterranean and they went into North Africa at the time controlled by the Roman Empire and they established a headquarters in a place called Carthage which was on the shore of the Mediterranean and they organized a very powerful navy of pirate ships that prayed against the Roman shipping and they went out and they destroyed large portions of the Roman Navy and they pillaged even the city of Rome in 445 I believe it is that the Vandals actually entered into the city of Rome and vandalized the city thus the name of the Vandals goes along with what they did and so seen in the second trumpet a description of judgment that comes upon Rome for the part that they played in crucifying Jesus all right then we go to the third trumpet you all still with me just wait until we get to chapter 9 okay verse 10 says and the third angel sounded and a great star fell from heaven burning like a torch and it fell in a third of the rivers and the springs of water now here's a big clue in Bible prophecy what do stars often represent angels we know they're from Revelation 12 we also know that from Revelation chapter 1 here is an angel but it is fallen from heaven can you give a name to the angel what angel fell from heaven Lucifer Jesus said I saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven so here is an angel coming or has been kicked out from heaven he falls to the earth he's burning like a torch almost gives the idea of an asteroid of some kind coming towards the earth it fell on the rivers and the springs of water notice that the second trumpet sounds there is a burning Mountain that falls in the sea the third trumpet sounds and there is this burning star that falls on the rivers and the springs of water what's the difference between the sea and rivers and springs well of course rivers and springs that's fresh water that gives life whereas the sea could represent multitudes and nations and Kindred's and tongues revelation 17 15 so here we have this false angel bringing error or lies and diluting the truth of God's Word so we see falsehood coming into the church again many scholars recognize this as during the Dark Ages Satan after the legalization of Christianity in 313 Ana Constantine bringing into Christendom a number of errors and pagan rituals and practices even to the point where those who were wanting to be faithful to the Word of God during this time period suffered persecution from religious leaders in the church so the truth of God was corrupted and that leads you into the what we know as the Dark Ages a time of persecution that came upon those who wanted to be true to God's Word verse 11 gives the name for the star is called wormwood wormwood is a bitter herb back in Bible times it represents a poisoning of the truths of God's Word some have also seen in this another one of those barbarian tribes the Huns under the leadership of Attila the Hun that brought havoc to the West and Rome and the attacks by the Huns then we find in verse 12 the fourth angel sounded and a third of the sun was struck a third of the moon and a third of the stars so that a third of them were darkened now we have three symbols found here in verse 12 the Sun the moon and the stars in Bible prophecy what does the Sun often represent represents Jesus the Bible tells us that the Sun is UN of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings so a third of the Sun is darkened and the third of the moon what does the moon represent in Bible prophecy in Revelation chapter 12 you have a picture of a woman clothed with the Sun she's clothed in the righteousness of Jesus she's standing upon the moon where is the moon yet it's light gets his life from the Sun it reflects the light of the Sun where do we get the clearest reflection of Jesus today in his word right in his word what is the church to be founded upon the Word of God so when it says a third of the Sun was darkened a third of the moon was darkened and a third of the stars who are the twelve stars representing that make up the crown of the woman in Revelation chapter 12 that's clothed with the Sun and standing upon the moon 12 is the number often associated with the church in the Old Testament it's the 12 tribes but in the New Testament it represents the Twelve Apostles the teaching of the Apostles so a number of scholars have seen in this trumpet a description of the dark ages where the truth of who Jesus is and what his ministry is for us in the heavenly sanctuary was darkened from the minds of people the truths of God's Word was darkened by were chained to the walls of monasteries and the common people couldn't read the Bible they didn't have the Bible in their own language it was even against the law to possess even a page of the Bible and the teachings the gospel of salvation by faith or by grace through faith delivered by the Apostles was hidden from the minds of people and so they see in this sounding of the trumpet this fourth trumpet the dark ages which parallels will be seen with the seals and also parallels what we've studied so far with the churches so in quick summary of what we've looked at so far the first sounding of the trumpet represents judgment that came upon Rome in 70 AD the second trumpet a burning Mountain can represent judgment that came upon Rome by the Vandals between 428 and 468 ad the falling of the star represents a compromising of the truth after Christianity was legalized in 313 and onwards as well as the attacks of the Huns highlighted in 451 ad with their attacks upon Rome and the Sun Moon and stars darkened it represents the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages where the truths of God's word of Jesus the teaching of the Apostles was hidden from the minds in the eyes of the people so that's the first four trumpets are you all together