Please turn to the book of the Revelation today. Our study today will continue in chapter 8 today. And if we turn there to chapter 8, I'm going to read those verses. Revelation chapter 8, verses 1 to 13. I'll read the whole chapter. And we're going to, by the grace of God, seek to cover this chapter in this ministry meeting today. I'm reading verse 1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, And there was given 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 the angel took the censer and he filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the earth and there were voices and thundering and lightning and an earthquake and the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound the first angel sounded And there was following hail, and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth. And the third part of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were, a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea.

And the third part of the sea became blood. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died. And the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded. There fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp. And it fell upon the third part of the rivers. And upon the fountains of water, and the name of the star is called Wormwood. And the third part of the waters became Wormwood. And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. And a fourth angel sounded. And the third part of the sun was smitten.

And the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars. So as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound. This is the end of Revelation chapter 8 that we have here before us today By way of recapping what we have had so far, dear brothers and sisters, as we are studying the book of the Revelation, remember the importance of understanding this book, to understand that what we see here in those chapters, specifically from chapter 6 to the end of chapter 19, we have a seven-year tribulation period which were already spoken by Daniel the prophet who was already in the chapter 9 of this book of Daniel through the angel, he received a revelation concerning the nation of Israel here in this world.

And if you remember, there are 70 weeks that have been determined upon our people Israel. And 69 of those weeks have already finished and passed away. And by the time we arrive to the book of the Revelation from chapter 6 to chapter 19, we are dealing with those final week of Daniel, the seventh year's week of Daniel. And here in Revelation chapter 8, we are right in the middle of this one week, which is seven years, that is called in the scripture in Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 7 in Hebrew, Jacob's trouble. And we are now in chapter 8 in the middle of this tribulation, what is known to us in the scripture.

In chapter 4, in chapter 5 of the revelation, we have seen Yeshua, the Messiah, in heaven. We have seen that in chapter 4, the heavenly company worshipping God as the creator. We saw in chapter 5 that the heavenly company, namely the church, the assembly, worshipping Yeshua the Messiah as the redeemer. And the question was asked, who is worthy to take the scroll and to loose the seven seals thereof? There was a scroll in the hand of God the Father, and no one was worthy to open that scroll. And when John had heard that there was no one worthy, if you remember, he began to weep, and he cried, and he wept because no one was worthy.

Until one of the elders said to him, Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, he had prevailed to take the book. and to loose the seven seals thereof. And that scroll, that book is the title deed to this universe that men from Adam on have lost it because of sin. No one is worthy. No one in heaven, no one on earth, no one below the earth is worthy to take that scroll to take back the authority over this universe because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And so the Lamb that John observed, who were freshly slain, speaks of Yeshua, the Messiah, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.

He had prevailed. When he died for us on the tree, he paid a price for our sin, for our sins. He was judged that we will never need to be judged. and he had an authority to take the book and to open the seven seals and now to take control of this universe that was lost by men because of sin. But as he's taking this authority over this world, their final judgment that are going to fall upon the face of this earth, of which we begin to read in chapter 6, And now we continue in chapter 8. If you remember in chapter 6, he opened six seals. As he opened a seal, judgment is coming.

And the second seal, another judgment is coming. There were judgments that fell upon the face of this earth already in chapter 6. And by the end of chapter 6, already six seals were opened. And as those seals will open, we learn of the judgment of God that's going to fall upon the face of this earth during the tribulations, period. In chapter 7, we got a glimpse of what will occur here on earth during the first half of the tribulation. And how God has raised 144,000 Hebrews, Israelis, from every tribe. And those Hebrew Israelis will preach the gospel of the kingdom during the tribulation period. There will be 144,000 Shaul, Paul, who will present the gospel of the kingdom to this world because the gospel of the kingdom, speaking of the time that the kingdom is coming, the kingdom is coming, the king is coming to have authority over this world.

And they will preach the gospel, the same message, that the Messiah died for our sins, that he was buried, and he rose again on the third day. That's the gospel, and that everyone that will accept him and acknowledge him, and that will love him and acknowledge that he is the Mashiach, the Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel, the Savior of this world, they will be forgiven during the tribulation time. In the second half of chapter 7, from verses 9 to 17, we have seen so many that came out, saved, of the tribulation period. You remember we have read already in chapter 7 and verse 14, and he said unto me, Sir, you know, and he said unto me, These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb.

