BOOK OF REVELATION
Lesson 18 - Chapters 7 and 8
Last week we ended Revelation 7 with a discussion about who the people Heaven dressed in
white robes were; that is the question asked of John by one of the Heavenly elders. John
answered saying effectively that he didn't know, but that obviously the elder who asked him the
question did. The elder responded with what we read in Revelation 7:14. In the CJB it reads:
"These are the people who have come out of the Great Persecution" (capital G Great and
capital P Persecution making it the name of an event). Various other English Bible translations
treat this verse slightly differently. The KJV says the people came out of great tribulation (not
THE great tribulation). The NAB says the people survived the time of great distress. The NAS
says they came out of the great tribulation (little g great and little t tribulation meaning it is not
the name of an event). Each one of these somewhat different interpretations reflects a
doctrinal belief held by the translator. While 3 of these translations are similar notice how the
NAB goes so far as to say that these people dressed in the white robes did not die during this
great tribulation but rather were survivors. I must stress, however, that this interpretation is an
outlier, doesn't agree with the original Greek, and I haven't found it elsewhere.
We also looked at what the early Church Fathers thought about the identity of these people
and particularly focused on Primasius of the mid 500's A.D. at least partly because he leaned
heavily on the Revelation commentary of Ticonius, written in the mid 300's A.D., for his
conclusions. And the bottom line was that these people were a conglomerate of Believers who
died at some point during a time when human evil was running amok on a scale that the world
has never before experienced. That is, while some of the Believers died as martyrs for their
faith, others died for various other causes such as disease or age. They included people of
weak and strong faith, and even people who had fallen away but because of the tremendous
persecutions and the generally hopeless condition of society came back to Christ. I agree with
Primasius because the statement made to John by the elder in Heaven is too broad to attach
any specificity to it. Certainly those academics and laymen who have a strongly developed End
Times doctrine (such as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine created by Darby in the early
1800's) read their point of view into those vague words. I suggest that it is best that we take the
wide view that Primasius and Ticonius adopted more than 1500 years ago.
The last words of Revelation 7:14 that concludes the identity of those dressed in the white
robes is that they have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb. If
we were take this fully literally, then we'd have to scratch our heads because if we dipped a
garment into a vat of blood it would come out anything but white! Some commentators take this
statement to indicate martyrdom; however it is not the blood of the Believer who is being
credited with making his robe white but rather the blood of Christ. So essentially the term
"blood of the Lamb" is an expression that refers to Yeshua's death on the cross as the means
of atonement and purification for all God worshippers.
Let's conclude chapter 7 by reading verses 15 - 17.
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RE-READ REVELATION 7:15 - end
Concerning those in white robes, the few words to begin verse 15 are telling: "That is why they
are before God's throne." Those dressed in white robes are before God's throne in Heaven for
2 reasons: first, they died and so their souls are in Heaven. Second, they have been purified
through Christ's sacrifice. So the distinction being made about this particular group of Believers
is that they died during a period of tremendous tribulation on earth. However the distinction is
only about the timing of their arrival in Heaven; not the way they merit being allowed into
Heaven . All Believers will arrive in Heaven upon our death and stand before God's throne
whether we die in a time of peace or tribulation, and whether after living a full life span or
experiencing an early death by any means.
Notice something interesting here that we should not merely dismiss as figures of speech. The
next words of verse 15 are: "Day and night they serve Him in His Temple". Certainly since the
scene is in Heaven there are no such things as day or night, and there's nothing like a physical
Temple. Rather this is meant to draw us towards remembering how important are the earthly
Temple, its Levite Priests, and the daily rituals that occurred there. However they are but
physical shadows of a spiritual, heavenly ideal and reality. I guarantee you that while this flies
over the heads of most gentile Christians of nearly every era, the mental picture of the
Jerusalem Temple and its operation were the first thing to enter John's mind, and to enter the
minds of the Jewish Yeshua followers in John's time, who read and heard about John's visions.
