When Will the Censer
in Revelation 8:5 Be Thrown Down?
“And I saw the
seven angels who stand before God,
and to them were given seven
trumpets.” (Revelation 8:2)
In the previous
segment, we examined the question,
“Why will the censer in
Revelation 8:5 be thrown down?”
In this segment, I would like to
discuss when the censer will
be thrown down. People often use
Jesus’ remarks in Matthew 24:36
as though these words pertain to the
Second Coming – His appearing in
clouds of glory during the seventh
bowl (See Revelation 16:17-21;
6:12-17), but this is not the case! I
believe that when Jesus said, “No
one knows about the day or hour, not
even the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father,” He
was referring to the commencement
of the Great Tribulation. It is
important to remember that the Second
Coming will be a procession of many
events that take 1,335 days to
complete. Jesus said, “For in
the days before the flood, people
were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, up to the day
Noah entered the ark; and they knew
nothing about what would happen until
the flood came and took them all
away. This is how it will be at the
time of the coming of the Son of
Man.” (Matthew 24:38,39) Did
you notice that Noah and his family
entered the ark and no one was aware
of it? The antediluvians “knew
nothing about what would happen until
the flood came and took all them
away.” Were the antediluvians
forewarned about the flood? Yes, Noah
had preached for 120 years. Were they
caught by surprise? Yes! They were
totally distracted by the affairs of
life on the day that Noah and
his family entered the ark. The
great door of the ark was shut and
they did not have a clue that God’s
mercy had run out. This is Jesus
point in Matthew 24.
The parallel in our
day will be just as sad. God’s
corporate mercy for Earth is about to
run out and the censer will be cast
down. Who understands the nearness
and gravity of this matter? Just
before Jesus ascended to Heaven, His
disciples wanted to know the timing
of His return. Notice this text: “So
when they met together, they asked
him, ‘Lord, are you at this time
going to restore the kingdom to
Israel?’ He said to them:
‘It is not for you to know the
times and dates the Father has set by
his own authority.’”
(Acts 1:6,7) Here is a question for
your consideration: When Jesus spoke
these words to His disciples, were
His words a perpetual decree for
Christians in all generations or was
it meant to be a timely statement? In
other words, was Jesus really telling
His disciples that none of His future
followers know the times and dates
which the father has set? As you
consider the answer for this
question, you also have to address
the fact the books of Daniel and
Revelation contain 18 prophetic time
periods in them. Even more, at this
time in history, we know that several
of the 18 prophetic time periods in
Daniel and Revelation occurred after
Jesus spoke these words to His
disciples. Knowing all this, His
words have to be understood in this
way: When the time comes for the
fulfillment of prophecy, God sees
that His children are given an
understanding of the times and dates
He has set by His own authority.
The reason this
understanding is important is because
at this very moment, no one knows the
day and hour when the censer will be
cast down and the Great Tribulation
will begin. The censer will be cast
down like a thief in the night –
at an hour when we “think
not.” (Matthew 24:43,44)
However, the date of the Second
Coming is clearly stated in the book
of Daniel! “From the time
that the daily sacrifice [the
service at Heaven’s golden Altar
of Incense] is abolished and the
abomination that cause desolation [the
universal death decree for the
saints] is set up, there will be
1,290 days. Blessed is the one who
waits for and reaches the end of the
1,335 days. ‘As for you, [Daniel]
go your way till the end. You will
rest [in the grave], and then
at the end of the [1,335] days
you will rise [in the glorious
resurrection] to receive your
allotted inheritance.’” (Daniel
12:12,13, insertions mine) Remember,
the date of the Second Coming cannot
be known until the censer is cast
down, but when it happens, we can
start counting.
At the Exact Moment
John wrote, “And
I saw the seven angels who stand
before God, and to them were given
seven trumpets.” (Revelation
8:2) The Bible indicates that seven
mighty angels stand before God’s
throne. They are eager servants of
the Most High, ready and capable to
fulfill any mission that He might
command. As a group, these seven
angels are mentioned three times in
Revelation. They are the seven angels
of the seven churches (Revelation
1:20), the seven angels of the seven
trumpets (Revelation 8:2) and the
seven angels of the seven bowls
(revelation 15:1). At a point in
time, these seven angels are given
seven trumpets. Can we know the date
of this event? For many years, I have
pondered this question because the
enormity of events accompanying the
seven trumpets is so serious. The
seven trumpets are seven first
plagues that precede the seven last
plagues! Here is a point to
consider. Keep in mind; I do not have
the final word on Bible prophecy. I,
too, am a Bible student searching for
answers. It is my studied conclusion
that the seven angels were given the
seven trumpets in April 11, 1994, and
my reasons for this conclusion are as
follows:
First, I believe
God’s patience with Jews and
Gentiles alike ended when the Jubilee
Calendar expired on April 11, 1994.*
Since I cannot begin to explain the
“Great Week” in this short
article, I will present this
abbreviated observation. It appears
that God granted three Great Days
(1,470 years) for the Jews. Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday of the Great Week
were granted to them as trustees of
the gospel. Each Great day is 70
weeks (490 years) in length and the
70 weeks of Daniel 9 make up Great
Day of Tuesday. Then, God granted
four Great Days as the time of the
Gentiles (1,960 years). Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday and Sabbath of the
Great Week were granted to Gentile
believers as trustees of the gospel.