It's so precious to think of the fact that we, and they as well in the future, we became white and pure and clean because the blood of the Lamb, Yeshua, our Mashiach, was shed on the tree. so we can be clean and forgiven and we have these garments of salvation and that when God look at the believer in Yeshua he sees us pure and clean by virtue of the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah so six seals were open and now we are ready in chapter 8 verse 1 to see the last seal is going to be opened and unloosed by Yeshua, the Messiah. And so in verses 1 to 6 of Revelation chapter 8, we see first of all that heaven itself getting ready for the pouring of God's judgment as the last seal is being opened by Yeshua, the Messiah.

Look what it says in verse 1. Dear brothers and sisters, look at this. Listen. It says that when he, the he here, is Yeshua the Messiah, the Lamb of God, that we read of him in chapter 5 and verse 6. Let me just go for a moment to chapter 5 and verse 6. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and in the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, Having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into this earth. And verse 7 said, and he came, and he took the scroll out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne.

He took the book, the scroll, and as he takes that scroll from the hand of God the Father, he opening the seals, and now finally he arrived to the final seal. And look, it says, when He opened the seventh seal, chapter 8, verse 1. Notice what we read in the Bible. They were silent in heaven about a space of half an hour. Now I'm going to be silent for 10 seconds. There was silence in the presence of God, notice, in heaven for the space of half an hour. And the question is being asked, why is that silence for? Why is it that there is silence in the presence of God in heaven, as it says here in verse 1 of chapter 8, in a space of half an hour?

Well, we don't get the reason for that, but I would like to suggest to your brothers and sisters that there was a silence in heaven because all heaven was in an amazement as the last seal is going to be open in preparation of the judgment that is falling, going to fall down upon the face of this earth. And as if it were, beloved brothers and sisters, heaven has seen that seven seals are open of that scroll and everything has been open before the whole heaven, if you will, And they are observing to see what is going to happen next upon the face of this truth.

In fact, we also understand that now the seventh seal is being opened and everybody was in awe and amazement. And that was silence for 30 minutes. I do not know why 30 minutes, why it says half an hour. But the thought, beloved brothers and sisters, that heaven was in preparation as the final scene of the whole scroll or the title deed that belonged to God, to belong to the Messiah, being open and the judgment of falling, which will culminate with the Messiah, Yeshua, take his rightful place here upon the face of this earth. That expression, silence, is mentioned a few times in the Bible. I would like you, if you don't mind, to turn back with me to the prophets of Israel.

Turn back to Habakkuk for a moment. The prophet Habakkuk, chapter 2. If you don't mind, please, and look what we read. In Habakkuk, chapter 2, Habakkuk means to embrace. and the embracer of Israel was Habakkuk. God embraced his own people, Israel, as well. It says in chapter 2 of Habakkuk and verse 20, it says, but the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. The Hebrew word here for silence, it's simply the word has. Just the same like we sometimes, those of us who speak English, we say, shh, ha, shh. The Hebrew word here is has, hey, samech, which simply means to have silence and quiet.

Now, it doesn't mean that we stop to praise him. We are to praise the Lord, but the thought is it's in connection with judgment that is going to come. And so Habakkuk is saying the Lord is in his holy temple. chapter 2 and verse 20, let all the earth keep silence before him. The Hebrew word here is the word has. Turn to the prophet Zephaniah, which we just read, just a book after, a couple of pages in your Bible. Look what Zephaniah is saying in chapter 1 and verse 7. Zephaniah say, hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God. For the day of the Lord is at hand.

For the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice. He hath bid his guests. Again, I would say in verse 7, hold thy peace is the same Hebrew word has. It's the same word that we have in Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 20. Let the earth keep silence. and why it is the silence in Sephaniah chapter 1 and verse 7 why because the day of the Lord is at hand and the day of the Lord is the tribulation period is a day of trouble look if you just go down in Sephaniah chapter 1 verse 14 and 15 it says the great day of the Lord is near it is near it is hasting greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord, the mighty men shall cry there bitterly.