For example, we've previously discussed how clearly the 24 Elders surrounding God's thrones
were Levite Priests who had become Believers. Even the description of God and His throne
were directly tied to the High Priest's breastplate and to the 12 tribes of Israel and to Yeshua's
own tribe: Judah. And even the constant terminology about what we're witnessing going on in
Heaven that speaks of a Temple, altars, golden bowls, and musical instruments is meant to
remind us of the crucial duties performed in the Jerusalem Temple on behalf of God's people.
Back in verse 9 we saw how a huge crowd of Believers of every race, language and nation
were waving palm branches; and this is a central feature of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).
And now when we get a literal translation of the final words of Revelation 7:15 we read this in
the Young's Literal Translation Bible:
YLT
Revelation 7:15 because of this are they before the throne of God, and they do
service to Him day and night in His sanctuary, and He who is sitting upon the throne
shall tabernacle over them;
Whereas the CJB has taken great liberties with the text in order to say "And the One who sits
on the throne will put his Shekinah upon them", that is a poor translation that pulls us away
from an intended connection. The Greek word that is in question is skenoo; it decidedly does
not mean Shekinah. Rather it means to have one's tabernacle or to dwell in one's tabernacle.
So here the matter of the tabernacle surfaces again and links back to verse 9 that speaks of
the palm branches that are so central to the Feast of Tabernacles ritual. And indeed, the
sukkah, the tabernacle that we are instructed to build and live in during the week long Feast of
Tabernacles celebration requires having palm branches in its construction, and is symbolic of
God's supernatural protection (of this Jews have always agreed as far back into antiquity as we
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can find). And so now this symbolic protection on earth becomes a permanent reality in
Heaven for Believers. We will live in God's sukkah...God's tabernacle....with Him, forever
protected for an eternity.
Let's take this thought about the Feast of Tabernacles being represented in John's vision one
step further. Verse 16 is an allusion to Isaiah 49:10. That verse reads:
CJB
Isaiah 49:10
10
They will be neither hungry nor thirsty; neither scorching wind nor
sun will strike them; for he who has mercy on them will lead them and guide them to
springs of water.
While Revelation 7:16 is not a direct quote of Isaiah 49:10 it is close. But as I've taught you in
earlier lessons, we must never get so focused on the Scripture verse that is quoted or alluded
to in the New Testament that we lose track of the Old Testament context in which that verse is
found. That is, remember that in Old and New Testament times there were no such things as
chapters and verses; this organization of Scripture for study would not be invented for many
centuries later. So when a Jewish writer of John's era and earlier wanted to bring to mind a
specific section of Scripture, he would either quote it or allude to it using only a few words of it;
sufficient enough for the reader or hearer to identify what portion of Scripture he was being
guided to. So let's go to the larger section of Scripture that John's vision is alluding to. But first
understand that among Jewish Sages and scholars it is agreed that what we are about to read
is one of Isaiah's several prophecies about the End Times and especially as it involves Israel.
CJB
Isaiah 49:1-10
1
Coastlands, listen to me; listen, you peoples far away: ADONAI called
me from the womb; before I was born, he had spoken my name.
2
He has made my
mouth like a sharp sword while hiding me in the shadow of his hand; he has made me
like a sharpened arrow while concealing me in his quiver.
3
He said to me, "You are my servant, Isra'el, through whom I will show my glory."
4
But I
said, "I have toiled in vain, spent my strength for nothing, futility." Yet my cause is with
ADONAI, my reward is with my God.
5
So now ADONAI says- he formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Ya'akov
back to him, to have Isra'el gathered to him, so that I will be honored in the sight of
ADONAI, my God having become my strength-
6
he has said, "It is not enough that you
are merely my servant to raise up the tribes of Ya'akov and restore the offspring of
Isra'el. I will also make you a light to the nations, so my salvation can spread to the ends
of the earth."
7
Here is what ADONAI, the Redeemer of Isra'el, his Holy One, says to the one despised,
whom the nations detest, to the servant of tyrants: "When kings see you, they will stand
up; princes too will prostrate themselves, because of ADONAI, who is faithful, the Holy
One of Isra'el, who has chosen you."
