Intermediate Summary
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Thus far, we have
found that the Altar of Incense
concerns the administration of
corporate mercy. The casting down of
the censer indicates the end of
atonement at this altar, that is, the
end of corporate grace for the world.
After corporate grace is terminated,
the four angels will sound the first
four trumpets that will harm the
Earth. God’s wrath will break
out on the whole world. There will be
physical phenomena announcing
God’s wrath. These physical
phenomena will occur simultaneously
all over the world. There will be a
global earthquake. The whole world
will be halted, unexpectedly arrested
by awesome and violent displays of
nature. Mankind will be put on notice
with these physical phenomena that
God’s anger cannot be contained
any longer. A few hours, or perhaps
days, after the censer is cast down,
the first trumpet will sound and a
firestorm of burning hail will fall
from the sky and burn up one-third of
Earth. There is perfect harmony in
the sum of all the parts!
Praying Saints
Returning to verse 3: “Another
angel, who had a golden censer, came
and stood at the altar [of
Incense]. He was given much
incense to offer, with the prayers of
all the saints,
on the golden altar [that stands]
before the throne. The smoke of
the incense, together with the
prayers of the saints [their
petitions], went up before God [a
sweet aroma filled the court] from
the angel’s hand. Then the angel
took the censer, filled it with fire
from the altar, and hurled it on the
earth; and there came peals of
thunder, rumblings, flashes of
lightening and an earthquake.” (Revelation
8:3-5, insertions and italics mine)
Notice the
chronological sequence of events.
Verse 3 says that all of God’s
saints are praying for something.
Then, in verse 4 the angel presents
their petitions to God, and in verse
5, God favorably responds to the
petitions of His saints by commanding
the angel at the altar to cast down
the censer.
The Bible says that “all”
of the saints (God’s children
everywhere) are petitioning God when
Revelation 8:3-5 occurs. The only
thing that could move all of
God’s children at the same time,
as religiously diverse as we are, is
a global crisis. What global crisis,
after 1994, but prior to the end of
corporate grace, would cause Jesus to
issue a command to cast down the
censer?
Nuclear War?
There is one
possibility that could cause all of
God’s saints to pray for the
same thing at the same time, namely,
nuclear war. Here is a possible
scenario: One day, simmering
hostilities could erupt and quickly
escalate into a nuclear exchange. Ten
of millions of people could die in
this war. This war could affect our
struggling global economy and
immediately effect the distribution
of oil, food, clothing, building
materials, and commerce of all kinds.
If nations joined in, this war could
quickly become a fearful event for
most everyone on Earth. If such a war
occurred – and the global
consequences would be far reaching
– the whole world would cry out
(demand) “peace and
safety.” In other words, a
nuclear exchange could bring all of
God’s people to the point of
praying for God’s intervention.
Paul wrote: “While
people are [frantically] saying,
‘Peace and safety,’
destruction [from God] will
come on them suddenly, as labor pains
on a pregnant woman, and they will
not escape. But you, brothers, are
not in darkness so that this day
should surprise you like a
thief.” (1 Thessalonians
5:3,4, insertions mine)
There is no reason to
be surprised about sudden destruction
coming from God if we allow
Revelation 8 to speak. We can be sure
of two things. First, it’s only
a matter of time until there is a
nuclear exchange. Second, when a
nuclear exchange occurs, human
efforts will be made to stop the war
for the sake of global
“peace and safety.” The
problem is that the speed of
intercontinental missiles is measured
in seconds, but getting nations to
negotiate peace can take years.
Besides, once nuclear bombs threaten
a nation’s sovereignty and
survival, what would be the point of
any nation using restraint against an
enemy? The maxim for nuclear war is
simple: “Annihilate or be
annihilated.”
Suppose an angel
rushes to the Altar of Incense after
a nuclear exchange, and together with
the petitions of all the
saints, he puts much incense on the
coals of the Altar and a sweet
fragrance ascends before God’s
throne. As Almighty God, Jesus
answers the prayers of His saints by
stepping into the din of war with
overwhelming power and authority.
Jesus sends physical manifestations
that are so magnificent and awesome
that the war actually stops! He who
calmed the storm on Galilee calms
this war. Then, the first trumpet
sounds and a hailstorm of burning
meteors burn up a third of Earth. The
nations of Earth suddenly discover
that man’s nuclear bombs are no
match for “the wrath of the Lion
from the tribe of Judah.” Sudden
destruction from God will miniaturize
man’s nuclear exchanges. The
destructive power of Jesus will dwarf
anything that mankind has to offer.
