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Revelation 8:5 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

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5 And the angel took the vessel; and he made it full of the fire of the altar, and sent it down on the earth: and there came thunders and voices and flames and a shaking of the earth.

Cross Reference

Matthew 27:52-54 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

And the resting-places of the dead came open; and the bodies of a number of sleeping saints came to life; And coming out of their resting-places, after he had come again from the dead, they went into the holy town and were seen by a number of people. Now the captain and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earth-shock and the things which were done, were in great fear and said, Truly this was a son of God.

Revelation 16:1-21 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

And a great voice out of the house of God came to my ears, saying to the seven angels, Go, and let that which is in the seven vessels of the wrath of God come down on the earth. And the first went, and let what was in his vessel come down on the earth; and it became an evil poisoning wound on the men who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image. And the second let what was in his vessel come out into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea came to an end. And the third let what was in his vessel come out into the rivers and the fountains of water; and they became blood. And the voice of the angel of the waters came to my ears, saying, True and upright is your judging, O Holy One, who is and was from all time: For they made the blood of saints and prophets come out like a stream, and blood have you given them for drink; which is their right reward. And a voice came from the altar, saying, Even so, O Lord God, Ruler of all, true and full of righteousness is your judging. And the fourth let what was in his vessel come out on the sun; and power was given to it that men might be burned with fire. And men were burned with great heat: and they said evil things against the name of the God who has authority over these punishments; and they were not turned from their evil ways to give him glory. And the fifth let what was in his vessel come out on the high seat of the beast; and his kingdom was made dark; and they were biting their tongues for pain. And they said evil things against the God of heaven because of their pain and their wounds; and they were not turned from their evil works. And the sixth let what was in his vessel come out on the great river Euphrates; and it became dry, so that the way might be made ready for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, like frogs. For they are evil spirits, working signs; who go out even to the kings of all the earth, to get them together to the war of the great day of God, the Ruler of all. (See, I come as a thief. Happy is he who is watching and keeps his robes, so that he may not go unclothed, and his shame be seen.) And they got them together into the place which is named in Hebrew Armageddon. And the seventh let what was in his vessel come out on the air; and there came out a great voice from the house of God, from the high seat, saying, It is done. And there were flames and voices and thunders; and there was a great earth-shock so that never, from the time when men were on the earth, had there been so great an earth-shock, so full of power. And the great town was cut into three parts, and the towns of the nations came to destruction: and Babylon the great came into mind before God, to be given the cup of the wine of his wrath. And every island went in flight, and the mountains were seen no longer. And great drops of ice, every one about the weight of a talent, came down out of heaven on men: and men said evil things against God because of the punishment of the ice-drops; for it is very great.

Hebrews 12:18-19 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

You have not come to a mountain which may be touched, and is burning with fire, and to a black cloud, and a dark smoke, and a violent wind, And to the sound of a horn, and the voice of words, the hearers of which made request that not a word more might be said to them:

2 Samuel 22:7-9 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came to his ears. Then the earth was moved with a violent shock; the bases of heaven were moved and shaking, because he was angry. There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: coals were lighted by it.

Ezekiel 10:2-7 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

And he said to the man clothed in linen, Go in between the wheels, under the winged ones, and get your two hands full of burning coals from between the winged ones and send them in a shower over the town. And he went in before my eyes. Now the winged ones were stationed on the right side of the house when the man went in; and the inner square was full of the cloud. And the glory of the Lord went up from the winged ones and came to rest over the doorstep of the house; and the house was full of the cloud and the open square was full of the shining of the Lord's glory. And the sound of the wings of the winged ones was clear even in the outer square, like the voice of the Ruler of all. And when he gave orders to the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the winged ones, then he went in and took his place at the side of a wheel. And stretching out his hand to the fire which was between the winged ones, he took some of it and went out.

