The Number Seven.
After the opening of the seventh seal the contents of the scroll are revealed. We see the Lamb for who he is and what He has done. Revelation ‘reveals’ the patience and amazing love of God through Christ. In v1 of chapter 8 we ‘hear’ a silence proclaimed that lasted for about half an hour.
Have you noticed that we are being constantly bombarded with sevens. The number seven is a golden thread that runs throughout the Bible. Initially the number should remind us of the completed work of God at creation. Here we saw God building a brand-new world in a series of seven steps. At the end of the process, He expresses His satisfaction with the results. This all becomes significant as we explore the devastating undoing of creation in chapters 8 and 9. The days of creation are dealt with in reverse. In the trumpets this undoing is partial (one third). On the opposite side of the chiasm, the seven last plagues do the same, follow the order of creation backwards – but completely. As we shall see then, they also mirror the plagues of the cross. There we will see that Jesus has taken the wrath of God brought by sin and rebellion. He has paid our penalty, declaring, “It is finished.” Just one word in the Greek, telelestai, which literally means “paid in full.” Reader, your penalty has been paid! If you do not accept it then you must pay your own debt, and the wages of sin is death. (Rom 6:23)
Revelation 8:3-4 NLT “ Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.”
Religion says do, Christianity says DONE. The Christian faith isn’t about what we do for God; it is about what God has done for us. In other words, because of the cross, human beings become acceptable to God. They can find meaning and purpose in life because God has already acted to make it possible.
That’s what the incense at the altar is all about. The incense originated from the altar of sacrifice. It is the sacrifice that makes the incense possible. The cross is the foundation of everything God does for His people. Because of what happened on the cross, Jesus can provide forgiveness. In the daily ritual of the Old Testament sanctuary the incense was constantly hovering over the camp, covering the people and their sins. When we fall short of the glory of God, (which the Bible says we do all the time Romans 3:23) the incense of Christ’s righteousness hovers over our lives as well.
The language of the evening Sanctuary service is used in Revelation 8:3-5. It is significant that the angel receives incense at the “golden alter which was before the throne” Rev 8:3 NKJV. The incense represents the prayers of God’s people (V:8). Their prayers are now being answered by God.
Revelation 8:3-5 provides important information regarding the trumpets in Revelation: Firstly, the 7 trumpets are God’s judgments on rebellious humanity in response to the prayers of His oppressed people. Secondly the trumpets follow the death of Jesus as the Lamb and run consecutively throughout history until the second coming (see Rev 11:15-18). This we shall demonstrate over the next few days.