1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,020 Revelation chapter 8, if you saw the announcement on Facebook, we have officially been in Revelation 2 00:00:14,020 --> 00:00:16,520 for one year. 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:17,720 Woohoo. 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:19,920 And we've made it to chapter 8. 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:26,620 There are 22 chapters in Revelation, so you do the math and figure out when we'll be done. 6 00:00:26,620 --> 00:00:27,620 The math will not work. 7 00:00:27,620 --> 00:00:30,680 It's going to follow a consistent pattern. 8 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,520 But we have been out of Revelation for a little bit of time. 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:39,840 We had some guest speakers come, and then we took a break for Christmas. 10 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,920 And so we're kind of just jumping right back in. 11 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,240 And it's hard to do that without reorienting ourselves. 12 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:52,920 So remember that we started this section where Jesus is talking about the seven seals, and 13 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:58,520 we see that the lamb is beginning this process of opening the seven seals, and it begins 14 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,680 to go one, two, three, four, five, six. 15 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,920 And you see the six seal, and it's just catastrophe, right? 16 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:10,840 I mean, you remember the sun is darkening, stars are falling, the people are begging 17 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:15,520 mountains to fall on them so that they can hide from the face of the lamb. 18 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:20,920 It's a terrifying situation, and that calls us to pause, and we're like, okay, well, if 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:26,320 that's really going to happen, and it is, how are God's people going to be saved from 20 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:27,320 all this? 21 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:30,200 And so the Bible does this interruption where it talks about, well, here's how they're 22 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:36,400 going to be saved, because God has sealed all of His people with His Holy Spirit, and 23 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:41,560 because they are sealed by God, they are safe from God's wrath. 24 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:43,160 And that's encouraging for us, right? 25 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:47,840 Like, we will never experience the wrath of God, even though we deserve it. 26 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,600 We'll never experience it because we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. 27 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:58,720 And so they gave us this picture of this multitude in heaven, this innumerable multitude that 28 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:03,840 no one can number from every tribe, tongue, nation, language, and they're standing there 29 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:09,680 in their white robes, they're praising the lamb, and they are giving all glory to Jesus 30 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:16,440 for salvation because we said, He is the one who brought about that salvation. 31 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,480 And so that led us all the way through the six seals, and you're wondering, okay, where's 32 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:22,480 the seventh one? 33 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:24,560 Well, it's coming. 34 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:26,520 That's what we're getting to now. 35 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,120 So look at Revelation 8.1. 36 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,880 This is what the Bible says. 37 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:40,480 When the lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 38 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,520 Now we're going to pause there, okay, because we're studying the Bible together. 39 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:49,760 And we're reading this verse, at least when I'm reading it, two questions become immediately 40 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:50,760 obvious to me. 41 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,400 So if we're studying the Bible together, trying to be good Bible readers, I see this, 42 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:56,240 I see two immediate questions. 43 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,000 What do you think this question's on? 44 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,240 What questions come to your mind when you see this verse? 45 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,840 Okay, that's a good question. 46 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:07,360 Yeah, was it really 30 minutes? 47 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:08,640 Another way to say that, like why? 48 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:09,640 Why 30 minutes? 49 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:10,640 That seems odd. 50 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:12,400 So yeah, that's actually my second question. 51 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,760 There's a question I had before that. 52 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,480 Yeah, why is there silence, right? 53 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,080 So if I'm reading this, those are the two questions I'm asking. 54 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:22,560 The lamb opens the seventh seal. 55 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:23,560 Got it. 56 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:24,560 There was silence in heaven. 57 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:25,560 Why? 58 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:26,560 What does that mean? 59 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,000 And also for about half an hour, that's oddly specific. 60 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,080 Why 30 minutes? 61 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,680 So let's address the first one. 62 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:38,640 Why is there silence in heaven when the lamb opens the seal? 63 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,480 Well, a number of explanations have been given for this, as you can imagine, it's revelation. 64 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,280 So everybody has a say on this. 65 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:51,680 Some have suggested that there's silence because the seventh seal is an empty seal. 66 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:52,680 There's nothing there. 67 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:53,680 There's no content. 68 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:58,880 And so there's silence because people see the seal opened and they have seen this process 69 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,320 six other times and they know that something is always going to happen, but now nothing 70 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:06,800 happens and they're just like, I don't know, what's going on? 71 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:07,800 They're waiting for it. 72 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:09,720 That's one suggestion. 