Revelation 8 - 1-6 - The prayers of the Saints bring about judgment

Revelation 8:1-6
The prayers of the Saints bring about judgment!
By Brother Mike (4-12-20; 50 minutes)

1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour .
2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets .
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne .
4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand .
5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake .
6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound .

INTRODUCTION

In Revelation 8:1-6, we first read, And when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And, with respect to this verse, we ask the questions, what does the silence in heaven signify? And, why is this silence in heaven said to be about half an hour?
But, next, the apostle John said, And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. Who are these seven angels? And, what do the seven trumpets given to them represent?

Then, in the next two verses, we are told that another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And, with respect to these two verses, we ask the questions, who is this angel in heaven that offers up the incense with the prayers of the Saints before God? And, who are the Saints? And, why is the smoke of the incense with the prayers the Saints said to have ascended up before God out of the angel's hand? In other words, why out of the angel's hand?

And, finally, we are told that this angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. What is this fire cast into the earth symbolic of? And, what do the voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquake symbolize? And, according to the Biblical Timeline of History , when did all this take place?

Now, the answers to all these questions and more can be found in this study. May our Lord and High Priest in heaven, Jesus Christ, bring our prayers before God as incense that we sift from this study all things in the Spirit that conform our minds into the mind of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Revelation 8:1:

1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour .

In this verse, we first read, And when he had opened the seventh seal. Remember, the He who had opened the first six seals in Revelation 6 was the Lamb, namely Jesus Christ. He is also the one that now opened the seventh seal, which is the seventh seal to the book of God's salvation plan. As we learned back in Revelation 6, each seal that was opened revealed a different aspect to God's salvation plan, and, so, by having now opened the seventh seal, we are being revealed a seventh aspect to God's salvation plan.

But, now, we read that when Christ opened the seventh seal to God's salvation plan, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. Literally, it could be translated, there was silence in heaven about half an hour. What could this possibly mean? When we look up the word silence in the Bible, one possible meaning to there being silence in heaven is that when God is silent, He is holding back His judgment. For instance, we read in Psalm 50,

Ps 50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him .

Here, it is clear that when God shall not keep silence, a fire shall devour before Him, which infers that if God shall keep silence, a fire shall not devour before him. That is, for God to be silent can mean that He is not bringing judgment. Likewise, we read in Isaiah 65,

Isa 65:6 Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom . . .

Once again, if God will not keep silence, but will recompense, it means that if He does keep silence, He will not recompense; that is, if God keeps silence, He will not bring judgment. Therefore, the idea of God being silent can mean that His judgment is being held back, which brings us back to our verse, which reads, there was silence in heaven about half an hour. Does this silence in heaven mean that God is being silent, and, therefore, what we are being taught is that God is holding back His judgment? One might think so based upon such scriptures as were previously mentioned, but it seems strange that God would keep silence by holding back His judgment here in Revelation 8 when He had already held back His judgment in Revelation 7. Could God be teaching us that He held back His judgment until all His servants had been sealed or saved, and, then, He held back His judgment again? I don't think so! God made it clear that He would hold back the winds of His judgment until all His servants were sealed or saved in Revelation 7, which meant that after His servants had been sealed or saved, His judgment would begin. Therefore, to now say that after His servants were sealed or saved that God would again hold back His judgment in Revelation 8 contradicts what God had already said in Revelation 7, namely that He would hold back His judgment until all His servants were sealed or saved, but now, in Revelation 8, after His servants had been all sealed or saved, we must logically and in order have a description of God's judgment. So, when our verse says, there was silence in heaven about half an hour, this silence must do with judgment and not its holding back.

But, then, we must ask, how can silence in heaven do with God's judgment? The key to understanding all this is to recognize that when people are being eternally saved, there is the noise of great joy in heaven. We read in Luke 15,

Lu 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance .

And, again, we read,

Lu 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth .

The idea is that as long as people are still being eternally saved on the earth, there is the noise of great joy in heaven in the presence of the angels. This infers that if there is no noise of joy (silence) in heaven then no one on the earth is being eternally saved. Do you see it now? When our verse says, there was silence in heaven about half an hour, it is teaching us that there was no eternal salvation taking place on the earth, and this is how silence in heaven has to do with God's judgment. God begins His judgment on the Church in Revelation 8 as judgment must begin at the house of God (1Peter 4:17), and this judgment begins with no one being eternally saved in or through the Church as symbolized by the silence in heaven.

