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THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST TO HIS SERVANT JOHN
The Unveiling of the Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven
Lesson 11
Sanctions of the Covenant Treaty Lawsuit
Chapter 8
The Opening of the Seventh Seal and Trumpet Judgments One Through Four

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Lord of Justice and Mercy,
Those of us on earth still facing the struggle against sin, continuously seek Your mercy while the suffering faithful in every generation, like the martyred saints in Revelation Chapter 6, call for the execution of Your divine justice against the wicked. The balance between justice and mercy is a constant concern, but we must bow to Your divine will in how You dispense both justice and forgiveness to the living and the dead who face divine judgment. Guide Your holy Church, Lord, in representing Your mercy to the repentant sinners but at the same time in upholding the integrity of Mother Church in having the courage to denounce the wicked and in calling them to both temporal and eternal justice. We pray in the Name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle, disaster is swooping on Yahweh's home! Because they have violated my covenant and been unfaithful to my Law, in vain will they cry, "My God!"
Hosea 8:1-2

Then, raising my eyes, I had a vision. It was this: There were four horns. I said to the angel who was talking to me. "What are these?" He said to me, "These are the horns which scattered Judah (Israel) and Jerusalem." [...] Let all people be silent before Yahweh, now that He is stirring from His Holy Dwelling.
Zechariah 2:1-2, 17

Flavius Josephus was an eyewitness to the events of the First Jewish Revolt. He wrote about the cruelty of the Roman governor of Judah, Gessius Florus, in AD 66, that led to the revolt: "for he expected that, if the peace continued, he should have the Jews for his accusers before Caesar; but that if he could procure them to make a revolt, he should divert their laying lesser crimes to his charge ... he, therefore, did every day augment their calamities, in order to induce them to a rebellion" (Wars of the Jews, 2.15.3). Florus killed 9,600 citizens of Jerusalem when the Jews protested that he looted some of the Temple treasures. The Revolt began but without full participation in May AD 66. When the Jewish rebels defeated the army of Roman General Cestius Gallus in November, the Jewish Revolt began in earnest.

The Jews were successful in their revolt as long as the Romans found themselves embroiled in political problems at home. However, in AD 68, after Nero's suicide, General Vespasian, organized a force of four Roman legions and crossing the Euphrates River, marched on Judea. In mid-March of AD 70, Vespasian's son, Roman General Titus, surrounded the city of Jerusalem: "the city began already to be seen, and a plain view might be taken of the Great Temple ... no more than seven furlongs distant from it. And here it was that Titus ordered a camp to be fortified [...]. These legions had orders to encamp at the distance of six furlongs from Jerusalem, at the mount called the Mt of Olives, which lies over against the city on the east side" (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 5.2.3). When Titus conquered the city, he brought the legion's imperial ensigns into the Temple's sacred spaces and made sacrifices to their pagan images, fulfilled the prophecy of "the End" and the "appalling abomination set up" in Daniel 12:8-13 (Jewish Wars, 6.6.1).

Christian priest and apologist, Tertullian, confirmed Josephus account: "And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the Holy House itself, and of all the buildings round about it, brought their ensigns (battle standards) to the Temple ...and there did they make Titus imperator" (Apologetic, 16,162). Tertullian wrote that the entire religion of the Roman camp worshipped the ensigns, in swearing by them, and in preferring the ensigns before all the gods.

Question: Do you see any prophecies from Matthew Chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21 fulfilled in these quotations from the account of the Jewish Revolt against Rome and the destruction of the Temple? See the chart from handout 1, Lesson 9.

The interlude of Chapter 7 is over. The last of the seven seals of Jesus' last will and testament is about to be opened, and it will beginning of the Sanctions portion of the Covenant Treaty (Rev Chapters 8-14). With the opening of the seventh seal, seven angels will receive seven trumpets to unleash God's wrath upon an unrepentant Old Covenant people.

A review of the "sevens" thus far in the Book of Revelation:

• In the Preamble section in Chapter 1, there were: 7 titles for Christ, 7 churches, 7 Spirits, 7 lampstands, 7 stars, and 7 messengers to the churches (angelos, in Greek).
• In the Historical Prologue section of Chapters 2-3, there were: 7 stars, 7 lampstands, 7 letters, and 7 Spirits.
• In the Ethical Stipulations section of Chapters 4-7, there were: two prayers with seven themes (5:12 and 7:12), 7 lamps, 7 Spirits, 7 seals, 7 horns, and 7 eyes.
• In the Sanctions section of Chapters 8-14, there will be: 7 angels, 7 trumpets, 7 peals of thunder, 7 thousand people killed, a 7 headed dragon, and 7 crowns on the dragon's heads.

Revelation 8:1-5 ~ The Breaking of the Seventh Seal
1 The Lamb then broke the seventh seal, and there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Next, I saw seven trumpets being given to the seven angels who stand in the presence of God. 3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. A large quantity of incense was given to him to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that stood in front of the throne; 4 and so from the angel's hand the smoke of the incense went up in the presence of God and with it the prayers of the saints. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it from the fire of the altar, which he then hurled down onto the earth; immediately there came peals of thunder and flashes of lightning, and the earth shook.

1 The Lamb then broke the seventh seal, and there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
The angels and the elders cease their songs of praise, and there was a profound silence in Heaven. Some scholars believe that this passage is a reference to the length of time it took for the High Priest or his representative to carry some of the burning coals from the bronze sacrificial altar in the Court of the Priests in the Temple and then to enter the Holy Place to use them to burn incense on the golden Incense Altar. The Incense Altar stood in front of the curtain that covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of the Ark of the Covenant, after which he would then return to where the people were assembled to give stand with the other priests and give the priestly blessing that concluded the liturgical ceremony. The burning of the sacred incense took place twice each day: in the morning service before placing the Tamid lamb on the altar fire and in the afternoon service immediately after placing the second Tamid lamb on the altar fire. As the smoke from the incense poured out from the Sanctuary doors, the entire congregation knelt or prostrated before the Sanctuary in profound silence. The incense offering embraced the sacrifice of the Tamid lambs as one sacrifice. The whole procedure took about 30 minutes (Lev 16:13-14; Lk 1:10, 21). For a more vivid account of this part of the Temple service, there is the description of when the "silence" took place in the Temple liturgy in Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice; see the Appendix to the lesson.