8
Here is what ADONAI says: "At the time when I choose, I will answer you; on the day of
salvation, I will help you. I have preserved you, and I have appointed you to be the
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covenant for a people, to restore the land and distribute again its ruined inheritances to
their owners,
9
to say to the prisoners, 'Come out!' to those in darkness, 'Show
yourselves!' They will feed along the paths, and all the high hills will be their pastures.
10
They will be neither hungry nor thirsty; neither scorching wind nor sun will strike
them; for he who has mercy on them will lead them and guide them to springs of water.
The issues of living water and ending thirst directly connect to salvation and to the Feast of
Tabernacles. Ah; but the connections to the earthly Temple and the Feast of Tabernacles don't
end there because in Revelation 7:17, we read that the Lamb will lead them to springs of living
water. Now listen to what Christ, the Lamb, said when He was attending Sukkot at the
Jerusalem Temple; apparently His final Sukkot before His death.
CJB
John 7:37-38
37
Now on the last day of the festival, Hoshana Rabbah, Yeshua stood
and cried out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drinking!
38
Whoever
puts his trust in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his
inmost being!"
I am convinced that what we are witnessing in at least the last half of Revelation chapter 7 is
the fulfillment, in Heaven, of the prophetic Feast of Tabernacles.
Let's move on Revelation chapter 8.
READ REVELATION CHAPTER 8 all
The first 6 seals of the scroll were opened in Revelation chapter 6. Then we had an interlude in
chapter 7. And now with chapter 8 the opening of the 7 seals on the scroll resumes. Assuming
that what we have been reading is approximately chronological in order (and understanding
that some events could have been happening in parallel), then here is how I interpret it.
Sometime between the opening of the 4th and the 6th seals, the Rapture of Believers occurs. I
cannot see the events of the first 4 seals as anything but human evil occurring on earth on an
unprecedented scale (this is my definition of tribulation as it is used in the Bible). Egged on by
Satan, but mostly because of mankind's own unrestrained evil inclinations, we have injustice,
civil chaos, and wars around the world that also bring on famine and pestilence. But none of
these things can be legitimately categorized as God's wrath. The opening of the 5th seal only
deals with God's wrath in a peripheral way; that is, God promises the martyred souls abiding
under the Heavenly altar that He will avenge their unjust murder; just not yet. This vengeance
will be not human evil perpetrated on the murderers, but rather it be the result of God's wrath
and then at the final judgment their ultimate destruction.
The 6th seal of Revelation chapter 6 speaks of a great earthquake, the moon turning blood red
and the sun growing dark, with stars falling from Heaven and other celestial phenomena that is
not only frightening to all humanity but also devastating to planet Earth. This is the beginning of
God's wrath. And if we go by the Biblical principle that we've seen since early in Genesis, then
it is not imaginable that the Lord would pour out this wrath upon those who are innocent in His
sight (Believers) along with those who are guilty in His sight (non-Believers). Therefore the
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Rapture of Believers must have occurred not later than the opening of the 6th seal.
I realize that most very influential Bible academics would disagree with me and I humbly
accept that. Might I be wrong? Yes. That said, obviously since I am teaching you otherwise, I
am convinced in my conscience that my rough timeline more faithfully follows Revelation as it
is written as well as basing some of my interpretation on difficult passages in the context of
God's never changing patterns; God-patterns that we learn about only from the Torah and the
remainder of the Old Testament.
So the Rapture of Believers occurs (possibly fulfilling Yom Teruah, the biblical Feast of
Trumpets), then Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is fulfilled in some way that is not yet
entirely clear (it may have something to do with the opening of the 5th seal that is neither
directly inciting tribulation nor raining down wrath ), and then Sukkot, the Feast of
Tabernacles, appears to be fulfilled in chapter 7.