Now, we are told that this silence in heaven; that is, no one being eternally saved, is for about half an hour. Why half an hour? First, half an hour is the same as 0.5 of an hour, and the number 5 can be symbolic of either grace or judgment (see Bible Number 5 ). In this case, the context dictates that the 0.5 of an hour must symbolize judgment so that when our verse says, there was silence in heaven about half an hour, it is saying that there was no eternal salvation taking place because judgment had begun. Remember, God held back the winds of judgment in Revelation 7 until all His servants had been sealed, but now, in Revelation 8, judgment began with silence in heaven about half an hour, which symbolizes that no one was any longer becoming eternally saved because judgment had begun at the house of God. According to the Biblical Timeline , this judgment on all the churches of no one any longer being eternally saved in or through the churches began on May 21, 1988, and would have went all the way to Judgment Day on May 21, 2011. But, as we read in Matthew 24,

Mt 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened .

In other words, if the days from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 had not been shortened, there should no flesh be saved because ever since May 21, 1988 no one was any longer being eternally saved, for as we read in Revelation 8:1, there was silence in heaven about half an hour, and if that period had lasted all the way to Judgment Day on May 21, 2011, no flesh would have been saved during the entire Great Tribulation. But, for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened, and they were shortened: instead of there being no eternal salvation during the entire Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011, that period of no eternal salvation was shortened to May 21, 1988 to September 7, 1994 when the Latter Rain came upon the world from September 7, 1994 to May 21, 2011 and a Great Multitude of the elect which no man could number were eternally saved outside of all the churches through ministries not under the authority of any church such as Family Radio and others. Thus, for the sake of many of the elect being saved, that period of no more eternal salvation came to an end on September 7, 1994 until Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011 when no one else would ever be eternally saved again.

Now, why does our verse say that there was silence in heaven about half an hour and not an exact half an hour? Well, common sense tells us that it was about half an hour because the silence in heaven was not for an exact half an hour, but for about half an hour. And, we can begin to understand this when we learn that the Bible refers to the entire Great Tribulation period from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 as being one hour. For instance, we will learn in Revelation 17 that the beast who is Satan had complete rule for one hour. There we read,

12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast .

Since the number 10 symbolizes the completeness of whatever is in view (see Bible Number 10 ), and horns symbolize authority while kings symbolize rule, when our verse says, And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, we are being told that the complete authority (ten horns) is complete rule (ten kings). And, then, we are told that these ten kings, which symbolize complete rule, receive power as kings one hour with the beast. The beast, of course, is Satan so that what is basically being communicated here in this symbolism is that Satan would receive complete authority and rule for one hour, and the only time in which Satan had complete rule both over the churches and the world was during the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 when God gave Satan rulership over the churches in particular to bring judgment against the house of God, for judgment must begin at the house of God (1Peter 4:17). And, as we know, Satan spiritually destroyed the churches by false gospels and false teachings during which time the true elect of God obeyed God's command to depart out from the midst of all the churches (see Why leave all churches? ).

The point I am making is that the one hour in which the beast, Satan, was given power to rule refers to the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011. This period is symbolized by one hour in the New Testament. In fact, we see this in several other verses as well in Revelation 18 where the Great City, Babylon, which we will learn symbolizes the Church, is said three times over to have been spiritually destroyed in one hour because it was during the Great Tribulation (the one hour) from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 when all the churches were spiritually destroyed. We read in Revelation 18,

Re 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come .

And, again, we read,

Re 18:17 For in one hour so great riches [the riches of the great city, Babylon] is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off . . .

And, again, we read,

Re 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she [the great city, Babylon] made desolate .

Thus, we see over and over again that the Great City, Babylon, which we will learn in our studies of the book of Revelation symbolizes all the local churches and congregations after Satan had been given rule over them on May 21, 1988, came to nothing, or was made desolate, or came under the judgment of God in one hour, which one hour refers to the Great Tribulation period. Indeed, all the so-called Christian churches throughout the world were spiritually destroyed during the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 as judgment from God against them. But, because the nature of the Great Tribulation was completely spiritual and not physical, almost no one realizes that the Great Tribulation is now over, and many have been fed Satan's lies that they will be raptured to heaven before the Great Tribulation even begins. So is the great blindness of God's judgment revealed through the churches of our day. They don't know what time we are in. They are the blind leading the blind! Yet, you are not so blind, for you see that the wrath of God now abides upon every church, except the eternal church, and even upon the whole world until the glorious and relatively soon to come day of our Lord Jesus Christ appear.