all right I hope you got your seatbelt fastened because now we're going to chapter 9 you're going to be looking at two of the most detailed description of the trumpets in Revelation chapter 9 verse 1 is where we have the sounding of the next trumpet the fifth and then we have the sixth trumpet sounding in verse 13 so we're not gonna be able to read through all of this we just won't have enough time but let me hopefully give you enough so that you can study this further on your own about these various trumpets starting in verse 1 Revelation chapter 9 beginning in verse 1 says in the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth oh wait a minute we've just read about a star falling from heaven who that star represented represents lucifer represents the devil bringing something to the earth so here again we have a star fallen from heaven and it says the last part of verse 1 to him it was given a key to the bottomless pit we're going to talk more about the bottomless pit when we get to Revelation chapter 20 but it represents the domain of Satan it represents emptiness or desolation or just Satan's control Satan's Kingdom Satan's power now the star fallen from heaven we've already identified as being Satan the fact that he has a key and he lets something loose from the bottomless pit some have seen in this that God has allowed Satan to release something upon the earth as the sounding of the trumpet and we'll find out what that is in just a minute if you look at verse 2 it says and he opened the bottomless pit and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace now smoke in Bible prophecy can represent more than one thing earlier in the beginning of chapter 8 smoke was offered with the incense representing the prayers of the Saints but smoke can also represent error or lies deception can read about that in the Old Testament Isaiah chapter 9 verse 18 talks about wickedness and describes it as smoke so here this fallen angel unlocks or releases wickedness or lies upon the earth they come from the bottomless pit from his kingdom his domain and as a result of that if you read on in verse 2 it says the Sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit the smoke represents errors and lies what does the Sun represent Jesus what does the air represent sometimes in Bible prophecy air is a symbol of the Holy Spirit remember on Pentecost in the Upper Room where the Holy Spirit came up from the disciples in tongues of fire it says there was sound of a mighty rushing wind so there was something released by the devil that misrepresented who Jesus is and misrepresented the work of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is the one that brings conviction the Holy Spirit brings the new birth experience the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead so there was something around this time that was to be released upon the earth that took something away from Christ in his ministry and also clouded the work of the Holy Spirit now many Bible scholars not just recent scholars but those that date back all the way to the time of Martin Luther and the Reformers recognized that in this fifth and sixth trumpet was the rise and the expansion of Islam the first trumpet is the rise of Islam during the time of Muhammad and I'd like to read to you just a little bit of the background as to how Islam arose says Muhammad was born in 570 ad that's the time period in the Arabian city of Mecca his mother was a Mina who was a Christian interesting but she died when he was six years old and he was brought up under the care of his uncle he later worked as a merchant and a shepherd and was first married at the age of 25 discontent with life in Mecca he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains of Medina for reflection according to Islamic beliefs it was here at the age of 40 in the month of ramadhan where he received the first of many visions three years after this Muhammad started proclaiming these revelations that he had received in the cave publicly Muhammad gained few followers early on and was met with hostility from the inhabitants of Mecca he finally moved with his few followers to Medina in 622 ad in Medina Muhammad United the conflicting tribes and after eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes he conquered Mecca without bloodshed in 632 Muhammad fell ill and died when he was born Arabia was a collection of quarrelsome tribes when he died it was a single nation prepared to rapidly expand its borders and strengthen its religion so this fourth trumpet has been identified as the rise of Islam during the mohamad and shortly after his death primarily centered around Arabia so before Muhammad was born Arabia consisted of different tribes and they fought amongst themselves there was a whole lot of different beliefs and different deities that were being worshipped Muhammad was able to pull these various tribes together and bring them all united in this belief this religion that he had helped establish and that's the rise of Islam part of the belief Muhammad and others was that religion was to be enforced using military strength and Muhammad did lead armies on many occasions and enforced those that he conquered to become Muslims and to adopt these various beliefs now right there we see a conflict with true Christianity or true belief did Jesus ever force anybody to worship Him of course not the exercise of force is country to the nature of God God can't accept worship that he's forced only worship that comes from a heart of love is accepted to God say if somebody forces you to worship a certain way you can know for sure that that is not true worship that is a false worship that has been enforced by the Prince of this world and then it goes on to describe in great detail the rise