73 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,120 Others have suggested that there's silence because God is now resting. 74 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:18,280 Now the seventh seals are open, God can rest after he rested on the seventh day. 75 00:04:18,280 --> 00:04:21,520 And so they're kind of picking up on some biblical theology that way. 76 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:23,640 That's a good suggestion. 77 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:28,960 Others have suggested that there's silence because there's a halting of divine revelation. 78 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,320 So there's been all this revelation up to this point. 79 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,040 Now the seventh seal is open. 80 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,120 They believe that this means here comes the end of all things. 81 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,040 And so there's no more divine revelation. 82 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,040 So those are all these suggestions. 83 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:47,440 But the problem is that's not really how silence is used in the Bible, especially with relation 84 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:48,440 to God. 85 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,480 So what you have to do, and this is actually going to come out on Monday in a podcast I 86 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:58,840 just did, is you have to see something, a passage, and go, okay, well, where is this 87 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:02,520 word or phrase used elsewhere in Scripture? 88 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,160 Because that's going to give clarity to what we're studying. 89 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,080 One of the primary things I try to teach people is not just that context is king, that's probably 90 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:15,040 number one, context is king, but also Scripture interprets Scripture. 91 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,400 That's how we learn the Bible, Scripture interprets Scripture. 92 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:22,920 So if you're reading a passage that is unclear, go to a passage that is clear and compare 93 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:23,920 the two. 94 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:24,920 And it gives you insight. 95 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:33,600 So normally in the Bible, silence with relation to God is usually a response of God acting 96 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,240 an act of judgment. 97 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:42,680 So people in creation or even all of creation itself will respond with silence when they 98 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:48,120 witness a great act of God, especially an act of judgment. 99 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:55,560 So for instance, Isaiah 47, verses three through five, the Bible says, your nakedness shall 100 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,880 be uncovered and your disgrace shall be seen. 101 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:04,160 I will take vengeance and I will spare no one. 102 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,840 Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, is His name, is the Holy One of Israel. 103 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:15,920 Sit in silence, go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no more be 104 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,000 called the mistress of the kingdoms. 105 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:20,880 Now notice what's happening there. 106 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,960 God's taking vengeance and He says, I'm not going to spare anyone. 107 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,080 So what should they do? 108 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,560 God says, sit there and silence. 109 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,520 That is the appropriate response to what He is about to do. 110 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:38,320 Or Amos chapter eight, verses two through three, and He said, Amos, what do you see? 111 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,280 And I said, a basket of summer fruit. 112 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:46,360 Then the Lord said to me, the end has come upon my people Israel. 113 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,880 I will never again pass by them. 114 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,480 Whole lot of biblical theology there relates back to Exodus three. 115 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:58,400 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day declares the Lord God. 116 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,000 So many dead bodies, they are thrown everywhere. 117 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:03,000 Silence. 118 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,400 I mean, this was a movie, it would just be cut to black right there, right? 119 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,520 It's chaos, it's madness, dead bodies are everywhere. 120 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:12,520 Silence. 121 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,760 I mean, you've ever been so terrified that you can't even scream? 122 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:17,320 You can't even make a noise? 123 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,800 I mean, this only happened to me a couple of times, normally in relation to like one 124 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:22,140 of my children. 125 00:07:22,140 --> 00:07:28,080 If something bad happens to them, like I remember one time Judah was in a swaddle, rolled off 126 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:32,120 our counter in our bathroom, which is like, you know, it's a counter, it's about this 127 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:33,120 high. 128 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:38,320 And he's in a swaddle, he's a baby, he's like maybe six months old, rolls off smack 129 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,920 on our tile floor. 130 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,480 And I was on crutches, I just had knee surgery and I thought, our baby's dead. 131 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:46,480 And I was so terrified. 132 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:48,800 I mean, he immediately started wailing and screaming. 133 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:50,920 I was so terrified, I couldn't even make a sound. 134 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,640 I couldn't even call for Anna because I was just that overwhelmed. 135 00:07:54,640 --> 00:08:00,160 And so that's how the Bible uses silence in relation to God. 136 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:06,320 When people behold the judgment of God, there is complete and utter silence. 137 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:10,800 It's a silence of horror and awe. 138 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:12,640 And it makes sense for there to be silence here, right? 139 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,080 Like if you're thinking back, I know it's been a while since we've studied the six 140 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:21,360 seals, but if you think back, especially to the six seal, and you see all that stuff happening 141 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:26,560 again, right, where you see the sun darkening, you see the stars are falling, people are 142 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:31,800 begging mountains to fall and then they're hiding from the lamp, you look at all of that 143 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:33,520 and that was just number six. 144 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:35,360 And things have just gotten worse. 