Other Biblical passages referring to silence in Heaven or silence in the presence of God:

1. But Yahweh is in His Holy Temple: Let the whole earth be silent before Him (Hab 2:20). Habakkuk gave his prophecies shortly after the fall of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh to the Babylonians in 612 BC and before the Babylonian conquest of Judah.
2. Silence before the Lord Yahweh, for the Day of Yahweh is near. Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests (Zep 1:7). Zephaniah was God's prophet during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC) before the Babylonian destruction and exile.
3. Let all people be silent before Yahweh, now that He is stirring from His Holy Dwelling (Zec 2:17). Zechariah was a post-exile prophet during the time of the exiles' return to Judah.

In Scripture, silence during worship can signal profound reverence as in the Jerusalem Temple liturgy or the Catholic Mass; however, as in the case of Revelation 8:1, the silence can also be ominous.

The Catholic Navarre University commentators, authors of the Navarre Bible Commentaries, interpret the silence as a signal that "The End has come!" Yahweh waited patiently, putting off the final "Day of Judgment" even though the Saints have cried out to Him in protest for the delay in Revelation 6:10. There is merit to the Navarre commentators' interpretation that this profound silence was the prelude to the Day of the Yahweh's judgment; however, not to the Final Judgment. Dr. Scott Hahn and other Catholic scholars believe this is not the "Final Day of Judgment" immediately following Christ's Second Advent but the Day of Judgment for apostate Judah for rejecting the Messiah and hindering the establishment of the New Covenant Church. In Revelation Chapter 6, God tells the Saints in Heaven to be patient. The Navarre scholars quote St. Peter's statement about God's forbearance in 2 Peter 3:9b-10, The Lord is not being slow in carrying out His promises, as some people think He is; rather is He being patient with you, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to repentance. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and melt away, the earth and all that it contains will be burned up.

Question: What are God's promises concerning the Church?
Answer: That the New Covenant Church would be God's authority on earth and the means through which all people will obtain salvation through the blood of Christ.

Question: Does the line with a roar the sky will vanish from 2 Peter 3:10 remind you of any particular verse we have recently studied in Revelation?
Answer: It is similar to Revelation 6:14, where the sky disappeared like a scroll rolling up.

St. Peter used apocalyptic imagery just as Jesus did in His discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, prophecies fulfilled in AD 70.

In defense of the Navarre scholars' interpretation, even though John's visions in Revelation reveal an imminent disaster instead of a disaster thousands of years in the future, his visions of the destruction of the world of the Jews may prefigure the Final Days of the entire world, just as the Day of Judgment for Jerusalem and Judah in 586/7 BC (and Ezekiel's visions which so closely parallels John's visions) prefigured the destruction in AD 70. In other words, the AD 70 judgment will be repeated in the Second Advent of Christ. Prophecy can have multiple fulfillments just as the fulfillment of many of Ezekiel's prophecies in 586/7 BC and again in AD 70.

Returning to the 2 Peter 3:3-10 passage, there is something important to remember in the context of his prophecy. Do you remember Peter's Holy Spirit inspired homily at Pentecost (Acts chapter 2) where he prophesizes the coming "Day of the Lord"? In that homily, Peter is calling the Jews of Jerusalem to repentance and be saved before God's judgment falls on Jerusalem as prophesized by Jesus in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In Acts 2:40, he calls on the Jews to "save yourselves from this perverse generation" which recalls Jesus' statement in Mat 24:29, which begins: "Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of heaven will be shaken..." This line recalls the Hebrews 12:25-26 passage we read last week and the verse "the removal of what is shaken," which refers to the necessity of the Temple being destroyed before the New Covenant can be fully implemented. Then Jesus continues in Mt 24:34 "In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away, all these things will have taken place." In Peter's homily quoting Joel 3:1-5, he ends the quote with the line (verse 5), "And all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!" When the Prophet Joel made that prophecy, he was prophesizing the Day of Yahweh when He would pour out His Spirit (happened that Pentecost morning) on all humanity followed by a Day of terrible judgment when a holy remnant was saved from the destruction. Peter was saying Pentecost Sunday was that day. God will bring judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for rejecting the Messiah, but God in His mercy will also spare a holy remnant. Dr. Hahn identifies this remnant as the 144,000 John saw in Chapter 7. At the End of Time and the Final Judgment, there will no longer be any need for a holy remnant to carry on the true faith. All humanity will face judgment.

Jesus predicted the destruction of the earthly Temple (Mt 24:1-2; Mk 13:1-2; Lk 21:8-23). Turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter 21: This was Jesus' last week in Jerusalem before His Passion. In Chapter 19:41-44, He cried over Jerusalem. In 19:45, He cleansed the Temple by excommunicating the moneylenders (the word Greek which we translate as "cast out" has the same meaning as "to excommunicate"). At the end of Chapter 19, He began to teach in the purified Temple.

Please read Luke 21:5-33:
In the passages of Luke Chapter 21, Jesus was not talking about the end of time and His Second Advent. In Luke 21:32, Jesus says, "In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away all will have taken place." All the prophesies Jesus made in this passage occurred between His Ascension in AD 30 and the destruction of the Temple in AD 70: the spread of the gospel of Christ across the entire Roman world and then the destruction of Jerusalem and the Old Covenant Temple by the Roman Army just as Jesus told His disciples in Luke 12:20 when He said: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you must realize that it will soon be laid desolate." The inspired writer of the Book of Hebrews also wrote, "as long as the old tent (tabernacle) stands, the way into the Holy Place is not opened up" (Heb 9:9). As long as the old Temple stands, it misleads the faithful, and the New Covenant is not permanently set in place. If John's vision is before AD 70, God in His mercy and forbearance has waited 40 years; but the time of waiting is past, and now is the time for judgment.

