The book of Revelation has as it's supreme goal the drawing of our hearts to the person of Christ, to find our delight, our joy and satisfaction in Him. It was that moving away from Christ as our first love that caused the problems at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2 and it is this void which the book of Revelation fills. In drawing me to Christ as living water and the tree of life, we gain a glimpse of the place where Christ is, that is heaven. Having concluded our studies in the book of Revelation perhaps we will be left with a flavour of Christ, a thirst for Him and a glimpse of heaven as home, as destiny and as eternal reward.
"and there shall be no night there and they need no candle, neither light of the sun for the Lord God giveth them light and they shall reign for ever and ever"
Dr J Stewart Gillespie, from a series of bible teaching ministry in the book of Revelation.
Some see Eden not only as the place of human origin but as the destiny, as though the purpose of God is to bring us back to where we begun. God in His sovereignity has something far better than simply getting us back to where we started. There is purpose and meaning in trial and tribulation, affliction and problems. Our sufferings and sorrows are not wasted. God is sovereign even over our disobedience and is able to mold and shape us into conformity to His image. It is worth taking risks for God, it can lead to unexpected outcomes and blessing for His People! Bible teaching from Revelation chapter 22, Dr J Stewart Gillespie www.graceinchrist.org
A study of Revelation chapter 22, heaven and the New Jerusalem. We consider the eternal resources of the river of life and the tree of life. It would perhaps be easy to forget that either the tree of life or that river of life ever existed. Once they were in Eden, but since Genesis chapter 3 Adam and humanity have been barred from entrance into that garden and resource. Down through the scriptures that river has not been forgotten about. The nation of Israel drank of that river in the wilderness (1 Corinthians chapter 10); David thirsted for that river (Psalm 42 verse 1) and knew of the source of that river (Psalm 46 vs 4). The woman at the well in John chapter 4 tasted of that living water. Here is the source of that living water in Revelation chapter 22. There are two conditions attached to enjoing that living water. It comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb. We must know Him as Lord and as Saviour and then we can taste of that Living Water. What is holding us back? The resources for spiritual progress is all there. Dr J Stewart Gillespie From a systematic study in the Book of Revelation Bridgend Gospel Hall New Cumnock
A study of heaven and the New Jerusalem in Revelation chapter 21. We consider the gates named after the tribes of Israel, the precious stones of the foundation of the New Jerusalem and the dimensions of Glory. We consider the significance of the fact that there are no diamonds in the New Jerusalem. Here is a suitable place to reflect the true and eternal Glory of God. Dr J Stewart Gillespie
Heaven as described in Revelation chapter 21 has many surprises. We could perhaps ask the question, if all of earth and heaven pass away, what really is the point to life? Revelation chapter 21 shows us 4 great things we take with us to heaven and some of them are pretty surprising, in particular the 12 names of the tribes of Israel on the gates of heaven. Dr J Stewart Gilllespie, a systematic study of the book of Revelation.
Revelation chapter 20 sets the preconditions for the New World order under Jesus Christ in the millenial reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. As a precondition for His reign there must be victory over the Dragon, the old serpent, the Devil, that is Satan, the world and the flesh of ourselves. We must be ready to reign with Him and this means to daily engage in the spiritual battle by His power.
Revelation chapter 20 describes the final Great White Throne judgment of all people by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is here that God draws a line between our world and His heaven. Nothing that defiles, decays nor dies will be permitted into His Glorious heaven. There are many ways to this judgment but only one way through this judgment! Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 20 contains the final secret of the Bible. It is not our works, nor our righteousness, nor or religious endeavours which open up heaven to us but a name known by a Saviour who died, our name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Heaven belongs to those who belong to Jesus. Faith alone in teh Saviour who is alone the way and the truth and the life is the only way through judgment and into the presence of God forever. Dr J Stewart Gillespie
A study of Revelation chapter 19 and the alleluia chorus of heaven, the final four alleluias of the Bible, from heaven as Babylon falls. Dr J Stewart Gillespie Systematic studies in Revelation
The joy of believers in the presence of the Lamb seated upon the throne of heaven in Revelation chapter 5 contrasts with the disappointment, despair, death and loss of those who pursue the world with its passing atheism, materialism and hedonism. We cannot have both heaven and earth as our part and portion, a wise man will chose that which lasts the longest (Jim Elliot) - J Stewart Gillespie
Although set in a future time of judgment and tribulation, chapter 15 of Revelation contains truths and insights too good to be left till the future. This is a chapter which shows us afresh of God's power to turn victims into victors and which demonstrates God's sovereign power over the wickedness of men. Men may plot and persecute to have God's people put out of this world but an exit from this world quickly becomes an entrance into the Glory of heaven under teh hand of a sovereign God!
We glimpse the Glory of the Divine character in chapter 15. Judgment emerges from an unexpected source here! Out of the sanctuary and the Divine Glory and presence the vials of God's wrath are carried and consecrated by angel's hands! Divine wrath and justice is displayed before the world as the awful and awsome consequence of Divine holiness.
Revelation chapter 15 vs 1 to 4 traces the destiny of those who trusted the God of their strength, never flinching and refusing to let go until He became their salvation. As they stand upon the the crystal sea now mixed with the fires of affliction, they stand perpetual testimony to the God who is able to turn the victim into a victor. Here is the great secret of Christian trial and affliction that we have a God who is able to empower us to emerge butterfly like from the catastrophe of persecution and turmoil. The enemy in his hatred and cruelty may well have chased them to the brink of extinction at the edge of the sea but this was merely God's preamble to opening up the path before them for an eternal entrance to the habitation of God. They were like the Covenanter Martyrs of 1685, Corson and Hair; "Unknown till persecution dragged them into fame and chased them up to heaven"
What a God! What a Saviour! What a Lamb!
A message preached as part of our systematic study series on the book of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie
Bible teaching from Revelation chapter 14 verses 14 to 20; the two judgments of Revelation chapter 14 of the world and of Israel. Man may be impatient for judgement, God is not! He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. God does not merely react to sin! God is sovereign over man and works purpose through even a world in rebellion. We ought not to underestemate the sovereign power of a God who is able to bring good from the slavery and betrayal of Joseph, the murder by Moses and the rebellion of Jonah. After cries which echoe through the Psalms of David, the service of the disciples, the sanctuary of Daniel and the sousl of the saints of Revelation chapter 6; cries of "how long?" finally the answer is "now". Here is God's perfect judgment in God's time. From a systematic exposition of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.
Take a step down from the mid heaven of the lamb and the 144,000 gives a completely different view of the future, not for the redeemed but for those marked for judgement. The middle section of chapter 14 is a story of missed opportunities, misstaken allegiences and men marked for judgement. The everlasting gospel is declared, but symbolically out of reach of those upon the earth. This is a gospel declared in the mid heaven, a gospel of conviction but with no conversion of fear but no faith. Dissolving before the eyes of men is the delusion of safety in the crowd. There is no longer comfort and security in the demonically inspired Babylon, the world and it's systems have fallen, fallen and with it all who took shelter in it. A bible teaching message preached as part of our systematic series of studies in the book of Revelation - Dr J Stewart Gillespie, Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock. Graceinchrist.org
Christian hymns, Old Testament Psalms (Psalm 2) and Biblical prophecies all look forward to Christ reigning in Zion; the Holy and royal mountain of Jerusalem. Well here He is; Christ in Zion, in Revelation chapter 14. John paints the picture, gives us a snapshot of Christ on mount Zion! It’s here He has finally arrived, but it's not what I would expect of:
The Son of God
The King of Kings
The Lord of Lords
Creator
Redeemer
Judge of all things
Miracle worker
It’s the picture I might anticipate of one who is:
Omnipotent
Omniscient
Omnipresent
“Yet have I set my King upon my Holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:6)
I wasn’t expecting to see a lamb there! Maybe a lion!
Yet the path from earth to heaven and glory, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has taken as a lamb.
That’s interesting that we should find the lamb on Mt Zion
We find the lamb in all sorts of places:
On the altar (Gen 22) – sacrifice
In the fire and flame (Ex 12) – suffering
In the mouth of the lion (1 Sam 17) – Satanic attack
Led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53)
Bearing away the sin of the world - As the Substitute
Finally we find the lamb here; on the throne (Revelation 4); in heaven (Revelation 14)
This path of the lamb by way of:
Sacrifice
Suffering
Satanic attack
Is the path followed by those whom we find here in heaven. The route to the destination is the same.
They have followed the lamb all the way to Zion.
Some claim that we ought not to be ‘prisoners to our past, it’s a lesson, not a life sentence.’ There is some truth in that, but not much!
The biblical view of our past is far higher than being ‘free from the prison’ of the past and the past is certainly no lesson, it is the real thing!
If the past is but a lesson for today and today is but a lesson for the future. Where is it that we put into practice these so called lessons? When do we actually graduate from school into the real world! This of course is the real world!
No doubt lessons should be learned but regarding our life as merely a lesson is way short of the profound depths which God attaches to our life here and now.
Our past is not a prison from which we ought to regard ourselves as liberated from, our past is
what in part moulds and shapes us and produces character in us (Romans 5:1ff).
Theatre in which is worked out our service for God, the race is run, and as such reward can follow on.
The arena of sin and error; a place where ripples extend out into eternity, to the judgment seat and to others
Our past is way more serious than a prison from which we might seek freedom.
Our past does indeed teach lessons, but it has eternal consequences for us and consequences for others, which we cannot ignore nor erase. Consequences not only of:
Education
Retribution
Reward
Once we face up to the reality of this, once we grasp the truth of this, this will lead us to:
Repentance
Redemption
Reward
As well as
Education
There is by far the greater path of:
Salvation
We are far more than prisoners of our past
We are products of our past
A past that is not merely a lesson in life but a past that is life itself, real life with ripples running off into eternity.
The 144,000 arrive in heaven, sounding like the lamb (14:2) with a “voice of many waters” and with a “new song” that no man could learn.
Anyone could read the lyrics but they could not learn the song
Anyone could learn words but they could not learn the song!
Anyone could follow a tune but they could not learn this song!
Many could play the music but they could not learn the song.
This was a song played on the heart, not only upon the harp (v2)
Like Christ who ‘learned obedience by the things which He suffered’
Learning is a change brought about from experience
At times in life we complain, we are resentful, become bitter, get discouraged.
At times we desire an:
Easier life
Smoother path
To take it a little easier
Put our feet up
A bit less hassle
This path is the path to mount Sinai
This is the path which brought the Son of God to Glory
This song was and is the product of their lives.
This is the song that makes us sound like Christ!
Bass notes of suffering
The treble clef of lifes melody
The sharps of excitement
The flats of disappointment
The rests of recuperation
The repeats of routine
The majors of life’s dominant themes
The minors of less significant
We may be an epistle written and read as Paul reminds us but our life also produces a song that is sung and nothing need be wasted.
From a systematic bible teaching series from the letter of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie, preached at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock. Free to download messages and free to view online.
Great songs are born of deep experience. Some of the richest treasures of human expression arise from our deepest emotions of love, both fulfilled and frustrated. From lessons learned in deep anguish arise the expressions of heart uniquely tuned in the life and experience of every believer. To heaven these 144 000 bring a song so unique that only their life and their experience is able to give expression to it.
Dr J Stewart Gillespie at Faskally House Families Week 2022 - Tell me There's a Heaven.
Heaven is the expected conclusion to the life of faith. The path to heaven is fragranced with the presence and provision of the God of heaven. As pilgrims heavenward, the one to whom we go is the one who goes with us. We drink of the well of the living waters of Christ, as he promised to the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. We hear His word of revelation and enjoy an ongoing relationship with the Saviour day by day. When heaven finally comes the summit is to the believer no surprise. With every step upward we feel the strain in our muscles, the tension in our tendons, the cool dew condensing on our hair, the air becoming thinner and the sun a little brighter. Heaven is the conclusion to a life of faith. We know the way because we know the person.
From a series of messages on the theme of "Tell me There's a Heaven" given at Faskally Families Week in 2022 by Dr J Stewart Gillespie
Trace back the fuse wire to the detonator that triggered the pouring out of the 7 vials of judgment, the fall of Babylon the Great, the battle of Armageddon, the sounding of the 7 trumpets, and the opening of the 7 seals, will lead you to this book in the hand of God in Revelation chapter 5. Whatever this book is, it contains the secret of all subsequent judgments and catastrophes in the book of Revelation which are to befall the world. Whatever it is, this book is important. Despite the fact that loosening the seals to open the book leads to global environmental, economic and spiritual melt down following in the wake of war, famine, disease and demonic attack, this is a risk worth taking.
The 4th message in a series of studies in the book of Revelation given at Faskally Family week 2022 on the theme of "Tell me There's a Heaven" by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.
The lion of the tribe of Judah reigns sovereign and supreme from the throne of the Universe in Revelation chapter 5. His sovereignty has suffered and sacrificed through time and humanity. To the throne of heaven He brings Divine right and appointment fused with moral right and authority. He is the King who wore the crown of thorns ever before He bore the royal diadem. His reign in Righteousness is above fault and criticism, He was both given this right to reign, and He died for this right to reign. As the Lamb He concludes His retribution with redemption, His purpose in time for the universe collectively and for us individually will not be revealed in the raw power of destruction but rather every pain, each sorrow, every disappointment, all trials and affliction ultimately work together for good and Glory.
The 3rd message given at Faskally House Family Week in 2022, by Dr J Stewart Gillespie on the theme of
"Tell me there's a Heaven" - studies in the book of Revelation.
It was no coincidence that as Moses descended Mount Sinai with the two tables of law written by the finger of God, that Satan had made a pre-emptive strike and that waiting there for Moses was a pre-constructed golden calf!
It was no coincidence that placed next to the throne of Egypt were two Satanically inspired magicians; Jannes and Jambres, ready to sway the mind of Pharaoh as the voice of God echoed throughout the land in plague and pestilence.
It was no coincidence that Tobiah and Sanballat were on hand to discourage and to attempt to destroy the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah fulfilled his commission to rebuild for God!
Here too in Revelation chapter 12 we perceive exactly the same process at work. As the time approaches for Israel to bring forth Messiah; "when the fullness of the time was come..." in Revelation 12:2; God was ready. At that moment so too was Satan ready; ready with an attempt at annihilation, with the slaughter of the innocents, ready with persecution, temptation in the wilderness, rejection from the synagogue, isolation from society, false accusations, and ultimate execution at Calvary!
If we share the life of that same Saviour we too can anticipate to share the unwanted attention of Satan! Be ready! Be prepared, but not only for attack, but ultimately for victory through Christ!
Part of a series of messages preached from the book of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock .
(this recording was prematurely stopped due to a technical error)
A surgical incision into the closing section of Revelation chapter 11, reveals an unexpected heart beating at it's centre! After 7 seals and 6 trumpets and a third woe pending, this section gravitates around a nucleus of worship (Rev 11:17). This may seem to some a surprising conclusion to death, disease, catastrophe, global conflict and demonic attack upon the earth! Yet we ought not to be surprised at all. It was:
After Israel apostatised in worshipping the golden calf and the tables of the law were smashed that Moses worshipped
After Job had seen the death of his family, the destruction of his home and the decimation of his wealth that Job worshipped
Surrounded by the apocalyptic destruction of Jerusalem, the wall and the temple that Ezra worshipped
On the storm tossed boat with their life in jeopardy that the disciples worshipped
Possessed by a legion of soul wrenching demons that the Gaderene worshipped
Whilst he was dying and leaning on his staff that Jacob worshipped
Revelation chapter 11 verses 14 to 19 give us five good reasons to worship and everything going well with the world and our lives is not one of them! We can rejoice that God is in control of:
The woes that befall the world - ordered and announced by Him
The world and it's kingdoms
The wicked and their judgment
The reward of the godly
The worship of the one true and living God
His word is settled forever in heaven. Despite what we may perceive as the chaos and catastrophe of the past we cannot on that basis predict the plans of God!
Revelation chapter 8 opens with a silence of separation (8:1), a silence separating all that has gone before in heaven and upon earth from that which is about to happen. So dramatic, terrible and catastrophic are the events which are about to unfold that a line of demarcation is drawn between before the silence and after the silence. This unprecedented silence will forever be a line of separation, a turning point in God’s dealings with His world.
Before this half an hour of silence God had dealt with this world in:
Creation
Grace
Providence
Upholding sustaining power extended as general grace to all men
Redemption
Even up until chapter 8 God’s judgments were on the whole passive and consequential upon the opening of the seals. The judgments so far were indirect, as a consequence of the opening of the seals rather than being directly commanded of God. The judgments so far pronounced drew, on the whole from natural causes and instruments in man’s world, familiar to us; eg war, famine and death. You might from the perspective of earth look at the four riders of the apocalypse and the natural disasters of the 6th seal and not clearly appreciate nor apprehend that these events had a Divine and supernatural cause! You could live through the first 6 seals and still hold on fairly tenaciously to your atheism, putting the events you experienced down to man made catastrophes, political upheaval and natural disasters. That is all about to change!
Revelation chapter 8 verse 1 signals a line of bold demarcation, not only in John’s apocalypse but also in the foreign policy of heaven. Earth now becomes the object not of:
Creation
Grace
Mission
Salvation
But of unparalleled judgment.
For half an hour the chorus of heaven ceases.
The worship of the innumerable company of martyrs of chapter 7, angels, living creatures and elders (7:11) is silenced
The harps of the 24 elders are set aside (5:8)
The chorus of the redeemed (5:9) is no longer heard
Holy, Holy, Holy is cried no longer (4:8)
Heaven falls silent.
This silence may occupy only a single verse of that vast volume we call the Bible, but don’t be misled, this is no minor matter! This is a silence that brings to a halt the Holy, Holy, Holy of Revelation chapter 4 and the 4 living creatures!
What is about to transpire is a judgment of unparalleled proportions. A judgment that is unlike any previous activity of heaven. The judgments of heaven move from the natural to the supernatural. In chapter 8 of Revelation we see not only nature turned against man; as it was in chapter 6 but we see:
Heaven and the angels (8:6-13)
Hell and the demonic (chp 9)
Mobilised against man!
Here is a half hour of silence. A half hour for:
Awe
Grace
Forgotten prayers
A half hour of:
Awe – a reasonable and rational response to greatness and the Glory of God eg Zechariah 2:13; Romans 3:19
Grace – even in the epicentre of Divine judgment God’s character has not changed. As late as Revelation 16:9 there remains an echo of the hope for repentance. “God...is longsuffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
Forgotten prayers. Here are the prayers of “all saints” (Revelation 8:3), including those ‘forgotten’ prayers of Rev 6:10 and who knowns how many other prayers long offered and thence forgotten. God does not forget the prayers of His people, even if those who offered such prayers have already gone home to Glory. He did not forget:
The blood of Abel (Genesis 4:10; Matthew 23:35; Luke11:51)
The murder of Zacharias (Luke 11:51)
Prayer of Abraham (Genesis 15:2)
Prayer of Zacharias (Luke 1:13)
These prayers are now offered in this interlude with the “smoke of incense” fragrant and powerful. Incense added to the fragrance of the believer’s life “for we are unto God a sweet fragrance of Christ” (2 Co 2:15). How much more effective and powerful could my prayers be if the incense of my life truly complemented the fragrance of heaven?
The sounding of the first 4 trumpets (Revelation 8:6-13)
In the sounding of these first 4 trumpets we have the outpouring of Divine judgment in a hitherto unknown and unseen fashion. This is the systematic deconstruction of man’s world. You could draw parallels with the 10 plagues of Egypt with the hail (v7), waters of blood (v8), destruction of the plant life (v7) and subsequently of course the plague of locusts (9:3ff). This is bigger than the 10 plagues of Egypt. This is global in extent and spiritual in character.
In these first 4 trumpets man’s world and man’s place in the world is shaken and deconstructed. Each and every sphere of the world as we know it is shaken and impacted part by part:
The earth and land (8:7)
The sea (8:8-9)
The rivers (8:10-11)
The heavens above (8:12-13)
Piece by piece man’s world is systematically deconstructed!
Here is the deconstruction of the creatorial work of Genesis chapter 1.
Here is God’s definitive response to man’s most ancient of sins; idolatry.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and -- fourth generation of them that hate me;” (Exodus 20:3ff)
It is here that God’s jealousy for His own glory finds final justice and satisfaction. The material world adored by man, where man dug deep his foundations and denied his creator crumbles.
Nature
Civilisation
Commerce
Industry
Culture
Utter devastation and catastrophe abounds, and yet there is in all of this at least one great grace. This is the new enlightenment! Many will be familiar with the that period of western history in the 16th and 17th century we refer to as the enlightenment. A period of time marked by a mushrooming of:
Science
Human rights and individualism
Political changes and democracy
Pursuit of happiness
Materialism
Secularism
A period of time in which men attempted to:
Find their place in the world
Find their happiness in the world
Often this led many to abandon God or at least distance themselves from God and His demands morally and spiritually. These ideas have grown ever since coming down to us today in ever expanding forms.
Here is the new enlightenment! Here is a stage closer to reality. In these days men will have to rethink who and what they are. Chapter 8 challenges us to consider not:
What man is in the world
What man is without the world
“whose then shall these things be which thou has provided?”
If everything I have, all I possess, all I have laid by in store for this world was gone, would I have anything left?
“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,” (2 Peter 3:11)
Edwin Blum: “Peter here makes the impending disintegration of the universe the ground for a personal challenge to his readers” (Expositors Bible Commentary)
Is this not why we are given now an insight into events then?
Where today does our foundation lie?
Where today do we lay up treasure?
What today are we distracted by?
Is it worth it?
Will it endure?
What of the details of these first 4 trumpets?
Many an interpretation has been given.
Symbolic – trees representing great men, grass the temporal nature of man’s glory, great mountain the kingdoms of men, sea as the nations. I have difficulty with this. The symbols appear to me very stretched and a bit arbitrary; are you really sure trees are great and powerful men in this context? Where trees are used as symbolic of great men there is usually an indicator or clue in the passage that they are being used in that way (Amos 2:9).
Literal – 4 literal judgments, distinctive, instigated as a sovereign act of God. What will happen is just as described. That being the case there would be nothing further to expound. The description is as it stands, simple and literal.
Descriptive – there are some elements of Johns description here that would suggest that a completely literal interpretation is probably not what is intended; eg sea “became blood” (v8) – a biological material produced by the bone marrow of animals, a complex protein structure carefully controlled by biological hormones, growth factors and cytokines. It is unlikely that such vast quantities of a biological substance would be found in the ocean, nor would they likely survive for any significant period of time in the oceans. Note also the description that the waters became “wormwood” (v11). Wormwood is a plant from which is made Absinthe, a potent and at times toxic alcoholic drink, contains a vast array of biologically active compounds, anti cholinergics, anti cholinesterases, it is toxic. Unlikely however that 1/3 of the waters will be literally turned to wormwood!
These first 4 trumpets may then announce 4 distinct catastrophes from God, supernaturally authored and destructive individually as described:
Hail and fire
Meteor or comet hit to the seas
Comet strike affecting waters
Eclipse of some form
However bearing in mind that this section has descriptive elements to it, ie not entirely literal, is there anything that we know of today which might fit with the figurative descriptive language of this section?
There is one modern scenario which does pretty strongly parallel the description which we have here in Revelation chapter 8. A scenario unknown of course to John and to humanity for the next 1900 years.
Allow me to describe from secular academic sources the likely scenario of a nuclear holocaust.
In the event of a nuclear strike:
Likely targets of a nuclear strike would include key population centres and cities in the world: Washington, LA, San Diego, Moscow, Vladivostok, Tokyo, Beijing.
An epicentre of variable size depending on the size of the nuclear warhead would extend out from the point of impact over an area of 5 to 10 miles. Within that epicentre there would be total vaporisation, complete destruction. The episode would be engulfed in intense heat and flames. Everything flammable would be consumed, buildings, vehicles, people and plants. The vaporised products of that explosion would rise as a mushroom cloud, to fall to earth as black rain, embers and burning material. Approximately 50% of the debris from the initial nuclear strike would fall locally within the first 24 hours. A scenario not dissimilar to the hail and fire of verse 7 linked with the burning of vegetation. Interestingly notice that in the description of verse 7 some plants fair better than others. All of the green grass but only 1/3 of the trees were burnt up. This could likewise fit with fires extending out from nuclear epicentres in which some vegetation would be more resilient than others. In Hiroshima hit by the A bomb in 1945, all vegetation above the ground was vaporized extending out in a diameter of 3 km. Some plants with roots deep underground survived including approximately 170 broad leafed trees, including the Hibakujumoku tree. Ground based plants did not survive.
The fallout of radioactive particles would contaminate all surface waters making them undrinkable (consider verse 10).
The smoke and ash from that nuclear strike would rise 20 to 50 miles above the surface of the earth and stay there for a period of years. It is this smoke which would in part block out the light of the sun and moon, resulting in what scientists refer to as a nuclear winter. Note the 4th trumpet in this respect of verse 12. As a consequence, corn and wheat yields would drop depending on how large the nuclear holocaust was. From a relatively small nuclear conflict eg between India and Pakistan it is estimated that food production would drop by up to 40% and 1 to 2 billion people would perish with 90% of the worlds population starving to death in a nuclear winter.
A nuclear hit on or around the sea would likewise have catastrophic effects on the marine life and nearby coastal regions, not only at the epicentre but in the extended area around it as the pressure way dissipates through the water. A nuclear marine hit would cause massive aquatic death, increase the sea temperature locally and change nutrient concentrations in the vicinity from decomposing marine life.
Interestingly in response to changing sea temperatures and nutrient compositions many areas of the world experience red tides in California, Gulf of Mexico, Maine, British Columbia, Florida. This is caused by the overgrowth of a variety of toxic algae species such as Karenia Brevis and bacteria, Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium, Red tides have also been observed as a consequence of overgrowth of Alexandrium species of bacteria in sea temperatures above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The toxins from Alexandrium species are responsible for Toxic Shellfish Poisoning, these toxins form the bacteria being absorbed by the shellfish.
In a recent paper published by Jae Young Oh, it has been discovered that some marine algae possess radioprotective phytochemicals, radioprotective polysaccharides and carotenoids. The radioprotective qualities of red algae have been extensively studied.
At the Chernobyl site in Ukraine it was found that following the nuclear accident at Ribiyart that Cryptococcus Neoformans were able to feed on radioactive material turning radiation into chemical energy!
Tanks at sellafield nuclear reactor have grown Haematococcus resistent to radiation. Haematococcus produces astaxanthan part of the carotenoid group of substances, which occurs in algae and causes the pink red colour in Salmon.
“Wormwood” :
Ukrainian – Chernobyl – perhaps a little echo of what is to come?
Part of our systematic study of the book of Revelation presented by Dr J Stewart Gillespie, at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock.
Revelation chapter 8 verses 1 to 5, the half hour silence in heaven at the opening of the 7th seal and prior to the sounding of the 7th trumpet Heaven, the place of angelic adoration, worship and singing by the redeemed and the sound of eternal praise comes to a total silence. The sound track of heaven is silenced for half an hour. This deadly silence separates chapters 8 and 9 of Revelation from all that precedes. Here are a series of judgments about to be poured out upon the earth which has qualitatively and quantitatively distinct from all that precede them. These judgments unleash not only death and judgment from the sphere of nature, as did the losing of the 7 seals but these trumpets announce, directly and deliberately the unleashing of all the power of heaven (Revelation chapter 8) and of hell (Revelation chapter 9). Destruction now will be on a scale hitherto unrealised and unwitnessed. Here also is 30 minutes of Divine Grace from a God who is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance even as late on as Revelation 16:9, this remains the case. It is during these 30 minutes of silence that heaven is punctuated with prayers past ascended and long forgotten by those who once prayed for justice, judgment and vengeance. The prayers of God's people are not forgotten. The prayers of God's people do not fall to the ground unheard and unnoticed keep praying. From a message preached at Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock by Dr J Stewart Gillespie on Revelation chapter 8 vs 1 to 5 - The Silence of the Lamb Part of a verse by exposition of the book of Revelation, free to download audio and video.
For the martyred multitude of Revelation chapter 7, heaven was worth it and heaven came as no surprise. With every strain of the sinews, every stretch of their muscle fibres and with each tensing of the tendons, this great multitude of God's people felt they were stepping upwards, higher and higher to the heavens. Reaching the summit came as no surprise. The clouds seemed closer with every step, the atmosphere of earth thinning and the sun a little brighter. Their journey had been one of progressing a little higher day by day. Along that upward path they had known the:
The Taste of the Place
The Touch of a Person
Heaven was reached by a palm tree paved path from the:
Palms of the oasis of Elim bringing refreshment from the wells of God's provision for His people on their earthly journey
Palms of reflection as His people dwelt annually under the booths of palm leaves, reminding them of their pilgrim character on earth
Palms of revelation under the palm tree of Deborah
Palms of relationship adorning the temple
Each step of the pilgrim journey home had a taste of the place, a fragrance of heaven.
That journey to the dwelling place of the Lamb was likewise assured by the presence and provision of the Shepherd along the path. The one who had lead them by the still waters and who had made them lie down in green pastures was the same one who had lead them to the source of that supply. Psalm 23 with its closing promise of dwelling in the House of the Lord forever, is the doorway into the eternal vista of Revelation chapter 7. Still waters in the valley of Psalm 23 find the eternal and abundant source in the "living fountains of water" of Revelation chapter 7. In this eternal abode hearts are fully satisfied (verse 16) with Christ.
It is at the conclusion of the journey for God's people, faithful martyrs for Jesus Christ, men and women who have come through persecution, suffering and death that we are finally able to weigh up the worth and value of all that has transpired before the eternal. Has earth been worth it? Has life been fare? Have the means been worth the end? Can we make sense of life now in the light of forever? The reflection and response of those martyred for Jesus is a resounding volley of praise and worship (verse 12); an emphatic 'yes'. Perhaps like them it would be wise for us to reserve judgment and assessment on our own trials and difficulties until finally we see life in the light of the Lamb, time from the perspective of forever.
A message preached in our systematic series of studies in the book of Revelation at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.