145 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,280 And then you see seven being opened. 146 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,560 Aren't you going to be in stunned silence as well? 147 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:48,960 You're just standing there in absolute awe and horror of God's judgment upon the wicked. 148 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:54,560 And so that explains the silence, but then there's question number two. 149 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:57,520 Why 30 minutes? 150 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,400 Why half an hour? 151 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:05,600 Anybody have any suggestions? 152 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:17,920 Well, normally in Scripture an hour usually refers to a climactic event, right? 153 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,800 So who wrote the book of Revelation? 154 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:26,360 John, yes, you all kind of mouth it and then weirdly you all said it at the same time after 155 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:28,240 you mouth it, so that was interesting. 156 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:30,640 But okay, John wrote Revelation. 157 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,400 John also wrote the Gospel of John. 158 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:38,720 And interestingly enough, throughout the Gospel of John, one of the key phrases is, my hour. 159 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,640 Jesus always says, my hour, my hour, my hour. 160 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,440 So think back to the wedding at Canaan. 161 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:50,200 Jesus says first miracle where he turned water into Welch's grape juice, Baptist. 162 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:52,920 He turned water into wine, right? 163 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,760 And so do you remember what Jesus said to his mother there? 164 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:01,600 They run out of wine at this wedding and she says, hey, you've got to do something. 165 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:06,320 And he says, woman, my hour has not yet come. 166 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:07,400 That's right. 167 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:09,680 And he says this through out, the book of John. 168 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:11,040 You can trace it throughout. 169 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:16,400 And normally he's referring to this climactic event, which is the full revelation of his 170 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:22,560 glory, especially as seen as dying on the cross for our sins. 171 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:25,800 And so an hour represents a climactic event. 172 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:31,680 Well we have another climactic event here, something that creation has been heading towards 173 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:33,680 ever since the fall. 174 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:40,760 Ever since mankind rebelled against God in the garden, mankind has been on this destination 175 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:46,720 aiming towards something, this final climactic event, which is going to be the final judgment. 176 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:51,000 When God will judge all of humanity. 177 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,120 He said he was going to do it in the garden though, right? 178 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:55,040 Day this fruit, you're going to die. 179 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:01,360 And as mercy and as grace, he did not allow them to die then, but he appointed a day for 180 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,440 judgment and that is where we have been on this trajectory course heading towards this 181 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:06,440 event. 182 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:08,080 We finally are here. 183 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,520 The hour has come, it's the climax of God's judgment. 184 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:19,920 It's so horrifying, so awe inspiring that people stand there in silence waiting for the 185 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,760 climax to come. 186 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:23,920 And here's the interesting thing. 187 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:30,840 There's this literary thing happening here where we reach the climax and you're expecting 188 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,560 it to be like, okay, here we go, final judgment time. 189 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:34,560 God's coming back. 190 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:35,880 You know, Jesus is coming back. 191 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,040 God's going to judge everybody. 192 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,720 Here we go, but we just get a little taste of it. 193 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,480 A little 30 minute taste of it. 194 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,440 We're just standing there in silence. 195 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,240 It's not the full payoff. 196 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,440 Anybody know why we don't get the full payoff here? 197 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:57,240 Why do we just get a taste of this climax and not the fullness of it? 198 00:11:57,240 --> 00:11:58,240 Couldn't stand it? 199 00:11:58,240 --> 00:11:59,240 Okay. 200 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:05,880 Anybody else? 201 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:12,000 It's because later this silence is going to be broken, but not yet. 202 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:13,440 We're hanging in anticipation. 203 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:19,920 It's a great literary storytelling device and what the Bible is going to do now is revert 204 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:21,480 time. 205 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:22,800 So we notice this. 206 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:24,120 We've been working towards this, right? 207 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,200 We've been in the six seals leading towards the seventh seal. 208 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:28,640 We know this means the end. 209 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:30,240 We know this means the final judgment. 210 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,560 We finally reach there. 211 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:33,560 You're in it. 212 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:34,560 You're 30 minutes in it. 213 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:39,560 And then the Bible takes a step back and goes back in time because notice what verse two 214 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:48,080 says, then I saw the seven angels who stand before God and seven trumpets were given to 215 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:49,080 them. 216 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,280 So here's what we've just done. 217 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:57,400 We've gone back in time and now we're starting all over again because you remember we're 218 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:02,480 moving away now from the seals and we're going to begin to discuss the trumpets. 