The New Covenant has been unfolding as the dawn unfolds, beginning with the Incarnation of the Christ, but now it is time for the Law of the New Covenant and the supremacy of the universal Church of the New Israel to be fully in place and with full authority "the Temple, the symbol of the Old Covenant Church, must be destroyed so God's Chosen People will let go of the old covenant and embrace the greater graces available to them in the new. The reference to the Temple continues in Hebrews 9:9-12, it is a symbol for this present time. None of the gifts and sacrifices offered under these regulations can possibly bring any worshipper to perfection in his conscience; they are rules about outward life, connected with food and drink and washing as various times, which are in force only until the time comes to set things right. But now Christ has come, as the high priest of all the blessings which were to come. He has passed through the greater, the more perfect tent, not made by human hands, that is, not of this created order; and he has entered the sanctuary once and for all, taking with him not the blood of goats and bull calves, but his own blood, having won an eternal redemption. This is the vision of Christ as our High Priest offering Himself as the perfect Lamb sacrifice before the throne of God that John sees in Revelation 5:6.

There are three Old Testament passages that support this is not the "Final Day of Judgment" immediately following Christ's Second Advent but the "silence" refers to the Day of Judgment for apostate Judah for rejecting the Messiah and hindering the establishment of the New Covenant Church. Each of them refers to silence before Yahweh as a liturgical command, just as stated in Revelation 8:1:

1. Habakkuk 2:20 ~ But Yahweh is in His Holy Temple: let the whole earth be silent before Him. Habakkuk is God's holy prophet and a contemporary of Jeremiah. He is prophesizing before the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The "silence" of this passage preludes the theophany of Chapters 3:3-15, describing Yahweh coming in judgment on Judah in 586/7 BC.
2. Zechariah 2:17 ~ Let all people be silent before Yahweh, now that He is stirring from His holy Dwelling! Zechariah is one of the 3 post-exile prophets (after the return of God's people from exile in Babylon). In mid-February 519 BC Yahweh tells Zechariah, "I have returned to Jerusalem; my Temple will be rebuilt there." The Second Temple was completed in 5l6/7 BC. This is the Temple that will be destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Then in chapter 2, in Zechariah's 2^nd vision (there will be 8 visions; 8 is the number of salvation, rebirth, and regeneration; it is also the number of Jesus the Messiah. The Gematria of Jesus is 888; see the document The Significance of Numbers in Scripture). God tells Zechariah of the four future nations that will oppress Judah and Jerusalem and that the fourth nation will destroy Judah and the Temple. These succeeding world empires were revealed to Zechariah's predecessor, the prophet Daniel, in Daniel 2:26-45. Historically these nations were:

1. The Babylonians (already defeated in Zechariah's time)
2. The Persian Empire (current to Zechariah's time)
3. The Greek Empire of Alexander the Great (and the other Greek kingdoms that were formed from his empire after his death; Greek Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Greek Empire of Syria will both oppress Judah)
4. The Roman Empire that conquered and absorbed Judah as a vassal state in 63 BC

Zechariah Chapter 2 has the promise that God Himself is coming "for now I am coming to live among you," Yahweh declares. "And on that day many nations will be converted to Yahweh" (2:15-16). Then in Chapter 3, Zechariah has the fourth vision, after the silence of 2:17, that is the investiture of High Priest Yeshua (or Joshua that is the same name as Jesus in English)! At the time Zechariah was living, the governor of Judah, appointed by the Persians, was a descendent of David, therefore the rightful King of Judah. His name was Zerubbabel. The High Priest was a man named Yeshua/Joshua (see Chapters 1-2). Chapter 3:8 relates that the investiture of Yeshua/Joshua is an omen of things to come, for I shall bring in my servant the Branch, and I shall remove this country's guilt in a single day. In Chapter 6:9-15, Yeshua/Joshua, the high priest is crowned a King!

Many scholars believe this passage was a mistake in translation, and Zerubbabel's name, the Davidic heir and ancestor of Jesus, should be in place of Joshua/Jesus. But it is not a mistake. These passages are a prophecy of things to come, referring to the coming of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, King of Kings and our High Priest in the heavenly Jerusalem. Chapter 7 prophesizes the scattering of the tribes of Israel to the four corners of the earth followed by Chapters 8 to 14 and the promise of salvation when a remnant of God's people will be restored and a New Jerusalem established along with the nations of the earth who will return to worship Yahweh in His holy city (the universal Church): After this, all the survivors of all the nations which have attacked Jerusalem will come up year after year to worship the King, Yahweh Sabaoth, and to keep the feast of Shelters (Zec 14:16). There was a reference to this feast in Revelation Chapter 7 that celebrated God's sovereignty, the building of the Tabernacle, and looked forward to the promised Messiah as the people carried palm branches and shouted Hosanna, salvation (Rev 7:9-10) when the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent [tabernacle] over them, referring to the saints who endured the tribulation.

Zephaniah 1:7-2:3 ~ The best Old Testament reference is probably for the Book of Zephaniah, one of the post-exile prophets who received his prophetic call in approximately 649-630 BC. His message is a prophecy of the Day of Yahweh and the catastrophe that will affect not only Judah but also all nations. Zephaniah's message is that Judah is condemned for disobedience to the covenant with Yahweh and for religious and moral corruption. All that Judah has done, or failed to do, is an offense against the Living God. The impending chastisement should serve as a warning to reduce God's people to obedience and humility (Zeph 2:3 and 3:7). Salvation is promised to only a humble and obedient remnant (Zeph 3:12-13).

In each of these passages, the "silence" announces the Day of Yahweh that is represented as a sacrificial banquet in Zephaniah 1:7 (also see Is 34:6; Jer 46:10; Ez 39:17) at which the people of Judah are the sacrificial victims. They are the guests consecrated for slaughter. The terrible consequence of this Day of Yahweh is preceded by an ominous silence.