of this movement goes all the way through talking about the description of what the horses looked like that that we used for battle and a mighty army that went out conquering and so on and that brings you all the way down to verse 12 and again we don't have time to look at all the details here but hopefully you can read through that again this afternoon verse 12 says one woe is past behold still two woes are coming then we go to verse 13 and we have the sounding of the sixth angel verse 16 says and I heard the voice from the four owners or the four horns of the golden altar which are before God were about are we in the heavenly sanctuary we still in the first compartment this is talking about the golden altar that is the altar of incense we haven't yet moved into the most holy place verse 14 says saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet released the four angel who are bound on the great river euphrates now just to give you a little background of what we're talking about here this trumpet the sixth trumpet has been identified as the expansion of Islam under the Ottoman Empire or the Ottoman Turks talks about four angels that are bound on the river Euphrates these four angels have been identified as symbolizing the four Sultan's of the Ottoman Empire or of Turkey the capitals of which was in Baghdad Damascus Aleppo and Iconium they were converted to Islam and they used their military to expand Islam as far as they could and of course as you know based on history they were able to conquer Turkey what is present-day Turkey to expand all the way down into parts of India as far over to the east is a number of different West or Eastern European nations that fell under the control of the Turkish Empire the Ottoman Empire and that's what's being described here under the six angel now there is an interesting time period that's given and you find this in verse 15 and I'm gonna read it it says the four angels who had been prepared for an hour this is Revelation chapter 9 verse 15 they were prepared for an hour a day a month and a year and then they were released to kill a third of mankind now again we have prophetic time so what does this mean it says they were to be released there was a time period for a year they are 360 days in a Hebrew year so that would literally represent 360 literal years a month there were 30 days in a Hebrew month so that would be 30 years a day that would be one year and it says an hour that would be about 15 days as we've already studied we're talking about a total time period here of 391 years and 15 days now the significance of this time prophecy was rarely brought to view in the early 1800s when these prophecies were being studied there was a miller eyed preacher who was a contemporary of William Miller of course William Mother talking about time prophecy and studying the Book of Daniel and based upon his study of Revelation chapter 9 he came to the conclusion based on this time period that the Ottoman Empire the Turkish Empire would eventually surrender to the Christian nations of Western Europe and he gave a specific time based on his time prophecy let me read it to you since the significance of this time period was brought to you in Josiah Lynch a millerite preacher predicted that based on the time prophecy the Turkish Empire would submit to the nations of Western Europe and he gave the date on August the 11th 1840 now this was this prediction was made before August the 8th 1840 his prediction was perfectly fulfilled yes indeed on august 11 1840 the Turkish Empire did surrender the Ottoman Empire did surrender to the Western nations of Europe thus validating this time prophecy prediction so based on a study thus far we find ourselves up to around the early eighteen hundreds 1840 to be exact based on this time prophecy then the rest of chapter 9 and we don't have time to go into all of that again it's a description of the various armies and the conquest of the Ottoman Empire expanding the influence of Islam all the way up to 1840 now we have a pause in the signing of the trumpets and something else is dealt with in Revelation chapter 10 but before we get to Revelation chapter 10 and office is a good part coming along here let me just remind you of what we've learned so far in a study the book of Revelation you remember when we studied the seals we looked from seal 1 to seal sixth which came to the end of chapter 6 then there was a pause in the sequence of the seals a question was answered in Revelation chapter 7 the great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand the answer is given the 144,000 those are the seal of God in their foreheads and then in chapter 8 verse 1 we go back to finish the seals and we have this seventh seal that is opened we see a similar thing when it comes to the trumpets we have trumpet one two three four five five and six then there is a pause additional information is given in Revelation chapter 10 and in the first half of Revelation chapter 11 and then we go back to the sounding of the trumpets and we find the seventh trumpet sounding in Revelation chapter 11 verse 15 so the time period between the sixth and the seventh trumpet is around 1840 based on the time prophecy that we looked at when the Ottoman Empire would surrender to the nations of Western Europe so that's roughly the timeframe that we talking about now we go to Revelation chapter 10 Revelation chapter 10 is a very interesting passage not too hard to understand but let me read verse 1 I saw still a night another mighty angel coming down from heaven clothed with a cloud and a rainbow was on his head and his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire if you look at the description of this heavenly messenger the word angel means messenger you find a very similar