219 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:04,520 So let's remember something that we talked about earlier. 220 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:11,480 We said that there's this idea that these three things, the seals, the trumpets and 221 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:17,320 the bowls, there's this idea that a lot of people have that these occur chronologically, 222 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:18,320 just one after the other. 223 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:25,400 So you have seals, then you have trumpets, and then you have the bowls, right? 224 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:32,080 And all of this leads to the FJ because I ran out of room, the final judgment. 225 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:38,000 So this is the most popular belief and people believe this primarily because as you read 226 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,520 in a book, you read them in this order. 227 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:46,160 But just because you read them in an order doesn't mean they happen necessarily chronologically. 228 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,040 So there's this belief that this is what's going on. 229 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:55,400 But we have discussed in an earlier lesson how this is impossible because the trumpets 230 00:13:55,400 --> 00:14:00,000 will start talking about things like stuff happening with the sun and the moon, but 231 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,080 you look back at the sixth seal and you're like, hold on a second, I thought the sun 232 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,720 fell already and the stars had already fallen. 233 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:07,400 How are they back in place now? 234 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:09,360 It doesn't make sense if it's chronological. 235 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:11,640 It only makes sense in a different way. 236 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:13,560 Do you remember how we said you need to view this? 237 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:21,360 Not as chronological, but as something else. 238 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:28,600 The same event, so the seals, the trumpets and the bowls are recounting. 239 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:34,840 They're describing God's judgments throughout human history that are ultimately leading 240 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,240 to the final judgment. 241 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:45,320 And they are all describing the same thing, but with different perspectives and emphases. 242 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:46,840 It's a really cool literary device. 243 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:50,440 So I actually, I really like it when movies and books do this. 244 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:56,280 I saw a movie not too long ago where you're following one storyline the whole time and 245 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:58,200 it's working towards a climax. 246 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,160 Because every single story does. 247 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,560 And it finally gets to the climax and you're like, oh man, it's going down. 248 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:04,560 This is it. 249 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,680 And right at the height of the action, the screen cuts to black. 250 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,720 And it says 15 minutes earlier. 251 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:15,320 And you go back in time, 15 minutes. 252 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,760 But this time, you're following a different character. 253 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:23,160 And it's the same event that happens, but now you're just seeing it from a different 254 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:24,160 character's perspective. 255 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,360 And it works back towards that climax. 256 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,600 You're like, okay, we're definitely going to get it now. 257 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:30,480 We've saw character one, now we've seen character two. 258 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:31,640 Going to get it now. 259 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:32,880 Screen cuts to black. 260 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,000 15 minutes earlier. 261 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:39,240 And we do the same thing again, but from a different person's point of view, which is 262 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:40,720 exactly what this is doing. 263 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:43,280 It's also one of my favorite songs. 264 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,960 It might be my favorite song ever. 265 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:47,200 It does a really good job of this. 266 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:49,840 It's called Ocean by John Butler Trio. 267 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,080 Really obscure band no one's ever heard of. 268 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:53,080 There's no singing. 269 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:54,080 There's no words. 270 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:55,080 It's just a guy and a guitar. 271 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:59,320 And what he does the whole time is in the beginning, he like establishes these things 272 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:00,960 that are going to be in the song. 273 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,600 And it builds and builds and builds. 274 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:04,840 And it gets to this tension. 275 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:06,520 Amazon knows this as a musician. 276 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:10,760 It gets to this tension and you're just begging, resolve it, resolve it, resolve it. 277 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,600 It has to be resolved. 278 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:13,600 And he doesn't. 279 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,040 Instead, he goes back and he starts another thing. 280 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,040 And he's working up and working up and working up. 281 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:19,920 He's just like, okay, here's the tension. 282 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:20,920 Here's the tension. 283 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:21,920 We've reached it. 284 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:22,920 Resolve it. 285 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:23,920 Do it. 286 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:24,920 And he does it. 287 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:25,920 And you're begging. 288 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,000 Let's reach that resolution. 