Verse 15, the day, that day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble, a day of distress, a day of wasteness, a day of desolation, a day of darkness, a day of gloominess, a day of clouds, a day of thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities against the high towers. You see brothers and sisters, when God is going to come in his righteous indignation against men, he's going to come in judgment in that day of the Lord Jacob's travel, the tribulation period. Turn another page or two please to the next prophet in the prophet Zechariah for a moment and notice what Zechariah said in chapter 2 and the last verse again Zechariah, God remembered that is the name of the prophet Zechariah and what we read look, Jehovah remembered it says at the end of chapter 2 and verse 13 it says be silent again the thought, be silent all flesh before the Lord for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.

Again, brothers and sisters, the word for be silent is the Hebrew word has. Has because God, the Lord, Jehovah is coming in judgment upon the face of this earth and everyone is seen to be in preparation for that. And so in Revelation chapter 8 and verse 1 where we are reading, it says that he opened the seventh seal this is Yeshua the Messiah and there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour you can just imagine, dear brothers and sisters, where there is a preparation of a judgment that is going to come upon this earth this world that rejected the Messiah this world that despised Yeshua, placed him on a cross, on a tree and said, away with him, away with him.

They said it 2,000 years ago, and that man is still saying it today. And God is going to judge this world, and you can see now in preparation. So first of all, we see the silence in verse 1, but now notice in verses 2 to 6 of our chapter, we see now seven angels with seven trumpets are getting ready to sound the shofar, to sound the trumpet. Now, you and I know very well as we are studying the Word of God that trumpets in the Bible are oftentimes being used always oftentimes in preparation for events that are going to occur. If you take the time and you will read in your own leisure the book of Numbers, specifically in chapter 10, you will notice that when God gave our nation, Israel, a preparation of the two trumpets, to make two trumpets of silver, he said to Israel, he says, listen, you make these trumpets and there will be a purpose for the usage of those trumpets.

The first thing we read there in Numbers chapter 10, that the trumpet will really speak to us of the gathering of the people together, to collect them together for a special event. The second reason for the sounding of the trumpet is in preparation for a war. You read it in Numbers chapter 10 and verse 9. When Israel is getting ready to fight a war, there will be the sounding of the trumpet, and Israel is going to be ready, and God will hear the sound of the trumpet and will assist his people Israel when the war will come to pass. But there was a third reason for the sounding of the trumpet in Numbers chapter 10, verse 10.

This is the call for special holidays, or special events, or special days for the nation of Israel. And so there is a reason for the preparation in the sound of the trumpet. And here we see, brothers and sisters, that there will be, verse 2, And I saw seven angels, which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And look what it says concerning those trumpets in verses 3, 4, and 5. Look what it says. First of all, in verse 3, it says here in verse 3, And another angel came and he stood at the altar having a golden censer and there was given unto him much incense that he would offer it with the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

So we have the seven angels with the seven trumpets ready to sound the trumpets, the Chatzotzra in Hebrew, and as they are getting ready to sound the trumpets, there was an additional angel, and what does he do? He came and he stood at the altar. You remember? In chapter 4 and chapter 5 of the book of the Revelation, we saw that there was an altar in glory in heaven. And that altar, in this case, it's called the golden altar. And the golden altar, upon the golden altar, there was those incense placed upon the altar. And as the incense were burned, the incense were rising to God. And the incense is a representation of the prayers of the saints.

Every time you and I are praying today in the name of Yeshua, the Messiah, our prayers are rising to God. And God listened to the prayers of the saints. And here we see that he came, he had this golden censer that was given unto him much incense that he should offer it up, notice, with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. That other angel, in addition to those seven angels, he took these incense and he was offering it up to God, together alongside with the prayers of the saints, as it says here in verse 3. Now, the prayer of the saints, brothers and sisters, those saints in this context are the saints that we already read of them in a previous chapter, in chapter 6, where they were crying.

You know, just turn back to chapter 6 for a moment. In verses 9, 10, and 11, where we read already, it says, And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they have held. Those of believers, they had been persecuted unto death during the tribulation by the counterfeit Mashiach, the Antichrist. And they, it says here in verse 10, they cried with a loud voice. And they said to God, how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? White robes were given unto them, it says in verse 11, every one of them, it says, and it was said unto them that they should rest for a little while, for a little season, until, listen, until their fellow servants also and their brethren should be killed as they were until that time will be fulfilled.