To begin the next happening in sequence, the 7th seal is opened with the result of an ominous
silence in Heaven for a half hour. Silence in Heaven seems to mean that the constant praising
of God and the Lamb temporarily cease, because prior to this the mention of sounds in Heaven
had to do with the 24 Elders playing their golden harps, and all creatures great and small
singing their allegiance to, and adoration of, God and the Lamb. The only other sounds were of
the 4 living beings ordering the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse to "Go!" and instigate chaos
and havoc on earth. Biblically, God's wrath is usually initiated with some kind of sound from
Heaven such as thunder; and this too is absent. So what we have is sudden inactivity on
multiple levels in Heaven; it is the silence before the storm. I think the American expression I
would liken this to is waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Saying the silence was for half an hour probably means a short time, as well as something that
is unexpected. This is not speaking about Earth time; that is, half an hour is not a
measurement of time, rather it is an expression. An hour in the Bible usually means the time is
near or it has come time for something to occur. So half of that means that what is about to
happen is super-imminent and it is going to be filled with surprise. During this short time of
silence in Heaven 7 angels who stand before God are armed with what most texts call
"trumpets"; indeed that is the correct English translation of the Greek salpigx. It is said in
Messianic Judaism and in other non-mainstream quarters that this cannot be trumpets but
rather this is speaking of shofars.......Ram's horns. A case could be made either way. Metal
trumpets were used by the Levites for ritual ceremony at the Temple. However when going to
battle, it was not trumpets but rather shofars that were used. Since the angels are about to
engage in spiritual warfare and behave as God's agents in carrying out His punishment of the
Earth, then it is more likely than not that this is speaking of shofars and not trumpets. However
for the sake of not making things confusing, since the common way of speaking about these 21
judgments of Revelation is as 7 seal, 7 trumpet, and 7 bowl judgments we'll do the same. Just
know that likely the "trumpets" were actually "shofars".
Who are these 7 angels who stand before God? The Bible doesn't help us out very much.
About the only named angel who stands before God is Gabriel. We read of him in the Gospels
in Luke.
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CJB
Luke 1:19
19
"I am Gavri'el," the angel answered him, "and I stand in the presence of
God. I was sent to speak to you, to give you this good news
It is well attested from the most ancient times in Jewish literature that there were 7 special
angels assigned to stand in God's presence. I don't want you to put too much stock in this, and
I'm not agreeing that what the Israelites believed about these 7 special angels is truth. Yet I
also can't say that it is not. At the least it is worth knowing about. Just be aware that the Jews
developed a great deal of traditions about what we call Angelology and Demonology, and
Christianity has adopted a great deal of it even though very little of it is expressly biblical. So
here we go. Jewish tradition is that these 7 angels served God and their names more or less
describe their duties or areas of authority. Uriel means "fire of God". Raphael means "God has
healed". Raguel is "friend of God". Michael is "who is like God?" Sariel means "prince of God".
Gabriel means "God is my strength". And Remiel means "thunder of God". If the Jewish Sages
don't have this correct, then I really have nothing to add because we simply aren't given any
more information about these 7 angels, and nothing is said of them in the Holy Scriptures.
Each of these angels was given a trumpet (likely a shofar) that they would use to herald a
specific woe. Then an 8th angel showed up and he stood at the altar of incense. At the earthly
Temple there were 2 altars: the Altar of Burnt Offering where sacrifices were made, and the
Altar of Incense where incense was burned to send up a sweet aroma for God to savor. The
smoke from the Altar of Burnt Offering went up to Heaven for God to know that His commands
were being met regarding atonement for sins as well as for Thanksgiving offerings, vow
offerings, First Fruits offerings, and Free Will offerings. But the smoke from the incense altar
was said to carry the prayers of His people. So this 8th angel was given a golden incense bowl
as he stood at the Heavenly Altar of Incense, and he was provided with a large quantity of
incense in order to multiply the prayers of the people, or perhaps to enhance their effect. The
image here is of God Himself assuring that the prayers would be divinely accepted and acted
upon. However, if the Rapture has already occurred and there's no Believers (or awfully few)
left on Earth, where are the prayers coming from? It could be prayers that were made and
more or less stored up before Believers were raptured away. Or it could also be prayers from
the souls of the martyrs who earlier in verse 9 are said to be dwelling "under the altar". And
their prayers...their pleadings....to God were for Him to punish those who murdered them. I
mentioned earlier that the Lord asked them to wait a little while longer; perhaps that wait is up.
