In this article, we will look at the first four trumpet judgments. Let’s start with an introduction so we can get some context in place.
Introduction:
There are seven trumpet judgments:
· Trumpets were used throughout the history of Israel at Mount Sinai:
o To call the entire nation to the mountain of God to receive the Ten Commandments.
o To call the nation or leaders to the tabernacle.
o To call the nation to war, special feasts, or ceremonial processions.
o To announce the “Day of the Lord.”
· The purpose of the trumpets of Revelation 8, however, is different in three ways:
o 1. They will be given to the angels to announce calamity.
o 2. These trumpets will relate to the breaking of the seventh seal.
o 3. These trumpet blasts will not expect anyone to respond. Instead, they will introduce what God will send on the earth.
· The first four trumpets affect natural objects: the earth, trees, grass, sea, and rivers.
· The fifth and sixth trumpets (which we’ll look at a later date) are more specifically aimed at mankind:
o And unlike the first four, which are connected and interdependent, the last two are separate and independent.
· The first four have only an indirect effect on mankind, which we’ll see in this article.
· Then, in v.13, the voice of the eagle separates the trumpets into two distinct groups:
o The first four and then the fifth and the sixth together.
o The seventh trumpet is blown later in chapter 11.
· God’s people, believers, are not the objects of these judgments. Rather, it’s a world that’s completely hostile toward God.
· The ultimate goal of these judgments is to lead unbelievers to repentance:
o Some will respond and, sadly, some will not.
· The judgments that are about to begin are those that were held back in 7:3 until the servants of God were sealed.
The Trumpets Judgments: 1-4
v.7, “And the first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”
· First trumpet brings judgment in the form of "hail and fire mixed with blood."
· The similarity to the seventh Egyptian plague (Ex. 9:23-27) – which spared the Israelites – is pretty clear, except here the blood is added.
· Once again, we have the issue of how to interpret John’s words – literally or symbolically:
o How we interpret these words will tell us how bad these trumpet judgments will be.
· To interpret these words symbolically, one has to avoid any realism in this vision:
o Some would say that the events described here by John cannot be taken as literal.
o Some would suggest that this is simply the nature of apocalyptic, or end times literature:
Ø Therefore, they lean toward a symbolic interpretation.
· One of the problems with symbolic interpretation is that it leads to an endless number of contradictions:
o For instance, they would say that the earth, grass, and trees are symbols for nations and men in the first trumpet.
o As we’ve said before, the problem with symbolic interpretation is whose symbols are right?
o Only Scripture itself can justify a symbolic understanding by its own words, and that’s not the case here.
· A literal interpretation of the judgments is always better than the unscriptural explanation given by some who want to spiritualize the text.
· The casting of the hail and fire mixed with blood has a three results:
o A third part of the earth is burned up.
o A third part of the trees will be burned up.
o And all green grass is burned up.
· The destructive part of this plague is the fire:
o It will burn up a significant portion of earth's vegetation.
o By contrast, it was the hail in the Egyptian plague that brought the destruction of vegetation (Ex. 9:25).
· The first thing destroyed is the soil on earth's surface, a third of which was burned up:
o No soil, no planting; no planting, no food!
· The second thing destroyed is a third of the trees:
o Fruit trees, in particular, were important to life in Israel and in Asia Minor.
o No trees, no oxygen; no trees, no fruit; no fruit, no food!
o No olive trees means no olive oil, which is a very important food staple in the Middle Eastern culture.
· The third thing to be burned is "all the green grass":
o This phrase poses a bit of a problem because grass is still around when the fifth trumpet sounds in 9:4.
· However, two things help to resolve this problem:
o First, a time lapse between the first and fifth trumpets allows time for grass to grow again after the burning, but before the fifth trumpet sounds.
o Second, in most parts of the earth, grass is not green all year-round; it’s seasonal.
o Therefore, the burning of all the grass that’s green during a particular season would leave other grass untouched.
o Whether the affected portion was one third or some other percentage, the text does not say. The text simply says "all" the green grass at the time of this judgment.
o Either of these two explanations allows us to take the "all" in its literal sense without contradicting v.4 of chapter 9.
o One more thing: with the grass gone the livestock in that area would die leaving them with no meat
v.8, “And the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood”:
· As you can imagine, opinions regarding the actual meaning of "something like a great mountain burning with fire" run the gamut of interpretations.
· A majority fall into three groups:
o The first opinion sees the mountain as representative of spiritual Babylon, or some other great kingdom:
Ø But there’s no Scriptural support for this.
