Sin resulted in widespread disaster and terrible pain, yet pain is actually a form of God's grace.
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Previous DIG DEEPER posts on Revelation
Revelation 8 Summary
Remember that as we read through Revelation that we keep reading about the same events over and over from different perspectives. To us it seems the seven seals came first, next come seven trumpets, and after all of that the seven bowls of wrath are poured out (we'll read about them in the coming days). But if we understand these accounts as different perspectives of the same events, it helps us see that Revelation is not just telling us about the future, but rather how Christ's victory has already, is now, and still will be fully accomplished.
The trumpets here in chapter 8 represent God's warning to sinful man to repent. Today's chapter tells of four of the seven trumpets, and though they're all different, they do have some commonalities.
First, they all trigger fantastic disasters: fiery killer hail, great mountains thrown in the sea, a star crashing into the waters and the astronomical lights going out. The hyperbolic descriptions John gives here serve two purposes. Certainly they convey terrible suffering, but the logistically impossible illustrations help point us away from trying to match specific disasters the world has experienced with specific trumpet blasts in Revelation. The point is that all disasters - big and small - are trumpet calls from God calling the world out of sin.
Second, each of these trumpet calls have limited results. Notice how many times the phrase a third is used. Just as each of these trumpet blasts are only partially destructive, so does the world only partially respond to God's call to experience His grace.
Dig Deeper
We read that the prayers of God's people go up before Him like the smoke of incense (v3-4). What a blessing to know that right now, your prayers are rising up before God and He is sensing your prayers in more ways than just hearing them.
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father strikes terrible fear in sinners, but He extends you grace, mercy and peace.
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll be able to trust in God's goodness when disasters strike
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
