Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #12 of Revelation, chapter 8, and we are going to be reading Revelation 8:8-9:

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.

We are continuing to go, verse by verse, through the Book of Revelation and we have come to chapter 8 and we have seen that this chapter is detailing God’s judgment upon the New Testament churches and congregations at the time of the end.  He is using the term “third part” to let us know that it is the focus of His judgment – upon the New Testament corporate church.

We read in verse 7 that the “third part of trees was burnt up.”  Now in verse 8, we read that “a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea.”  We looked at this in our last study and we saw that the “great mountain” was a representation of God’s kingdom upon the earth which the churches did represent during their time period of almost 2,000 years (for 1,955 years of the church age).  During the church age, if anyone wanted to know anything about God, they went to church, because the Bible was in the churches and Christ was also in the midst of the congregations.  The congregations had the Light of God; they had the Truth.  It was through those congregations that God was saving, but now it is the end of the church age and the end of that period of time wherein they were representatives of God’s kingdom, so the “great mountain” is burning with fire and it is cast into the sea. 

We saw that the sea can typify people – wicked people: “The wicked are like the troubled sea.”  God has turned the churches over to Satan and his emissaries, who are wicked people, and they are “having their way” with the churches during this period of time known as the Great Tribulation, which we have gone through and that time period is now past.

Then it says, “The third part of the sea became blood,” and this is speaking of people, but since it refers to the “third part” of the sea it is referring to wicked people within the congregations.  I have been referring to Isaiah 57:20: “The wicked are like the troubled sea.”  And, we also find in the Book of Jude, verses 11-12:

Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds *they are* without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Now this is all describing false prophets or those that are going the same way that Cain and Balaam and Core went – those that had an outward relationship with God, but they never truly became saved.  That’s what makes them false.  Then God says in Jude, verse 13:

Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

So the “false prophets” or the professed believers (who are not true believers) are like “raging waves of the sea.”  God, in Revelation 8:8, is saying that “a third part of the sea became blood,” and this sea identifies with the wicked unsaved people that populate the churches all over the world, and especially their leaders, the church authorities and rulers of the congregation; they have been “turned to blood” because blood indicates the wrath of God; the judgment of God is upon them.

Let us move on into Revelation 8:9 and we will see that this picture is continuing.

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.

God just finished telling us that the “third part of the sea became blood” and it is almost a natural result that when the sea is turned to blood, then the “third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died.”  And that is what we are reading here and, really, even as the “sea” typifies the unsaved within the congregations, so, too, does the “third part of creatures.” 

Let us look at a few verses back in Exodus.  We are going, again, back to the plagues that the Lord brought upon Egypt.  It says in Exodus 7:17-21:

Thus saith JEHOVAH, In this thou shalt know that I am JEHOVAH: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. And JEHOVAH spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels ofstone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as JEHOVAH commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

Here, God is striking the waters of Egypt and turning them to blood and, as a result, the “fish” in the river died and the river stank.  The word “stink” really leads us to what it said of Lazarus in the Gospel of John when it was pointed out to the Lord Jesus Christ that Lazarus had been dead for four days already and he “stinketh.”  Death brings forth a stinking savour and when the water was turned to blood, the fish could no longer live in that kind of water and they died.  Actually, when we think of our verse in Revelation 8, where it speaks of “the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died,” we realize that, for the most part, the vast majority of creatures in the sea are “fish.”  God, in striking the waters of Egypt and turning them to blood is emphasizing the death of “fish.”  We also read in Psalm 105, where they are discussing the plagues brought upon Egypt, that it says in Psalm 105:29:

He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.

The turning of the water into blood and the killing of the fish go hand in hand.  The fish could not survive this judgment of God.  We have discussed this before and we have seen this figure of fish representing men.  We are aware that the Lord Jesus called fisherman to be His disciples, saying, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  That is the “type” that God is using when we read of fish in the sea.

We will go to one more verse, concerning “fish.”  It says in Habakkuk 1: 13-15:

*Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, *and* holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth *the man that is* more righteous than he? And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, *that have* no ruler over them? They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

Here, God is giving us one of those Scriptures where He defines a spiritual meaning in verse 14: “And makest men as the fishes of the sea.”  So there is the spiritual definition of “fish.”  We cannot say this would fit every instance where the word “fish” is found in the Bible, but we must certainly consider that when God is speaking of fish, he is spiritually referring to men.  That is exactly what is happening in Revelation 8:9: “And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died.”  He is speaking of men in the churches, so they are identified as the “third part.”

Notice the word “creatures.”  It says, “The third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and, of course, a fish is a creature in the sea.  Let us look at this word “creature.”  It says in James 1:18:

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

This is a very interesting verse because God is joining together the word “firstfruits” with the word “creatures.”  And we know that the word “firstfruits” is a word that identifies with the church age – the 144,000 in Revelation, chapter 14, are called “the firstfruits unto God.”  They typify all those that were saved during the church age, from 33 A.D. until its close in 1988.  So, as God is linking the word “firstfruits” with “creatures,” we can see how that relates to our verse because the “firstfruits” would have been found within the New Testament church.  That is where the “firstfruits” were gathered and that is where these “creatures” were found.  The “creatures” are spoken of as “sea creatures,” but we know this is just a type and a figure that refers to people:

“And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died;” and this is a very important statement; God points out that these “creatures” had life; that is, they once possessed life, because it is the “past tense,” and they have somehow lost their lives.  So we can know, absolutely, that this cannot be talking about God’s elect.  Remember, we saw that the “third part” in the Old Testament repeatedly identified with the elect, but we can know that it is not the elect in view here because these “third part” of creatures had life and they lost their life – that is why it says they died. 