Isaiah 66:14-16 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

And you will see it and your heart will be glad, and your bones will get new strength, like young grass: and the hand of the Lord will be seen at work for his servants, and his wrath against his haters. For the Lord is coming with fire, and his war-carriages will be like the storm-wind; to give punishment in the heat of his wrath, and his passion is like flames of fire. For with fire and sword will the Lord come, judging all the earth, and his sword will be on all flesh: and great numbers will be put to death by him.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Revelation 8

Commentary on Revelation 8 Matthew Henry Commentary

John Gill   Robert Jamieson: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible  

Chapter 8

We have already seen what occurred upon opening six of the seals; we now come to the opening of the seventh, which introduced the sounding of the seven trumpets; and a direful scene now opens. Most expositors agree that the seven seals represent the interval between the apostle's time and the reign of Constantine, but that the seven trumpets are designed to represent the rise of antichrist, some time after the empire became Christian. In this chapter we have,

  • I. The preface, or prelude, to the sounding of the trumpets (v. 1-6).
  • II. The sounding of four of the trumpets (v. 7-13).

Rev 8:1-6

In these verses we have the prelude to the sounding of the trumpets in several parts.

  • I. The opening of the last seal. This was to introduce a new set of prophetical iconisms and events; there is a continued chain of providence, one part linked to another (where one ends another begins), and, though they may differ in nature and in time, they all make up one wise, well-connected, uniform design in the hand of God.
  • II. A profound silence in heaven for the space of half an hour, which may be understood either,
    • 1. Of the silence of peace, that for this time no complaints were sent up to the ear of the Lord God of sabaoth; all was quiet and well in the church, and therefore all silent in heaven, for whenever the church on earth cries, through oppression, that cry comes up to heaven and resounds there; or,
    • 2. A silence of expectation; great things were upon the wheel of providence, and the church of God, both in heaven and earth, stood silent, as became them, to see what God was doing, according to that of Zec. 2:13, Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord, for he has risen up out of his holy habitation. And elsewhere, Be still, and know that I am God.
  • III. The trumpets were delivered to the angels who were to sound them. Still the angels are employed as the wise and willing instruments of divine Providence, and they are furnished with all their materials and instructions from God our Saviour. As the angels of the churches are to sound the trumpet of the gospel, the angels of heaven are to sound the trumpet of Providence, and every one has his part given him.
  • IV. To prepare for this, another angel must first offer incense, v. 3. It is very probable that this other angel is the Lord Jesus, the high priest of the church, who is here described in his sacerdotal office, having a golden censer and much incense, a fulness of merit in his own glorious person, and this incense he was to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, upon the golden altar of his divine nature. Observe,
    • 1. All the saints are a praying people; none of the children of God are born dumb, a Spirit of grace is always a Spirit of adoption and supplication, teaching us to cry, Abba, Father. Ps. 32:6, For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee.
    • 2. Times of danger should be praying times, and so should times of great expectation; both our fears and our hopes should put us upon prayer, and, where the interest of the church of God is deeply concerned, the hearts of the people of God in prayer should be greatly enlarged.
    • 3. The prayers of the saints themselves stand in need of the incense and intercession of Christ to make them acceptable and effectual, and there is provision made by Christ for that purpose; he has his incense, his censer, and his altar; he is all himself to his people.
    • 4. The prayers of the saints come up before God in a cloud of incense; no prayer, thus recommended, was ever denied audience or acceptance.
    • 5. These prayers that were thus accepted in heaven produced great changes upon earth in return to them; the same angel that in his censer offered up the prayers of the saints in the same censer took of the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth, and this presently caused strange commotions, voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake; these were the answers God gave to the prayers of the saints, and tokens of his anger against the world and that he would do great things to avenge himself and his people of their enemies; and now, all things being thus prepared, the angels discharge their duty.

