Transcript

So, let's go ahead as always and begin with a word of prayer, as we worship the most blessed Trinity always with the sign of our faith.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Amen.

And we pray, come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle within us the fire of thy love.

Oh, Father, please send forth your spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Let us pray.

Oh, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant by that same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in your consolation through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Okay, so here we are with lesson three of our seminar entitled Unveiling the Mystery: A Catholic Study of the Book of Revelation.

We're coming off of lesson two, where we focused primarily on the opening of the six seals of that scroll that we looked at in the Book of Revelation, particularly Revelation chapter five.

We saw how the scroll signified the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom, the scroll being opened by the Davidic Messiah, Jesus Christ Himself.

We pick up tonight with Revelation chapter seven, and we're gonna-- we're gonna go through Revelation chapter 12.

And I've entitled this lesson The Restored Israel, The Seven Trumpets, and The Woman.

So, just by way of overview of what we're gonna be looking at tonight, the first major theme that we'll look at is in Revelation chapter seven, and that is the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel.

There are various details in Revelation chapter seven that signifies the culmination of salvation history and the fulfillment of the Messianic hope, namely the restoration of God's people, the restoration of the 12 tribes of Israel being reunited in and through the church established by Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we're gonna look at Revelation chapter eight very briefly, and we're gonna look at some of the liturgical details, liturgical details that we've already looked at in a prerequisite way in previous sessions, but we're gonna see where those liturgical details fit in this particular lesson, primarily in Revelation chapter eight.

And then immediately following the liturgical images, we come to the theme of judgment, particularly the judgment on Jerusalem, which remember and recall, uh, the major thesis or the major, uh, I guess you could say that, the major thesis of this study of the Book of Revelation is that this is a vision that John is receiving in prophetical form prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in '70 AD, that John is prophesying about Jerusalem's destruction.

And we've been emphasizing that point over and over again, seeing all of the various clues and details throughout chapters one through six so far that point in that direction and support such an interpretation of the Book of Revelation.

We're gonna see that even further tonight as we look at Revelation chapters eight through nine, where we encounter the blowing of the seven trumpets.

When the seventh seal of the scroll is opened, there is the blowing of seven trumpets.

So, you have seven seals on the scroll.

Six seals have been opened.

We looked at those so far.

When the seventh seal is opened, you hear the blowing of seven trumpets, and various things happen and take place with each of those trumpets being blown.

And when we look at the details associated with the blowing of those seven trumpets, when read in light of the Old Testament, we see that it's pointing toward the destruction of Jerusalem.

Okay?

And then in Revelation chapter 11, we're gonna spend some time on the explicit prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem.

When it talks about that great city will be destroyed and trampled upon for, uh, 42 months, three and a half years by a Gentile nation, that great city where our Lord was crucified.

We're gonna look at that in Revelation 11.

And then finally, we're gonna conclude with Revelation chapter 12, where St. John has a vision of the great woman clothed with the sun, a crown of stars upon her head, and the moon underneath her feet.

And we're gonna look at the various details about that woman and read it in light, once again, of the Old Testament, and hopefully we'll be able to shed some light on that particular vision of St. John.

Amen?

Amen.

Okay, so let's dive right in with Revelation chapter 7. Um, the major theme that we're going to explicate here is the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel.

Now, there are basically three clues in this chapter that signify the restoration of Israel, thus fulfilling the Messianic hope and all of the prophecies of old within Israel's history.

Okay?

Now, our first clue is the famous 144,000.

In Revelation 7:4, we read, And I heard the number of the se- of the sealed, 144,000 sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.

Then John goes on to describe 12,000 from this tribe, 12,000 from that tribe, 12,000 from this tribe, and goes throughout all the 12 tribes showing there's 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes.

So, you have this number of 144,000.

The question is, how does this detail serve to be a clue for the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel?

Well, we have to begin establishing the Old Testament background, or the Old Testament backdrop against which we read or encounter this vision.

And I'd like to begin with the divided kingdom and the exile period of salvation history.

Recall that David's kingdom, um, split and went into schism in 930 B.C.

when 10 of the 12 tribes rebelled against King Rehoboam, grandson of David, son of Solomon, grandson of David.

10 of the 12 tribes led by a man named Jeroboam rebelled against King Rehoboam and they established their own kingdom known as the Northern Kingdom of Israel, or Ephraim.

Okay?