289 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,520 Let's reach it. 290 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:30,520 And he finally does. 291 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:32,960 And when he does, you're like, that was beautiful. 292 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,560 But the whole composition, it wasn't three different compositions. 293 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:41,840 It was like three different themes, part of one composition that was leading towards the 294 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,080 ultimate resolution. 295 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:45,080 That's what this is doing. 296 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:53,040 So like rather than viewing them like this in terms of arrows that are happening chronologically, 297 00:16:53,040 --> 00:17:04,600 what we need to do instead is view these as like three events that all work together to 298 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:13,520 lead us to an ultimate resolution, the ultimate climax, which is the final judgment. 299 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,280 That's how the seals and the trumpets and the bowls need to be read and understood. 300 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:19,960 That's how they work together. 301 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:24,400 Three things all describing human history and they're all leading us. 302 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:29,000 They're all pointing us to the final judgment that's going to occur. 303 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,640 That is the climax that we're headed towards. 304 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,280 So here's what's going to happen now. 305 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:40,320 Look at verses three through five. 306 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:46,120 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censor. 307 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:51,320 And he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden 308 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,480 altar before the throne. 309 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,760 And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand 310 00:17:58,760 --> 00:17:59,760 of the angel. 311 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:04,640 And the angel took the censor and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the 312 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:05,640 earth. 313 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:12,600 And there were pills of thunder and rumblings and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. 314 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:13,600 So what's happening here? 315 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,880 He's recalling Old Testament imagery, right? 316 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:23,040 In the Old Testament you'll remember that the people they would offer up sacrifices to 317 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:29,720 the Lord and the aroma of that burning sacrifice was said to go up to God and he would breathe 318 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,920 it in and it was pleasing to him. 319 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:39,440 And it wasn't in any sort of like weird sense like, oh God enjoys the smell of dead flesh. 320 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:40,840 That's not it at all. 321 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:45,200 But it's in the sense that this was a command that he had given his people and when they 322 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:52,040 followed through with that command with this heartfelt obedience, it was pleasing to God. 323 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,160 That when the people came and they didn't just see this as something that they had to 324 00:18:55,160 --> 00:19:02,480 do but they joyfully submitted to God in obedience, it was a pleasing sacrifice to him. 325 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,120 And what's interesting is Paul picks up on that in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 326 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:13,640 chapter 2 verses 14 through 15, this is what he says, but thanks be to God who in Christ 327 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:21,000 always leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge 328 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:22,760 of him everywhere. 329 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:32,320 So listen to this, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved 330 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:34,240 among those who are perishing. 331 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:35,400 That's such a cool image. 332 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,920 You know what you smell like to God? 333 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:39,920 Jesus. 334 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:46,720 Those who are covered by his blood, who have been redeemed by the Lord, you don't smell 335 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,560 like a stinky no good failure that you are. 336 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:52,600 You smell like Christ. 337 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:53,600 It's pleasing. 338 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:58,600 It's this idea that we are to be living sacrifices for the Lord that our whole lives are to be 339 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,640 laid down before him in obedience and submission to him. 340 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:07,720 And so that's the idea that's going on here, but with relation to our prayers. 341 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:09,000 You have to understand what's going on. 342 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,600 The people are suffering. 343 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:13,800 People are being persecuted. 344 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,600 People are facing wickedness and evil in this world and God's people are crying out. 345 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:20,680 They're begging God to do something. 346 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:21,880 I mean you've probably been there before. 347 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:23,880 You said, God where are you? 348 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:25,640 When are you going to do something? 349 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:31,160 And people think God's just sitting there idly ignoring his people and the Bible says 350 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:38,760 here that all those prayers come up to God and it's a pleasing aroma to him. 351 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:43,320 They come to the altar of the Lord and he hears the prayers and the good news for us 352 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,600 is he doesn't just hear those prayers. 353 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,480 He actually acts upon those prayers. 354 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:51,240 Notice what's happening here. 355 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:57,520 He instructs the angel to take the censer to fill it with fire and from the altar and 356 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:07,520 he throws it on the earth and the result is that there are pills of thunder. 357 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:15,120 There are rumblings, flashes of lightning and earthquake and all of these are things 358 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:23,040 that are going to happen and be described by the seven trumpets that are going to sound. 