And now, from that same altar, the prayers from those under it are supplemented by this
powerful 8th angel who not only agrees with them but will be the agent for carrying out God's
justice upon these martyrs' murderers. That justice begins with God's wrath being poured on
the Earth's unbelieving inhabitants.
In somewhat of a reversal, the bowl that was full of holy incense that was meant to give the
prayers of the people under the altar even more holiness, would now be used to throw down
destruction upon Earth. The angel is said to have taken fire from the altar and filled the bowl
with it. Here it is just not clear if this is speaking about fire from a different altar (the Altar of
Burnt Offering in Heaven) or the same one (the Incense Altar). Some say it must be the same
altar because it is not reasonable to think that there would be animal sacrifices in Heaven.
Others say it has to be two separate altars because the mention of fire from the altar is only
used to speak of the Altar of Burnt Offering in other places in the Bible. I think it's more likely
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that is speaking of the same altar because the Incense Altar had fire on it, and since this entire
matter involves an incense bowl along with prayers it would make sense that incense fire
would be used and not fire from an altar made for animal sacrifice. Either way, upon doing this,
the sounds from Heaven resume after the half hour of complete silence.
Peels of thunder, voices, lightening, and an earthquake are said to be the result from the
incense bowl filled with holy fire being poured out on earth. Peels of thunder and voices (along
with flashes of lightening) as well as smoke remind us of Mt. Sinai.
CJB
Exodus 20:15-16
15
All the people experienced the thunder, the lightning, the sound
of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled.
Standing at a distance,
16
they said to Moshe, "You, speak with us; and we will listen.
But don't let God speak with us, or we will die."
No doubt all the people on earth will also tremble from the sounds coming from the sky and be
very afraid. So at this point in Revelation the 7 seals of the Heavenly scroll have been opened,
and the 7 so-called seal judgments have occurred. Now the 7 trumpet (or shofar) judgments
begin. The first of the 7 angels of the presence blows his shofar, and hail and fire mingled with
blood are thrown down upon the earth. This is patterned after the plague of fire and hail that
God sent upon Egypt.
CJB
Exodus 9:22-25
22
ADONAI said to Moshe, "Reach out your hand toward the sky, so
that there will be hail in all the land of Egypt, falling on people, animals and everything
growing in the field, throughout the land of Egypt."
23
Moshe reached out with his staff
toward the sky, and ADONAI sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth.
ADONAI caused it to hail on the land of Egypt-
24
it hailed, and fire flashed up with the
hail; it was terrible, worse than any hailstorm in all of Egypt since it became a nation.
25
Throughout all the land of Egypt, the hail struck everything in the field, people and
animals; and the hail struck every plant growing in the field and broke every tree there.
The result of the Egyptian judgment was localized only to the land of Egypt; but in Revelation
one-third of the entire land mass of our planet is burned up from hail that, uncharacteristically,
bursts into flame upon hitting the ground. One-third of all the trees in the world are burned up
and all green grass that grows everywhere in one form or another is also destroyed. Notice
that this judgment, or woe, targets the dry land. And also notice that as terrible as the final 2
seal judgments are, the trumpet judgments are worse. And as we eventually get to the bowl
judgments, they will be the most horrific of all. Why might God keep increasing the awful
effects of the judgments? Just as long ago in Egypt, very likely it was to try to drive even the
most stubborn into submission to Him. Unlike in Egypt, however, God's hope is that this
submission will lead to salvation so that even though those who finally submit will have to go
through the Hell on Earth caused by God's wrath, they won't have to live in Hell for an eternity.