The House of Israel within the scripture, that's what it refers to.

The Northern Kingdom, the northern tribes, okay?

And then you would have the remaining two tribes, the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, constituting the Southern Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Judah because that was the region, that was the major re- that was the major tribe, and then also, uh, Judea.

They lived in Judea from which we get the term Jews, right?

So the Southern Israelites are referred to as the Jews, the Judeans, those of the tribe of Judah, et cetera, okay?

Now, in 722 B.C.

those Northern Israelites of the Northern Kingdom were taken into exile by the Assyrian Empire, and they would be dispersed to foreign nations.

And then in 587 B.C.

the same thing would happen to the Southern Kingdom due to idolatry and infidelity to the covenant with Yahweh.

And those Southern Israelites would be taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar and dispersed into foreign nations.

Now, in a- around 538 B.C., those it- Southern Israelites who were exiled into Babylon would eventually return back to Jerusalem through the edict of King Cyrus who let them go.

And they come back to Jerusalem, rebuild the city, rebuild the temple.

But guess what?

Those Northern Israelites of the Northern Kingdom who were exiled in the Assyrian exile did not return.

Why?

Because they were intermingled.

They intermingled with gentile blood and pagan foreign nations.

So within the history of Israel you have this period of grief and sorrow where the kingdom, the great mighty Kingdom of David was divided and eventually destroyed.

This is why the Prophet Isaiah would describe David's kingdom in Isaiah 11:1 as the Stump of Jesse.

It had been cut off, but yet remember, what does he prophesy?

A shoot or a, a, a, a, a branch shall sprout out of that stump, right?

And that would and the Spirit of the Lord would be upon him.

And that references the Messiah coming from the House of David, you see?

And so the prophets foretold of a time when God would reunite all the 12 tribes of Israel.

When God's people who have been scattered across the nations would be reconstituted, reunited under the Davidic Messiah, the Messianic King.

And here's one particular text where we find this, this consolation of the prophecies of reuniting the 12 tribes of Israel.

Check out Isl- Isaiah 11:11-13.

Now remember, Isaiah 11:1 is where he talks about the Stump of Jesse and the branch shooting forth, right?

Now, in Isai- Isaiah 11:11-13 we read the following, quote, And that day In what day?

The day when the son of David will come, the Meshiach, the Anointed One, right?

The Messiah.

In that day, the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people.

From where?

From Assyria.

So that refers to those Northern Israelites that were exiled, right?

And will assemble the outcast of Israel and gather the dispersed of-

Judah.

Judah, which is the Southern Kingdom.

And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant which is left of his people as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Close quote.

Note the imagery of coming up from the land of Egypt.

What do we refer to that event as?

The Exodus, right?

So Isaiah is prophesying about a new exodus that will occur when God's people will be set free from foreign oppression and their enemies, or and be led on a new way.

The Way, which is what the early Christians referred to Christianity as The Way because they understood it to be a new exodus, you see?

So this is the prophetical tradition, the hope of the reunification and the reconstitution of God's people, the Kingdom of Israel.

Amen?

Now, it's against that backdrop that we come to John's vision of the 144,000.

Why is that number significant?

Because that signifies God's people have been reconstituted in and through the apostles, the church.

Why?

Because 144,000 is 12 times 12 times 1000.

12 referring to the 12 tribes of Israel, the other 12 referring to the 12 apostles.

This is why Jesus chooses 12 men, because it is a visible witness that He is intentionally reconstituting God's people around Himself.

And that's the church that He established, right?

The Christian community.

And then the number 1000 signifies completion and perfection.

So the idea is, is that the 12 tribes of Israel, God's people, the Kingdom of Israel are reunited, reconstituted in and through the apostles.

So that's our interpretive application.

The church is the reconstitution of the Israel of God in the messianic age, in the new covenant.

The Christian church established by Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah 11:11-13 .

now, one may ask, Well, wait a minute, Carlo.

Well, how are those northern Israelites reconstituted and reunited?

Because those northern Israelites intermingled with Gentile blood.

The southern Israelites came back and they retained their lineage, but what about the northern Israelites?

Well, my dear friends, this is why Jesus tells the 12 apostles in Matthew 28:19, Go out into all nations.

Make disciples, baptizing them, teaching them.

Right?

You see, in order to bring in the dispersed Israelites who have been lost, the lost sheep of the house of Israel Remember Jesus talks about that in Matthew 15:24?

