Is That You Lord?

Q

My sister is reading a book in which the author speaks of the angel in Revelation 8:3-7 as being Jesus. The author also says that the prayers of the saints which are being offered with the incense upon the golden altar are the prayers of the raptured church for those ‘christians’ who missed the rapture and are now enduring the tribulation. To settle a disagreement about these verses, my sister would like you to explain who the angel and the saints are.

A

Scholars are divided on the identity of the angel in Rev. 8:3 and there aren’t any real clues to help us. I think since John identified the Lord on the two previous occasions when He has appeared (Rev. 1. 12-18 and Rev. 5:5-6) he most likely would have identified Him here as well. But whether this angel is or isn’t the Lord is not critical to the passage. Since Rev. 8:3 says the prayers are from all the saints, I would assume that means everyone, whether in Heaven or on Earth.