Rev 8:7-13

Observe,

  • I. The first angel sounded the first trumpet, and the events which followed were very dismal: There followed hail and fire mingled with blood, etc., v. 7. There was a terrible storm; but whether it is to be understood of a storm of heresies, a mixture of monstrous errors falling on the church (for in that age Arianism prevailed), or a storm or tempest of war falling on the civil state, expositors are not agreed. Mr. Mede takes it to be meant of the Gothic inundation that broke in upon the empire in the year 395, the same year that Theodosius died, when the northern nations, under Alaricus, king of the Goths, broke in upon the western parts of the empire. However, here we observe,
    • 1. It was a very terrible storm-fire, and hail, and blood: a strange mixture!
    • 2. The limitation of it: it fell on the third part of the trees, and on the third part of the grass, and blasted and burnt it up; that is, say some, upon the third part of the clergy and the third part of the laity; or, as others who take it to fall upon the civil state, upon the third part of the great men, and upon the third part of the common people, either upon the Roman empire itself, which was a third part of the then known world, or upon a third part of that empire. The most severe calamities have their bounds and limits set them by the great God.
  • II. The second angel sounded, and the alarm was followed, as in the first, with terrible events: A great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood, v. 8. By this mountain some understand the leader or leaders of the heretics; others, as Mr. Mede, the city of Rome, which was five times sacked by the Goths and Vandals, within the compass of 137 years; first by Alaricus, in the year 410, with great slaughter and cruelty. In these calamities, a third part of the people (called here the sea or collection of waters) were destroyed: here was still a limitation to the third part, for in the midst of judgment God remembers mercy. This storm fell heavy upon the maritime and merchandizing cities and countries of the Roman empire.
  • III. The third angel sounded, and the alarm had the like effects as before: There fell a great star from heaven, etc., v. 10. Some take this to be a political star, some eminent governor, and they apply it to Augustulus, who was forced to resign the empire to Odoacer, in the year 480. Others take it to be an ecclesiastical star, some eminent person in the church, compared to a burning lamp, and they fix it upon Pelagius, who proved about this time a falling star, and greatly corrupted the churches of Christ. Observe,
    • 1. Where this star fell: Upon a third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.
    • 2. What effect it had upon them; it turned those springs and streams into wormwood, made them very bitter, that men were poisoned by them; either the laws, which are springs of civil liberty, and property, and safety, were poisoned by arbitrary power, or the doctrines of the gospel, the springs of spiritual life, refreshment, and vigour to the souls of men, were so corrupted and embittered by a mixture of dangerous errors that the souls of men found their ruin where they sought for their refreshment.
  • IV. The fourth angel sounded, and the alarm was followed with further calamities. Observe,
    • 1. The nature of this calamity; it was darkness; it fell therefore upon the great luminaries of the heaven, that give light to the world-the sun, and the moon, and the stars, either the guides and governors of the church, or of the state, who are placed in higher orbs than the people, and are to dispense light and benign influences to them.
    • 2. The limitation: it was confined to a third part of these luminaries; there was some light both of the sun by day, and of the moon and stars by night, but it was only a third part of what they had before. Without determining what is matter of controversy in these points among learned men, we rather choose to make these plain and practical remarks:-
      • (1.) Where the gospel comes to a people, and is but coldly received, and has not its proper effects upon their hearts and lives, it is usually followed with dreadful judgments.
      • (2.) God gives warning to men of his judgments before he sends them; he sounds an alarm by the written word, by ministers, by men's own consciences, and by the signs of the times; so that, if a people be surprised, it is their own fault.
      • (3.) The anger of God against a people makes dreadful work among them; it embitters all their comforts, and makes even life itself bitter and burdensome.
      • (4.) God does not in this world stir up all his wrath, but sets bounds to the most terrible judgments.
      • (5.) Corruptions of doctrine and worship in the church are themselves great judgments, and the usual causes and tokens of other judgments coming on a people.
  • V. Before the other three trumpets are sounded here is solemn warning given to the world how terrible the calamities would be that should follow them, and how miserable those times and places would be on which they fell, v. 13.
    • 1. The messenger was an angel flying in the midst of heaven, as in haste, and coming on an awful errand.
    • 2. The message was a denunciation of further and greater woe and misery than the world had hitherto endured. Here are three woes, to show how much the calamities coming should exceed those that had been already, or to hint how every one of the three succeeding trumpets should introduce its particular and distinct calamity. If less judgments do not take effect, but the church and the world grow worse under them, they must expect greater. God will be known by the judgments that he executes; and he expects, when he comes to punish the world, the inhabitants thereof should tremble before him.