The Lord’s Prayer — I memorized it as a child and ritually rattled it off every night. Do you ever stop to think about what we’re actually praying for? What we pray for is what is next in the Book of Revelation as Heaven comes down and earth is cleaned up…
Our Father in heaven,
Matthew 6:9-10 NLT
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
“Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Well, that’s what is happening in the Book of Revelation chapters 8 and 9. It’s a continuing of God’s Kingdom Transfer.
Let’s recap. The Rapture of Jesus’ true believers happened and we are in Heaven waiting for the 7-year Tribulation to be over. Back on earth, many wise people, who were left behind, figured out that they missed the boat by not inviting Jesus into their hearts and they are stuck on earth. Once they believe, they become the Tribulation Saints. Many of which will be martyred before the 7 years are over. The 4 horsemen of the apocalypse have done their dirty work and there are more judgements to come.
Again, this series that I’m doing through the Book of Revelation isn’t as deep as others. I highly recommend ThroughTheWord.org. Pastor Kris Langham does a fantastic job in explaining the explainable in Revelation. However, there is a lot that really stays as mysteries. Pastor Kris brings up this verse from Proverbs…
It is God’s privilege to conceal things
Proverbs 25:2 NLT
and the king’s privilege to discover them.
God wants us to dig and search for understanding in His Word. As we do this, we are educated in His ways and how He wants us to live.
The Kingdom Transfer
As we prayed, ‘Your Kingdom Come…” God heard our prayers. Ever since the Fall of Man, Satan has controlled the earth — it’s corrupted by sin. It’s God’s turn to take over. God gives us humans chance after chance to repent of our sins. Some do, but a lot don’t.
The 7th Seal Releases the Trumpet Judgements
When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.
Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.
Revelation 8:1-5 NLT
We pray, “Your Kingdom come…,” well, here it is! Nothing gets our attention than 30-minutes of silence. We wait, then we hear thunder, see lightning and then an earthquake. God does like to shake things up!
The First Four Trumpets
Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts. The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned.
Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood, one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.
Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star was Bitterness. It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died from drinking the bitter water.
Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark, and also one-third of the night.
Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”
Revelation 8:6-13 NLT
God’s gone from destroying a quarter of the people in Revelation 6 to…
- 1/3 of the land is burned
- 1/3 of the sea dies and ships are destroyed
- 1/3 of the fresh water is made unusable (radiation?)
- 1/3 of the heavens are removed
God is trying to cleanse the earth of sin — His Judgement
Physically, all four are deeply polluted (land, sea, fresh water and the air).
Spiritually, God addresses the pollution in the spiritual realm:The land– there are people who worship the land (mother earth), and the physical creation.
The sea– the mountains are spiritual religious systems (Isaiah 2) – God will destroy them.
The fresh water– star falling from heaven – this is the destruction of the demonic structures (healing of that which releases and sustains life).
The heavens– removal of spiritual darkness and spiritual pollution of the spiritual realm.
Kingdom transfer needs to remove spiritual strongholds that defile our world. They touch all aspects of our world. The spiritual corruption has resulted in physical pollution of this world – and that will require cleansing as well. However, we need to deal with the spiritual first, or we do not address the underlying problem causing everything. That is why the spiritual must be dealt with – or cleansing of the earth is an ongoing and frustrating activity.
The Prophetic Gallery Series in YouVersion, Bible App from https://aaec.ae/
When we talk and pray for God’s kingdom to touch our world, we need to start with the spiritual. So pray for God to break spiritual blindness, spiritual bondage, spiritual polluting of truth, and shine light into spiritual darkness.
The 5th and 6th Trumpets bring terrors or woes…
Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.
Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!
The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.
The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!
Revelation 9:1-12 NLT
Right now, swarms of locusts are devouring crops throughout Africa and the Middle East. Those don’t bother people directly. The ones here will sting like scorpions. However, imagine if John was seeing military helicopters. Don’t you think they look like locusts?
The Sixth Trumpet Brings the Second Terror
Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.” Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.
And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.
But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Revelation 9:13-21 NLT
Have you ever been in so much pain that you wish you could die? I remember one bout of food poisoning once when I was miserable for 3 days! I can’t imagine how bad these plagues are going to be!
Speaking of plagues, with COVID-19, God’s gotten the attention of many people. With churches shut for Holy Week and Easter, millions turned to churches online and many gave their lives to Jesus! Unfortunately, not everyone has. Take everything bad that’s happening right now on earth and multiply it many times over. That’s what the Great Tribulation is going to be like.
Repentance is a major step in salvation — salvation from the Great Tribulation
That’s all God wants us to do — repent of our sins. Otherwise, He’s going to give the people — especially the unbelievers — left behind, a little taste of Hell on earth. If they insist on rejecting His Kingdom, then He’ll remove His restraining Hand of protection.
Jesus said…
“Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
John 10:9-11
The World is Corrupted by Satan
Many people are blinded by the devil. Are you? Just the fact that you’re reading/listening to this means that you want to get to know Jesus Christ. You are seeking the Gospel Truth.
Again I borrow from the Prophetic Gallery Series Devotional the prayer they offered for Revelation 8…
Father, this is the first prayers that You call us to make. You call us to release the stranglehold that Satan has over this creation. It touches every aspect of our world and where we live. There is worship of this creation – rather than the Creator. There are demonic structures, religious systems and blindness that must be broken if Your Kingdom is to come and release life. Father, that is the task that You have given to us – that is what we are to pray about. So today, I ask that You open my eyes to see where I need to pray to see breakthrough in these areas in my world. People around me are blinded by Satan – Father, I pray for light to shine through and heal their blindness. Father, there are people worshiping this world – money, power, creation itself; Father, I ask that You shake their worlds with Your thunder, lightning and earthquakes so that they recognize that their worship is in the wrong place. Cleanse this world I pray. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Prophetic Gallery Series https://aaec.ae/
I’m going to end with this passage from Matthew. Jesus told us…
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 NLT
Remember, Jesus is the gate. Through no one else, through nothing else can you be saved!
Soli Deo Gloria! To God Alone be the Glory!