359 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,720 When the seven trumpets sound we're going to see these things take place. 360 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:28,480 So don't miss what's happening here. 361 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:35,040 The resounding judgments of the seven trumpets are God's direct answer to the prayers of 362 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:36,200 his people. 363 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:41,680 He has heard their crying and their begging and now he acts in accordance with his plan 364 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:42,800 on their behalf. 365 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:48,920 So you might be wondering as we pause there and we'll get into the seven trumpets more 366 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:54,040 next week but you might be wondering what does that have to do with me? 367 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,040 What bearing does that have on our life? 368 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:00,280 Like we read about the silence in heaven the thirty minutes. 369 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:06,520 We see how these things go together but what bearing does that have on our lives now? 370 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:12,920 Well, I think one obvious one that we need to take away from this is that God always 371 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,720 hears and takes notice of the prayers of his people. 372 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:22,240 I mean you'll know why we have a prayer service on Wednesdays. 373 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,960 It's not because there's anything in the Bible that says have a prayer service on Wednesdays. 374 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,120 There's nothing in the Baptist faith in message two thousand that says you have to have a prayer 375 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:32,000 service on Wednesdays. 376 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:37,800 The reason we have a prayer service on Wednesdays, the reason that I pray every single day of 377 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:43,320 my life, the reason that we are praying big prayers this year and asking God for things 378 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:50,080 that are way beyond us is because God hears the prayers of his people. 379 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:55,040 When we meet here, whether there's ten of us, whether there's fifty of us, when we meet 380 00:22:55,040 --> 00:23:00,440 here and we pray as God's people, he hears those prayers. 381 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,480 He is not ignoring those prayers. 382 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:04,760 He is not aloof from us. 383 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:11,160 He hears and takes notice of all of our prayers and the reason we continue to go to him time 384 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:18,920 and time and time again is because he doesn't just hear those prayers, he actually does 385 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,160 something about it. 386 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:26,680 Prayer works and it amazes me how many people today call themselves Christians but they 387 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,360 don't actually pray. 388 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:29,960 It makes no sense. 389 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,800 It's like being a human who says he doesn't breathe. 390 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:34,560 You're dead. 391 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:40,000 How can you have a spiritual life in a relationship with God apart from prayer? 392 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,920 I mean it amazes me. 393 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:47,760 I shared this not too long ago that you go to any church and nobody wants to be part of 394 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:53,920 a church that doesn't pray but very few people actually want to come to a prayer service. 395 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:58,360 If I were to announce on Sunday morning, no more prayer. 396 00:23:58,360 --> 00:23:59,560 We're not praying in this church. 397 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:00,560 It's not a part of who we are. 398 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:01,560 It's not who we want to be. 399 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,040 People would walk out and leave, rightly said. 400 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,920 But if I invite someone, hey, we pray every single Wednesday, every request that's made 401 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,120 we pray for, every concern you have we will pray for you. 402 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:14,320 We'll lay hands on you if you want us to. 403 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,640 We will do whatever we are going to pray and ask our God to intervene. 404 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:23,720 To invite someone to come to that service, how many show up? 405 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:25,720 Why do you think that is? 406 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,800 Because they don't think God actually listens to them. 407 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:35,080 They don't think God actually does something. 408 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:39,520 So many people are like I said before where they've just been praying and praying and 409 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:46,520 praying for so long and they have this request and they're begging God, do this thing and 410 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:48,480 God doesn't do it. 411 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:49,480 And so what do people do? 412 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:51,480 They give up on God, don't they? 413 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,960 Turn their back on them and say well he must not be good, he must not be listening. 414 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:55,960 Where are you? 415 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:56,960 I needed you. 416 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:04,680 And this passage is reminding us that no matter what we go through, no matter how long we 417 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:14,000 have to pray, God is listening and he is collecting those prayers in that censor at the golden 418 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:19,840 altar and they are a pleasing aroma to him and he will act upon those prayers. 419 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,440 That's not saying he's going to answer every prayer you pray. 420 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,040 Sometimes the answer is no. 421 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:29,280 And listen, if the answer is no, it needs to be no. 422 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,680 That's hard for people to come to terms with but God knows best, right? 423 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,880 Like are we willing to admit at this point that God knows better than we do? 424 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:36,880 Amen. 425 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,480 If the answer is no, it needed to be no. 426 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:42,320 So you're not going to get everything you ask for. 427 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,400 That's not how God works, he's not a genie. 