In order to bring those guys in and to reunite God's people, you have to bring in the Gentiles.

So in order to get the lost sheep of the house of Israel, you bring in the Gentiles, and this is exactly what Jesus commands the apostles to do, and it is exactly what the apostles do in obedience to Jesus's command.

And bringing in the Gentiles, that's you and me, folks, right?

Praised be Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God.

Okay, so that's our first clue for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel here in Revelation 7. I think this is what John is getting at in this vision.

The second clue for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel is that this vision in Revelation 7 actually parallels the Isaiahian vision of the restoration of the 12 tribes of Israel, as found in Isaiah 49.

Isaiah talks about God restoring his people on various occasions, but in chapter 49, he speaks of it again, and that prophecy parallels this vision of John in Revelation 7, right?

So let's look at some of the parallels.

First, we already stated that the 144,000 signifies the restoration of the 12 tribes, right?

Well, we read in Isaiah 49:6, It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel.

So notice, what do we have here?

Present in both visions, in both prophecies, the theme of restoration of God's people.

Amen?

Now, let's move on.

In Revelation 7:9-12, we read about how the nations, the Gentiles, the foreigners are saved.

In Isaiah 49:6, which remember, is the prophecy about the restoration of God's people, we read this.

I will give you as a light to the nations.

To whom is God speaking here?

The Israel of God, the Israelites.

And God is telling Israel, I will give you as a light to the Gentiles that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

So, in John's rev- in John's vision of Revelation 7, you have Gentiles being saved, right?

Because in Revelation 7, if you, if you take note, right after John sees the 144,000 he has another vision.

And guess what?

It's a multitude of people from all tribes, of all tongues, of all nations, right?

So he has a vision of all of the Gentiles present there in the presence of God.

Well, Isaiah says the same thing in Isaiah 49, that the Gentiles will be saved.

Third parallel.

In Revelation 7:16 we read, They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore.

Well, Isaiah says the same thing in Isaiah 49:10, They shall not hunger or thirst.

Direct parallel.

Fourthly, in Revelation 7:16, The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, is what we read.

In Isaiah 49:10, Neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them.

You think this is accident, by accident that John is saying all of these Or writing all of these words and images paralleling Is- No, folks, this is intentional.

Fifth parallel, Revelation 7:17.

He shall guide them to springs of living water.

Isaiah 49:10, By springs of water, the Lord will guide them.

Okay.

And then finally, in Revelation 7:17, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, is what we read.

In Isaiah 49:13, For the Lord has comforted his people.

So the bottom line is, in light of all of these parallels between John's vision in Revelation 7, Isaiah's vision of the restoration of Israel, what do we conclude about John's vision?

It's about the restoration of Israel.

John is seeing, from a heavenly perspective, that in and through the church we have the fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied about in Isaiah 49.

So what did we conclude from this?

As St. Paul says in Galatians 6:16, The church established by Jesus Christ is the Israel of God.

You see, my dear friends, the church, the Christian community, those who surround themselves around Jesus, are indeed the Israel of God in the new covenant.

It is The church is indeed the people of God in the new covenant, so we are indeed the new Israel, which is the flowering of the seed of the Israel avo, which came from the Jews, right?

The ethnic Jews.

But it has been extended to all nations, and that is the church of Jesus Christ.

Okay.

Clue number three for the restoration of Israel, and that is the imagery of the lamb as the shepherd leading God's people to living water, which is an interesting image because normally it's the lamb that's being led by a shepherd, right?

But in Revelation 7:17 we read this.

For the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water.

Now, obviously we know who the lamb is.

That's Jesus.

But this imagery of shepherding, or the shepherd leading the flock of God to living waters, is actually found in Ezekiel's prophecy about the restoration of God's people.

Okay?

So we read in Ezekiel 34:11-13, verse 18, and verse 23.

Here we go.

I have it there on the PowerPoint for you.

Quote, For thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep.'And will seek them out.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered.

Think of the exile, right?

Northern exile, a Syrian exile, Babylonian exile.

Okay?

Picking up the quote, God says, And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them into their own land.

Myself will be the shepherd of my sheep and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God, and I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant, David.

And he shall feed them.

He shall feed them and be their shepherd.

Close quote.

So here we have Ezekiel prophesying about how God will eventually lead a new exodus, bring his people out from captivity in foreign lands back to their land, and God will shepherd them.