Ø That’s the problem with not taking the words in their normal and plain sense.
o A second opinion tries to connect the fall of the mountain-like object with local volcanic activity:
Ø But this explanation also fails because it was not something from the great mountain, but it’s the great mountain itself that falls into the sea.
o The third, and more literal explanation, takes the mountain-like image to be a meteor ablaze with fire due to entering earth’s atmosphere:
Ø This allows for the use of the word "like," (a simile).
Ø This great mountain falls into the category of the stars falling from heaven that we saw during the sixth seal.
Ø This literal interpretation allows for the figurative language, “… it was like a great mountain,” because the text itself indicates it to be figurative.
- Next, we’ll consider "the sea." The Greek word is thalassa, which literally means, all bodies of water:
o The burning mountain-like mass is thrown is the sea as a whole, not just the Mediterranean sea:
Ø The result was "a third part of the sea became blood."
- Will this be actual blood or only a blood-like color?
o Some would argue that the sea only looked like blood:
Ø It’s the result of volcanic eruptions that would create a bright orange color in the water.
o But the text says, “the sea became blood,” not “it became like” blood. There is no simile here.
o John believed that a large part of the sea would, literally, turn into blood as it had under the first plague in Egypt in Exodus 7:20.
o In our finite human minds, it’s impossible for an object like a burning mountain to turn one third of the sea into literal blood, causing one third of marine life to perish, and destroying one third of the ships.
o But with God’s infinite mind and infinite power, nothing is impossible for Him.
o Man is not now, nor will he be in the future, in a position to question the “how” and “why” of God’s judgments.
v.9, “and a third of the creatures, which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
· The description continues by explaining the impact on sea life and shipping.
· Just like the first Egyptian plague (Exodus 7:21), the fish in the blood-filled environment die from:
o No oxygen, no food and no sunlight.
· The Greek word is ktisma, and it means creature:
o Referring to something created, which, in this context, must be fish and sea creatures.
· Also, the seagoing ships are hit hard as well:
o These are literal ships on the seas at the time the “great burning mountain” strikes the sea.
o Notice it says, "… the ships were destroyed.”
o Can you imagine the tidal wave that will be generated as this “great mountain of fire” hits the ocean?
Ø And you know how far a tidal wave can travel!
o It’s not difficult to take this literally is it?
v.10, “And the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters”:
· The sound of the third trumpet brings another object falling from heaven:
o This time, the falling object is like "a great star burning like a torch."
· The symbolic interpreters see the star as:
o Representing a false religious leader.
o A deluding influence given to people as an act of judgment.
o Or an angel.
· The first two ideas are hard to accept because heresy is hardly a judgment inflicted on men as a penalty for sin.
· In fact, all three symbolic interpretations fail, mainly because there is no Scriptural evidence that the star is a symbol for something other than a star.
· Following the basic rules of interpreting Scripture, take the words in their plain sense unless the Scripture tells us to do otherwise:
o This is a literal star or meteor.
o The ancient Greeks would use the Greek word "lampas,” which means torch, to represent a meteor shooting through the air.
o Their use of this word helps us to confirm the literal sense of the word.
· Just like back in 6:13, this is a singular meteor, not all the stars in the sky:
o The stars remain in the sky until the time of the third and fourth trumpets.
· This meteor pollutes a third of the rivers:
o All the rivers are not destroyed by this trumpet judgment.
o It pollutes only a third of them.
· This judgment brings to mind the first Egyptian plague with its contamination of the drinking water supply (Ex. 7:21):
o This was a familiar sign of Divine punishment (Jer. 9:15).
o Pagan worship of spirits associated with rivers and springs was widespread in John's time, so this could be an expression of God's anger at their sin of idolatry.
v.11, “and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter”:
· This star has a name, "and the name of the star is called ‘wormwood.'"
· “Wormwood” is mentioned seven times in the Old Testament, always depicting bitterness and sorrow.
· The Greek word is “apsinthos,” which means, wormwood, is found nowhere else in the Greek text.
· It’s a plant with a bitter taste appearing in several varieties throughout the geographical region of Palestine.
· In Exodus 15:23-25, at Marah, a tree made the bitter water sweet, but here, the star makes the sweet water bitter.
· Wormwood in the Old Testament was a symbol for Divine punishment in Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19, and its appropriately named for this trumpet.
