169 - God Answers Prayer [B]

God Answers Prayer. Rev. 8:1-5

Revelation chapter eight begins the second series of judgments, the trumpet judgments which follow the seal judgments. The term "the Lamb" (v.1) is John's favourite term for the Lord Jesus Christ and 27 times in the book of Revelation John refers to Jesus by this title. It is the focal point of the role of Christ that lies behind these judgments. There is a response that we should have in response to prophecy, and that is one of awe and silence because what we are witnesses to is the ultimate judgment of God on the human race for their rebellion, for their rejection of Him, and their becoming entrenched in this arrogant hostility to God and His plan.

As we have seen in our study of Revelation the scenes shift from chapter to chapter. Chapters four and five take place in heaven, they are a prelude to what happens in chapter six and they set the stage. Chapter six explains the first six seal judgments. Chapter seven then takes us to heaven but it takes place at the same time as the first six seal judgments. It is telling us about God's grace during the Tribulation period. Then chapters eight and nine take place after chapter six, focusing again on the events on the earth and the outworking of divine judgment. As has been said, the proper response that we see in Scripture is silence as we look at the outworking of God's judgment. Zephaniah 1:7 ^NASB "Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near…" The "day of the Lord" is a technical term to describe the judgment of God on different people. It can be historic but it is primarily used in terms of the future judgment of God; It is used in a broader sense to refer to the entire Tribulation period and in a more narrow sense to refer also to the final part of that judgment, the events of the Armageddon campaign. As these judgments of the end times are anticipated Zephaniah calls for silence. Psalm 76:8, 9 ^NASB "You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. Selah." Habakkuk 2:20 ^NASB "But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him." This is a significant passage because the temple here is the heavenly temple, and what we see prior to the first seal judgment is the prayers of the saints going up to the heavenly temple.

Revelation 8:2 ^NASB "And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them." The seven trumpet judgments are revealed. Notice that in chapter six when the seals are broken it is the Lamb who breaks the seals. There are no angels involved in the breaking of the seals, but when the seventh seal is broken by the Lamb then the subsequent judgments are executed by angels, and then when we come to the bowl judgments they, too, will be executed by angels. What we see here is that these judgments are represented by seven angels that stand before God. This is a unique group of angels. We only know of one angel specifically in Scripture that is said to stand before God and that is the angel Gabriel, according to Luke 1:19.  Michael is the angels that is most closely associated with the outworking of God's plan for Israel and is the only archangel mentioned—Daniel 10:13; 12:1; Revelation 12:7. These are the only two angels that we know of by name in Scripture. So these seven angels stand before God and they have a specific mission in carrying out God's judgment on man. One of the primary roles of angels in history is carrying out divine judgment, and this is one of their primary roles in the book of Revelation in the future; they are the ones who oversee and carry out the judgment of God. The trumpet judgments occur during the first part of the Tribulation period. 

Revelation 8:3 ^NASB "Another [of the same kind] angel came and stood at the altar [in the heavenly temple], holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne." The earthly tabernacle and temple were built on the archetype, the primary pattern, of a heavenly temple, as indicated in Hebrews chapter ten. So there is a heavenly altar that is comparable to the altar of incense that is in the tabernacle and the temple. The angel here is holding a golden censer, which is a bowl or object that is used to carry hot coals. These hot coals would come from the brazen altar brought into the tabernacle or temple to light the incense at the altar of incense, which was a picture of intercessory prayer. The abundance of the incense in this verse relates to the abundance of prayer that this pictures. This is a real event but it is an event that pictures the intercessory petitions of saints on the earth who are praying that God would bring an end to the satanic kingdom on the earth.

