Rapture and Wrath, Part 4: Silence in Heaven Before God Goes to War

Part 1: Rapture & Wrath: Ready or Not 
Part 2: A Scroll with 7 Seals: The Key to Unlocking the Chronology of the Last Days 
Part 3: The Sealing of His Servants and Salvation of His Saints 

Part 4

The eighth chapter of the Book of Revelation begins with a startling statement. It has the impact of an unexpected blow to the solar plexus that knocks the wind out of a person.
The Apostle John wrote: “And when he [Jesus] had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour” (Revelation 8:1).

In the previous chapter, John spoke in glowing terms of a great multitude in Heaven crying with a loud voice saying, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10). He also spoke of angels, elders, and living creatures who were worshiping God and saying, “Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 7:12).

Heaven itself was alive with the sound of music. And then, in the very midst of those songs of praise sung by this “heavenly multitude,” and without any warning or transition, John suddenly speaks of “silence in heaven about the space of half an hour” (Revelation 8:1).

Joyous songs of praise emanated from the heavenly host one moment, and in the next moment there was absolute silence. What caused the great multitude in Heaven to turn from singing to silence as quickly as the flick of a light switch turns light to dark?

A careful search for the cause of this dramatic change is rewarded. The prophet Zephaniah wrote: “Hold thy peace [be silent] at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests (Zephaniah 1:7).

The prophet made three important observations, all of which are directly related to the call for silence in Revelation Chapter 8.

First, the prophet commanded, “Hold thy peace [be silent] at the presence of the Lord God.
Second, he wed his call for “silence” to the beginning of the Day of the Lord. He said, “for the day of the Lord is at hand.” The Day of the Lord is the precise subject of Revelation Chapter 8.

When the Son of God opens the sixth seal, there will be cosmic disturbance. Something will happen to the sun, moon, and stars (Revelation 6:12-17). The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from Heaven. Cosmic disturbance is the consistent testimony of Scripture to the fact that the Day of the Lord is about to begin (Isaiah 13:6-11; Joel 2:30-31; Matthew 24:29-30; Acts 2:19-20; 2 Peter 3:9-13). With the breaking of the seventh seal (Revelation 8:1), the Day of the Lord will begin.

The scroll, no longer bound by the seals, will be consecutively rolled open as the trumpets are blown, and the Lord Jesus Christ will begin His return to Earth as the conquering King.
It is the realization in Heaven of the horrific judgment that is about to occur on Earth with the blowing of the seven trumpets which initiates the silence. Apart from the crucifixion of the Son of God, one cannot envision a more somber event in the annals of history. No wonder Heaven will be silent.

And third, Zephaniah made clear who the recipients of this judgment will be. He said, “For the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.” Here is an expression by the prophet which is dripping with sarcasm. In no sense should it be thought of as being a positive statement. The Bible is precise in stating believers will not be among the invited guests to the Day of the Lord. And our feelings should not be hurt because we were left out of the invitation list.

The Day of the Lord is the time of God’s wrath, and believers are not appointed to God’s wrath. The Apostle Paul wrote, “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered [delivers] us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). And again, he wrote, in a context where he was discussing the Day of the Lord, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation [deliverance] by our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Believers will be raptured immediately prior to the opening of the seventh seal, which initiates the wrath of God. It will be a pre-wrath rapture. The “sacrifice” the prophet refers to is those who will be slain during the Day of the Lord, when God’s holiness will be vindicated before His creation. God’s “invited guests” on that occasion will be those who rejected His grace, refused His mercy, and spurned His love. They will be sinners in the hands of an angry God.
 
The Prayers of the Saints

It is difficult for many Christians to get comfortable with the truth of God’s wrath. We are more at home in speaking of the love of God, of turning the other cheek, and of little Jesus meek and mild. Yet, I remind all of us that God’s love cannot embrace what His holiness condemns. God’s attributes work in harmony. Men cannot pick and choose the ones they like and discard the rest. If God is God, if He is holy, He must judge sin. In the ultimate sense, God’s judgment will come during the Day of the Lord.

John wrote, “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets” (Revelation 8:2). Judgment of the earth is now at the very portal of Heaven. But first, for a moment, a word of prayer must come; a prayer the content of which I suspect we would not have anticipated:

"And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake" (Revelation 8:3-5).

The censer is a golden pan, suspended by a chain. It was used at the Temple by the priests to transport heated coals from the brazen altar to the altar of incense in front of the curtain which blocked the entrance to the Holy of Holies. The coals would ignite the incense which would then rise and symbolize the prayers of the people ascending to God.

The prayers of the “saints” refer to the prayers of the great multitude in Heaven (Revelation 7:9). Following the breaking of the sixth seal, they were raptured and glorified, and are now serving God in His Temple (Revelation 7:14-15).