In other words, there were already many saints who have died because of the testimony of the Messiah during the early part of the tribulation period. And there were souls in the presence of God and they were saying to God, Lord, they said, how long, how long you will not avenge the blood of those, Our blood from those that are dwelling upon the face of this marriage. And they were told, listen, you wait a little. Because there are more brethren of yours who are going to be killed during the tribulation period. And they're going to be slain. And their fellow servants, they are their brethren. They are Achim.

They are brethren of yours. They also will be killed during the tribulation period. And what we find out, that their cry is now going to be answered. Their cry are going to be answered. So what we see here in verse 3 of chapter 8, that the prayers of all the saints rose up before God. And you notice this expression in the next verse, how that smoke ascended to God. Look at this, verse 4 of Revelation chapter 8, it says, And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayer of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. So what we see here, that the smoke arose to God.

And the smoke are a representation, dear brothers and sisters, of the prayers of the saints. Years ago, when our nation, Israel was still as a nation, came out of Egypt, and they were building the tabernacle according to the pattern which God had given to Moses, which God had in heaven. And they built the tabernacle, the Beit HaMikdash, we call it in Hebrew, and as they were traveling, doing the desert, the wilderness journey, there was a time where the tent was erected again, and you could see all the articles have been set there in the tabernacle, in Beit HaMikdash, But there was an altar, a golden altar, before the Holy of Holies, in the holy place, and there Aaron will offer incense.

And all those incense will be representing the prayers of Israel, which rose up to God's nostrils. And God heard that. God was listening to the prayers of the saints. That's why the scripture oftentimes encourages us to pray. And if you remember, David earlier said in Psalm 141, he said, Let my prayer be set before you as an incense and the lifting up of my hand as the evening sacrifice. David, ask God that his prayer and praises will be lifted up before God as the incense of the golden altar will rise up to God. And you know, God does answer prayers, even though, brothers and sisters, sometimes it seems like God doesn't answer prayers because we don't seem to get answers too many times to prayers that we have requested from God in our lives.

But nevertheless, the ears of God is always ready to listen to the prayers of his own people. You notice they're called saints here. They're called saints. In Hebrew, Kedoshim, they're set apart for God. They're saints. Those prayers of all the saints are that the cry of the people of God that God would listen to and will give an answer. Now, this is beautiful because I want to make another thought here. Here they were crying in chapter 6 for vengeance. Now remember that there is a distinguishing between the time of the law, when Israel had been under the law, and the time of the present day dispensation which you and I live in, the grace age.

By the time the church is going to be going to heaven, and the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel start, in a sense we are back under the Old Testament period of time. And those saints looked upon as part of the nation of Israel. They are the ones that cry for vengeance. You and I cannot pray for vengeance today. We will pray for our enemies. We will pray for those who persecute us and the Lord will speak to them and will restore them. But in the Old Testament time, under law, under the Torah, under the Chok, Israel was called for eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.

They are called, in other words, that justice had to be done in a way that God would expect it to be done under the law. But in this present day dispensation, we are not going to pray to God that somebody will be judged. The opposite, we'll be praying to God for the grace to work in the heart of individuals in order that they will be brought back to the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. But here we are in Revelation chapter 8, and now we find out that the prayers of the saints, according to verse 4, were rising, ascending up before God out of the angel's hand. And so in verse 5 now, we see the angel doing something.

He is casting fire into this earth. Verse 5 says, And the angel took the censer, and he filled it with fire of the altar, and he cast it into the earth. And there were voices, and thundering, and lightning, and earthquake upon the face of this earth. So what we see here, that he is now pouring out, casting into this earth this fire that came from off the altar, and there was, as it says here, voices and thundering and lightning and earthquake. And here, brothers and sisters, we can see how the answer of the prayers of those saints that have cried to God how long you will not avenge the blood of those that have been killed during the tribulation period.

So here we see in verse 5 that the angel cast into this earth the fire from off the altar. And so in verse 6 now we see the preparation for the sounding of the trumpets. It says in the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. Here we see a heavenly scene again, and those angels are unique angels. You know that those angels, some suggest that there were specific seven angels that, as it says in the Bible, they are standing before the Lord, before God. They are unique angels, which God had used them in this sounding of the trumpet from Revelation chapter 8 on. Notice I'm back to verse 2 for a moment.

