Revelation 8:5

Filled it with fire. A change suddenly comes in the scene of intercession. Once more the angel fills his censer with coals of fire, but adds no incense.

Cast it into the earth. The meaning of this act is significant for the understanding of what follows as the trumpets are blown. Two interpretations may be suggested.

According to the view that Seventh-day Adventists have favored, the cessation of the angel’s ministry at the altar of incense is symbolic of the end of the ministration of Christ for mankind—the close of probation. The voices, thunderings, lightnings, and earthquake that ensue when the angel casts the censer into the earth describe events to take place at the end of the seventh trumpet, following the opening of the temple (ch. 11:19), and at the seventh plague, when a voice comes from the temple declaring, “It is done” (ch. 16:17).

Some prefer to see ch. 8:3–5, not so much in its chronological, as in its logical, relationship to the seals and the trumpets. This view agrees with the preceding one that the ministry of the angel at the altar of incense is representative of Christ’s intercession for His people throughout the Christian Era. But it emphasizes the fact that the prayers of the saints are seen ascending, and interprets the significance of these prayers in terms of the prayers of the martyrs revealed under the fifth seal: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (ch. 6:10). Not only was this the prayer of the martyrs, it was also the theme of the prayers of all God’s children who suffered under the horrors portrayed when the seals were opened. Thus when the prayers of ch. 8:3 are taken in the setting of the seals, the action of the angel in throwing a censer of fire unmixed with incense into the earth may be seen as symbolizing that these prayers are now being answered. In ch. 6:11 the suffering saints were given a temporary answer in that they were told to wait until the number of martyrs was made up. Now the real answer to their prayer comes. God’s wrath against the persecutors of His people is not withheld forever. Finally it is poured out, and without benefit of the intercession of Christ. The trumpets are regarded as portraying these judgments. This second view attempts to tie together the seals and trumpets by setting forth the trumpets to be the answer of God to the events portrayed under the seals.

Voices. For repetitions of these portents see chs. 11:19; 16:18; cf. above on “cast it into the earth.”