The Church is praying that the Lord Jesus Christ will now begin to judge Earth. Theirs is not a vindictive prayer; nor is it, in any sense, an inappropriate or insensitive prayer. It is a prayer for the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, it is the prayer believers have prayed through the centuries, perhaps without full understanding, when they voiced the words, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10; Luke 11:2). There can be no victorious king or righteous kingdom without the defeat of Satan.

Earth has been contaminated by sin since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Wickedness, evil, perversion, murder, lying, cheating, greed, war, bigotry, hatred, transgression, disobedience, natural catastrophe, idolatry, and corruption – these are some of the dreadful consequences of sin since it entered the human experience.

Satan, who solicited Adam and Eve to sin, heads an ordered world (cosmos) system which stands in opposition to God. His desire from the beginning has been to supplant man and rule Earth. Satan has an Antichrist, a false prophet, demons, fallen angels, counterfeit religionists, corrupt governments, pagans, idolaters, wicked and godless men – an army of immense size and power – at his beck and call.

Sometimes Satan, “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8), and sometimes he goes about as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). To deny his existence, ignore the threat he poses to the soul, disregard his subtle devices, and be naïve regarding his influence in the world is the height of folly. If, for a moment, the curtain were pulled back and we were permitted to see the spiritual conflict raging all around us, we would fall on our faces as dead men.

The heavens, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, the valleys, the plains, and all life – everything over which humanity was given dominion – has been corrupted by sin brought about by Satan.

When Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), He was not saying He would not one day rule over Earth, as some have erroneously suggested. He was saying He would not rule over this corrupted Earth until it is purged of all that has defiled it.

When the Apostle Peter wrote of new heavens and a new Earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13), he was not speaking of a “new” (Greek, neos) Heaven, in the sense of “origin”; he was speaking of a “new” (Greek, kainos) Heaven, in the sense of “quality.” The new heavens and new Earth of which Peter spoke are the same heavens and earth that now exist, but during the Day of the Lord they will be purged of all vestiges of sin, and will be qualitatively new (kainos).

A believer, upon accepting Christ as Savior, becomes a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is the same person, but, because his sin has been imputed to Christ and Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to him, he is a new (kainos) creation qualitatively.

Without the purging of Earth, there can be no “restitution [restoration] of all things” (Acts 3:21). Without the purging of Earth, there can be no triumph of Christ over Satan. Without the purging of Earth, there can be no golden age or Millennial (1,000-year) Kingdom ruled over by the Prince of Peace.

Understanding these things, the glorified Church in Heaven is seen praying for the wrath of God to begin on Earth; not because it is pleasant (it is unpleasant), but because it is just and necessary.

A Blowing of Trumpets

It is deeply regrettable that many Christians ignore the Book of Revelation; some literally fear it, and others do not even attempt to understand it. Many pastors, called by God to preach the whole counsel of God, never even attempt to preach from the Book of Revelation.

• All the while, the Book of Revelation brings consonant (in contrast to discordant) understanding of the closure of human history.
• The Book of Revelation records the ultimate vindication of Christ before His creation in both Heaven and Earth.
• And, it is the Book of Revelation that is the corridor leading the sons and daughters of God into the eternal state of triumph.

But now it is time for the trumpets to sound the battle cry. Everything has been done. All is ready. It is time for the Son of God to go to war: “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound” (Revelation 8:6). But the choice of the trumpet to sound the attack is not an arbitrary decision.

In ancient Israel there were two kinds of trumpets. One was a straight, seamless, silver trumpet flared at the end and known as the Hatzotzerah. The exact appearance of this trumpet can be seen today on the Arch of Titus in Rome.

By the time of King Solomon, the number of silver trumpets in the Temple had grown to 120 (2 Chronicles 5:12).

The other more familiar trumpet was known as the shofar. It was a curved trumpet fashioned from a ram’s horn. The Lord instructed that this trumpet be blown on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:9), one of Israel’s two high holy days – the other being the Feast of Trumpets.

Different kinds of blasts from the trumpets conveyed different messages. A long blast was called Tekiah, three short blasts were called Shevarim, and nine staccato blasts were called Teruah.

The trumpet had several major uses in the spiritual ritual of the nation. These uses were ordained of God. One major use was to call the people to God’s presence (at the Tabernacle) during their wilderness wanderings: “And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Numbers 10:3). The 12 tribes – numbering perhaps 1.5 million people – were spread out in designated areas for miles in every direction, and, unlike today, they possessed no cell phones. However, specific blasts on the shofar would summon them to God’s house.