I saw seven angels which stood before God. Some suggested, and I mentioned this again, that one of those angels was the angel Gabriel, found in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 1. Could you please for a moment turn to Luke chapter 1? I just want to point out Gabriel to you. Luke chapter 1 in verse 19. You remember in the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel came to announce the birth of the Messiah. But it says specifically about Gabriel in verse 19 of Luke chapter 1. The angel answering and said unto him, this is Zechariah, the father of Yohanan, Hamadbi, John the baptizer. He said to him, I am Gabriel, listen, that stand in the presence of God.

Look at this expression, I am Gavriel that stand in the presence of God and I am sent to speak unto thee to show thee these glad tidings. The expression that stand in the presence of God is very similar to verse 2 of Revelation chapter 8, the seven angels which stand before God. So some suggest that Gavriel would have been one of those seven angels which had to sound the trumpet in order that the judgment will fall upon the face of this earth. There are other names that we can mention that are written in another book. I don't want to deal with it right now, but this is one of the names of these angels.

So, in verses 1 to 6, we see heaven is getting ready in order to pour upon the face of this earth God's judgment if the last seal is open. So the last seal consists of seven trumpet sounds by seven angels. And every sound of the trumpet is a judgment of itself. So in the next verses, verses 7 to 13, we see that the judgment began by the sounds of the trumpets. And look, brothers and sisters, what is going to happen here? In the tribulation period, when the last seal is open and the seven trumpets going to sound, look what it says here. First of all, the first trumpet is going to sound in verse 7.

And look what we read. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. You see, as the first shofar or the first chatzotzah trumpet is sound by the angel, that hay came down, fire mingled with blood came down, and cast upon this earth. And what happened, that one-third of all the trees were burnt, and one-third of all the green grass were completely burnt up. Can you imagine what does that mean here in this world, when there will be one-third of the trees, the green trees that you and I enjoy to look upon today, when one-third of it is going to be completely burnt.

And the grass that we enjoyed in the backyards and enjoying in fields where you had this green grass, we totally, one-third of it, totally is going to be burnt. I understand when there was a time just recently when there was such a high temperature here in our area where there was no rain. Can you imagine when the sun is in its heat and the grass cannot grow and you can really see how everything is burnt and there is no greenery around us? That's what's going to happen during the tribulation when the seven seals is open and the first shofar, the first trumpet is going to be sound.

There will be hail mingled with fire and blood going to come down upon the first of this earth and then there was one third going to totally of every greenery is going to be burned totally completely black then secondly notice and in fact that reminds us of Exodus chapter 9 when Israel our people were in Egypt and when there was judgment of hail upon the Egyptians if you remember the hail that came down and the fire that came down and so on And what we find out that it's very similar, the judgment that's going to be in the tribulation is very similar to the judgment that happened already in Egypt when our nation Israel were there in slavery.

And so the first angel sounded in verse 7, in one third of greenery, all have been totally burnt down. Then look at it. The second angel sounded. This is in verses 8 and 9. the second trumpet judgment and what happened in the second sound of the trumpet it says the second angel sounded and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea and the third part of the sea became blood and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died and the third part of ships were totally destroyed now what we see in the second trumpet judgment that the salt water of this earth which today has been used for many reasons ships are going from one location to another location and the seas are open for many to travel from one location to another location where there are merchandise and merchant travel tourists from one area to another area, and what's going to happen here in the second trumpet judgment in verses 8 and 9, that a certain great mountain was burning with fire, was cast into the salt sea and one third of the sea became like blood again I would like to suggest that it's very similar to what we have in Exodus chapter 7 verses 19 and 20 where you remember where God said to Moses and Aaron to touch the sea with the staff and the whole river there became as blood.

We read it in Exodus chapter 7. And you know God is able to judge this world and they needed the sea, they needed to move about in the sea, to use the sea for all sort of things. But not only that it became as blood But it says here that the creatures which were in the sea, which had life, died. Why they died? Because they couldn't live in a sea that one-third of it is blood. They couldn't live. But not only that, it says that the third part of the ship was destroyed. Can you imagine what that means? Doing the tribulation period with one of every three ships will be destroyed.