2 Next, I saw seven trumpets being given to the seven angels who stand in the presence of God. 3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. A large quantity of incense was given to him to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that stood in front of the throne; 4 and so from the angel's hand the smoke of the incense went up in the presence of God and with it the prayers of the saints.
Following the period of silence, the seven angels who stand before God receive seven trumpets.
Tobit 12:15 refers to the seven holy "Angels of the Presence" who present the prayers of the saints and who go in and out before the glory of the Most High God: the angel Raphael tells Tobit: "I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord." They are not the same as the seven messengers (angels/bishops) who delivered the letters to the seven churches of Asia.

The seven "Angels of the Presence" have a well-documented history in Sacred Scripture and in Jewish Oral Tradition and literature. In Luke 1:19, an angel tells the chief priest Zechariah, "I am Gabriel, who stand in God's presence." Another significant passage concerning the seven "Angels of the Presence" is Ezekiel 9:2 in which Ezekiel has a vision of six "men" with slaughter weapons, and one "man" among them clothed in linen with a writer's ink well at his side whose serves God by marking the faithful remnant with the sign of the taw.
Holy Scripture only names three of these archangels:

1. Gabriel, "God is my strength" (Daniel 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26)
2. Raphael, "God has healed" (Tobit 5-6; 11:1-17; 8:1-3; 12:15)
3. Michael, "who is like God" (Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7)

The other names come from apocryphal texts, Jewish oral tradition (the Jewish Talmud), and from documents found at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. According to these extra-Biblical sources, the other archangels are:

4. Uriel, "fire of God"
5. Raguel, "friend of God"
6. Remiel, "thunder or height of God"
7. Sariel, "prince of God"

In the Jewish Talmud, which records the Sacred Oral Tradition of the Old Covenant, Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, and Michael are "ministering angels" (in Hebrew mal'akhey-hasharet). There may be a connection between this tradition and the fact that in Revelation 8:7-12, four angels are singled out to announce the four "non-woe" trumpet judgments. There were trumpets like the ram's horn shofar used to bring down the walls of Jericho, and there were two silver trumpets used to call the people to worship (Josh 6:4-20; Num 10:2). The seven trumpet judgments are reminiscent of the seven shofars of the seven priests at Jericho who were God's representatives among the people as the angels are His representatives in heavenly liturgy. The idea that the Great Judgment of the Last Days is heralded by blasts on the shofar has its roots in the Old Testament and in Jewish Oral Tradition (see Ps 47:5, God goes up to shouts of acclaim, Yahweh to a fanfare on the ram's horn and Ps 98:6 for ram's horn/ shofar references). The Feast of Trumpets was the fifth of the seven annual feasts when trumpets blew a hundred times to announce the call to repentance in the new civil year followed by the Feast of Atonement ten days later.

Returning to verse 3, the seven angels receive seven trumpets, and then John sees another angel standing at the heavenly altar of incense holding a golden censer. In earthly worship in the Temple in Jerusalem, the designated priest used a small golden shovel to place the burning coals from God's holy Altar of Sacrifice into a golden censer which was then carried to the golden Altar of Incense that stood in front of the curtain of the Holy of Holies; it was a replica of the Altar of Incense in Heaven. John reports that the angel received a large amount of incense.

Question: What does the large amount of incense symbolize? See Rev 5:8; 8:3-4; Ps 141:2; and Lk 1:10.
Answer: It is symbolic of the prayers of the saints. The angel receives the incense so that he might add to the prayers of God's holy people in Heaven and on earth.

As in earthly liturgy when the incense combines with our prayers and ascends before God (as it does in this passage out of the angel's hands), the priest offers up the petitions of his congregation to God in His heavenly Sanctuary.

What happens next is the focal point of the passage: 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it from the fire of the altar, which he then hurled down onto the earth, immediately there came peals of thunder and flashes of lightning, and the earth shook.
The connection to the Book of Ezekiel in this chapter is the vision of the burning coals from God's heavenly Altar (Ez 10:2-21 and Rev 8:5). The angel took the coals of fire from the incense altar and cast the fire down onto the earth in judgment. This is another of John's visions that parallels Ezekiel's seven years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586/7 BC: Then, in vision I saw that above the solid surface over the heads of the winged creatures there was above them something like sapphire, which seemed to be like a throne. He then said to the man dressed in linen, "Go in between the wheels below the winged creatures; take a handful of burning coal from between the winged creatures and scatter it over the city. He went in as I watched" (Ez 10:1-2).

Question: In Revelation 8:5, what three phenomena follow the angel's action?
Answer: 1. thunder, 2. flashes of lightening, and 3. earthquake.

Question: Does the action at the heavenly Altar of Incense and the manifestation of these phenomena remind you of another event in Salvation History or in our earthly liturgical worship?
Answer: The four phenomena are familiar to us as the events accompanying the Glory-Cloud of God (see Ex 19:16, 18, etc.), while the reference to the Altar of Incense recalls elements of Tabernacle/Temple worship as well as rituals in the celebration of the Mass.

The Tabernacle liturgy, prescribed by God, prefigured the worship we offer God in the New Covenant announced by Jesus in John 4:23 when we would worship in Spirit and in truth." The irony of this passage is that the fire from the heavenly altar will be the means to destroy apostate Israel. In the liturgy of worship established at Mt. Sinai, the fire on the Altar of Burnt Offering originated in Heaven, coming down upon the altar when the Tabernacle and later the Temple were made ready to be possessed by God (see Lev 9:24; 2 Chron 7:1-3). The heavenly fire started the fire on the great bronze Altar of Sacrifice, was kept continually burning by the priests who carried from place to place so that it could be used to start other holy fires (Lev 16:12-13; Num 16:46-50) until the building of the Jerusalem Temple when God again lit the altar fire from Heaven.

But the holy fire had other purposes than the Altar of Sacrifice, the lighting of the golden menorah, and the fire on the Altar of Incense. If an Israelite town abandoned worshiping Yahweh, destruction by fire was the God-ordained punishment: you must put the inhabitants of that town to the sword, you must lay it under the curse of destruction, the town and everything in it. You must pile up all its loot in the public square and burn the town and all its loot, offering it all to Yahweh your God (Dt 13:16; also see Judg 20:40). The only acceptable punishment for such an abuse of the covenant was as a whole-burnt-offing to Yahweh, with the entire city offered up as a sacrifice through fire.