It is inevitable that many of the survivors will believe and beg for mercy from God at some point
within these catastrophic judgments. Many people will no longer be able to deny that all was
prophesied thousands of years earlier and now is happening just as written. And yet many
more will so harden themselves (as did Pharaoh) that despite their suffering and afflictions they
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would rather curse God for their troubles than seek Him for forgiveness and mercy.
The second trumpet is sounded and the sea (the salt water) is afflicted with judgment. What
looked like a blazing mountain was hurled into the sea with the results that one-third of the
earth's seas turned to blood, and so the corresponding sea life of those immediate waters died
out, and a third of the ships operating nearby were destroyed. This is like the plague of blood
that God sent upon Egypt that turned all the waters into a blood-colored, undrinkable mess. It
killed the fish that the Egyptians relied on and caused a huge stench! Does this vision mean to
imply literal blood, or more that the water turns blood-red? Very likely the latter, again like the
Nile River plague. It is fascinating to me that the Pre-Tribulation Dispensationalist adherents
and a few other of the various End Times doctrine Believers think that the mountain that is
blazing that causes the catastrophes of the world's oceans is only symbolic and not literal.
Rather they take the term "mountain" to mean "government". Therefore according to them this
is about God judging the world economic system called Babylon, and the subsequent sea life
death is symbolic of famine. The loss of the ships is symbolic of world commerce collapsing.
The reason that this symbolic interpretation is favored is because symbolism and allegory are
the basis for their interpretation of Revelation in general. Such a method allows for End Times
timelines to be arranged in such a way as to make them workable and their doctrines plausible.
I certainly acknowledge that there is an element of symbolism in Revelation, as there is in
many Bible books. But that hardly leads towards assuming that every bit of information in the
book must be symbolic and not literal. I don't know what this blazing mountain might be for
sure (it could be an enormous volcano, or perhaps a large meteor. The meteor possibility is
something that is so worrisome that we have an entire government organization within NASA
dedicated to watching the solar system to detect any substantial hunk of space rock that might
collide catastrophically with Earth...something they say is inevitable). But if we're going to take
every instance of a mountain in the Bible to mean a government, then I suppose Mt. Sinai is
also symbolic of a government and isn't literal either. I don't think what we are reading about
the disasters of God's judgments are symbolic; they are literal even if the vision doesn't give us
the kind of specifics or terms in use in the 21st century. Rather these are the best descriptions
using the vocabularies and word illustrations available to those who lived in these ancient
cultures.
Then the third angel blew his shofar and the fresh water of the earth was assaulted. One-third
of the earth's rivers and springs and lakes were affected when something like a blazing star fell
into them. This, again, sounds like a meteor but of course could be something else entirely.
The blazing star is given the name Bitterness according to the CJB or Wormwood according to
most other English translations. The Greek word is apsinthos and it means wormwood or that
which turns something bitter. The idea is, of course, that the fresh water becomes so
contaminated that it is unusable. Jeremiah says:
CJB
Jeremiah 23:15
15
Therefore, this is what ADONAI-Tzva'ot says concerning the
prophets: "I will feed them bitter wormwood and make them drink poisonous water,
While this Jeremiah passage might not be prophetic of the same event, it explains why the
word wormwood was used in John's vision in order to describe the poisoning of a major portion
of the earth's fresh water. Wormwood (and its effect) is a term that Jews were quite familiar
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with. One has to assume that this judgment (and probably the first 2 trumpet judgments)
involves one particular large region of the earth as opposed to all regions of the earth
somehow each having about one-third of their own fresh water ruined. Again, those doctrinal
Believers who refuse to take Revelation mostly literally say that stars are at times symbolic of
angels, so this mention of a blazing star must be the judgment of a certain angel who
represents sinful people. I think this takes symbolism too far and rather that whatever it is that
has come from the sky and polluted the fresh water, is quite real and the fresh water supply, so
necessary for life, really has been affected. And, as one can imagine, water would become so
scarce for some of our world population that they would try to drink it anyway; or even perhaps
try some risky means of purification with the result, says verse 11, that many people die from it.
We'll move on in chapter 8 next week and then get well into chapter 9.

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