As we open Revelation 8 today, we will again find incredible insights into our Great God in each chapter.
Each of this book’s 404 verses is like a tiny window into understanding a bit more of our All-Powerful and Almighty God.
Almost every one of the seven teaching truths or “doctrines” presented in this chapter is tied to the same doctrines in the other books of the Bible that God has already taught us.
Here is what we see taught in Revelation 8:
1. The doctrine of Inspiration: God Designed Revelation to Connect the Rest of the Bible (8:1a)
2. The doctrine of Prayer: God Designed Prayer As our Vital Connection to Him (8:1b-4)
3. The doctrine of Sovereignty: God Connects Our Prayers to His Plan (8:5-6)
4. The Doctrine that God is the ONLY Giver & Sustainer of Life (8:7)
5. The Doctrine that God ALONE Holds the Breath of Life in His Hands (8:8-9)
6. The Doctrine that God EXCLUSIVELY Controls the Water of Life (8:10-11)
7. The Doctrine that God is THE Source of the Light of Life (8:12)
Now, walk with me through each verse, and let me explain these doctrines.
1. The Doctrine of Inspiration: God Designed the Book of Revelation to Connect All the Rest of the Bible
Revelation 8:1a (NKJV) When He opened the seventh seal,
We are here introduced to the seventh seal. The amazing detailed numbers that God uses as a framework to our understanding of His plan, is part of what we need to see, to help us fit everything together that God is telling us.
First, we see how God sometimes uses numbers to communicate truths to us. He has a set of seven numbered seals. That means that there were six seals before this one. Those seals started in chapter 6. We have already studied each one. But think of them as a literal set of events that happen in a specific order, and they are a tool in God’s plan, which is yet in the future.
God’s Word Uses Literal, Historical, Grammatical Communication
The Bible is straightforward to understand when we look at it the same way that we look at almost all other communications in life. When we talk, read letters, assignments, menus, texts, and so on, we use this plain, ordinary sense of the literal meanings of words.
For example, when someone tells us: “Two days, three scratches, and five bumps”, we interpret those words as literal and framed by the context of our communication.
If those words were medically tied, we would be looking for changes in health.
If those words are tied to our car, we hear about car body repair or damage.
To understand God’s Word, read the Bible as if God were trying to explain His plan to us in plain English. That is what God has done.
Now, look at the sets of sevens God has already shown us for a moment. There is a reason for this repeated usage of sevens. God designed completed sets in groups of seven. For example, seven days represents a complete week of days.
In chapters 2-3, the seven lampstands represent the seven churches, which represent all churches of all ages that Christ’s church would exist on Earth.
The seven cities were written to represent all the cities churches would ever exist in. God addresses this message to all believers in all churches for all ages and uses the seven to represent all as a set, a complete list.
So, in one sense, the seals represent all of God’s plans to judge this sinful world and end the rebellion against His holy and absolute rule.
(ROK-26; 130908AM)
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