Question: Can you remember an Old Testament city (or cities) famous for sinful practices and destroyed in the same manner? Which city was destroyed by seven trumpets? See Gen 19:23-28 and Joshua 5:10-6:21.
Answer: Sodom and Gomorrah and the Canaanite city of Jericho, whose walls fell because of the blowing of seven trumpets on seven consecutive days.

It is this practice of putting a city "under the ban" (herem = total destruction) so that nothing survives the great fire of God (Dt 13:12-18) that the Book of Revelation uses to describe God's judgment against apostate Jerusalem. Jericho was a city that stood in opposition to God's plan to establish a holy nation (the Old Covenant Church) in the Promised Land. Jerusalem, in the 1^st century AD, had become another Jericho, standing in opposition to God's plan to establish a holy New Covenant Church to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven on earth (the universal, Catholic Church). The Promised Land of Israel was never meant to be an end in itself. It was meant to be a beachhead from where God could launch his holy people to reclaim all the nations back into the family of God so they could inherit the real Promised Land: the heavenly kingdom of Christ the King.

Revelation 8:6-13 ~ The First Four Trumpet Judgments
6 The seven angels that had the seven trumpets now made ready to sound them. 7 The first blew his trumpet and with that, hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled on the earth: a third of the earth was burnt up, and a third of all trees, and every blade of the grass was burnt. 8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and it was as though a great mountain blazing with fire was hurled into the sea; a third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of all the living things in the sea were killed, and a third of all ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star fell from the sky, burning like a ball of fire, and it fell on a third of all rivers and on the springs of water; 11 this was the star called Wormwood, and a third of all water turned to wormwood, so that many people died; the water had become so bitter. 12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were blasted, so that the light went out of a third of them and the day lost a third of its illumination, and likewise the night. 13 In my vision, I heard an eagle, calling aloud as it flew high overhead, "Disaster, disaster, disaster [Ouai, Ouai, Ouai = Woe! Woe! Woe!], on all the people on the earth at the sound of the other three trumpets which the three angels have yet to blow!" [...] = Interlinear Bible Greek-English, vol. IV, page 672.

Like the Seven Seal Judgments, there is a division between the first four and last three Trumpet Judgments.

To understand the role of the Trumpet Judgments, it is helpful to review the use of trumpets in the Old Testament:

1. Trumpets were used in worship, in liturgical ceremonies, and on feast days:
They played a role especially as an escort for the Ark of the Covenant (we will see that the connection between the trumpets and the Ark in Revelation 11:19 and 12:1 is the blowing of the seventh trumpet when St. John sees the Ark). Trumpets were also blown to call the people to worship at the Tabernacle (and later the Temple), and at the feasts like the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and on the first day of each month at the Feast of the New Moon.

Jesus fulfilled the first four of the Seven Sacred Feast of the Old Covenant (see the chart on the Annual Seven Feasts). The last three will not be fulfilled until Jesus' Second Advent. We are currently in the "Long Summer Harvest" period of salvation history, and the next feast to be fulfilled is the Feast of Trumpets. In this chapter, we have a series of God's judgment expressed in the blowing of trumpets. I have speculated (as you can see in the chart) that the Feast of Trumpets would be the Second Advent. St. Paul predicted: At the signal given by the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, the Lord himself will come down from heaven (1Thes 4:16). Then the Feast of Atonement would be the Last Judgment, and Tabernacles signal the New Creation. One wonders if Revelation Chapter 8's trumpets and the coming of Christ's in judgment on apostate Judah is a prelude that will be repeated in much the same way in the Second Advent of Christ. In any case, the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 is a warning we all should heed.

2. Trumpets proclaimed the coronation of a new King:
See 1 Kings 1:34, 39 and Psalm 47:5. In Rev 11:15, when the seventh trumpet is blown, the heavenly choir sings a coronation anthem: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.

3. Trumpets sounded an alarm, warning of approaching war or judgment and urging national repentance:
Moses was instructed to use two silver trumpets, both "for summoning the congregation" to worship and "for having the camps set out" in battle against an enemy (Num 10:1-9). It is interesting that these two purposes, warfare and worship, are mentioned in the same passage. These were holy war trumpets. The irony in Revelation is that now God is ordering the trumpets of holy war blown against Israel herself!

J. Massyngberde Ford, professor of New Testament Studies at the University of Notre Dame, discusses four ironic reversals in this Revelation passage in his commentary on Revelation for the Anchor Bible commentaries:

1. From the Throne of God, called the "Mercy Seat" in association with the Ark of the Covenant, we expect "mercy." However, in Revelation Chapter 8, it isn't mercy that comes from the throne; instead, it is the wrath of God!
2. The incense used in holy worship is a "soothing aroma" to Yahweh (Lev 1:13), but in Revelation Chapter 8, it becomes an agent of death!
3. The trumpets called Israel to worship or war against her enemies, but in Revelation Chapter 8, the trumpets herald her destruction; Israel has become the enemy!
4. God appointed earthly liturgy that reflected heavenly liturgy for Israel's sanctification, but in Revelation 8, heavenly liturgy becomes the means of Israel's overthrow and dissolution!

In the study, we have already noted two examples of irony like robes washed white with blood and a lion that is really a lamb. Images are introduced that may seem familiar at first, but the symbolic meaning is quite different. It is best to remember the warning we will read in Revelation 13:18a: There is need for shrewdness here.

The First Trumpet Judgment: 7 The first blew his trumpet and with that, hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled on the earth: a third of the earth was burnt up, and a third of all trees, and every blade of the grass was burnt.
With the destruction that comes from the blowing of the seven trumpets, there is not only imagery reminiscent of the fall of Jericho, but now verse 7 also recalls other great disasters. With the sound of the First Trumpet, there is a triple judgment.
Question: What is the triple threat?
Answer: Hail, fire, and blood are hurled on the earth and bringing the destruction of "one-third" of the earth, trees, and grass.