One third part of every part of the ocean will be filled with blood. One third of the sea creatures that live in the sea will be totally destroyed, will lose their life. Can you imagine what a change is going to occur here on the face of this universe? But not only that, look at this. He is moving on now in verses 10 and 11, and now is the third trumpet judgment that is coming. It says in verse 10 and 11, it says, And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning, as it were, a lamp. And it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the water.

And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And the third part of the waters became Wormwood. And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. Now he's not talking anymore about the salty water of the seas. But now with the third trumpet judgment in verses 10 and 11, he's talking about the fresh water. The water for drinking. The water that you and I would use today to drink. Every time when we get up in the morning, during the day, at night, that we depend upon water. Water is necessary for life. And so what we read here, that when the third sound of the trumpet by the angel in verses 10 and 11, What we read, that when he sounded the trumpet, a great star fallen from heaven, this star in scripture, fallen star, often is a representation of a fallen angel.

God is going to begin to use the fallen angels, what we would call them today, demons. He will use them, and you will see it as we move on into chapter 9 and on. You will see how the demonic activity is going to happen in this universe. You will see. We'll get to it. But right now we see that when the third angel sounded the trumpet, this fallen star from heaven, burning as it were, a lamp, it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of the water. You know, when the rivers are flowing with sweet water that we can use to drink and to refresh us, men will now discover that one-third of the whole sweet water, if you will, rivers and fountains will going to be totally destroyed and become bitter.

It says here in verse 11 that the name of that star is called Wormwood. The Greek word for that is absinthion, which simply means undrinkable or bitter. You see what's happening, that this fallen star, fallen angel, which is called Wormwood, which is called bitter, is going to cause the inability of the drinking of the water. One third part of everything that is sweet here of water upon the earth is going to end up to be totally bitter. People will not be able to drink that. You know, there is a verse, if you don't mind, to turn with me to the Old Testament, to the book of Exodus, chapter 50.

Just turn back for a moment with me. I'm reminded of this beautiful passage in Exodus chapter 15 when our people Israel came out of Egypt, again, God in a special way directed them to a place where there was bitter water. Look, it says here in chapter 15, verse 23 on. Exodus 15, 23. And when they came unto Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah, in Hebrew, Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, what shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, or a wood, which when he had casted into the waters, the waters were made sweet.

There he made for them a statute, for an ordinance, and there he proved them. And he said, If thou will digently will hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ira to his commandment, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee. I am the one that healeth thee. But you notice, brothers and sisters, he brought them into a place that the water was bitter and they couldn't drink it. This is exactly what's going to happen in the tribulation period when the universe, when the world, the population of this world will not be able to drink water that they've enjoyed, that gained from God all along.

and God will pour or will cast this fallen angel, fallen star, will read here into this water and it will end up to cause one third of the water to be turning into bitterness. It says here, warm wood. Can you imagine what is the ability to drink the sweet water that you used to enjoy to drink all and all? And here the only answer to get this bitterness into sweetness is to cast that little wood, that tree, into the bitter water, and it becomes sweet. It reminds us of the cross, of the tree that Yeshua, our Messiah, had to suffer upon in order to cause us, sinners, to be able to enjoy sweetness in the presence of the Lord because of what He has done for us on the tree, on the cross.

And so here, that place, it says it had become, it was called, the star called Wormwood, and the third part of the waters became Wormwood, and many men died of the water because they were made bitter. And you know, I want to make an application here. When the judgment of God is going to come upon this world, man will realize that he has lost, by rejection of the Messiah, he has lost a sweet relationship with the Lord Jesus, with God, because of the rejection of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

and it says that many men died of the water because they were made bitter again the comparison here is with the passage that we had in Exodus chapter 15 with the water turning sweet because of the tree that was cast into it well look at this finally in verse 12 we have the fourth trumpet judgment it says in verse 12 and the fourth angel sounded And the third part of the sun was smitten And the third part of the moon And the third part of the stars So as the third part of them was darkened And the day shone not for the third part of it And the night likewise You know what happened here

with the fourth trumpet judgment That we have here in verse 12 we find out that the day shrunk from 24 hour day into really 16 hour day because now you don't have any longer these 24 hours because as it says here in verse 12b as the third part of them was darkened and the day shone not for a third part also likewise the night so now can you imagine when you have a 24 hour cycle which you would have a day and a night, 12 hour day 12 hour night and all of a sudden now we have instead of 24 hour cycle we have one third of it diminish that will change everything in this

