Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #19 of Revelation, chapter 8, and we are going to be reading Revelation 8:13:
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
We looked at the first part of this verse in our last study and we saw that God is typified in the Bible as “flying,” and we can understand that because He is omnipresent; He is everywhere at once; and flight is the quickest form of travel, so that is one reason He is said to “fly.”
Another reason is that God likens Himself to “flying,” in order to defend His people or to fight against the enemies of His people.
The messenger that is “flying through the midst of heaven” pictures the Lord Jesus Christ and He is saying, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth.” The Greek word translated as “woe” is also translated as “alas” a few times and we do find the Lord Jesus Christ pronouncing the “woes” in many places. We will just look at a couple. The first one is where Jesus is speaking, in Matthew 11:21:
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Then it says in Matthew 11:22:
But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
That is the reason for the “Woe,” to Chorazin and Bethsaida; it is language indicating something terrible and grievous – a judgment of God is coming upon them. It will not be a pleasant thing at all and it will be an awful experience for these particular cities.
We read of many woes that are pronounced by the Lord Jesus Christ in a chapter where the Lord is dealing with the scribes and the Pharisees, and it says in Matthew 23:13-16:
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
It continues with several more “woes” that are pronounced. What are these “woes” indicative of? Why is Christ pronouncing a “woe,” before declaring the condemnation against the scribes and the Pharisees? It is because it is a word that is describing a coming judgment or wrath of God and then the reason for it is given – this is why the scribes and the Pharisees will experience the wrath of God, regarding the “woe” that is being declared.
In the Book of Jude, it says in verse 11:
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.
Now this “woe” is being pronounced because they have gone in the “wrong way” and, tragically, this will result in their destruction; they have not gone in the “way” of Christ, but they have gone in the “way of Cain,” the one that thought he could perform some work and be pleasing to God. And, of course, it was not pleasing to God; God did not accept His offering.
This is just a small sampling of how God uses this Greek word that is translated as “woe.” In our verse in Revelation 8:13, the angel flying through the midst of heaven (the Lord Jesus) is saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth.”
I just want to look at one more place and this is where the word is translated as “alas,” in Revelation 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.
Again, this would be “Woe, woe, that great city Babylon,” and then it says in Revelation 18:16:
And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
And it also says in Revelation 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 made desolate.
So three times, God doubles the “woes” in our verse in Revelation 8:13. The number “three” points to the purpose of God; it is God’s purpose that the cup which He had given to the churches to drink (the cup of the wrath of God which had begun at the house of God) would now expand and transition to judgment to include the entire world and all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth. So God repeats the “woes” three times in Revelation 18, in connection with the judgment upon Babylon, which is a representation of the kingdom of Satan which includes the world and the churches, which had already come under the “umbrella” of Satan’s kingdom of darkness.
Again, three times “woes” are pronounced, but each time they are “doubled.” Remember that principal that the Lord lays down in the Book of Genesis: when He doubles a matter, it is because He will shortly bring it to pass; and God has actually done this, as He began judgment on the world on May 21, 2011. At that point there were three “woes” and each one of those “woes” identified with a trumpet: the first “woe” is the fifth trumpet; the second “woe” is the sixth trumpet and the third “woe” is the seventh trumpet. We can show that from the Bible because, in chapter 9, the fifth angel sounds and we read of what is included in that, then God completes the passage by saying, “And the first woe has ended.” Then we read of the next trumpet sounding and then the second “woe” has ended, and so forth.
So God, here, is pronouncing “woes” to the inhabiters of the earth and, likewise, in Revelation, chapter 18, three “woes” are “doubled,” to indicate that the time has come and will “shortly come to pass.” Now that “time” is under way and we are in the process of God pouring out His wrath upon the world.
What we are reading in the Bible (and, especially, in the Book of Revelation) is very interesting and exciting to us. It is amazing that we can have personal and intimate understanding and knowledge of the things we are reading. When we read of judgment on the “third part,” we know exactly what God is saying because we have witnessed it and lived through it. And now that the judgment on the “third part” has concluded, in Revelation 8, and God is turning the gaze of His fiery eyes to the people of the earth with the announcement of these “woes,” upon them; we also have experienced this and we have gone through a portion of the judgment, as we are now well into the Day of Judgment. May 21, 2011, is now over two and one half years ago and it is still the day of the LORD, the Day of Judgment for this world.