In the Old Testament in the tabernacle there was the altar of incense that had the four horns on it (picturing power) and the high priest would come in and put the blood on the four horns of the altar, then there would be incense on the altar, and then he would bring in the coals from the brazen altar outside to light the incense. This is the situation when two of Aaron's sons violated that principle and offered strange fire, it didn't come from the brazen altar outside and the result was that God took their life instantly for violating His plan. This altar of incense is related to two previous passages in the book of Revelation. Revelation 6:10 ^NASB "and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?'" Remember the phrase "those who dwell on the earth" depicts the hardened people on the earth who will never respond to God's grace, who are dead set against any rule of God upon the earth, and despite all of God's grace and the extension of the gospel message throughout the Tribulation period will never respond. There are others who will respond during the Tribulation period. The altar is also related to Revelation 5:8 ^NASB "When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." So these bowls of incense are carried by the 24 elders, the church age believers functioning as priests in the temple in heaven. They are not functioning as intercessors, they are simply holding these bowls that represent the prayers of the saints during the Tribulation period. Those during the Tribulation period are the martyrs who are depicted as being under the altar and their prayers are going up. Their prayers are for justice, that God would finally bring justice upon all of these evildoers, these earth dwellers who are persecuting God's people during the Tribulation period. There is a direct connect to 8:3. This is a picture of the fact that God is answering these prayers.

Many times through history God's people have prayed, both Old Testament Jewish saints and New Testament believers, that God would bring justice. They lived under unjust governments, they lived in empires that persecuted believers, they lived at times when they have been treated in harsh ways by various governments; and they have prayed that God would bring judgment. And yet they would give their lives as martyrs and there would apparently be no change during that time on the earth. That is because God has a plan and a purpose, and He has not just planned to bring judgment on the evil doers at the time that we would want it to be. We learn from this that God has a priority system in the way in which He answers our prayers. His answer to our prayers is built upon His purpose in history, and His purpose in history is to bring about the salvation of as many people as He can. God desires that all men be saved. It is only when the number of salvation reaches its completion that then God will answer the prayers of the saints and bring judgment upon those who are in rebellion against Him. This is what we see depicted in Revelation 6:11. God answers prayers but they may not be according to our timetable.

Revelation  8:4 ^NASB "And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand." There are several key passages in the Old Testament that connect the incense to prayer. For example, Psalm 141:2 ^NASB "May my prayer be counted as incense before You; the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering." So as the smoke ascends from the incense it is the picture of our prayers going up before God. 2 Chronicles 30:27 ^NASB "Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to heaven." The context of that verse has to do with the revival that occurred in Israel under King Hezekiah. Prior to his rule there had been much apostasy in the southern kingdom and they had been given over to the worship of various idols, but under the leadership of Hezekiah they turned. At the end of the celebration that they had for the cleansing and restoration of the temple they reinstituted the observance of the Passover meal. Jews came from the northern kingdom as well as the southern kingdom in order to participate in this restoration of the observance of Passover. The prayer of dedication that they had for this Passover event ascends to heaven. So the prayers of the saints are pictured as ascending before God.

Revelation 8:5 ^NASB "Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake." Fire is used in the Scripture to depict judgment. Fire is that which cleanses and purifies, and because of evil and sin upon the earth the kingdom of man upon the earth needs to be judged and cleansed and purified before the Lord Jesus Christ can return and establish His kingdom upon the earth. He has to bring to conclusion the whole problem of evil in human history. The pouring of fire on the earth is a picture of judgment that comes upon the earth at the end of the Tribulation period; it is a judgment of fire, and this is a depiction of what John the Baptist announced regarding Jesus Christ: Matthew 3:11 ^NASB  "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." The water refers to water baptism and the fire refers to the purification that takes place at the end time during the Tribulation period when the earth is judged and purified and made ready for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ upon the earth. We see pictures of this in the Old Testament. Ezekiel 10:2 ^NASB "And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, 'Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter {them} over the city.'" This is a prophecy related to God's judgment on Jerusalem at the time of the southern kingdom's judgment in 586 BC for their idolatry and rebellion against God.

In verses 3-5 of Revelation chapter four we see that the prayer draws the connection between the martyrs in the fifth seal judgment to the execution of these judgments. The principle is that God answers prayer but He answers prayer according to His timetable and according to His plan. This is seen in terms of the answer to the prayer in Revelation 6:10, 11, that they needed to wait a while longer until the number of their brethren that were killed had been completed. So there is a specific number of saved in history and when the last one who will and would be saved is saved then there is the end. This is not only related to the Rapture, it is related to the Tribulation period as well. We have also noted that there is a priority in God's plan. He will deal with evil, injustice and suffering, but what takes precedence is His desire of salvation. 1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. God's primary goal is to have the gospel made clear so that all who will will come to the cross and trust in Jesus Christ as their saviour.

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