God and the Lamb Will Reign Forever

Ming Yong | Sep 11, 2022

Scripture: Revelation 8:6-11:19

The Seven Trumpets

And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

The First Trumpet

The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth.(A) So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.(B)

The Second Trumpet

The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea.(C) So a third of the sea became blood,(D) a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The Third Trumpet

10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven.(E) It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood,(F) and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.

The Fourth Trumpet

12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light and also a third of the night.(G)

13 I looked and heard an eagle[a] flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe!(H) Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!”

The Fifth Trumpet

The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth.(I) The key for the shaft to the abyss(J) was given to him. He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great[b] furnace(K) so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.(L) Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth,(M) and power[c] was given to them(N) like the power that scorpions have on the earth.(O) They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree,(P) but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.(Q) They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings someone. In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.(R)

The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle.(S) Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces; they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth;(T) they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle; 10 and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king[d] the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon,[e](U) and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.[f]

12 The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.(V)

The Sixth Trumpet

13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four[g] horns of the golden altar(W) that is before God, I heard a voice 14 say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels(X) bound at the great river Euphrates.”(Y) 15 So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year(Z) were released to kill a third(AA) of the human race. 16 The number of mounted troops was two hundred million;[h] I heard their number. 17 This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.(AB) 18 A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues—by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that inflict injury.

20 The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands(AC) to stop worshiping demons(AD) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood,(AE) which cannot see, hear, or walk.(AF) 21 And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

The Mighty Angel and the Small Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel(AG) coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow(AH) over his head.[i] His face was like the sun, his legs[j] were like pillars of fire,(AI) and he held a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land, and he called out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders raised their voices. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders said,(AJ) and do not write it down!”

Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. He swore by the one who lives forever and ever,(AK) who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, “There will no longer be a delay, but in the days when the seventh angel(AL) will blow his trumpet, then the mystery of God(AM) will be completed, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”(AN)

Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”(AO)

10 Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter.(AP) 11 And they said to me, “You must prophesy again about[k] many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”(AQ)

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a measuring reed(AR) like a rod,[l] with these words: “Go[m] and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who worship there. But exclude the courtyard outside the temple.(AS) Don’t measure it, because it is given to the nations,[n](AT) and they will trample the holy city(AU) for forty-two months.(AV) I will grant[o] my two witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.”(AW) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord[p] of the earth.(AX) If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies;(AY) if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. They have authority to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy.(AZ) They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood(BA) and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want.(BB)

The Witnesses Martyred

When they finish their testimony, the beast(BC) that comes up out of the abyss(BD) will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them. Their dead bodies[q](BE) will lie in the main street[r] of the great city,(BF) which figuratively[s] is called Sodom(BG) and Egypt,(BH) where also their Lord was crucified. And some of[t] the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations(BI) will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.(BJ) 10 Those who live on the earth will gloat(BK) over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

The Witnesses Resurrected

11 But after three and a half days, the breath[u] of life(BL) from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard[v] a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.(BM) 13 At that moment a violent earthquake took place,(BN) a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe(BO) has passed. Take note: The third woe is coming soon!

The Seventh Trumpet

15 The seventh angel blew his trumpet,(BP) and there were loud voices in heaven saying,

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign forever and ever.(BQ)

16 The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, 17 saying,

We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty,
who is and who was,[w](BR)
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.(BS)
18 The nations were angry,(BT)
but your wrath has come.
The time has come
for the dead to be judged
and to give the reward
to your servants the prophets,(BU)
to the saints, and to those who fear your name,
both small and great,(BV)
and the time has come to destroy
those who destroy the earth.

19 Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant[x] appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder,(BW) an earthquake,[y] and severe hail.

Footnotes

  1. 8:13 Other mss read angel
  2. 9:2 Other mss omit great
  3. 9:3 Or authority, also in v. 10
  4. 9:11 Or as king over them
  5. 9:11 Or Destruction
  6. 9:11 Or Destroyer
  7. 9:13 Other mss omit four
  8. 9:16 Other mss read a hundred million
  9. 10:1 Or a halo on his head
  10. 10:1 Or feet
  11. 10:11 Or prophesy again against
  12. 11:1 Other mss add and the angel stood up
  13. 11:1 Lit “Arise
  14. 11:2 Or Gentiles
  15. 11:3 Or I will give to
  16. 11:4 Other mss read God
  17. 11:8 Or Their corpse
  18. 11:8 Or lie on the broad street
  19. 11:8 Or spiritually
  20. 11:9 Lit And from
  21. 11:11 Or spirit
  22. 11:12 Other mss read Then I heard
  23. 11:17 Other mss add and who is to come
  24. 11:19 Other mss read ark of the covenant of the Lord
  25. 11:19 Other mss omit an earthquake

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