428 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,200 But that doesn't mean that he's not listening. 429 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,200 It doesn't mean that he doesn't care. 430 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:55,880 It's Bible is telling us here that you can trust that when you go to the Father in the 431 00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:01,760 name of the Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit, he will listen to you. 432 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,960 So don't stop praying. 433 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,720 Don't be afraid to pray big prayers because again, something I really want to reinforce 434 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:10,080 to our church this year. 435 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:15,920 We pray big prayers because nothing is impossible for our God. 436 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,320 All things are possible with him. 437 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:24,280 Last thing I want you to take away from this and I hope that this is a comfort to you is 438 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:30,480 that God will judge the wicked and the wicked will not go unpunished. 439 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:35,440 And that's comforting because we look around our world and what do we see but wickedness 440 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:36,440 everywhere. 441 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:45,520 I mean, just the worst stories you could ever read of people doing the most despicable things 442 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,400 right here that could ever be done. 443 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:53,840 I mean, we're literally waiting on a list to be published right now of all the people 444 00:26:53,840 --> 00:27:00,720 who visited Jeffrey Epstein's Island where they were molesting young children and on 445 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:08,280 this list, politicians, leaders, kings, princes, celebrities, people that we have entrusted 446 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:13,920 our lives to, that we are entrusting our country to, to make decisions. 447 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:20,760 And they are doing these acts of evil and wickedness and they're getting away with it. 448 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,080 That should rub us the wrong way, Christians. 449 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,120 When you see evil being done, when you see wicked prospering, when you see the righteous 450 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:31,720 suffer, we're not supposed to just sit back and go, well, I guess that's just the way 451 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,880 the world is. 452 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:39,860 You look forward to the day when this will be no more. 453 00:27:39,860 --> 00:27:44,720 This may be the way the world is now but it's not the way God designed the world to be. 454 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,680 We messed it up with our sin. 455 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:53,640 You wouldn't have ever had an Epstein Island had Adam and Eve never rebelled against God. 456 00:27:53,640 --> 00:28:01,800 This is our fault, not God's fault, but he is good and he promises that one day he is 457 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:06,840 going to open that seventh seal, that seventh trumpet is going to be blown, that seventh 458 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:12,440 bowl is going to be poured out and when that happens, he is going to answer all of his 459 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:13,440 saints prayers. 460 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:17,280 He is going to literally throw the prayers and the fire back on the earth. 461 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:18,560 He is coming back. 462 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:25,400 He is going to judge the wicked and the judge of all the earth will do right. 463 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:26,960 That's right, we can count on it. 464 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:32,360 Not one evil deed will go unpunished. 465 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:38,760 There's nothing wrong with Christians warning that to happen. 466 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:43,200 You look at the Psalms, you see imprecatory prayers all over the place, don't you? 467 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:48,520 You see the Psalmists praying God's destruction upon evil. 468 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:50,880 Christians have stopped praying this way. 469 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:53,320 They think, well that's harsh. 470 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:54,320 We're in the new covenant now. 471 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:56,600 It's all about love and grace and mercy. 472 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,400 No, it's all about God's will and God's kingdom. 473 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,080 That's what it's about. 474 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:06,320 And when we pray those imprecatory prayers and we say, God, judge the wicked. 475 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,560 God let them befall the consequences that are coming to them. 476 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,800 When we pray like that, what we're praying is nothing other than what Jesus prayed when 477 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:17,200 he said, your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. 478 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,520 Do these things exist in heaven? 479 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:24,280 Do evil and wickedness, murder, molestation and rape and all that kind of thing, does 480 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:26,000 that exist in heaven? 481 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:27,000 Absolutely not. 482 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:32,400 When we pray those prayers, we are saying, God make it be here as it is there. 483 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:37,480 Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 484 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,360 So take hope in that Christian. 485 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,800 This passage should encourage us to pray and it should encourage us to pray for God's 486 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:48,720 will to be done, for this world to be rid of evil and wickedness and it should cause 487 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:50,320 us to hope. 488 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:55,480 Hope in that day when Jesus will return and he will make all things right. 489 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,520 And the best part about that day is, while everything else is suffering the wrath of 490 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:03,640 God, we will be with the Lamb. 491 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,080 And we will have comfort and peace. 492 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:11,800 And we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. 493 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,680 And that's a good day to look forward to. 494 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:44,200 Christian crews, how about giving us a word of wisdom to close out the service?