world it will cause chaos here upon the face of this earth the sun will not longer shine this totality of time that it has from God, the moon as well, the day will be no longer in the same length that it was in the past also the night will be cut by one third imagine what would that cause here in this world the chaos, the catastrophic that can happen upon the face of the earth, in the early part of verse 12 it says that the sun was smitten the moon was smitten and the stars were smitten and all three of them it says third part of the sun third part of the moon third part

of the stars now we cannot even imagine we cannot fathom that and you know brothers and sisters you and I because we are part of the heavenly company we will not be here we will be in the presence of Yeshua the Messiah in heaven but people here are going to experience the changes in this universe the salt water the greenery the sweet water the sun, the moon and the star the changes that are going to happen here and all these is within the seven year tribulation period it's not going to take long it's going to be challenge after challenge there will be judgment after judgment that are going to come upon the face of this

earth and all will be part of seven year tribulation in fact when we are getting here to verse 12 we are still within the first half of the tribulation period within three and a half years there is yet more to come in chapter 9 but look what he says when he closed chapter 8 look what John is seeing here as he recorded for us chapter after chapter look what happened in the last verse of chapter 8 John says look I beheld and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of this earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of

the three angels which are yet sound.

You know what John is saying? He says woe! He says, whoa, whoa. He says, look, if that's occurred already in the first four sounding of the trumpet by those angels, what is ahead of us in the next judgment that are going to come by the next three sounds of the remaining angels who are going to sound the trumpets? And here he's really in amazement. He says, this is the beginning. They still yet to come. there will be an intensity of judgment upon the face of this earth. It is only really the beginning what he'll say. It is only the beginning. I want you also to understand here, it says here, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth.

That this expression, the inhabitants of the earth, is always applied to those who are unbelievers here on earth. who have not accepted Yeshua, the Messiah. You know, you and I today are not called really the inhabitants of this earth because our home is in heaven. Our Father is God the Father in glory. In fact, if you remember, Yeshua said in John 14, in my Father's house there are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again that where I am, ye may be also to receive you unto myself. Yeshua said in John chapter 14, you and I are actually not called the inhabitants of this earth.

We are called the inhabitants of heaven. We are called citizens of heaven. Let me show you another verse in Philippians. Turn to Philippians quickly as we are heading towards the end of this message. Philippians chapter 3, verse 18 says this. Look, Philippians chapter 3, verse 18 says, For many walk of whom I have told you often, and I'll tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of the Messiah, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame who mine earthly things for our manner of life our citizenship is in heaven from whence also we look for the savior the lord yeshua the messiah verse 21 who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the work whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

You see what Paul is saying, Shaul is saying to the believers of the church of Philippi, he says, listen, our citizenship, verse 20, is in heaven. For whence we look forward for the Savior, our Lord, Jesus, the Messiah, to come. But in Revelation chapter 8, in verse 13, he says, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of this earth. Those inhabitants of the earth are those who rejected the Messiah, Yeshua. And they are here upon the face of this earth. This expression is mentioned also in Revelation 3.10, Revelation 6.10, Revelation 8.13, Revelation 11.10, Revelation 12.12. There are many times this expression in the book of the Revelation, those inhabitants of the earth, those that inhabit upon the face of this earth.

Well, brothers and sisters, listen. None of us like to read such a chapter as Revelation chapter 8. In chapter 9, we're going to continue. But there will be a judgment that they're going to fall during the tribulation upon this universe because of the rejection of the Messiah. And in order for Yeshua to take back the title deed of this universe that belonged to him by right, the only one that is able to take control over this world, prior to taking his authority, there will be the judgment of the tribulation period. And what we see here in chapter 8 is the first four trumpet judgments that are sound. And we are waiting now in the next chapter to deal with the rest of the sounding of the trumpet by those angels as God's wrath is poured upon the face of this earth today you and I have to be very thankful to the Lord to close the meeting on a good note you and I have to be very thankful that our sins are forgiven and that we belong to a heavenly company to only those who belong to Yeshua the Messiah you and I are going to spend their eternity never to suffer those judgments that are going to come upon the face of this earth.