This means the judgment is neither total nor final; therefore, this cannot refer to the end of the physical world. Nevertheless, the destruction is tremendous. The fire that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70 was the end of the world for the Old Covenant Jews.

Question: Does the mention of these disasters of hail, fire, and blood remind you of other Old Testament judgments on cities or nations in addition to Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:23 where Yahweh rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire of His own sending. See Ex 9:8-12; 7:17-21; 10:4-23; 8:2-4; 9:18-26.
Answer: They are reminiscent of the plagues of Egypt in Exodus. In the first plague, the water turned to blood (Ex 7:18), and in the 7^th plague, hail destroyed the crops, trees, livestock, and people. Like the Canaanite city of Jericho, both Egypt and Sodom not only stood in opposition to God's divine plan, but they also persecuted God's people. The punishment for their offense was severe.

Question: How many times do the words "a third" appear in Chapter 8?
Answer: The words "a third" appear twelve times in Chapter 8 in the literal Greek text in verses 7, 8, 9 twice, 10 twice, 11, 12 five times.

Other mentions of one-third or a third part in the Old Testament include: sacrifices in the Temple were 1/3 hin of oil & wine (Num 15:5-6); Ezekiel is told to burn a third of his beard to represent the burning of Jerusalem (Ez 5:2-12) and in Ezekiel 5:12 Yahweh instructs Ezekiel to give this message to Jerusalem (before 586/7 BC): A third of your citizens will die of plague or starve to death inside you; a third will fall by the sword round you; and a third I shall scatter to the winds, unsheathing the sword behind them. Also see the thirds references in Ezekiel 10:14; 21:14; 31:1; 46:14.

Question: The hail comes from heaven, and the fire from the altar, but from where does the blood come?
Answer: Perhaps it is the blood of the slain witnesses mixed with the fire from the altar?

If in Biblical symbolism, trees and green grass represent humans or God's elect, what is the symbolism here? If the trees and grass represent the elect remnant that we saw in 7:3 and will see again in 9:4, then this passage indicates that the elect is not exempt from physical suffering and death as God visits His wrath upon the wicked. We should not lose our courage, however, because the Christian's ultimate destiny is life and salvation. See Romans 2:7-9 and 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 where St. Paul wrote: God destined us not for His retribution, but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, awake or asleep (meaning alive or dead), we should still live united to Him.

To those who complain that God fails to rescue Christians from their enemies, St. Augustin had this reply: "As for those who insult over them in their trials, and when ills befall them say, Where is your God?' ... the family of Christ is furnished with its reply: Our God is everywhere present, wholly everywhere; not confined to any place. He can be present unperceived, and be absent without moving; when He exposes us to adversities, it is either to prove our perfections or correct our imperfections; and in return for our patient endurance of the sufferings of time, He reserves for us an everlasting reward" (St. Augustine, City of God, Book I, Chapter 29).

The Second Trumpet Judgment: 8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and it was as though a great mountain blazing with fire was hurled into the sea: 9 a third of the sea turned into blood, a third of all the living things in the sea were killed, and a third of all ships were destroyed."
Question: Do you see a parallel with the devastation caused by the Second Trumpet and an Old Testament disaster? See the chart above and Ex 7:17-21.
Answer: The first plague on Egypt in which the Nile River turned to blood, and the fish died.

The disaster caused by the blowing of the Second Trumpet was as though a great mountain blazing with fire was hurled into the sea. The Old Testament refers to the Old Covenant Church on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem as God's "Holy Mountain" and the "mountain of God's inheritance" (Ex 15:17; Ps 30:7; Is 2:2; 25:10; Ez 17:3; etc.). The people of Jerusalem also referred to the Temple on Mt. Moriah as "the Mountain" (Ps 43:3; 48:1; 68:16; 87:1; 99:9; Is 27:13; 30:29; 66:20; etc.). See Ezekiel 6:1-7, where Yahweh tells His prophet to turn towards the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

Question: Keeping these traditions in mind, can you recall a passage in the New Testament when Jesus talks about the destruction of a "mountain"? See Matthew 21:18-22.
Answer: During Jesus' last week in Jerusalem, in the middle of a series of discourses and parables about the destruction of Jerusalem, He left the Temple Mount and stopped to curses an unfruitful fig tree as a symbol of divine judgment upon Judah/Israel (Mt 21:18-20). When His disciples ask Him how it is that the fig tree withered instantly, He answers them: "In truth I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt at all, not only will you do what I have done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be pulled down and thrown into the sea,' it will be done. And if you have faith, everything you ask for in prayer, you will receive" (Mt 21:20-22).

Notice Jesus didn't say "a mountain," He said, "THIS mountain"! Jesus was referring to the Temple on Mt. Moriah that He had just left after throwing out the moneylenders. Jesus was not being flippant, and He was not requiring unreasonable physical feats from His disciples. He was also not changing the subject from His continued discourse on divine judgment against an apostate covenant people and the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. He was still giving them a lesson about the fall of Judah-Israel. The instructions are to pray for judgment on apostate Israel and to condemn its apostate mountain (Temple) to destruction.

Question: Did the Disciples and Apostles understand this judgment on the people of the Old Covenant for rejecting the Messiah? Before you answer, read 1 Thess 2:13-16.
Answer: Yes, they understood. Speaking about the Jews who rejected Christ, Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16: "Their conduct does not please God, and makes them the enemies of the whole human race, because they are hindering us from preaching to gentiles to save them. Thus, all the time they are reaching the full extent of their iniquity, but retribution has finally overtaken them."

We have already discussed Scripture and tradition referred to both Israel and the Temple as "the Mountain" or "Mount Zion," but there is another interesting passage in Jeremiah 51:24-25, 42 that may be a reference to our Revelation verses. In this passage, Jeremiah prophesies that even though God has used Babylon to bring His judgment upon Judah and the Temple (586/7BC), that He will also bring His judgment on Babylon. Jeremiah writes: I am setting myself against you, mountain of destruction, Yahweh declares, destroyer of the whole world! I shall reach out My hand for you and send you tumbling from the crags and make you a burnt-out-mountain (verses 24-25), and The sea has risen over Babylon, she sinks beneath its boisterous waves (verse 42). The historical city of Babylon was located on a flat plain, not on a mountain. It is not near the sea, nor did the city ever plunge into the sea, and it was in ruins in the time of St. John. The imagery is of God's wrath and the just destruction of Babylon; it is not a literal description. The connection to Jerusalem in the 1^st century is that, like the city of Babylon, Jerusalem has caused God's people to suffer and stood in opposition to God's divine plan. This comparison with Babylon will continue in future chapters of Revelation.