Let us look at this language one last time, before we move on to our next chapter in Revelation 9. Let us conclude Revelation 8 by looking at the phrase “the inhabiters of the earth.” This is found in a very important place in the Bible, in Jeremiah, chapter 25. Why is it important that we find similar language about “the inhabiters of the earth” in Jeremiah 25? Well, it is because Jeremiah 25 is the chapter in which God spells out His complete judgment program where He refers to His wrath as a “cup.” Then it is His intention to give the “cup” first to those that have a close relationship with Him, where it says in Jeremiah 25:17-18:
Then took I the cup at JEHOVAH’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom JEHOVAH had sent me: to wit,* Jerusalem and the cities of Judah&hellip
Notice Jerusalem is mentioned first. That matches the Biblical principal that judgment begins at the house of God, just as we saw previously in Ezekiel, chapter 9, with the men that had the destroying weapons in their hands; and the Lord told them to go forth and slay and to begin at His sanctuary. This is the Bible’s “starting point” for the outpouring of the wrath of God. God is angry with the wicked, but that anger begins with those that ought to know better – with those that profess His name and claim to follow His commandments and, therefore, they have a greater responsibility and they will experience greater wrath for their failure. Therefore, God starts the judgment of all the unsaved with the corporate church; they would first drink of the cup of the wrath of God; and they have.
By God’s grace, He has opened up His Word and revealed to us the timeline for the Great Tribulation. It began on May 21, 1988 and on May 21, 2011, it concluded; it was an exact 23-year period, or a full 8,400 days of judgment upon the churches wherein they drank of the cup of the wrath of God. During the last (about) 17 years of that time, God worked to save a great multitude outside of the churches and congregations.
But there had to come a time (and the Bible tells us this) when the “cup” first given to the churches is transferred; it is turned from them to the rest of the nations. Actually, when I say it is “turned” from them, it is that God had a particularly fiery wrath to judge the churches with, which they alone would experience (and they have). Now God is judging all of the unsaved of the world and it should be noted that this includes the unsaved people of the churches. That is part of the reason that their punishment is greater, because they first went through the judgment on the congregations and then they have to endure the judgment on the world, as they are now part of the world, especially as the churches came under the rule of Satan and, therefore, under his kingdom of Babylon; and when God judges Babylon, He is continuing to judge the church, but they are no longer the specific target – the target is now the entire kingdom of Satan and of this world, of which the churches are now a part.
Further on in Jeremiah, we read in Jeremiah 25:28:
And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Here, God is referring to the kingdoms of the world. I should have read Jeremiah 25:26:
And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
Then the statement is made: “if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.” That is referring to the nations – the people outside of the churches. Why? Jeremiah 25:29 explains:
For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name&hellip
He is saying, “I started the judgment on my churches. I had a close and longstanding and intimate relationship with them; they were the caretakers of the oracles of God and they had much blessing in association with my kingdom; yet, I judged them; I judged those that were closest to me. And, you, nations that are far off and have no such intimate relationship with me as the New Testament churches and congregations did, do you think that you will escape?”
God goes on to say in Jeremiah 25:29:
For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished?
You know, there are some people that have completely the wrong idea. They are individuals that readily accept judgment on the churches and they say, “Oh, yes, God has judged the churches. God has forsaken the churches and abandoned the congregations; no one is being saved in the churches.” They recognize that, but now when God has done the same thing to the world by forsaking and abandoning the world and by not saving anyone in the world, these same people balk at this immediately, saying: “Oh, God would never do that.” They have it backwards and they have it completely upside down because God is saying, “Look, if I did it first to the people called by my name and the people I had that close relationship with for almost two millennium, do you think that you will be utterly unpunished?”
Do you think that God will not shut the door on the world, if He shut it on the church? Do you really think God will not put out the Light of the Gospel to this wicked world, if He has put out the Light of the Gospel in the churches? Do you think that God’s Spirit would not leave the world, after it already has left the churches? If so, you are completely misunderstanding God. You are completely misunderstanding the Word of God and the relationship that He had with His people Israel, with the New Testament “professors” (those within the congregations). God had a close relationship with them and, yet, He judged them.
