REVELATION 8 & 9

REVELATION 8

John’s readers live in a violent, chaotic and frightening world, one in which the sometimes terrifying events that they saw around them were often interpreted as portents of doom and disaster. John’s accounts of the first four trumpets effects a transformation in their understanding of what they see around them. There are points of similarity with the plagues of Egypt preceding the exodus of Israel.

First, rather than being chaotic, these events are brought into some sort of order. If the events that are described here are like the screeching discords of an out-of-tune orchestra, there remains the steady background rhythm of the sovereignty of God. John continues to describe these events with the reluctance that he has displayed in describing the opening of the seven seals, in that what happens is not directed by God but permitted by him. God no more creates chaos and disaster than the candle creates the darkness of the shadows that are thrown. But none of this is beyond the sovereignty of God; this chaotic world is not simply spiraling out of his control.

This leads to the second observation: shelter from the storm of calamity is not found in the emperor’s promise of peace and prosperity, but in turning to the living God who is the Creator of the world and the Redeemer of its people, and who sits on the throne of heaven. The theme of repentance will become more prominent as this series unfolds, but is already hovering in the wings in these first four blasts of the angelic trumpets.

What is quite remarkable here is the suggestion that God’s people themselves are contributing to this process. As they pray for the justice of God – for his kingdom to come and his will to be done – they are hastening this process of testing and sifting of humanity. Prayer is effective on earth as the trumpets sound. Compare the fall of Jericho and the effectiveness of the prayers of Daniel.

REVELATION 9

We need to note two features of this vision sequence. The first is the reality of pain and suffering, which is emphasized by the repetition of violence both from one trumpet event to another, and within each of the fifth and sixth trumpet sections themselves. John communicates a real sense of dread and terror through his vivid and detailed description of this strange locust army evocative of the Parthians from the east. But alongside this reality, John’s vision report also emphasizes the sovereignty of God and his limitation on what is permitted to take place. Evil is real, and does not have its origin in God. The forces of evil are not sent from God (even if they bring judgment which might further God’s purposes), but they are not beyond God’s control. The Abyss is the source of evil. The angel of the Abyss is closely related to, but not identical with Satan. Abaddon is the Hebrew word for destruction. Apollyon is the Greek term for Destroyer, connected with the god Apollo, who was famed for his destructive power. Evil is destructive.

Significantly, though these terrors were felt keenly within the Roman Empire, it is not loyalty to that Empire which is the answer to the quest for security; it is receiving the seal of the living God which offers the only meaningful security in the long term. These fantastical hybrid creatures of chaos, contrast with the ordered and orderly living creatures who worship God around the throne. The forces of evil are nothing but destructive, but we will learn from the visions that follow that the chaotic origin of such powers also stands behind the human empire which claims to bring order out of this chaos. Natural disasters were commonly thought to be warning messages from the gods, calling on people to change their ways.

Within this series, there is still time for repentance; the third sequence, of the bowls poured out by the seven angels in Revelation 16, no longer offers that possibility. Nevertheless, it is notable that suffering alone does not bring repentance; the interlude to come tells us that God has another, more effective way to bring this change to human hearts: through the people of his redemption.

(Ian Paul, Revelation, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries.)