Question: Did you notice the triple curse of destruction again with the blowing of the second trumpet? Is the destruction complete?
Answer: The curse includes a third of the sea turning to blood, a third of the living things of the sea destroyed, and a third of ships destroyed. Again, destruction is NOT complete.

The Third Trumpet Judgment: 10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star fell from the sky, burning like a ball of fire, and it fell on a third of all rivers and on the springs of water; 11 this was the star called Wormwood, and a third of all water turned to wormwood, so that many people died; the water had become so bitter."
Like the preceding trumpet vision, the vision of the Third Trumpet combines Biblical imagery from both the plagues of Egypt in Exodus and the great city Babylon.
Question: The Third Trumpet recalls what Egyptian plague?
Answer: It recalls Exodus 7:21 and the first plague when the water became bitter because of the dead and decaying fish.

Question: What is the connection to Babylon is this passage. Hint: read Isaiah 14:12-15.
Answer: In the Isaiah passage, he predicts the fall of the great city of Babylon in terms of the fall of Satan from Paradise. Satan's name before he fell was Lucifer, "dawn-star."

Question: What is the name of the star in Revelation 8:11?
Answer: "Wormwood."

It is a plant of the genus Artemisia that has a bitter taste. The same term appears in the Law (the Pentateuch) and the Prophets to warn Israel of its destruction as a punishment for apostasy. In Deuteronomy 29:17-18, it refers to one who spreads idolatry. In Amos 6:12, the prophet warns of turning the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. In Jeremiah 9:14 "15, God says that He will feed His idolatrous people with wormwood, give them poison to drink, and there is the same punishment for false prophets in Jeremiah 23:15, I shall give them wormwood to eat and make them drink poisoned water since from the prophets of Jerusalem godlessness has spread throughout the land. Also see Lamentations 3:15, 19; and Amos 5:7.

Question: The poisoning of pure water is the reverse of a miracle that God gave the children of Israel in the Exodus. Do you recall that miracle? See Exodus 15:22-26.
Answer: It is a reversal of the healing of the bitter waters of Marah in Exodus 15:22-26 when God showed him a piece of wood. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became sweet.

The Fathers of the Church have always taught that this miracle prefigured Christ, whose death on the cross would take away the bitterness of sin and death and provide the living water of salvation in Christian baptism. There is also a warning that God gives Israel in Exodus 15:26 ~ If you listen carefully to the voice of Yahweh your God and do what He regards as right, of you pay attention to His commandments and keep all His laws, I shall never inflict on you any of the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh, your Healer. Old Covenant Israel/Judea did not heed this warning, and the afflictions of Egypt fell on them symbolically and in some cases, literally. In Jerusalem during the revolt, some of the Jews fought among themselves and poisoned each other's wells. Note: Many Christians became interested in reading Revelation when the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Russia had a near melt-down in the 80s. Chernobyl in Russian means ' wormwood."

The Fourth Trumpet Judgment: 12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were blasted, so that the light went out of a third of them and the day lost a third of its illumination, and likewise the night. 13 In my vision, I heard an eagle, calling aloud as it flew high overhead, Disaster, disaster, disaster, on all the people on earth [who dwell on the land] at the sound of the other three trumpets which the three angels have yet to blow!'"
Question: Was there a plague in Egypt that recalls the vision in verse 12? See Exodus 10:21-13.
Answer: The ninth Egyptian plague was "thick darkness."

The ancients and Old Testament prophets used the imagery of darkness or a natural phenomenon like an eclipse to depict the fall of nations, rulers, and kings (see Is 13:9-11, 19; 24:19-23; 34:4-5; Ez 32:7-8, 11-12; Joel 2:10, 28-32; Act 2:16-21), and at the crucifixion of Christ: It was now about the sixth hour and the sun's light failed, so that darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour (Mt 27:45; Mk 15:33; and Lk 23:44).

And in reverse, we are familiar with the connection between light, new stars, or comets and the birth or coming into power of a king or conqueror like the passage in Numbers 24:17 concerning a "star" that will arise from Jacob prophesizing the birth of the Messiah. The Magi's identification of the Star of Bethlehem with the birth of a king was very much in keeping with the traditions and superstitions of their time. In the Roman Empire of the 1^st century AD, there were assassinations of a series of Caesars. Roman emperors Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho and Vitellius were either murdered or, in Nero's case, died of suicide. In Judah, Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa, most of the Herodian princes, and several high priests of Jerusalem all died in disgrace, in exile, or by violence. All these men were darkened suns and fallen stars.

In verse 13, St. John hears (again he hears before he sees) an eagle, calling aloud as it flew high overhead warning of the wrath to come. Like many other covenantal symbols, the eagle has a dual nature.

1. On the one hand, the eagle symbolizes the salvation God provided for Israel: You have seen for yourselves what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you away on eagle's wings and brought you to me (Ex 19:4; also see Dt 32:9).
2. But on the other hand, the eagle conveys prophetic warnings of Israel's judgment in images of an eagle or other birds of prey associated with blood, death, and destruction. For example:
   • Put the trumpets to your lips! Like an eagle, disaster is swooping on Yahweh's home! Because they have violated my covenant and been unfaithful to my Law (Hos 8:1).
   • Job referring to an eagle/vulture: His young ones also suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is he (Job 39:30).
   • Where Jesus says, "the coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning striking in the east and flashing far into the west. Wherever the corpse is, that is where the vultures will gather" (Mt 23:27-28).
   • Also see Gen 15:9-12; Dt 28:26, 49; Jer 4:13; 7:33-34; 16:3-4; 19:7; 34:18-20; Ez 39:17-20; Lam 4:19; Hab 1:8; Rev 19:17-18.

