Chapter 6 – The Seven
Trumpet Judgments
Read Chapter 8:6 – chapter
11
Trumpets in the Bible represent a number
of things. In Numbers trumpets represent God calling the people together, they
represent war, or they can represent God calling them to a special time.
Trumpets are representative of God proclaiming something or judgment. In John’s
Revelation Trumpets signal the coming judgments upon the people of the world.
Remember that the silence before the last Seal was preceded by the marking of
God’s people that they will be given power over tribulation. Those that are
marked in all views are those who will see at least parts of tribulation.
Dispensationalists believe that the church has been removed during the “Rapture”
and that the marked or sealed are those who find faith after the Rapture.
The seven trumpets will happen in the
first half of tribulation. Tribulation will be a seven year period for
Preterists and Futurists. We will see that the first four trumpets use natural
forces to bring the judgments. God uses natural forces often to bring about
God’s judgment. Idealists believe that the Seven Trumpet judgments represent
God’s judgment across time. Preterists will point to historical events when
they discuss the judgments and Dispensationalists will point to events yet to
come. The seven trumpet judgments will parallel the plagues God brought on
Egypt prior to the wilderness. So let us
look at the Seven Trumpet Judgments
The first judgment brings Hail and Fire
mixed with Blood. This matches the actions of the Lord in Exodus against the
Egyptians in Exodus 9:22-26. The actions of the judgment will destroy 1/3 of
the earth, 1/3 of the trees and all the green grass. One might ask what they
significance of the green grass but one only has to remember that many of our
domesticated meat animals graze on grass. No grass, no more animals, and
subsequently food supplies will be impaired. Preterists point to the Roman
invasion of Israel beginning in 63 AD. The Roman army burned the majority of
the trees in Israel during that invasion.
The second judgment brings something
like a great mountain that falls in the sea. John makes the distinction between
this and the next judgment which is a star. Scholars believe that this could be
a meteor or possibly a volcanic eruption. The results are that 1/3 of the
waters become blood, 1/3 of all sea creatures die, and 1/3 of the ships are
destroyed. Certainly the effects of a volcano would cause this kind of catastrophic
effect in the geographic region of the volcano. Depending on the writing of the
Revelation, this could be the destruction of Pompeii which happened in 79 AD.
The volcano explosion and ash did in fact destroy much of the sea, economy and
the dust affected the Middle Eastern world for several months.
The third judgment unleashes a star
called wormwood upon the earth. This could well be an asteroid because it
impacts 1/3 of the rivers of the world. Note that all of these visions impact
the world. The question is what world? The world of John which would be
isolated to the Middle East centered on the Mediterranean Sea. Or it could well
be a vision of the entire world which of course fits the Dispensationalist view
of the End of Times. Wormwood is another name for a bitter root called
Artemisia. It is often used to repel insects or is used as an ingredient in
brewing. So to say that the rivers and springs become wormwood may mean that
they become bitter. Sulfur is often a problem for wells and springs as well
which causes a bitter taste and would cause problems with the water supply. As
a side note, there is currently a Project Wormwood at Learmonth Observatory in
Australia. Any foreign object identified as on a collision course with earth
will be earmarked Wormwood. We have had several near calls with asteroids and
of course, meteors fall every day.
The fourth trumpet sounds and 1/3 of the
moon, sun and stars are blacked out. In fact so much so that it indicates that
1/3 of the day is darkened. Whether this is a consequence of the third trumpet
or some new phenomena only time will tell us. Certainly any kind of volcanic
eruption or any collision with a celestial body would cause widespread changes
to the atmosphere and it is not unreasonable to expect that daylight could be
hampered.
Again between the fourth and fifth judgments
we have a pause. Here we are introduced to the Eagle which is possibly the
Eagle that John saw sitting around the throne. The Eagle proclaims three woes
which are the final trumpet judgments that will come upon the earth. We also
note that we again transition from natural types of disasters to demonic ones.
