Sermon Leftovers - Revelation 8 - Sounds and Plagues

The last few days I've been sharing some of the notes and observations that we didn't have time to include or cover during Sunday's sermon on Revelation 8. Monday we discussed the silence of Revelation 8:1 (click here to read about the silence) and Tuesday we discussed the many sounds with a specific focus on the trumpets of the rest of Revelation 8 (click here to read about the trumpets). Today we are discussing the sounds throughout Revelation 8:4-9 and associated biblical references. Tomorrow we will wrap up sermon leftovers with quotes and notes on sounds in 8:10, 8:12, and 8:13. 

In Revelation 8 we've got many sounds (besides trumpets). here is the brief recap of sounds (apart from the trumpets):

1. Prayers (8:4)
2. Thunder (8:5)
3. Rumblings (8:5)
4. Lightning (8:5)
5. Earthquake (8:5)
6. Hail (8:7)
7. Fire (8:7)
8. Flaming mountain hits the sea (8:8)
9. Destroyed ships (8:9)
10. A star crashing into waters (8:10)
11. The sounds of darkness (8:12)
12. Voice of an eagle (8:13)

Let's look together at some biblical references for each of these sounds. Some of these references will be within the book of Revelation itself, and some from many other books of the Bible. 

1. Prayers (8:4)

The last time the word for "pray" or "prayer" occurs in Revelation is in 8:4. Prior to 8:4 prayer is mentioned in 8:3 and 5:8. Conceptually prayer is referenced in 6:9-11 as the martyrs cry out for justice. The prayers of God's people move the story of Revelation forward both in it's elements and instances of worship (chapter 5), and elements of judgment (chapter 6 and 8). All the crashing judgements of the seven angels with seven trumpets hinge upon the response of the one on the throne to the prayers of the martyrs (8:2-5). I'm going to quote Alistar Begg in his little book "Brave" here as we consider the prayers of God's people as pivotal in Revelation: 

 

"Speaking for a moment specifically about the American context, isn't there something wrong with us as a church that we have expended such effort on the absence of prayer in our state-run public schools while being unprepared to acknowledge the absence of prayer in our local churches or to increase our own commitment to praying? It's almost like a smokescreen. If I can make a fuss about the lack of prayer over there, then maybe I can forget about the lack of prayer in my own life or in my own church". 

The encouraging thing about prayer in Revelation 8 is that of course God answers his people's prayers. That's what moves the story of Revelation forward. What a joy we throw away and what a comfort we ignore when we "get busy" with all of the "important" ministry work that is divorced from prayer! 

2. Thunder, Rumblings, Lightning (8:5)

All three of these sounds can be grouped due to conceptual and linguistic overlaps. Thunder frequently occurs throughout the book of Revelation (10 times!). In the Old Testament Thunder is specifically mentioned 15 times (although there are many more allusions to Thunder. The way how Ancient Hebrew speaks of thunder is without a distinct word. The word for "noise" or "sound" is used in association with lightning) in the NIV English Bible. Seven of those occurrences are in Exodus and five of those seven are in Exodus 9. While there may be other particular references to Thunder that are appropriate to think on, certainly Exodus 9 as the dominant "thunder" chapter is one text we should be thinking of in relationship to the thunder of Revelation 8. What was going on in Exodus 9 with the Thunder? It was the seventh plague to come upon Pharoah as a result of his continued enslavement of ancient Israel. God sent Moses with this message to Pharoah in Exodus 9:18:

Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.

The result of this plague was devastating as detailed in Exodus 9:22-24:

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on people and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” 23 When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; 24 hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

We should have the judgement of God upon Egypt in our minds as we consider the thunder mentioned in Revelation 8. What occurred to Egypt due to their rejection of God's ways and his people, is what occurred to the same generation which rejected God's ways and his son; judgment. 

3. Earthquake (8:5) 

For this reference I'm going to cite Easton’s Bible Dictionary:

Earthquake—mentioned among the extraordinary phenomena of Palestine (Ps. 18:7; comp. Hab. 3:6; Nah. 1:5; Isa. 5:25). The first earthquake in Palestine of which we have any record happened in the reign of Ahab (1 Kings 19:11, 12). Another took place in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah (Zech. 14:5). The most memorable earthquake taking place in New Testament times happened at the crucifixion of our Lord (Matt. 27:54). An earthquake at Philippi shook the prison in which Paul and Silas were imprisoned (Act 16:26). It is used figuratively as a token of the presence of the Lord (Judg. 5:4; 2 Sam. 22:8; Ps. 77:18; 97:4; 104:32).