Well, now that we know that one hour refers to the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011, and that this Great Tribulation can be divided into two parts; one part from May 21, 1988 to September 7, 1994 wherein salvation came to an end, and another part known as the Latter Rain from September 7, 1994 to May 21, 2011 wherein a Great Multitude were saved, we can understand what God means when He says, there was silence in heaven about half an hour. Remember, the silence in heaven refers to that time period of the Great Tribulation where salvation came to an end, and we are told that this time period was about half an hour. Since an hour, or one hour, refers to the entire Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011, about half of that hour must refer to the first part of the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to September 7, 1994, and September 7, 1994 would be a sort of midpoint of the one hour. It is not exactly the midpoint of the one year, and that is why we are told that there was silence in heaven (no one was being saved any longer) about half of one hour. In other words, there was silence in heaven (no one was being saved any longer) about half an hour. That is, from May 21, 1988 to about the midpoint of the Great Tribulation, namely to September 7, 1994, there was no one being eternally saved. And, so, we see why it was said that there was silence in heaven about half an hour: it means that there was no salvation taking place during the first part of the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to September 7, 1994.

Revelation 8:2:

2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets .

Here, the first question that arises is, who are these seven angels which stood before God? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to move forward to Revelation 15 to read a further description of these seven angels. There it states,

Re 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles .

Notice that these 7 angels are wearing golden girdles upon their breasts. This immediately reveals that these 7 angels are priests since such clothing is that of a priest. But angels are nowhere spoken of as priests in the Bible, so who can these 7 angels be? Well, they are not celestial angels at all. The word angels can be translated simply as messengers, and the number 7 is symbolic of the complete perfection or totality of whatever is in view (see the meaning of Bible numbers ). Therefore, these 7 angels refer to the complete perfection or totality of messengers who are priests, and who are clothed in pure and white linen - the pure and white linen means that the sins of these priests are covered and paid for. These can be none other than all of God's saved people; they are God's messengers and priests who have been covered with pure and white linen through the salvation which is in Jesus Christ. Thus, when the apostle John said that he saw seven angels which stood before God, he saw a picture of the totality of the elect which stood before God.

Now, we are told that these seven angels which picture the totality of the elect were given seven trumpets. As we have already learned, the number 7 symbolizes the perfection or totality of whatever if in view, but what do the trumpets symbolize? During their wilderness sojourn, the priests blew trumpets for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps (Numbers 10:2). They also blew them to signify a holy convocation (Leviticus 23:24) and to blow an alarm for battle (Numbers 10:9). Also, remember how the trumpets were blown and the Israelites shouted to cause the walls of Jericho to fall down (Joshua 6:4-20)? So, what do these trumpets represent? Remember in Revelation 1:10 , John heard behind him a great voice as of a trumpet, and this voice, we learned, was the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ who, of course, is God. Thus, we see that the voice or sound of the trumpet symbolizes the very voice of God, and so whenever the Israelites blew the trumpets, it represented the voice of God. Of course, today we no longer blow trumpets for the voice of God, but we blow the voice of God (the trumpets) as we declare His Word. Yes, the seven trumpets which were given to the seven angels who represent the totality of the elect symbolize the totality of God's voice, which is the totality of His Word. So, when our verse states that the seven angels which stood before God were given seven trumpets it is teaching us that the totality of the elect (the seven angels) which stood before God were given the totality of God's Word (the seven trumpets), and, so, when they declare the Word of God, they are blowing their trumpets.

Revelation 8:3:

3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne .

In this verse, we first read, And another angel came and stood at the altar. Remember, John had just seen seven angels who we found symbolize the totality of the elect, and they were given seven trumpets which symbolize the totality of the voice of God, which is one and the same as the totality of the Word of God. Thus, the totality of the elect had been given the totality of the Word of God with which they will declare (they blow their trumpets) to bring judgment in the earth.

