David Pawson - Revelation Part 3

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THOUGHTFUL THOUGHTS  12.6.26 BY JOHN DUNNING. Revelation Part 3.

Revelation ch. 8 to 11

Trumpets & Woes.

INTRODUCTION

Most have found Revelation to be the hardest of Bible books to understand. Yet the most important message to remember is that “Jesus Wins”;- and that is the simplest of all messages to understand. Without Revelation, the Bible would be left like a book without an ending. Some theologians like Luther struggled with this book most of all, who dismissed Revelation as uninspired. Luther never included it in his commentary, as he simply failed to get to grips with it at any level. 

But then Luther also only got as far as repenting, but did not follow through on the instructions in Acts 2:38, commentating on which, David Pawson compared the stages of “The Normal Christian Birth” to the four cylinders of a car, which needs to have all four working properly! 

CATCH-UP ON REV. Ch. 6-7… THE “SEALS”.

Horses stood for military force. (Notice that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey at first, and not on a horse at that time… Next time it will be different.)

i). The first seal is a white horse showing the return of the King.

ii). The second seal is a red horse showing blood will be spilled. (Associated with war).

iii). The third seal is a black horse showing famine will result. (Often comes with war).

iv). The fourth seal is a pale horse, showing disease, death, and hades. (Typical of war).

v). The fifth seal starts the two “Woes” coming. (A “woe” is a curse. Compare the “woes” of Jesus.) These “Woes” will result in the world blaming, hating and murdering believers. Petitions will be made to God by believers at this time, resulting in… 

vi). The sixth seal introduces massive persecution of God’s people by haters of God.

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As John witnessed a pause in heaven after the sixth seal, we stopped at this point last time… even though Seal 7 is still to come, after a delay.

Notice that in Chapter 7 the disciples during end times are still on earth facing the time of big trouble…(tribulation).

CHAPTER 8;- THE “TRUMPETS”;- 

The first 4 “Trumpets” out of 7.

i).   When the first trumpet is blown, it brings a scorching of 1/3rd of the earth; (which is often seen in war.)

ii).  When the second trumpet is blown, 1/3rd of the sea becomes polluted.
iii).  When the third trumpet is blown, 1/3rd of fresh water becomes contaminated.
iv). The fourth trumpet introduces semi-darkness, followed by more troubles, called “woes”. These trumpets mean famine and thirst will come…

Then comes a dire warning…

The 5th, 6th & 7th Trumpets have a special warning called a “woe” that goes before them in 8:13. (Remember from last time that a “woe” is a curse…)

“And I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.” (Remember, a “woe” is a curse…)

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CHAPTER 9 - The 5th Trumpet & the Woes…

St John was trying to explain the future that he was seeing in his vision, but only had an ancient vocabulary to describe things of the future that had not been invented at that time. 

For example in Rev. 9:7, as John says “The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle”, it shows that they were not actual locusts, or he would have said so. It has become widely accepted now that what John saw in his vision of the future, was an army that looked like locusts, (eg Rev.9:7), and he was seeing in his vision different types of aircraft; (like helicopters and drones, etc.) However, there was no vocabulary at that time for such things. This is even more evidence of the inspiration of Revelation, as John was saying something that has only come true in the current age of aviation, but no one in his day could have dreamt it up. (A modern-day example would be the equivalent of saying he was trying to explain colours to a blind person!)

In Rev.9:1-11 when the 5th trumpet is blown, there is an especially bad “woe”, (or curse), as it means there is a huge swarm of insects; (compare what happened to the Egyptians when they refused to release the Israelites.)

Just as the earth is breathing a sigh of relief, Rev. 9:12 says, “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more…”. So what happened? 

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The 6th Trumpet…

vi). Rev. 9:12 tells us that there are two more woes still to come…
At Rev. 9:13-14 the sixth trumpet is blown and the curse that comes from it keeps four angels very busy. 

At Rev. 9:15, John is told that what happens then has been saved for this very hour and day, and year, and only God knows the exact moment this will happen. 

No one else is repenting, and 1/3rd of those opposing God dies as the end draws near.

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THE 7 “WOES”.

Next comes the “Woes”... There will be massive global persecution of believers with  petitions to God from believers, and while the believers are being persecuted there will be terror on the persecutors. (I am currently reading “Heroes of our Faith” by Patrick Sookhdeo, which reminds us that ever since the early church, Christians have been martyred somewhere.)

Then John witnessed ‘silence’, which will be interrupted with an earthquake.

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Chapter 10 is regarding John…

John is told to take a scroll from an angel and eat it. That leads on to prophesying.

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Chapter 11 is regarding two witnesses…

Two witnesses will be left prophesying but given supernatural powers in order to defend themselves. They will even be given power over nature itself to reinforce their words. 

Then comes the end of all the prophesying and witnessing of the two witnesses, bringing an end to the 2nd woe, when after finishing all of their prophesying, the “Beast” will be allowed to kill the two witnesses. But, after three and a half days they will rise again and go directly to heaven. At this point another earthquake kills 7,000 people in the city, just where the two witnesses used to prophesy. 

At Revelation 11:14 The second woe is finished.

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B).  AT THE 7th TRUMPET, there is another earthquake and a pause…

At Rev. 11:15 the seventh trumpet is sounded, and God is worshipped.

AT Rev. 11:19 and the trumpet brings another earthquake.

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EPILOGUE - JESUS WINS!

The important thing is that the warnings and punishments offer a final opportunity for repentance for all those who have a heart to turn to God, like the thief on the cross. What we need is God’s mercy before we face His justice. God knows the future, which shows us that He is in control. Believers do not need to fear the end result, because Jesus is telling us that He wins! This world will be wound up as we know it, but there will be a new heaven and new earth… Do share this study with your friends…especially if they are part of the suffering church.

This is John Dunning signing off from “Thoughtful Thoughts” for another week.

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