description given here to the description of Jesus that you find in Revelation chapter 1 it says his face is as the son who does the son represent Jesus there is a rainbow upon his head verse 2 says and he had a little book that was open in his hand and he said his right foot upon the sea and his left foot upon the land what does the angel have in his hand is it a big book it's a little book is the book sealed or is it unsealed its unsealed why because it's open all of these are important clues as to the identity of what this book is where did he put his one foot on the sea you ready to put his other foot what does the sea representing Bible prophecy revelation 17 15 represents multitudes and nations and Kindred's and tongues from a prophetic perspective it represents densely populated Europe the land would represent a sparsely populated area what land was coming around or at least been discovered and been settled around seven late 1700s early 1800s it was the United States of America and by the way many of the first settlers that came to the United States came for religious freedom they were Christians and so here is a message that has to go to all the world somewhere around 1840 this message is something to do with a little prophetic book that was once sealed but now it is unsealed this message is to be preached not only in densely populated Europe but it is also to be preached in sparsely populated America at the time he's all clues as to what's being described now look at verse 3 and he cried with a loud voice is when a lion roars by the way who is the voice of a lion Jesus is said to be the Lion of the tribe of Judah as when a lion roars and he cried out and seven thunders uttered their voices now when the seven thunders uttered their voices I was about to write but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me seal up the things that the seven thunders uttered and do not write them and then verse five the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the land raised his hand towards heaven he's making a solemn oath and verse six and swore by him who lives forever and ever who created the heavens and the things that are there in the earth and the things that are there in the sea and the things that are therein that there should be time or delay no longer notice the phrase the one who made the heavens and the things that are there in the earth and the things that are there in the sea and the things that are there in that's a parallel to the first angels message that says fear God give Him glory worship Him they made the heavens and the things that are there in the earth and the things that are there in the sea and the things that are therein in the fountains of water so here we have a parallel to the first angels message as it relates to Revelation chapter 10 and keep that also in the back of your mind alright then what does he say verse 10 notice this but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel when he's about to sound the mystery of God we'll be finished as he has declared unto his servants the prophets now we've already looked at the sixth trumpet and we looked at the time period that brings you up to 18:40 now this angel with the little book that's opening his hand says when the seventh trumpet is about to sound the mystery of God will be revealed that which was declared to the servants the prophets now the little book that's opening the hand of the angel is none other than the little book of Daniel the book of Daniel is a little prophetic book it was sealed but it is now unsealed you reading Daniel chapter 12 where Daniel gets the message sealed the book until the time of the end many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased the Book of Daniel had a mysterious time prophecy that was not understood until the sounding of the seventh trumpet now you might be wondering what is the seventh trumpet let's quickly go to that revelation chapter 11 verse 15 revelation 11 verse 15 says then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever and the twenty-four elders that sat before God on a Thrones fell on their faces worshiping God saying this we give you thanks O Lord God Almighty the one who is who was and who is to come because you have taken your great power and rained notice verse 18 what's happening on the earth the nations were angry your wrath has come the time of the Dead that they should be judged notice there is a pre-advent judgment being described and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the Saints when are the servants of God and the prophets and the Saints to be rewarded when Jesus comes the second time so this brings you right up till the second coming of Jesus then it says and all those who fear your name small and great and you should destroy those who destroy the earth when are the wicked destroyed at the second coming of Christ so the sounding of the seventh trumpet brings you right up to the second coming of Jesus just a little bit before that there is a special time of judgment we call that the pre-advent judgment the nation's are angry there is a time of judgment the plays eventually are poured out notice verse 19 at the signing of the seventh trumpet then the temple of God was opening heaven this is when the seventh trumpet sounds and the Ark of the Covenant was seen in his temple now where is the Ark of the Covenant in the holy of the most holy place it is in the most holy place you'll remember that under the signing of the sixth trumpet we're still in the first compartment but when the seventh trumpet begins to sound suddenly we're in the most holy place because we can see the Ark of the Covenant so there is a shift in the Ministry of Jesus from the first compartment ministry into the second compartment ministry or