Revelation Lecture 11

THE PRAYER OF ALL GOD’S PEOPLE

Revelation 8:1-13

Key Verse 8:4

1. What happens in heaven when the Lamb opens the seventh seal (1-2)? What might the silence in heaven communicate about God’s presence and the events about to unfold? What are the seven angels given, what does this suggest about their role in the coming events?
2. What does the offering of incense with the prayers of all God’s people suggest about the value of these prayers to God (3-4)? What does it mean that the angel hurls the censer filled with fire onto the earth (5)? What does this image suggest about our prayers, especially in times of trouble?
3. What happens when the first and second angels sound their trumpets (6-9)? What might the repeated destruction of “a third” suggest about both the severity and the limits of God’s judgments? How would the destruction of vegetation, sea creatures, and ships affect human life?
4. What happens when the third and fourth angels sound their trumpets (10-12)? How does the name “Wormwood” relate to what happens to the water (Jeremiah 9:13-15)? Why does the eagle repeat “woe” three times (13)?