Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Well, welcome back to this Corona Chronicles series that we're running, looking through the book of Revelation. We've got up to chapter 8 today, and we've seen the scrolls being opened, and we've had 6 scrolls opened already. And we've had the question who can withstand the day of the wrath of the lamb. And then in chapter 7, we had this answer which is that those who have God's mark on them. They're the ones who are going to withstand it on that day.

And now we've got to the seventh seal. Which is in chapter 8. So we're gonna be reading from verse 1. When he opened the seventh seal, There was a silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the 7 angels who stand before God and 7 trumpets were given to them.

Another angel who had a golden sensor came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all God's people on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth, and there came peels of thunder rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. Well, we're really in the heart of on the book of Revelation, and these are now sort of leading us into what I think a lot of people would say are quite scary bits.

Yeah. But I think what is interesting is because revelation goes in cycles of 7 and we, you know, we we pick up another cycle really. So the seventh seal is opened, and then we're gonna see another cycle of 7. But just before that is that silence. And I I think when you read it, I mean, we can't do this.

It says there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Actually, we should have 3 Corona Chronicles, just silence. It's just us looking at the camera. Yeah. And what is the silence meant to do?

Because everything in Revelation is loud, isn't it? You know, he says with a loud voice. Mhmm. And and then at the end of these verses, there's peels of thunder and rumbling and flashing and stuff, but there's silence and What is that silence? It's a warning, isn't it?

Are you listening? Yeah. You know? Yeah. And we do that with our kids.

Are you listening? Or you know, teachers at classes sometimes you just stop mid sentence -- Mhmm. -- until people suddenly realize, the teacher's not talking, I should stop mucking about. Yeah. It's that thing that's going on in that.

I think it's important to to not just read revelation in in little sections isolated because otherwise you miss that impact You just pick this up and read this, you go outside for half an hour, but we've had 7 chapters of after this, after this, after this, after this, nonstop, and then suddenly silence. So what is that about? God God is saying, are you listening? So he he sends these gracious judgments. I mean, they are judgments.

You know, in the first lot is something like a quarter of the earth and a quarter of the trees and then then it becomes a third of the earth and a third of the trees and all of that sort of stuff. It's it's a bit like the waves coming in and we should say hold it. What what is this telling us? And I mean, I I don't know. I look at the media.

They're not hearing, are they? There's nothing spiritual. There's no calling to God as far as I can see. It's all we can work this out. We'll sort this out.

And then the mantra, you know, is just wash your hands stay at home or your hands stay at home. Only go out for exercise. Yeah. You know. And it's like them trying to carry on as normally 1 sense without crying out.

What God are you saying -- Yes. -- in this virus? Yeah. Which is a legitimate thing to cry out as a Christian in in some ways, isn't it? Yeah.

What is what is going on? We need help because that's what God's people have done. Our history is cry out to him in times of trouble. But you they remind me a little bit of the people at the end of chapter 6 who were crying out. They're clearly upset by something.

But they're not crying out to God. They're crying out to the mountains and the rocks, things that can't help them ultimately. Yeah. Yeah. I I I always say God's God's judgments like corona.

They they are a judgment on the on this earth and and we should be listening to them. Because there's a greater judgment to come. So I always see them as God's kind judgments. Mhmm. So I I think if you think of it like The thing is a little kid will make a sand castle here at the beginning of the day and he knows that the waves coming in are going to destroy everything he's created.

Yeah. He knows that. And in 1 sense, he waits for that and there's a wisdom, isn't and every wave is a warning. Mhmm. It's coming.

It's at the end of the same castle. It's coming. But it seems that the older we get the more stupid we get. And God is saying it's coming. Death is coming.

Yeah. You will die. You will stand before the judgment seat of God. And it's almost as if, I didn't think that would happen. Yeah.

The kid knows but we don't seem to know. So there's this silence. Will you listen? Can you see these waves? And it's kind of the the the the breath before a storm or the calm before a storm, which again is God's kindness.

I mean, so many warnings are given, aren't they? It's not you're told once and then that's it. God takes joy in in punishing. It's it's will you listen Will you listen now? And then before the final judgment comes a pause, you know, last attempt to try and get people to listen.

Yeah. Which is a very fatherly way of doing it, isn't it? Yeah. The way we tell children off. Yep.

Sorry, did you hear me? Did you hear me? Now listen, you're not listening. And then and then in the end some kind of punishment has to happen. Yeah.

And it's always reserved though, isn't it? You don't you don't kill a child for disobeying you, but you you discipline them a little bit. Like, so that they will learn so that they understand what's going on. Yeah. So the silence comes.

And then you've got this it's sort of silence and and then God smells. There's a sort of -- Mhmm. -- there's a there's a silence and then a smell comes in and then there is rumbling, there's a noise. Isn't that? What do you reckon though?

Smell is about. So we've got 7 angels standing before God and they're at the altar. And we we saw in chapter 6, I think, that it's it's the saints who were under the altar. And then we see him in chapter 8 verse 3 that it's the the prayers of all God's people. So the kind of cries of God's people are coming up to him like incense, interestingly, Zincense is quite a pleasant thing, isn't it?

So it's it's it's kind of the idea that God loves it when his people cry out to him. Yeah. When they recognize their need for him. Yeah. And he smells like he he recognizes that.

Mhmm. And and and I think again it takes us into All of these all of these judgments are warning to people, but actually what God is really interested in is his peak Yeah. And he's interested in the praying and talking to him. Mhmm. And so it's almost like silent will you listen and then ah, my people are speaking.

And I think if you go back into the old testament, you see you see exactly the same pattern actually. In the exodus when the people of God are slaves in Egypt and they cry out their prayers go up before God, it says, he hears them. Yeah. And then he sends these plagues 1 after the other. So that his people will be set free to worship him.

And that is what God's plan is -- Yeah. -- to gather a people that are his. That will be in his place, worshiping him, loving him, you know, and it starts with with the people praying. Yeah. Yeah.

And it's a little I suppose it's a little taste of of eternity as well with God. You're right that God's joy is is from his people. Hearing his people, being with his people, yeah, really beautiful picture, that our prayers. And that and our prayers aren't kind of wasted. Sometimes we think know, we're just a small church in the middle of nowhere.

Yeah. How could why would God listen to us? But actually, our prayers are incense before the throne from the altar. And then when he hears that, then he's sending these plagues. Don't you touch my people as it were?

Yeah. I will gather my people. But these plagues in themselves are to make us think so that we would be people under the blood of the lamb and would be as people so the rumblings come. Well, we'll leave it there and we'll get into these other 7 that are gonna be coming to us tomorrow.