· Wormwood itself was not a poison, though poisonous effects were sometimes connected with it:
o Its bitterness can sometimes lead to death, but not always.
· The remainder of v.11 tells us that some deaths do occur, "and many among men died from the waters, because they were made bitter":
o Many who drink the water die, but not all.
· God threw wormwood into the sweet water made it bitter.
· There’s a similar contrast between Christ on the cross, atoning for sin, and making that which is bitter sweet for the believer:
o And Christ coming in judgment turns the vain hopes and ambitions of men into bitterness and despair due to their rejection of Him.
v.12, “And the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten, so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way”:
· The sun, moon, and stars receive the immediate force of the fourth trumpet.
· This trumpet has no mention of what was used to strike the heavenly bodies:
o Perhaps what was used is not as important as the judgment itself.
· Darkening is a symbol for judgment throughout the Old Testament.
· The parallel of this trumpet is the ninth Egyptian plague (Ex. 10:21-22).
· The prophet Amos, in 5:20, called this the "Day of the Lord, a day of darkness"
· ISAIAH 13:9-13, “See, the day of the LORD is coming — a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. 10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. 11 I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. 12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore, I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.”
· The fourth trumpet fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament.
· Once again, there are those who question the literalness of this judgment.
· The symbolic explanation sees this judgment as a removal of the light of the truth. But that is too subjective:
o This reads into v.12 something that’s not there.
o And that always results in a variety of meanings, such as a reference to the spiritual darkness of Islam, or the fall of long-established governments around the world.
· When taken literally, however, the reduction of light serves as a warning that more severe judgments are coming.
· How this phenomenon is going to happen is a puzzle to us – we simply don’t know:
o But the Creator of all things is certainly able to cause this to happen.
· Notice: this verse mentions no direct effect of this judgment on mankind, but the impact will still be great:
o Almost every area of life – agriculture, navigation, human health, productivity, and the like – will feel the consequences of this judgment.
v.13, “And I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe, to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
· This scene is a transition between the first four trumpets to the next two.
· The Greek word “aetou” (ah e too) has much stronger manuscript support for our English word “eagle” than for our English word “angel,” which is how the King James translators translated it.
· "Vulture" is how this word is sometimes translated:
o If the bird is a vulture, it may be flying in the sky in anticipation of the carnage and decaying flesh yet to come in the sixth trumpet judgment.
· The ability of the eagle to speak is not a strong enough reason to conclude it’s symbolic:
o Creatures in creation, other than man, have received the ability to speak on occasion:
Ø Serpent – Gen. 3:2.
Ø Balaam’s donkey – Num. 22:25.
· On the one hand, the eagle speaks of the salvation of God for Israel, reminding them that the judgments are but the birth pangs of God's coming new day:
o On the other hand, it’s a bird of prey, associated with blood, death, and rotting flesh.
o For the rebellious, it’s a sign of destruction and death.
· Notice that the eagle’s position is flying in "mid-heaven," the position of the sun at noon:
o This is a place where all can see him.
o His "loud voice," assures that all will hear him.
o The disasters he announces will touch mankind in every part of the world.
· The eagle says, “woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth”:
o The Greek word for “woe” was used when a person would scream under intense pain or suffering.
o Here, we see a woe for each of the remaining trumpets.
o The past trumpets have been woeful in themselves.
o This announcement predicts that the remaining three will be especially dreadful.
o The remaining three trumpet judgments will be aimed directly at mankind, not nature, “… woe to those who dwell on the earth.”
o From this point on, their future is very bleak.
· We also see another step in the process of God answering the prayers of the martyrs back in 6:10.
· We’ll look at trumpets 5 and 6 in the next article.
Lessons Learned from Ch. 8:7-13:
· The omnipotence of Almighty God:
o Over objects in space: stars, meteors.
o Over things on the earth: sea, rivers, trees, grass.
o Over man: “woe to those who dwell on the earth.”
o This is not the end. In His power, He will recreate a new heaven and a new earth for those who have responded to His gracious offer of salvation through faith in Christ.
· We see the love of God for mankind, despite the rebelliousness of so many:
o Though the cross of Christ was bitter for Jesus, it’s sweet in its result for those who will believe, who will trust in Him alone as their personal Savior.
o The bitterness of sin, of separation, of loneliness has been removed and the sweetness of fellowship with God is restored at Calvary.
May the Lord continue to bless you as you grown in grace and knowledge of Him through His Word.
By His Grace,
Gary T. Dromi, Ph.D., D.Min.
