The Trumpets of Revelation and the Seal of God

Summary

This midweek service, held during the quarantine to a near-empty hall and online viewers, continued a careful walk through the Book of Revelation, covering chapters 8 through 10. It opened with a brief word on the sacrifice of praise from Hebrews 13:15, reminding believers that we honor God not only with the fruit of our lips but with generous deeds that meet the needs of others.

The heart of the message traced the seven trumpets. After the seventh seal brought half an hour of silence in heaven, an angel mingled the prayers of the saints with incense and cast fire on the earth, showing that nothing on earth moves apart from the prayers of God's people. The first four trumpets struck a third of the trees, the sea, the rivers (the star called Wormwood), and the lights of heaven, judgments escalating from a quarter under the seals to a third under the trumpets. The fifth released tormenting locusts for five months, sparing only those marked with the seal of God, which led to a long teaching on what that seal is: a mark of ownership, authenticity, and protection given by the Holy Spirit.

The sixth trumpet loosed an army of two hundred million that killed a third of mankind, yet the survivors still refused to repent. In chapter 10 a mighty angel announced that time would run out, and that at the last trumpet the mystery of God, the resurrection and the catching up of the church, would be fulfilled. John was told to eat the scroll, sweet as honey yet bitter within, a picture of how we must take the Word deep inside, live by it, and stay ready for the Lord's sudden return.

Key Points

• Praise and generous giving are a true sacrifice that meets others' needs and produces thanksgiving to God (Hebrews 13:15).
• The prayers of the saints rise like incense before the throne, and nothing on earth moves apart from them.
• God's judgments intensify, from a quarter under the seals to a third under the trumpets, giving the lost every reason to repent.
• The seal of the Holy Spirit marks us as God's own and shields us; guard it and do not let the enemy tear it away.
• Even under terrifying judgment many hearts stay hard, so today, while there is still time, is the moment to repent.
• At the last trumpet the dead in Christ will rise and the living will be caught up, so live ready and watchful.
• Take the Word inside like food: sweet to receive, costly to obey, but a fire in the bones that compels us to share it.