the most holy place ministry now let me finish up chapter 10 before we run out of time verse 8 John then here's a book I'll summarize it he hears a voice speaking to him and the voice tells him to take the little book and eat it up it's sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach so John does just that he takes the book he eats it it's sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach and then after that experience verse 11 and he said unto me you must prophesy again about or before many people nations tongues and kings what does it mean to eat the book to eat the book means to receive it to study it to make it your own and Jesus said thy words were found and I did eat them well Jeremiah 15:16 says thy words were found and I did eat them and they were unto me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart to eat the book means to study the words of Scripture to make it your own jesus said except you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you and the disciples said Lord this is a hard saying what does this mean jesus said the flesh profits nothing the words I speak to you they are spirit they are power they're life so to eat the book means to study the book to make it your own it was sweet in the mouth meaning based upon their study of this little prophetic Old Testament book the Book of Daniel the book that was once sealed but now it's unsealed they came to a certain conclusion that was sweet and wonderful but when they didn't experienced what they thought was to happen they were bitterly disappointed now John here in Revelation chapter 10 plays the part of the early Advent believers the mullah right believers who based upon their study of the Book of Daniel came to Daniel chapter 8 verse 14 that spoke about 2300 days then the sanctuary shall be claimed they did their mass and they counted and they looked in Daniel chapter 9 and they realized that this 2300 year time period end or would end in 1844 they looked at Daniel 8:14 and it said the sanctuary shall be cleansed well they thought the sanction was the earth and the cleansing the earth would occur the second coming of Christ Christ was to cleanse the earth with fire they didn't realize that there is a special cleansing work that Jesus does in the heavenly sanctuary in the most holy place just before probation closes nevertheless based upon their study in Daniel 8:14 in particular they reached the conclusion that Jesus was soon to come well when Jesus didn't come as they had expected they experienced a very bitter disappointment and many of those early Advent believers went back to the Bible and they started studying and searching even more to find out where they had gone wrong then it was that they began to realize that they had missed a very important truth the truth of the high priestly ministry of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary as well as the special work of cleansing that Jesus wants to do in the hearts and the lives of his people a work of cleansing that occurs in the heavenly sanctuary and in the earth on Church in the church on the earth a work of cleansing a work of judgment that occurs just before probation closes then they came to that understanding and then they read the last verse he said to me you must prophesy again suddenly they began to realize that they work wasn't finished they work it scarcely begun and from that early beginning rose up a great worldwide movement of which were part whose mission it is to proclaim to every nation kindred tongue and people the three angels messages fear God give him glory the hour of his judgment has come now there is no other explanation other than the one that I gave you of Revelation chapter 10 that makes sense if you go to your evangelical friends and you ask them what is revelation chapter 10 all about this eating of the book they won't have a clue there is only one prophetic movement that matches the description and the experience that we find in Revelation chapter 10 that is the early admin movement or the millerite movement Revelation chapter 10 is very important for us as Adventists to recognize what our mission is what is it that God has given us to take to the whole world and also the context that we find in Revelation chapter 11 we don't have time to get into the two witnesses hopefully you can study a little bit further by or on yourself but the context of the two witnesses you finally in verse one it's still in the context of judgment I was given a read and I was to measure those that worship in the temple so we in this time of judgment that takes place just before Jesus comes well as a look at the clock I can see that we are out of time for our lesson today that was an ambitious project to try and cover the trumpets Revelation chapter 10 and even a little bit 11 all in 50 minutes but hopefully I've been able to give you just an overview of these very important truths I'd like to thank those who joined us today and I hope that you'll join us again next week as we continue our study in the book of Revelation don't forget to request today's life-changing free resource not only can you receive this free gift in the mail you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile device to get your digital copy of today's free gift simply text the keyword on your screen two four zero five four four or visit the web address shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download option on the request page it's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with amazing facts wherever and whenever you want and most important to share it with others

Channel: Aaron

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Id: Rf2t3_JPZ8A

Length: 48min 34sec (2914 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 07 2019