A second purpose was to sound a battle alarm when they were to go to war under divine direction:

• Joshua blew the trumpet when Israel attacked Jericho (Joshua 6:4-5).
• Gideon blew the trumpet when they fought the Midianites (Judges 7:18-20).
• Nehemiah blew the trumpet when Jews defended Jerusalem from attack (Nehemiah 4:18-20).

And God himself will blow a trumpet at His second coming at the end of the age to call His children to His presence before going to war (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:6).

The Day of the Lord
The first of the three fall Jewish holidays is popularly known by the Jewish people as Rosh Hashanah, meaning “head of the year.” However, it is never called Rosh Hashanah in God’s Word. In the Scriptures, it is referred to as Zikhron Teruah, meaning “a memorial of blowing of trumpets” (Leviticus 23:24). It can also be known as Yom Teruah, meaning “day of blowing the trumpets” (Numbers 29:1). Ancient Jewish tradition states the final blowing of the trumpet will occur during the Feast of Trumpets, and at that time God will judge the world for its sin.

The Feast of Trumpets is repeatedly spoken of as Israel’s dark day. It is their only feast day that occurs on the first day of a new month on the Jewish lunar calendar, when there is only a sliver of light from the new moon.

The prophets of Israel repeatedly warned of a coming dark day of judgment for the world. They referred to it as “The Day of the Lord.” They understood it to be the time at the end of the age when the Lord would pour out His judgment on the world because of its sin.
At a time when the Jewish leaders thought the Day of the Lord was to be a time of judgment on the Gentile nations – and not on Israel – the prophet Amos wrote:

And the prophet Zephaniah gave this ominous warning:

The Apostle John, who was intimately familiar with the Jewish prophets, wrote of the Day of the Lord with these descriptive words:

However, something other than darkness and judgment was deeply embedded in the observance of the Feast of Trumpets. Ancient Jewish tradition also stated that the resurrection of the dead would occur at the end of time with the blowing of the shofar.

This concept was so strongly engrained in rabbinical thought that Jewish gravestones were often engraved with a shofar. It is more than coincidental that religious Jews, until this day, view the cemetery on the Mount of Olives as the most holy Jewish cemetery in the world. This is based on the belief that those buried there will be the first ones resurrected at the Messiah’s coming. Of course, from this mount Jesus ascended and to this mount He will return.

Two things, then, are intimately associated with the Day of the Lord. First, it is the time of the resurrection of the righteous dead and the rapture of living believers. And second, it is the time when God will go war to purge the earth of everything that has defiled it.
Concerning that day when the trumpet will be blown, the Lord taught:

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

Immediately following his discussion of the Resurrection and Rapture, the apostle moves into a discussion of the Day of the Lord with these words:

The Word of God frequently refers to human beings and angels blowing trumpets, but only twice is it ever recorded that God blows a trumpet: once at Mount Sinai, at the giving of the Law (Exodus 19:18-20), and a second time in connection with His second coming, when He will rapture His Church and then go to war (Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:3).

Here Come the Trumpets

The catastrophic events inflicted upon Earth as God goes to war by unleashing His seven Trumpet Judgments is unimaginable to the human mind. The level of devastation cannot be fully grasped.

Some commentators interpret the Trumpet Judgments figuratively and simply allow their imagination to run away with them. Others interpret the judgments literally but struggle with terms such as, “there followed hail and fire mingled with blood” (Revelation 8:7); “a great mountain burning with fire” (v. 8); “there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp” (v. 10), and “the third part of the sun was smitten” (v. 12).

Admittedly, these are difficult texts, but we lean toward interpreting the first four judgments as “natural phenomenon” such as earthquakes, volcanoes, meteorites, or asteroids which are supernaturally controlled by God in terms of their location, timing, and intensity.
Based on the description of the Day of the Lord in 2 Peter 3:10-13, some believe the Trumpet Judgments will lead to an atomic event (or series of events) which will result in the absolute destruction of Earth. While we believe it is plausible Earth will encounter a nuclear catastrophe, we do not believe the Scriptures describe its total (though this view is held by some excellent and well-known Bible teachers).

Earth is not going to be annihilated during the Day of the Lord. It is going to be purged of all defilement and prepared to become “a new heaven and a new earth” discussed in Revelation Chapter 21.

Details concerning the specific judgments may be debated, but the broad picture is clear. The first four trumpets appear to be targeted at Earth’s ecology – vegetation, oceans, rivers, streams, and the temperature. The last three trumpets are designated as “woes” because they will be far more severe than the first four trumpets. They will involve demonic torment and the killing of men.