But, now, John sees that another angel came and stood at the altar, and immediately we wonder who this other angel might be. Certainly, it is not a celestial angel because this angel offers up incense in a golden censer, which, in the Bible, is the role of the priest (Leviticus 16:12). And, seeing that the priest was a human in the Bible and not a celestial angel, we are wise to see this human priestly angel as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as He is our High Priest in heaven, and after making atonement for our sins on the cross in 33 AD, He ascended into heaven to enter the heavenly sanctuary where He intercedes for the elect and offers up prayers to God on their behalf as a sweet odor of incense. Yes, in the Old dispensation the priest would burn incense on the altar of incense which stood before the curtain of the holy of holies as shown in the picture below. But, in the New Dispensation, Christ, our High Priest, has entered the heavenly sanctuary, and the incense that He offers up before God are the prayers of all the elect, the Saints.

Revelation 8:4:

4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand .

Here, we are simply told that the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the Saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand, and, since we already concluded that this angel is the Lord Jesus Christ, this is a picture of Christ interceding for the elect in heaven as He brings the prayers of the Saints (the elect) before God. And, as we learned back in Revelation 6, the prayers of the Saints (the elect) in heaven before the Great Tribulation of judgment came was like this:

Re 6:10 . . . How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?

Likewise, we can assume that the prayers of the Saints who were still on earth at that time before the Great Tribulation took place were praying something quite similar such as, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And, the elect were all praying this because they knew that until God finished His judgment upon all the unsaved of the world, they could not receive their new incorruptible and sinless bodies; nor until then could they receive the promised new heaven and earth in which they shall dwell forever with no more sadness and sorrow, no more pain, and no more death. Anyway, the elect knew their prayers were being heard by God, for their High Priest in heaven, Jesus Christ, who is their mediator, was offering up their prayers as incense before God. In fact, it was Christ's will that the elect's prayers ascend up before God, which is why they are said to come out of the angel's (Christ's) hand as Christ's hand is symbolic of Christ's will, the hand often being symbolic of the will in the Bible. So, in that the prayers of the elect ascended up before God out of Christ's hand symbolizes that it was the will of Christ that they do so.

Revelation 8:5:

5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake .

Now, in this verse, we see what happened as a result of the Saints (elect) in heaven and on the earth having prayed that judgment and the end come. We read, And the angel [Christ in heaven] took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth. Fire in the Bible has to do with judgment so that when Christ filled the censer with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth, we are being taught that He filled the censer with judgment and cast this judgment into the earth. Thus, the result of the prayers of the elect having been offered before God by Christ is that Christ, who is also God, cast judgment into the earth. That is, the prayers of the Saints (elect) for judgment to come so that their blood be avenged is answered by God by His casting down judgment into the earth. And, when did God first cast judgment to the earth? We know the answer from the Biblical Timeline of History : it all began on May 21, 1988 when the Great Tribulation of judgment began with the house of God (1Peter 4:17). Yes, judgment first came upon all the Christian churches beginning on May 21, 1988, which was the beginning of the Great Tribulation when God stopped saving anyone in or through the local churches and congregations around the world (except, of course, many were saved by the deceptions of Satan into false gospels). Indeed, on May 21, 1988, Christ began to give all the churches over to the false Christ, the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist, Satan who led them astray into false gospels and teachings right on up to Judgment Day which began on May 21, 2011 when judgment not only continued upon all the churches, but also came upon the whole world as well with no longer any possibility for the eternal salvation of anyone either in the churches or in the world who had not already been eternally saved. Yet, who are the wise that can see these things? Thanks be to God they are those who are in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, why does our verse next say, and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake? These four things are stated again in Revelation 16 where we read,

17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done .
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great .
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath .
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found .
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great .

These four things - voices, thunders, lightnings, and an earthquake - are also mentioned in Revelation 11 where we read,

18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth .
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail .

Notice how in our original verse and each of these passages that lightnings, voices, thunderings and an earthquake are clearly associated with judgment. Thus, we can know that when we see these four things listed together in scripture, it is a way to signify that judgment is taking place. It does not mean that these things literally take place during times of judgment; otherwise, we would have seen, heard or felt voices, thunderings, lightnings and an earthquake on May 21, 1988 when judgment began with the house of God. No, rather, it simply means that when we see these four things together in scripture, they are symbolizing judgment. Furthermore, because in our verse (Revelation 8:5) the judgment upon the Church is symbolized by exactly these four things - voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake - we can know that this is a worldwide judgment, for the number 4 in the Bible symbolizes universality or worldwideness (see Bible Number 4 ). So, this judgment is not just against a few churches locally, but it is against the churches worldwide, for, as we read in 1Peter 4:17, judgment must begin at the house of God, and the house of God consists of all the various Christian churches around the world.