But then God gives us a little bit of a, a, a revelation here where God will shepherd them through his servant, David.

Now obviously that's not David himself because David's dead, right?

So this is referring to a son of David.

And so it's against this backdrop that we come to John's vision in the Book of Revelation, and the lamb is said to be the shepherd, right?

Leading God's people to springs of living water.

And who is the lamb?

Well, John will also tell us later that this lamb, Jesus, is the root of David.

You see?

And so Jesus is that son of David that God shepherds His people through.

But I wouldn't even We, we, we don't even have to say God's shepherding his people through Jesus.

Why?

Because Jesus is God, you see?

You see, the prophecy said God said, I will shepherd my people, and Jesus is revealed to be the good shepherd.

Didn't Jesus say that in John 10:10, I believe it was?

Um, uh, well, actually in John 10:10 he says, I have come that they may have life.

But in that chapter, Jesus Christ says, I am the good shepherd.

When the Old Testament God is the one who is said to shepherd through the son of David.

But Jesus is son of David, but he's also as well God made flesh.

You see?

So those two images converge and come together in and through Jesus Christ.

So, this vision of St. John in Revelation 7 is all about the fulfillment of the Messianic hope of God's people as found in the prophetical literature of Israel.

And it all comes to a culmination in and through Jesus in the church that he established upon the foundation of the 12 Apostles.

You see?

And so we can see how we as Catholic Christians, and as Christians in the mystical body of Christ, how we are a part of salvation history.

We have a role to play.

As being members of the church, we fit in this divine drama of salvation.

Isaiah was thinking about Carlo Broussard way, way, way back when.

Isaiah was thinking about Teddy way, way, way back in when, when j- when he was prophesying.

Or I should say, God was thinking about you and Isaiah was speaking it .

Okay.

Let's shift gears to our second major theme, or our second component of tonight's reflection, and that is the heavenly liturgy unveiled with the opening of the seventh seal in Revelation 8. So here we come to that seventh seal that's opened, and what do we see?

We see once again liturgical images.

We have four clues for this heavenly liturgy.

Number one, in Revelation 8:1, St. John talks about how there was a half hour of silence.

Now, that's interesting.

Every Jew would know that for the temple liturgy when the Levitical priest Remember Zechariah?

Remember Zechariah goes into the holy place to offer incense?

When the Levitical priest would go into the holy place of the temple to offer incense at the altar of incense, they would minister there for half an hour.

So for John to speak of a half hour of silence signifies that he once again is in the heavenly sanctuary, okay?

Where there is, there is taking place this liturgical worship.

Now, in a few moments we'll come back to the silence part and see what the silence signifies, but that's in regard to the judgment part, okay?

All right, second clue for liturgical imagery, the seven angels.

In Revelation 8:2, St. John writes about seven angels.

Now, this imagery of the seven angels actually calls to mind the Angel Raphael, or Raphael, from the Book of Tobit.

In Tobit 12:15, Raphael explains that he is, quote, One of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of God.

Now, what's interesting about this text is that the Book of Tobit is one of those seven books that we have in our Catholic Bibles that non-Catholic Christians do not have in their Bibles.

And what's interesting is that this is the only place in the Old Testament, the only place in Jewish literature where it mentions seven angels.

Okay?

With Outside of the Book of Tobit, you do not find the idea of seven angels ministering in the presence of God, but here in the Book of Tobit you do.

And so what's fascinating is that St. John in this vision talks about seven angels, right?

In the presence of God, as if he knows the tradition as found in Tobit 12:15, of the seven angels ministering in the presence of God.

Which is an indication to us that St. John would have used the Book of Tobit, would have been using the Book of Tobit as the inspired word of God .

and as scripture because he's familiar with it, making the parallel between the seven angels, you see?

Now, the liturgical, uh, emphasis is that just as these seven angels are in the presence of God, ministering, that calls to mind liturgy because, uh, it's the heavenly sanctuary.

And so John 2 sees those seven same angels, Raphael being one of them, ministering in the presence of God in the heavenly sanctuary.

So, this is liturgical imagery here.

Third clue, the angel offering incense and offering the prayers of the saints in Revelation 8:3-4.

If you recall, in Revelation 5, remember we looked at the prayers of the presbyters offering bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints?

And we concluded that the prayers of the saints refers to the Christians on Earth.

So, the prayers of the Christians on Earth are being lifted before the throne of the Lamb through the 24 presbyters in heaven, thus the intercession of the saints, right?

Heavenly beings Heavenly human beings in heaven praying for Christians on Earth.

Well, here in Revelation 8, we have the angels praying for the Christians on Earth.

The angels are doing the very same thing that the presbyters were doing in Revelation 5, offering up bowls of incense, which are what?

The prayers of the saints, that is the Christians on Earth, the Hagiou, the holy ones, right?

Now, for angels to be offering up incense in the heavenly sanctuary, as you may recall from last week, calls to mind the ministry of the priest in the sanctuary of the temple offering incense.

So, the angels are actually performing a priestly duty in this heavenly sanctuary that John is getting a tour of.

And finally, the fourth liturgical detail is the seven trumpets.

And remember what I said, with the opening of the seventh seal you have the blowing of the seven trumpets, where the seven trumpets in and of themselves, the blowing of trumpets is a liturgical detail.

Why?

Because in the Old Testament, trumpets were liturgical instruments that were played like harps.

Trumpets were also liturgical instruments that were played by the Levitical priests as found in 1 Chronicles 15:24, as well as Nehemiah 12:41.

We find that priests are the ones who play the trumpets because they are liturgical instruments.

So, we have four liturgical details here in Revelation 8. Now, what comes next?

What comes next is the blowing of those seven trumpets and all of the various details that come with the blowing of those seven trumpets.

Now, if you recall on last week's session, in Revelation 5, right, we saw Revelation 4-5, we saw all of the various liturgical details.

Because once that door Remember the door that Jesus was knocking on?

Once that door was open, what did John see?

A heavenly liturgy.

And after that heavenly liturgy, then we make a transition into judgment and the theme of judgment.

Because in the opening of all of the six seals, it's all about the four horsemen and various details that suggest judgment being brought upon the Earth, particularly the city of Jerusalem.

So, note that pattern.

Liturgy, then judgment.

Well, here we come to Revelation 8. What do we find?

A heavenly liturgical scene.

What follows?

Judgment.

And the judgment theme or motif is found in each of the blowing of the seven trumpets, and this covers Revelation 8-9.

So, let's start looking at the clues in the blowing of the seven trumpets that signify or suggest judgment, and in particular, as we're going to suggest, judgment on Jerusalem.

Thus, once again, underlining, reemphasizing that John's vision is a prophecy of the destruction on Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Okay?

Amen?

Amen.

Okay, come on, guys, you gotta do better than that.

Amen?

Amen!

Now, let me know you're awake.

Okay, here we go.

I have five clues in the blowing of the seven trumpets that suggest judgment and judgment on Jerusalem.

Our first clue is the imagery of fire coming down from heaven on the Earth, all right?

And we find this in Revelation 8:5, 7-8, and 10.

In Revelation 8:5, you read about the angel throwing a burning censer, a censer with burning coals, and the angel casts the censer down to the Earth.

In Revelation 8:7, you have the blowing of the first trumpet where you have hail and fire being cast down to the Earth.

And in the second trumpet is blown in Revelation 8:8, and you have a mountain that's on fire.

And guess where the mountain is heading?

To Earth.

And then in Revelation 8:10, when the third trumpet is blown, you have a star that's on fire, which doesn't make much sense because a star is fire, right?

Okay?

But you have a star that's on fire, and where is it heading?

To Earth.

So, you have all of these details in Revelation 8:5-10 of fire coming down from heaven being cast to the Earth.

How does this serve to be a clue that judgment is fixing to be wrought on Jerusalem?

Well, there are three Old Testament backdrops, three Old Testament texts, you might say, against which we come to this vision and sheds light upon this vision.

Our first Old Testament background is that it calls to mind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

In Genesis 19:24 we read, Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

Right?

So, when you're, uh, taking When you're reading about John's vision, when you're in this vision with John and you're reading or encountering this imagery of fire coming down from heaven on the Earth, you're gonna immediately think of Sodom and Gomorrah .

fire and brimstone, right?

Okay?

Um, just as a side note, you know there are many people I once had a lady, uh, come up to me after I'd invited people After a mass, I invited people to come to the seminar, and she comes up to me and she says, uh, A- are you gonna scare us?

Are you gonna be preaching fire and brimstone?

And I said, Listen, sister.

I literally, I said, Listen, I preach what Jesus preaches.

Amen?

Amen.

So when Jesus preaches fire and brimstone, I'm preaching fire and brimstone.

When Jesus is preaching kindness and repentance, I'm preaching kindness and repentance, okay?

But the idea is that when people say that, apparently they haven't read the Book of Revelation, right?

Some folks will say, Well all that fire and brimstone stuff, that's for God of the Old Testament, right?

The God of the New Testament is, you know, the loving God, et cetera.

Well, folks, listen.

The Book of Revela- The Old Testament ain't hardly nothing in comparison to the Book of Revelation, okay?

But let's get back to the text.

So here we go.

We're in John's vision, we see fire coming down from heaven on the earth, calls to mind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

What's the interpretive application?

The interpretive application is that this great city that John is writing about and referring to is going to be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, okay?

So the imagery of fire coming from heaven to the earth signifies judgment.

Now, we know that this great city is Jerusalem, we've already said that several times because in Revelation 11:8, Saint John says, This great city that's about to be destroyed is where our Lord was crucified.

And in that text of Revelation 11:8, Saint John actually refers to that great city as allegorically called Sodom, you see?

That great city is allegorically called Sodom, so it makes perfect sense why he would see this great city being destroyed with the imagery of fire coming down from heaven on the earth, just like Sodom was destroyed in Genesis chapter 19.

The second Old Testament background to this imagery of fire coming down from heaven on the earth, and that is Ezekiel's vision of God's judgment on Jerusalem that took place in 587 B.C., and that was wrought by the Babylonian Empire.

Remember, we spoke of how those southern Israelites in the southern kingdom of Judah were ransacked by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire in 587 B.C.

and taken into exile, right?

Well, when Ezekiel gives a prophecy about that destruction, Ezekiel prophesies about that destruction with the imagery of fire coming down from heaven, cast on the earth.

Here we go.

Here's what we read.

Uh, Ezekiel 9:8 combined with Ezekiel 10:2.

And while they were smiting and I was left alone, I fell upon my face and cried, 'Ah, Lord God, wilt thou destroy all that remains of Israel in the outpouring of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?' So that establishes the context, right?

God's wrath coming on Jerusalem there in 587 B.C.

He cont- we continue the quote.

'And he said to the man clothed in linen, Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim.

Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.

And he went in before my eyes.' So in Ezekiel's prophecy about the impending destruction of Jerusalem, you have Ezekiel taking burning coals, right?

Fire, and casting them over the city.

It's against this backdrop we come to John's vision of fire.

A censer, right?

Remember the angel had a censer?

What's in the censer?

Burning coals.

And that censer is thrown down to earth signifying judgment, number one, but in particular, judgment on Jerusalem, right?

John is receiving a vision just like Ezekiel did.

Just as Ezekiel had a vision and was told to cast burning coals over that great city, Jerusalem, John is having a vision and he sees the angel throwing burning coals on the earth for this great city that's about to be destroyed.

What is that city?

Fill in the blank.

It's Jerusalem.

Jerusalem.

So it's a prophecy just like Ezekiel had of old.

John's just simply in the vein of the Jewish prophets.

And finally, the third Old Testament background, uh, that I think is, uh, crucial for us is understanding the Old Testament tradition of how the earth or the land is a symbol for Israel.

Note in John's vision we said that the angel will cast a censer of burning coals down to the earth.

Well, scholars point out that in Revelation 8:5, when it talks about the earth, it can also be translated, actually better translated as the land.

So the, the censer of burning coals will be cast down on the land.

Now, right off the bat, for any Jew who hears the land, what land are they gonna think about?

The promised land, right?

Their own land, Jerusalem, right?

Okay, now even further I think we can support this interpretation because in the Jewish tradition the opposite of the land was what?

The sea.

And the sea in the Jewish tradition symbolized gentile nations, okay?

So for example, in Daniel 2:7-27, when Daniel Actually, excuse me, that would be Daniel chapter seven.

I don't know if I have that cited on your handout as a cross-reference or not, but if it is on there, if it's Daniel two, it's actually Daniel seven.

And in Daniel chapter seven, verses Uh, just the whole chapter really, you remember Daniel's vision of four beasts?

And four beasts are coming from where?

The sea.

The sea.

Well, when you do exegesis of Daniel's prophecies and when you look at Daniel seven in light of Daniel two, what you discover is that those four beasts are four pagan kingdoms, starting with Babylon, then Medo-Persia, Greece, and then Rome.

The fourth beast being Rome.

And notice, where are those beasts coming from?

The sea.

So the sea in the Jewish tradition, in the biblical tradition, signifies gentile nations, right?

And then further in Psalms 65:7-You read that the roaring of the seas is associated with the tumults of the nations, or the tumults of the Gentiles, the tumults of the peoples, right?

So, sea is associated with Gentile nations.

So, what would the land be associated with?

Non-Gentile nation.

And what's the non-Gentile nation?

The Jews, Israel, the Israel of God, right?

The promised land.

Yeah, that's right.

So, the land signifies Israel.

And what's the center of Israel?

Jerusalem.

So, for John to see the angel casting a censer of burning coals on the land signifies that judgment is coming upon Jerusalem, the Promise Land.

You see?

Does that make sense?

Okay.

So, in light of these three Old Testament backgrounds, I think we can see how the imagery of fire coming down from heaven, cast on the Earth, on the land, signifies not only judgment, but in particular, judgment on Jerusalem.

So, that's our first clue for judgment on Jerusalem with the blowing of the seven trumpets.

Our second clue is fascinating, and that is the parallels that exist between John's vision of the plagues of the seven trumpets and the plagues in Egypt.

You see?

So, let's run through these parallels with What we're gonna find is, as each trumpet is blown, there's a plague.

And each of those plagues directly parallels the plagues of Egypt, which would signify Our conclusion and our interpretive application will be this great city that John is talking about, it's going to be destroyed, is a new Egypt, right?

And will be destroyed like the first Egypt of old.

God will set His people free from that foreign oppression, et cetera.

So, let's look at the parallels.

First trumpet is blown.

In Revelation 8:7, we read, The first angel blew his trumpet and there followed h- hail and fire.

Hail.

Ha Make sure I say that right, 'cause I'm from Louisiana, and sometimes I say hail and hail the same way, right?

Hail and fire, mixed with blood, which fell on the earth.

And a third of the earth was burnt up, and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Okay?

So, notice hail, trees being burnt up, green grass being burnt up, the earth being burnt up.

Now, if you look at Exodus 9:23-25, you find the same images in association with the plague of hail back then.

We read that, Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven.

The Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth.

What did John see?

Hail and fire, okay?

Continuing Exodus 9 here, And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

The hail struck down everything that was in the field throughout all the land of Egypt, both man and beast.

And the hail struck down every plant of the field and shattered every tree of the field.

What did John say in his vision?

The hail and the fire burnt the whole of the land and burnt all of the trees and all of the grass.

That's exactly what happened with the hail plague in Exodus 9:23-25.

You think that's a coincidence?

I think not.

Second trumpet is blown.

In Revelation 8:8, we read, The third of the sea became A third of the sea became blood.

A third of the living creatures in the sea died.

Now, if you're a good Jew or if you're a good Bible student and you know the narrative stories of the Old Testament I mean, uh, uh, you know, my eight-year-old son could think of this.

You know, if he sees water turning into blood, he's gonna immediately think of the Plague of the Nile and Exodus 7:20-21, which we know the Nile turned into blood.

And guess what?

All of the fish in the Nile died.

A direct parallel here.

Third parallel, the third trumpet is blown in Revelation 8:10-11, we read the following, A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the water because it was made bitter.

Once again, parallels the Plague of the Nile.

In Exodus 7:21, we read, The Nile became foul so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

Okay?

So, there is this Uh, water becomes blood, euh, but then also you have the parallel or the motif of not being able to drink it.

It's being foul, it being foul.

The fourth trumpet is blown in Revelation 8:12, A third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light was darkened.

A third of the day was kept from shining, and likewise the night.

So, what do What does John see, and what is the What is this plague here at the fourth trumpet?

A plague of darkness.

Well, obviously this parallels the Plague of Darkness in Exodus 10:22-23.

The fifth trumpet is blown in Revelation 9:2, From the smoke came locusts on the earth.

Well, obviously this parallels to the Plague of the Locusts in Exodus 10:14.

We read, Locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as n- as had never been before, nor ever shall be again.

Isn't that amazing?

All of the plagues that John sees with the blowing of at least these five trumpets here, the first five trumpets, all of these plagues directly parallel the plagues in Egypt.

So, what's the interpretive application?

The great city that John is prophesying that will be destroyed, the city where our Lord is crucified, which we know to be Jerusalem, is has become a new Egypt.

It has become an enemy of God, and consequently incurs destruction and judgment upon itself.

Now, what's interesting, once again, like Sodom Do you re- remember John compares Jerusalem to Sodom, and actually says Jerusalem is allegorically called Sodom?

So too, St. John in Revelation 11:8 calls this great city, Jerusalem, allegorically Egypt.Okay.

So, Jerusalem has become a new Sodom, and thus we all know what happened to Sodom.

Destroy, destruction, destroyed.

Jerusalem has become a new Egypt, and we all know what happened to Egypt.

God came in judgment on Egypt, so therefore God will come in judgment on Jerusalem.

Why?

Because Jerusalem is, has rejected the new covenant in and through the Messiah Jesus and it's persecuting the people of God for the new covenant, the messianic people, the Christians, the church.

So, that's our second clue.

All of the parallels of the plagues.

Our third clue is that once again- like the parallels between the plagues and the plagues in Egypt, John's vision of the plagues also parallels the fall of Jericho.

And so what we're gonna see here is that Jerusalem is not only a new, not only a new Sodom, not only a new Egypt, but it's also a new Jericho.

What happened to Jericho?

Fl- flattened, right?

Yeah.

Because it was an enemy of God, it was flattened.

So too Jerusalem will be flattened.

So, what are some of these parallels?

I got four for you.

Number one, remember I talked about the silence in heaven?

Yeah.

In Revelation chapter eight, verse one?

So there's silence, right?

Well any good Jew would know or reca- or call to mind the victory that was wrought for God's people in J- at Jericho, because in Joshua chapter six, verse 10, Joshua commands the Israelites to be silent outside of Jericho's walls.

And in the narrative flow of three things, what comes after the silence?

As we're, as we're gonna get to in a moment, the great shouting-

Yeah.

and then the walls tumble, right?

Yeah.

And they take over the land.

All right?

So, John said he Can you say hear silence?

Hear silence.

John talks about how there was silence in heaven, and so therefore what will follow?

The destruction of this great city.

Second parallel.

In Revelation eight through 11, which we've been talking about so far in an overview fashion, the blowing of how many trumpets?

Seven.

Seven.

How many trumpets were blown by Levitical priests at the event of the fall of Jericho?

Seven.

Seven trumpets.

And remember they marched around the cities for seven days and on the seventh day they blew the seven trumpets how many times?

Seven times.

Seven, seven, seven, right?

It's the number of covenant, okay?

Significant in the Jewish tradition.

But So, I mean, think about it folks.

John hears seven trumpets blain- being blown.

What are you gonna think about?

There's only one other place that I know of in the Old Testament where seven trumpets are blown, and that's at the fall of Jericho.

So obviously there's a connection here.

Third parallel.

In Revelation 11:15, God's people cry out in a loud voice with the blowing of the seventh trumpet.

Exactly like in Joshua chapter six, verse 16, when the Israelites cry out in a loud voice when that seventh blow is blown.

You see?

When those seven trumpets blow the seven times, the, the seventh blow all of the Israelites cry out aloud and shout.

So you have this parallel.

So, um, I actually said four parallels, that's three for you.

Here's the interpretive application.

As suggested, Jerusalem has become an enemy of God's people.

It has become a new Jericho and consequently God will come in judgment on his enemy, namely Jerusalem.

Amen.

Does that make sense?

Okay.

Isn't it interesting how when you read the New in light of the Old, you're able to see what is the purpose and what is the meaning of all of the images that John is seeing in this heavenly vision?

Okay, let's move forward.

Let's go a little bit longer, then we'll take our break.

And this brings us to clue four.

Let me see here, let me make sure.

Um, you know what?

I'm gonna retract there.

Let's go ahead and take a break now, okay?

Um, because I'm at a good stopping point here.

We'll take a real short break 'cause as you can see, I got a heck of a lot more to go through, okay?

So, we'll take a real short break and when we come back what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna simply pick up with some miscellaneous details with the various trumpets that are blown and show how those various details with each of the trumpets signify, uh, judgment on Jerusalem.

So far we've looked at all of these parallels, right?

But now we'll just go through each of the trumpets and pick out and pinpoint various other details that suggest judgment on Jerusalem, okay?

So let's take a short pause for A Good Cause, we'll come right back.