From these references we can note that the earthquakes were often signals of divine judgement, presence, and activity. The prophets (both major and minor) particularly speak of the earthquake as a sign of God's divine wrath or judgement (see Isaiah 29:6, Ezekiel 38:19, Zechariah 14:5). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to keep in mind as we read Revelation 8:5 that this earthquake is the Lord's divine wrath in action. The words of the prophet's warning of the days when God's wrath would come should ring in our ears as we read Revelation 8:5 - this is it! This passage is at the very least some fulfillment of the ancient covenant curses against oath breakers coming to pass. 

4. Hail and Fire (8:7)

There is more overlap between this imagery and the plagues of Egypt. As was mentioned above under point 2, the seventh plague to come against Egypt was that of a tremendous hailstorm. In Revelation 8 the hail is mixed with blood and fire from the altar. We might wonder where the blood comes from as a reference, and we need not look far. After all it was the blood of the slain martyrs of Jesus which was closest in proximity in John's vision to the altar (6:10). 

The fire comes directly from the altar. A point which I couldn't fit into Sunday's sermon (but is key moving forward and I'll try to fit into future sermons on Revelation) was the command to use altar fire in connection with God's judgment on cities which had abandoned God. David Chilton in his commentary "Days of Vengeance" writes well on this topic (Emphasis added):

The irony of this passage becomes obvious when we keep in mind that it is a prophecy against apostate Israel. In the worship of the Old Testament, the fire on the altar of burnt offering originated in heaven, coming down upon the altar when the Tabernacle and the Temple were made ready (Lev. 9:24; 2 Chron. 7:1). This fire, started by God, was kept burning by the priests, and was carried from place to place so that it could be used to start other holy fires (Lev. 16:12-13; cf. Num. 16:46-50; Gen. 22:6). Now, when God’s people were commanded to destroy an apostate city, Moses further ordered : “You shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God” (Deut. 13:16; Jud. 20:40; cf. Gen. 19:28). The only acceptable way to burn a city as a whole burnt sacrifice was with God’s fire –fire from the altar. Thus, when a city was to be destroyed, the priest would take fire from God’s altar and use it to ignite the heap of booty which served as kindling, so offering up the entire city as a sacrifice. It is this practice of putting a  city “under the ban,” so that nothing survives the conflagration (Deut. 13:12-18), that the Book of Revelation uses to describe God’s judgment against Jerusalem. 

Sodom and Gomorrah may also be a conceptual reference here as well with the Lord raining down destruction upon two evil cities (Genesis 19). There is no word for hail, fire, or blood in Genesis 19, so there isn't a specific word-for-word association here, but conceptually there is certainly overlap in the origin of judgment (God's just decision) and in something of the mode of judgement (destruction from above). The distinction to be made here of course is that Genesis 19 makes very clear that the destruction which was wrecked upon Sodom and Gomorrah was from the skies, the destruction and judgment spoken of in Revelation 8:7 seems to be in prophetic and more poetic form rather than narrative form. Although as soon as I say that there are disclaimers to be said since Revelation's vision is told in the form of a narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Bottom line, Sodom and Gomorrah may be a point of reference, but the plagues in Egypt and the destruction of rebellious cities against God in Deuteronomy and Judges are more likely closer points of reference. 

5. A flaming mountain hits the sea (8:8) and Destroyed ships (8:9)

This may be a reference to Jeremiah 51:25, but there is not a strong consensus on this point among scholars. I think the key to this reference is both understanding the use of solid/rock like imagery in the Old Testament prophets and the concept of the sea. The sea in much of Old and New Testament is a place of great disturbance and danger. Regarding solid/rock like imagery in the prophets, it is a huge theme in Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2:24-45). The thing which destroys the statue made of many materials is a rock "cut out of a mountain" (Dan 2:45) coming down is a kingdom set up by the God of heaven. Regarding the sea and ships, consider for a moment in the Old Testament how the waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 15), and the Jordan (Joshua 1) were dangerous and had miraculous crossings. The waters of the Mediterranean were a place of rebellion, chaos, and judgment for the stubborn and headstrong prophet Jonah (Jonah 1:4-2:10). In the New Testament it was on the open waters that Jesus calmed the storm from a boat (Matthew 8:23-27) and also walked on the waters (Matthew 14:22–33). There is a possible interpretation of Revelation 8 here where the judgment which originates in God's throne room comes to disrupt the chaotic world below. This certainly gives a spiritual "back drop" or "behind the scenes" view of the Jewish wars of 66-70 A.D. and why the Roman's were allowed to besiege Jerusalem, wreck a holocaust on the inhabitants, and utterly destroy the temple. 

Tomorrow we will wrap up our sermon leftovers from Sunday with some notes and quotes on the last few verses and sounds from Revelation 8. As I said Sunday, there is a LOT in Revelation 8!