What does the Bible tell us regarding when someone becomes truly saved?  And I do not mean “church saved” or “saved by profession” or by the works of men or by the belief of men.  These things never saved anyone.  We are saved only by the power of God and by the act of God upon us as He creates a new heart and new spirit within us.  We have no power to say a few magic words like, “I accept you,” or “I believe,” and, then, as they say in the magic world: “Presto Chango,” suddenly we are a child of God.  That never has happened.  God has not given that kind of power to men, but it takes the Word of God to create, as He is the Creator.  That is why David, in Psalm 51:10, was crying out to the Creator: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”  He did not say, “Let me do it myself.”  God had to do the work of creating and when God does that work and He saves an individual by giving that person a new heart and soul (a new resurrected spirit), then it is done – they are born again; they live; they have the gift of eternal life which they will never lose.  If anyone could ever lose the gift of eternal life, what would that mean?  It would mean that what they had received was not really “eternal life.”  It was “conditional life,” and life for a time, perhaps, but it was not eternal because eternal means for ever and ever.  Adam and Eve received conditional life: “You will live and continue living as long as you obey me and do not eat the fruit of that tree.”  But they disobeyed.  They had life and then they died. 

This is what God is saying here (in our verse) when He says, “the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died.”  Why does God say that?  Well, it is because individuals take upon themselves the name of Christ when they say, “I am a Christian.”  All the churches were populated with “Christians,” as people entered into the congregations and they began to take that name; and when you are say you are a Christian, you are saying, “I am born again.  I am saved.  I have a new heart and spirit.  I have life.” 

So, God basically takes people at their word with that.  Of course, then when people do not measure up to that high standard of being a Christian…and how do you measure up?  You have to have a “heart” that does the will of God perfectly and is without sin and has an ongoing desire to do the will of God.  That is the nature of the heart that God gives His people and, if you lack that heart, it is certain you will not measure up.  So when people fail to measure up, God indicates it is as though they “died” or “lost life.”

Or, look at it another way, as the Lord that forgave his servant, in the Gospel of Matthew 18:23-27:

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

There it is – it is as though the servant had life; he had “salvation.”  But then this same servant goes out and he does not forgive his fellow servant for a much, much smaller debt.  When the Lord, who had forgiven him much, heard of it, it says in Matthew 18:32:Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Do you see how God uses the belief of the individual?  “You say you are a Christian and that means all your sins are forgiven and you live.”  God actually speaks of those that say they “have a name” and that they “live,” back in Revelation 3:1:

I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

God goes along with that and is, in effect, saying, “Very well, all of you people that profess to be Christians.  Therefore, it is as if I have forgiven you, and now I expect you to be forgiving of others from the heart.”  But, since the heart is still “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,” because no change has ever taken place, this will not happen.  So it is as though God, at the end, turns around and says, “You failed to live up to the standard that I have set for my children and, therefore, I will judge you.”  But the truth is that they never had become saved.  They never had their sins forgiven.  They never had a new heart and new soul. 

This is the idea, here, in Revelation 8:9:  “And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died;” They had always been dead; they were never spiritually alive, but in their profession of faith and in their belief (and insofar as God viewed them), they had “life,” but now judgment has come upon the churches and all of these individuals now “die.”  The wrath of God is upon them and “the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died.”

 It is really an awful judgment that God is describing here.  We are reading of the trees and the third part of the sea and the third part of creatures, and it is “removed” really; it is using objects as “types and pictures,” but God is really talking about men and women and children; He is talking about people that we know.  So it is a grievous thing.  It is an extremely sorrowful thing and this is one of the reasons why Jeremiah the prophet (to whom God gave much revelation concerning Judah’s judgment which typified the judgment that would come upon the churches at the time of the end) was such a sorrowful prophet.  He was known as the “weeping prophet” because it was such a sad thing that he had to pronounce these judgments upon his own people. 

Likewise, it is not a pleasurable thing for the child of God today to declare what God is saying in His Word, but we must declare what God tells us.  We are only reading what the Bible says and we are following God’s method for coming to truth, so we look at other places where God mentions “sea” and where He mentions “blood” and where He mentions “fish” and “creatures,” and so forth, and we see that this is what the Bible is teaching.  There is no avoiding it.  There is no escaping it.  God is describing an awful time known as the Great Tribulation a time when judgment begins at the house of God.  We have witnessed this time.  We have been eyewitnesses to the Words of the Bible coming to life; we have seen the wrath of God poured out upon our modern day churches at the end of the world.  They have been forsaken and they have been judged and destroyed by the Word of God.