Revelation 8:6:

6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound .

Back in verse 2, we were told that the seven angels were given seven trumpets, and we learned that the seven angels represent the totality of the elect while the seven trumpets represent the totality of God's Word. Therefore, we learned that the totality of the elect were given the totality of God's Word, and they were given the totality of God's Word in conjunction with judgment beginning at the house of God on May 21, 1988. That is, it was close to this time when God opened His Word so that His elect could begin to understand how the end would play out with His judgment first coming upon the Church on May 21, 1988, and then later coming upon the entire world on May 21, 2011. But all this took some time to educate the elect in the truth, and this is what it means when our verse says, And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. In other words, the seven angels who are the totality of the elect who then had the seven trumpets, which was the totality of God's Word prepared themselves to sound what the Spirit was teaching them in the newly unsealed Word of God, and this is where God used Family Radio in a great way. It was through their ministry of the Word that many of us were educated on the end time, and when we had learned that judgment had come upon all the churches beginning on May 21, 1988 according to the Biblical Timeline, and that Judgment Day would be on May 21, 2011, and that there would be a Great Multitude saved from September 7, 1994 to May 21, 2011, we began to send this message around the world. Indeed, after having been prepared in the truth, we began to blow our trumpets, which meant we began to declare judgment upon all the churches, and then judgment upon the entire world, and this is what we shall begin to see when we see the first four angels who each represent the elect blow their trumpets (declare the Word of God) to bring judgment upon all the churches from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011.

SUMMARY & CONCLUSION

In Revelation 8:1-6, we first read, And when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour, and we learned that this silence in heaven meant that there was no longer anyone being eternally saved in Jesus Christ because, according to scripture, there was the noise of joy among the angels in heaven when people were being saved, which infers that if there was no noise of joy (there was silence) in heaven, then no one was any longer being eternally saved. We also learned two reasons as to why this silence in heaven is said to be about half an hour. First, a half hour can be represented as 0.5 of an hour, and the number 5 symbolizes judgment. Therefore, the silence in heaven is said to be about 0.5 of an hour because this silence of no more eternal salvation is the judgement that came upon the house of God beginning on May 21, 1988 according to the Biblical Timeline of History. Second, because we learned that the Bible represents the entire Great Tribulation of judgment from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 as being one hour, the silence in heaven is said to be about half of this one hour because it was about half of this one hour; that is, about half of the period from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 wherein there was silence in heaven, which meant that no one was any longer being eternally saved. We learned that this period of no more salvation was from May 21, 1988 to September 7, 1994 which is about half (not exactly half) of the entire period of Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011. We also learned that the 2nd of about half of the Great Tribulation of judgment from September 7, 1994 to May 21, 2011, which is known as the Latter Rain, a Great Multitude were eternally saved outside of all the churches until Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011 after which no one would ever be eternally saved again.

Next, in verse 2, the apostle John said, And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. The seven angels, we learned, symbolize the totality of he elect, and the seven trumpets, we learned, symbolize the totality of the Word of God. Thus, this verse teaches us that the totality of the elect which stood before God were given the totality of the Word of God, and according to the context, the elect were given the totality of the Word sometime close to May 21, 1988 when the holy scriptures were unsealed like never before so that the end time events could begin to be understood, and so the seven angels who are the totality of the elect would begin to blow their trumpets, which was the declaration of judgment against the Church, and then against the entire world.

Then, in the next two verses, 3 and 4, we are told that another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. Here, we learned that the angel in heaven with the golden censer who offered up the prayers of the Saints before God was our High Priest in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, who heard all the prayers of His people and brought them before God. The result being that judgment came upon all the churches worldwide on May 21, 1988, and then upon the entire world on May 21, 2011. The prayers of the Saints, of course, are one and the same as the prayers of the elect, and these prayers were said to have ascended up before God out of the angel's (Christ's) hand to simply teach us that it was Christ's will that the prayers of the elect ascend up before God and be heard by Him.

And, finally, we were told that this angel [Christ] took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. The fire of the altar that Christ cast into the earth was the judgment cast into the earth which began with the house of God on May 21, 1988, and then later came upon the entire world on May 21, 2011. And, this judgment is symbolized by the voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquake.

Now, with that, may the LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace .