Last week, we asked whether God is delaying the second coming of His Son despite all the prayers. However, that is certainly not the case. The answer to all the saints' prayers is that God comes with judgment. This is announced in verse 5 as follows: “And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” The vessel containing the prayers of all saints is turned upside down on the earth, and God comes with His judgments.
Let us never forget that without judgments, there would be no second coming! Without the fall of earthly Babylon, there would be no coming of heavenly Jerusalem! Without the destruction of this earth, there would be no new earth! Without plagues, there would have been no Exodus, right? The ten plagues were necessary, ten judgments, before the Exodus became a reality. So, it is here: God comes with His judgments, and with them, deliverance is in sight.
We read that from the throne come “voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.” This reminds us of what happened at Mount Sinai. When God appears to dwell among His people, there are also voices, thunderclaps, lightning, and an earthquake. He is coming, He is coming! And the earth trembles before His holiness.
Shouldn't mankind tremble and repent? That is precisely the purpose of these judgments. The seven trumpets are meant as warnings. They aim to shake humanity awake and serve as a call to turn to God, who is gracious, merciful, and full of goodness. As long as the trumpets sound and we see and experience these judgments, we are living in a time of grace. During this period, God's word goes out and the gospel is preached. We know that no one will come to faith without hearing the gospel. The judgments serve as powerful warnings, but they are not enough by themselves. The trumpets of God’s judgments are accompanied by the trumpet of the proclamation of the gospel. In the end times—the period we are living in, since the Ascension and enthronement of Jesus—these two elements go hand in hand: the preaching of the gospel and God’s judgments. Let us turn to the Lord in repentance and believe in Jesus Christ. Let us be witnesses of Christ on earth.