• Angelic beings, as servants of God, are involved in initiating all seven Trumpet Judgments.
• The Trumpet Judgments are probably between one and two years in duration.
• The Bowl Judgments (to be discussed in a later article) are the result of the seventh trumpet, as the seven trumpets are the result of the seventh seal.
• The Trumpet Judgments are blown from the heavens in the process of Christ, as a conquering king, returning to Earth. He will literally reach Earth at the seventh trumpet. The Apostle John wrote of that event this way: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
• From Earth – to which He has now returned – the Lord will rapidly pour out His seven Bowl Judgments during a specified 75-day period which runs beyond Daniel’s 70th Week, or what is commonly called “the tribulation period” (Daniel 12:11-12). The 70th Week is the final seven years of this era of human history.

The Sum of the Matter

For 3,400 years, on the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar (Tishri 1), observant Jews have celebrated the Feast of Trumpets. Ten days later, they celebrated the Feast of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The 10 days from the 1st to the 10th of the month are called the “Days of Awe.” The rabbis believed that on “Trumpets” God reviewed the books of judgment to determine whether a man would live or die, and 10 days later (Tishri 10), on the Day of Atonement, final judgment was meted out.

The Feast of Trumpets was often referred to as Yom Ha-Din (“Judgment Day”) by the rabbis since it began the Days of Awe, the traditional time of God’s judgment. Repentance of sin was always foremost in the Jewish mind at this time of year.

During the 10 Days of Awe, when men and women passed each other on the street, they did not share the customary greeting of “Shalom” (Peace). Instead, they greeted one another with the words, “May your name be inscribed in the book of life.”

According to Jewish tradition, each year three books are opened on the Feast of Trumpets: the Book of Life for the Righteous, the Book of Death for the Wicked, and the Book of the In-between. And the Judge of the universe inscribes every man in one of the books.

Those inscribed in the Book of Life for the Righteous will experience grace and be granted life by the Lord. Those whose names are inscribed in the Book of Death for the Wicked will be cut off from the living and their judgment is final and irrevocable. For those whose names are not found in either of the first two books, their fate is deferred for 10 days until Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). If they sincerely repent during the 10 Days of Awe, tradition suggests God will grant them life and move their name into the Book of Life for the Righteous.

This judgment-book tradition – although greatly embellished – nonetheless finds its origin in the Scriptures. Moses, Israel’s great lawgiver, interceded before God for his nation with these words:

King David penned these words: “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous” (Psalm 69:28). And the prophet Daniel in the context of the “time of Jacob’s trouble” – or what is known biblically in the New Testament as the Great Tribulation –  was told: “… at that time thy people shall be delivered, [next the subjects of deliverance are identified], every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1).
The rabbis got it right when they said that at the end of time God would judge the world at the Feast of Trumpets.

The rabbis got it right when they said the resurrection of the righteous dead would happen at the Feast of Trumpets. The time of the Resurrection coincides with the time of the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

Did the rabbis somehow get it right when they said that, at the Feast of Trumpets, three books would be opened by God: the Book of Life for the Righteous, the Book of Death for the Wicked, and the Book of the In-between?

Immediately prior to the beginning of the Day of the Lord, the dead in Christ will be resurrected and the living believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Are these those who were written in the Book of Life for the Righteous?

During the Day of the Lord, tens of millions of wicked men and women – the invited “guests” to the sacrifice (Zephaniah 1:7) – will be slain as the trumpets are blown. Are these those whose names were written in the Book of Death for the Wicked?

At the end of the Day of the Lord there will be those who were not part of the raptured Church who will still be in mortal bodies, and will inhabit and repopulate Earth during Christ’s Millennial (1,000-year) Kingdom. Did they hear the prophetic message of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:3), perhaps speak to one of the 144,000 sealed Jews (Revelation 7:2-8; 14:1-5), or heed the preaching of the Gospel angel (Revelation 14:6-7)? Did they witness the epic event of the Rapture, then repent of their sin and refuse the mark of the Antichrist? Are these those whose names were not written in either of the first two books and came to faith in Christ during the Day of the Lord, having survived the Trumpet Judgments?

What we do know is the Word of God teaches these truths:

• First, before the Day of the Lord begins, the Church will be raptured.
• Second, countless multitudes will die during the Trumpet Judgments.
• Third, some will survive the Day of the Lord, come to faith, and enter the Millennial Kingdom of Christ on earth.

In light of these truths, dear friend, may we be so bold as to ask you some crucial questions? “In what book has your name been inscribed? Have you embraced the glorious reality that Jesus came to die for your sin on the cross of Calvary? Have you received His free gift of grace by accepting His sacrificial payment on your behalf? Have you put your trust in the Son of God as your Savior?
If you honestly answered “Yes,” then you can rest in the certainty that your name has been inscribed in the Book of Life for the Righteous!