(Luke 21:24) Thus, the probationary
time allotted to Jews and Gentiles,
as trustees of the gospel, has been
completed. Since April 11,
1994, the cup of God’s patience
with mankind has been full. Today,
that cup is overflowing with guilt
and the absence of God’s
judgments as puzzled thoughtful men
like Dr. Billy Graham who once said,
“If God doesn’t send
judgments upon the United States of
America soon, He will owe an apology
to Sodom and Gomorrah.” I
believe the reason God has not sent
judgments is found in Revelation 7.
Because mankind has not been able to
fulfill the purposes of God, He is
about to select 144,000 people from
all over the world to accomplish what
has not been done.
Second, a delay of
God’s wrath is described in
Revelation 7:1-4. The Bible indicates
that God’s wrath is delayed
until the 144,000 are sealed. God
wants us to know about this delay
because He wants us to understand
that His wrath is due long before
the 144,000 are sealed. In other
words, Earth’s cup of iniquity
becomes full before the Great
Tribulation begins. The sequence of
events flows together very easily.
Suppose the seven angels were given
seven trumpets in 1994 because
God’s patience with mankind
reached its limit. However, before
the first four angels can inflict
harm to notoriously wicked places on
Earth, destruction is delayed because
Jesus is waiting for the arrival for
a specific time, an appointed time
(Daniel 8:19) to select and seal the
144,000. In other words, Jesus is
waiting to align coming events with
the synchrony of the “Grand
Week.” The Grand Week
consists of seven days – each
day is a thousand years in length.
When all of the data is brought
together, it appears that the Second
Coming will occur at the end of the
6,000th year of sin –
the year that marks the end of the
Friday millennium. If this conclusion
is correct, the 1,000 years of
Revelation 20 will start on time when
the “Great Day” of Sabbath
begins, and Earth itself will rest
from the works of sin. It appears
that Jesus has delayed the
commencement of the seven trumpets
since 1994. We are living in this
“delay” right now. Jesus is
waiting for the 6,000th
year minus 1,335 days to terminate
His corporate intercession for Earth.
When the appointed time arrives, the
censer will be thrown down, the
global earthquake will occur and the
seven trumpets will follow. With God,
timing is everything. (See Revelation
9:15.)
Last, the prophetic
matrix produced by the four rules of
interpretation that I follow forces
the seven angels in Revelation 8:2 to
receive their trumpets shortly
before the censer is thrown down.
After the seven angels receive their
terrible assignments, the next
prophetic event is the casting down
of the censer. Notice the progression
of these matters. First, God’s
patience with Jews runs out. Then,
God’s patience with Gentiles
runs out. The Great Week of
God’s mercy ends (3,430 years)
and seven angels that stand before
Him are given seven trumpets. (April
1994) Then, before the first four
angels can hurt the Earth, they are
told to wait until the 144,000 are
sealed. This introduces the delay
described in Revelation 7:1-4. When
the appointed time arrives, 144,000
people will be selected and
empowered, and Jesus will terminate
His corporate intercession for Earth.
Then, the censer at the Altar of
Incense will be cast down (revelation
8:3,4) and the global earthquake will
occur. (Revelation 8:5) I believe
there is a very short space of time,
perhaps thirty to sixty days
(Revelation 8:6) before the fiery
hailstorm of the first trumpet
occurs. (Revelation 8:7)
Waiting and Watching
The Great Tribulation
has not begun. The 1,260 days, the
1,290 days and the 1,335 days
mentioned in Daniel 12 have not yet
begun. The 1,260 days of the Two
Witnesses have not begun. The 42
months in Revelation 13:5 have not
begun. The five months in Revelation
9:5 have not begun. The 1,000 years
of Revelation 20 have not begun.
However, each of these time periods
will occur on time. I suspect these
events will transpire soon, very
soon. “So you also must be
ready, because the Son of Man will
come at an hour when you do not
expect him.” (Matthew 24:44)
* Note from the
previous page: God instituted the
Jubilee Calendar at the Exodus.
(Exodus 12:1) during the operation of
the jubilee calendar, God used the
weekly cycle of seven days to
translate a day for a year. (See the
chart above.) Therefore, every
seventh year, counting from the year
of the Exodus was a Sabbath year and
He commanded the land to rest as a
test of faith for the Jews.
(Leviticus 25:4) The presence of this
calendar explains why the seventy
weeks of Daniel 9 have to be
translated as 490 years and the 2,300
days mentioned in Daniel 8:14 have to
be translated as 2,300 years.
However, the time periods mentioned
in Daniel 12 (1,260 days, 1,290 days
and 1,335 days), are not
translated as a day for a year
because the Jubilee Calendar ended in
1994. Here are two reasons: First, a
week is limited to seven days. The
Great Week of 3,430 years ended with
the Great day of Sabbath. (Similarly,
the Grand week of 7,000 years will
end with the Grand Day of Sabbath.)
Second, numerous time periods in
Daniel and Revelation that are not
subject to the day/year translation
still need to be fulfilled. This
necessitates the termination of the
translation of a day for a year,
which the Jubilee Calendar demands.
Therefore, I conclude that the
Jubilee Calendar ended in 1994.