The flying eagle/Living Creature from Revelation 4:6, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle, will reappear in Revelation 12:14 as an image of salvation. And at the end of the Sanctions section in 14:6, a "flying angel" proclaims the Gospel to "those who dwell on the Land" because his mission is ultimately redemptive and not destructive. But the salvation of the world will come about through Israel/Judah's fall as a dispossessed firstborn son to be replaced by a younger brother in the Jewish and Gentile Christians.

St. Paul writes in Romans 11:11-15, 25, their failure has brought salvation to the Gentiles in order to stir them to envy. And if their fall has proved a great gain to the world, and their loss has proved a great gain to the gentiles, how much greater a gain will come when all is restored to them! And that is why the Eagle begins his message with wrath, proclaiming three woes, crying "disaster" three times: one for each of the trumpets that remain. The next three trumpets will release the disasters that are to come upon "those who dwell on the Land," which we have identified biblically as a reference to Israel. This image is a replay of Ezekiel 7:1-14 in which Yahweh instructs Ezekiel to called out repeatedly to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "disaster ... the end is coming" followed by Yahweh's announcement in verse 14a, The trumpet sounds, all is ready! Indeed, now that the eagle has cried out his warning of "disaster," it is time for the blowing of the fifth Trumpet!

Like the plagues of Egypt, the curses are becoming more intense; the crescendo is building with the three woes of the eagle corresponding to what we will see as the fifth, sixth, and seventh blasts of the trumpets when the terrifying sanctions of the Law are finally unleashed against the covenant-breakers. At that time, Christ the King will inherit the kingdoms of the world through the establishment of His Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the Catholic (universal) Church, and will bring the nations of the world into His kingdom to worship in His holy Temple in Heaven by the connection to every altar in every place of New Covenant worship on earth.

On Wednesday before His crucifixion, Jesus warned His disciples: So when you see the appalling abomination, of which the prophet Daniel spoke, set up in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must escape to the mountains (Mt 24:15, referring to Daniel 12:11). Four Roman legions came across the Euphrates River in AD 68 and descended like a horde of locusts to devastate Judea. They surrounded Jerusalem and destroyed the city and the Temple on the 9^th of Ab, AD 70. General Titus took his legion's pagan standards into the Temple and offered sacrifices to them, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy of the appalling abomination in the holy place (Flavius Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 6.6.1, 6.4.7).

Appendix: A description of silence that filled the Sanctuary when Zechariah offered the incense on the Golden Altar of Incense during the liturgy of worship (Lk 1:8-10) from Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice:
     "The three priests entered the Holy Place, and when they arrived at the end of the room, they stopped in front of the Altar of Incense. The priest carrying the live coals from the sacrificial altar stepped forward and reverently placed the embers on the Altar of Incense. After the first priest positioned the burning embers, the second priest stepped forward to spoon the incense on to a corner of the altar's recessed top but not on the glowing embers. The two assisting priests prostrated themselves in front of the incense altar, facing the Holy of Holies, and then rising they stepped back and turned around to retrace their steps to the entrance. The other priests still in the Holy Place accompanied them, leaving Zechariah utterly alone in the sacred space. As he waited for the signal to offer the incense, Zechariah must have admired the beautiful inner altar that was a copy of the heavenly incense altar Moses saw when God instructed him to build the furnishings for the earthly Sanctuary (Ex 25:9). The incense altar was a small gold-covered column with a square top. It was twice as tall as it was wide, and it stood about the height of his chest. Its recessed gold top had four horn-like protrusions at each of its four corners, and the top was trimmed with a golden fence to contain the coals and the incense (Ex 30:1-10). In those moments, Zechariah prayed; he must have prayed for the deepest desire of his heart. Zechariah and his wife had no children, but he continually prayed for a child to carry on his name. It was an impossible petition for an old man with a barren old wife, but his God was the God of impossible petitions (Lk 1:5-7).
     The chief priest who served as the Temple Superintendent stood at the door to the Sanctuary, waiting to give the signal that it was time to offer the incense. If this was the morning service, he gave the command before the presiding chief priest placed the body of the Tamid lamb and the grain offerings on the altar fire. If it was the afternoon service, he did not give the command until after the placing of the body of the lamb and the grain offerings on the fire. The sacrifice of the Tamid offered to God on His holy altar, morning and afternoon, had to fall within the two offerings of the incense, identifying the two Tamid lambs as a single sacrifice. As the choir was singing and as the people were praying outside in the Sanctuary, the priest standing at the door of the Sanctuary signaled to Zechariah that it was time to burn the incense. Zechariah stepped forward to complete a service to God that was the climax of his priestly life.
     The old priest solemnly approached the Altar of Incense and carefully spooned the incense upon the burning embers. Immediately, sweet-smelling white smoke rose from the incense altar and began to fill the Sanctuary. The congregation in the courtyard was facing the Altar of Burnt Offerings, watching the High Priest or his representative place the body of the Tamid lamb and the people's other offerings to God upon the sacrificial altar (if it was the afternoon Tamid service). However, when the smoke of the incense began to spill out of the Sanctuary doors, they turned toward the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. The people fell to their knees, and then lifting up their hands, they prostrated themselves in prayer and submission to Yahweh, their God.
     The choir ceased their songs, and a profound silence enveloped the entire Temple complex. In that moment of silence, as the old priest prepared to prostrate himself in front of the Altar of Incense, he was startled by a sudden movement. As he looked up, he saw an angelic being standing beside the Altar of Incense. The angel may have come from behind the curtain that covered the Holy of Holies, the sacred space that united God's heavenly Sanctuary to His earthly Sanctuary. On this day, the divine messenger had another mission in addition to carrying the prayers of the faithful to Heaven: And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense (Lk 1:10-11). The angel stood to the right of the incense altar, the same position in which he stood by the incense altar in the heavenly Sanctuary (Rev 8:1-3)."

Next week: The Revelation of the Fifth and Sixth Trumpet Judgments!

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