In the fifth trumpet judgment, we see a
star that has fallen to the earth. It is likely that John is describing Satan
after his fall from heaven, and it is Satan who has the key to the bottomless
pit. Some say that this is Jesus because only Jesus has the key to heaven and
hell. In ancient Hebrew understanding
the bottomless pit is where the angels who had rose up against God have been
sealed. A literal interpretation would indicate that they are now unleashed
upon the world. These locust/ scorpion figures serve a master called Abaddon
(which means destruction in the Hebrew) or Apollyon (which means to destroy in
the Greek). So we can assume that John intended us to understand this leader to
be simply “The Destroyer.” Interesting connection to Job here in that the
unsealed folks of the world are inflicted in such pain that they cry out to die
but cannot do so and parallels the infliction of boils on Job by the Devil to
try and get him to renounce God. This will last for five long months. Prelists
point to the siege of Jerusalem as fitting this vision. The siege lasted five
months prior to Titus destroying that great city and the Temple.
In the sixth trumpet judgment the angels
who are bound at the Euphrates are released. In the ancient world the Euphrates
was at the end of civilization as they understood it. I remember as a child we
would often use the expression when you came out of the city that you had left
civilization for the wilderness of the county. 1/3 of humankind will be killed
by the four angels who may or may not be the original four horsemen. The army
is 200 million strong. Dispensationalists point to the army of China that was
reported in the 1990’s to be 200 million strong. This may or may not be a
literal interpretation especially when one focuses in the description of the
horses and armor of the warriors. What is significant is verse 20 that
indicates that even this did not cause the rest of humankind to repent. Dispensationalists
point to this verse as an indication that the church is no longer in the world.
Preterists and Idealists simply argue that this verse indicates those already
sealed are not in this number.
Here we have another pause. A mighty
angel comes out of heaven. Note the imagery of this angel, wrapped in a cloud
with a rainbow over his head. Most scholars would agree that this angel may
well be Jesus. Likely no other angel in heaven would have the authority and
power to set his foot equally on the sea and the land other than Jesus.
Remember the story of the Exodus and how God’s voice sounded like thunder. We
have the seven thunders who John must well understand since he is told not to
write down what he has heard. There are some things that God does not want us
to know until it is time.
To measure the Temple is an indication
that time is close to the end. When we buy a new home one of the final things
that happens is the surveyor comes and checks the authenticity of the measuring
of the property. The Temple will be given over to the people and it will be
trampled for forty two months. There are two thoughts that are important to the
study here. Preterists will point to the time of Daniel when Antiochus
Epiphanes desecrated the Temple from June 168 BC to Dec 165 BC. That happens to
be exactly forty two months. Dispensationalists argue that this is mid-way into
the tribulation. What is important for those who believe these are future
events is that the Temple must be rebuilt. There are claims that plans and materials
are already in place in 2014 to make that a reality.
We have now the two witnesses. Who are
they? We have clues in verse 4. They are two of the olive trees and the two
lampstands. Preterists would point to the two lampstands as tow of the churches
and these two may well represent the two larger churches, Jewish and Gentile.
Dispensationalists argue that they are two literal people, some saying Enoch
and Elijah because neither died here on earth but were taken by God. Others
argue that one of them is Moses and the other Elijah, the law and the prophets.
What is important in the vision is that they will prophesize for 42 months.
During that time will some come to Christ? Some believe that they are the
proclaimers of judgment to the unfaithful world. Regardless of what you believe
we hear plainly in scripture that the Beast kills them at the end of the 42
month period. They will lie in plain view for 3 ½ days for the whole world to
see. Then God will resurrect them and take them in to heaven. At that moment
the city of Jerusalem will go through a severe earthquake and seven thousand
will be killed. This is probably not a literal number but a complete number
meaning many. The current population of Jerusalem is 857,000 and 1/10th
of that would be 85,700.
The seventh trumpet sounds and we have
this vision of heaven. We have the praise of all the saints, the elders and the
angels proclaiming God’s love, power and grace. One could easily have ended the
Revelation here but there is still more to be said. God’s temple is in plain
view and we have the image of the Ark of the Covenant. Is this the Ark that was
in the Temple of Solomon or more likely this is the image of Christ for the
world to see. I used to remember when I was a child that the threat of when Dad
would get home was often more excruciating than the actual punishment he gave.
Here the world has to endure the final judgments with heaven in full view of
what they have forsaken.
So
ends the Seven Trumpet Judgments.
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