Revelation 1:3 (ESV) - Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Revelation 8:1–5 (ESV) - When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

Numbers 10:8–10 (ESV) - And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 9And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. 10On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Revelation 8:13 (ESV) - Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

Revelation 9:1–6 (ESV) - And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

Revelation 9:11 (ESV) - They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

Abaddon = place of destruction
Apollyon = the destroyer

Revelation 9:13–15 (ESV) - Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind.

Revelation 9:18 (ESV) - By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.

Revelation 9:20–21 (ESV) - The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

So what?

· Repent of your sin. Humble yourself and turn to Christ. Acknowledge the warning sign God graciously gives now.

· Live in the world of the gospel – Jesus reigns!!

Discussion Questions
1. In Revelation 8:1, what seems to be the significance of the half-hour of silence in heaven?

2. Why is Revelation 8:1-5 important to setting the stage for the trumpet judgements that follow?

3. As we witness God’s judgements, consider how His justice and mercy intersect. How does this shape our understanding of His nature?

4. Since Revelation 4-5 the opening of the seals has taken place in heaven and are poured out on earth. How does this impact your understanding of Matthew 6:9-13 when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?”

5. Which of the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20) were broken when considering Revelation 9:20-21?

6. In what way does Revelation 8-9 stir you to a life of repentance and surrender to Christ? What is one specific way this will look this week?