God has no such relationship with the world. He has no commitment to them at all; they are a people “afar off,” and they have rebelled and grievously transgressed His Law. So God goes on to say in the last half of the verse in Jeremiah 25:29:
… Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith JEHOVAH of hosts. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, JEHOVAH shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Of course, that is a reference to what we read in Revelation 14, where the cup of the wrath of God is spoken of, and we read of the Lord Jesus Christ treading the winepress and the blood coming out by the space of 1,600 furlongs; and that relates to the duration of Judgment Day, which very likely will continue for 1,600 days, a time in which God has ended salvation for the world.
We ought not to be surprised or shocked. What was more shocking was that God did this first to His own people. In accomplishing and completing the judgment on the churches, God let it be known to all that He is very serious about the outpouring of wrath and the punishment of the wicked. He will complete it and that is one of the reasons why 1,600 days is so very interesting to us, because the judgment on the churches was 8,400 days; the judgment on the entire world would be 1,600 days; and that would total 10,000 days, the number of “completeness.” It is God’s “complete” wrath; both “cups” are then accounted for and the “full” judgment of the wrath of God upon unsaved mankind, inside and outside of the churches, would then be accomplished and carried out.
Let us just look at one more place, before we finish our study in Revelation, chapter 8. Let us look at Isaiah 24 and this is a chapter (which I encourage everyone to read) where God is spelling out His wrath upon the world. There is no question about that. It is not like we read in Jeremiah where you can pick out “Jerusalem” and “Judah” and you can realize that God, in using those figures, is speaking of judgment on the NT churches. But in Isaiah 24 the word you will find the most is the word “earth.” For instance it says in Isaiah 24:3-6:
The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for JEHOVAH hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
We could go on and see more references to the “earth,” so there is no question at all what is in view, even though I have heard people try to make this identify with the churches. Some people are going to great lengths to desperately try to prove that God did not bring judgment on May 21, 2011, and they are willing to turn a “blind eye,” apparently, to the language of the Bible, if they think that Isaiah 24 is describing anything but God’s wrath upon the world.
Notice God says, “therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,” and that happened beginning on May 21, 2011, when God kindled a spiritual fire in His wrath. It goes on to say, “and few men left,” and this is referring to the elect who are typified as the “few.” Anyway, we are not looking at that, in particular, but something else, where it says in Isaiah 24:15:
Wherefore glorify ye JEHOVAH in the fires, even the name of JEHOVAH God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
This is Hebrew parallelism; the “fires” is synonymous with the “isles of the sea,” and the isles are the continents, so it is saying that the whole world is “lit on fire.” God is addressing the believers when He says to glorify Him in the fires. As we faithfully endure and continue to trust in the Bible in the Day of Judgment, it will glorify God.
Then a little further down, it says in Isaiah 24:17:
Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
There is that language again: “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth.” Notice, here, that there are three things: “Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee,” and they very well could stand in the place of the woes: “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth.” These things are describing what has taken place in the world, as we have made that transition from God judging the churches to now judging the world; God’s focus is not only on the Presbyterians and the Lutherans and the Catholics and the Episcopalians, but God’s focus is on all the religions of the world, the secularists of the world, the atheists of the world, the agnostics of the world and the man that does not even think about any of these things.
God’s wrath is on all unsaved mankind at this point and that needs to be our focus as we speak of these things; we are not to conceal them, but to publish that “Babylon has fallen.” We are to openly declare these things to all and, by doing so, God will feed His sheep and He will also carry out His other purposes. But our task is to feed sheep, so we must share this information.
In Revelation 8, God has now announced the transition. He has declared the movement of His wrath from the churches to the world. Then Revelation, chapter 9, is going to follow through and now the last three trumpets will describe that wrath upon the world. We are no longer going to be looking at the judgment on the churches – the judgment of their waters or their trees or their grass – but what we read in Revelation 9, and following, will apply to all the inhabitants of the earth.