Suddenly, man’s biggest problem
is not nation against nation; it is a
whole world facing the wrath of one
God!
Summary on Revelation
8:2-5
By now, you should
understand that (a) there were two
altars in the earthly temple because
there are two levels of atoning
grace, corporate and individual, (b)
incense was used each evening and
morning on the Altar of Incense to
mask the stench of sin and sinners,
(c) censers were used during the
atonement services to carry fire, and
(d) the termination of daily
services at the Altar of Incense in
Heaven’s temple is dated 1,335
days before the Second Coming. When
we align these four topics with the
events described in Revelation 8:3-5,
it is safe to conclude that
Revelation 8:3-5 describes the end of
corporate mercy because this was
the only form of atonement offered on
the earthly Altar of Incense. Moreover,
the punitive judgments (the seven
trumpets) that follow the casting
down of the censer perfectly align
with this conclusion. When corporate
grace ends, corporate wrath begins.
Just before the censer
is cast down, all of God’s
saints will be praying for divine
help. A nuclear exchange could move
all of God’s people to pray for
peace. The point here is that Jesus
responds to the prayers of the saints
by terminating the daily service at
the Altar of Incense. He will command
the angel to cast down the censer.
After the censer is cast down, the
Bible continues the sequence saying, “Then
the seven angels who had [been
waiting with] the seven trumpets [since
1994] prepared to sound
them.”
(Revelation 8:6,
insertions mine)
The First Four
Trumpets
The first four
trumpets will come in a group of four
rapid-fire judgments. I understand
that these four judgments will fall
over a period of about sixty days.
These four judgments will occur in
their stated order. Four distinctive
blows will produce unimaginable death
and destruction. They will change the
thinking and priorities of mankind
overnight. The death and destruction
left in their wake will be
incalculable, and amazingly, a team
of four angels will cause all of this
global upheaval! It is a gross
understatement to say the whole world
will be in shambles by the time the
fourth trumpet judgment has been
executed.
If actions speak
louder than words, the first four
trumpets will speak volumes. Jesus
has much to say to this diverse
world. To get everyone’s
attention, He will display a power
and destruction that will silence the
din of war and the defiance of
skeptics. Keep in mind that
Jesus’ display of power and
destruction will not be a temper
tantrum. Jesus will not smash and
trash the world in a random way. His
display of wrath is carefully
designed to accomplish many
objectives and one of them is to
prompt a unified response from
mankind.
Fire and Water
The first two trumpets
will be judgments of fire and water.
The first judgment will come as a
firestorm of burning hail. Jesus will
rain down white-hot meteors on
notoriously wicked places and
incinerate them (just as He destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah). The second
judgment will be an asteroid impact
on an ocean. The resulting tsunami
will destroy thousands of
coastal cities. It appears that God
uses the fire of the first trumpet to
sterilize wicked cities that cannot
be destroyed by water, and then uses
the water from the second trumpet to
wash away wicked cities whose cup of
iniquity is overflowing.
The third judgment
will be an asteroid impact on a
continent that is beyond redemption.
This huge impact will compromise
geologic strata for thousands of
square miles. Underground aquifers
will become contaminated with human
waste and toxic garbage. Wells and
springs will produce poisoned water
and millions of thirsty people will
drink the poisonous water and die.
The fourth trumpet will be a period
of darkness. The Bible does not
explain the cause of darkness, but it
could be caused by hundreds of
simultaneous volcano eruptions. If
the Pacific “ring of fire”
belched enough ejecta into the
atmosphere, the jet stream could
easily blanket the middle third
of Earth with enough soot and debris
to darken the Sun, moon, and stars.
If this darkness lasts for a few
weeks, agricultural crops would not
produce food. Global winter and
famine would quickly follow.
The first four
trumpets will fall upon notably
wicked places for two reasons.
First, the last three trumpets are
directed at wicked people. This is
why they are called three
“woes” or curses.
(Revelation 8:13) Second, Jesus wants
the survivors of the first four
trumpets to realize that His
judgments are not random episodes of
nature’s violence. Jesus wants
the survivors to realize that these
destructive events are deliberate
manifestations of God’s wrath.
In other words, the wholesale
destruction of notably wicked
places within sixty days will put
the whole world on notice that there
really is a living God and He is very
angry with man’s degenerate
behavior. Some scientists will argue
that the geological history of Earth
supports catastrophic events at
predictable intervals every million
years or so, and calamities like this
have happened before. However, the
first four trumpets will discredit
and silence science. Scientists will
not be able to explain how notably
wicked places all over the world
became divine targets of destruction.
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