The Seven Trumpets Series

NOTE: This Bible study on the end times comes from the perspective of a pre-tribulation Rapture.

In our last study we looked at the Seven Seals that will be opened, which will mark the beginning of the Tribulation period. Tonight, we are going to look at the Seven Trumpets that will be blown in the last days.

When we read over the descriptions of the events that take place during each trumpet, we must keep in mind that John was seeing visions of future events and devices, the like of which he had never seen during his own lifetime. For instance, when John described a mountain of fire in the sea, this could be referring to the mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb. Since John had never seen or heard of an atomic bomb, how else would he have described such a cloud? Therefore, try to keep an open mind as we begin looking at the Seven Trumpets of Revelation; and please be filling out the related handout.

(Refer to Handout: “The Seven Trumpets”)

The First Trumpet

Turn with me in your Bibles, and let’s read Revelation 8:7:

7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Edward Hinson says that “John’s description of the trumpet judgments sounds very similar to a global holocaust. The entire planet will be affected by massive destruction, loss of life and human suffering” (p. 99). The phrase “mingled with blood” in verse 7 is what indicates bloodshed and the loss of human life. As we go along, keep in mind that the Seven Trumpets describe a world at war.

Verse 7 also speaks of the trees and grass being burned up. Irvin Baxter of “Endtime Ministries” says that he remembers being told in his history class in school about the “Scorched Earth Policy” that many of the generals followed during World War I. The armies made it a point to destroy everything in their path as they invaded a country.

We even see in verse 7, that hail and fire followed, which could refer to guns and tanks that discharge with fire and rain down bullets like hail.

The First Trumpet, therefore, describes the “Beginning of World War.”

The Second Trumpet

Turn with me in your Bibles, and let’s read Revelation 8:8-9:

8 Then 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. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

In verse 8, we read about a mountain of fire being thrown into the sea. In the introduction, I explained how this could represent an atomic bomb, because John did not know how to describe such an event in any other way than a mountain. Think about the mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb. It is as tall as a mountain, and it is on fire. Tim LaHaye thinks it will be a giant burning meteorite that results in the killing of one-third of the living creatures.

Verse 9 speaks about one-third of the earth’s ships being destroyed. War takes a great toll. For example: During World War II, an estimated 52 million people died. There were 105,127 ships on the sea, both merchant and battleships. 36,387 of them were destroyed; therefore, almost exactly one-third of all ships were sunk during World War II, revealing that one-third is not a far stretch for a war (Baxter).

“A destruction of such massive proportions was unknown in the first century. The greatest devastation John could possibly have been familiar with was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. It completely destroyed and buried the city of Pompeii with molten lava and even destroyed a few ships in the Gulf of Naples. But what [John] describes here goes far beyond that, and looks forward to a time of unprecedented catastrophe” (LaHaye).

The Second Trumpet, therefore, describes the “Effects of War at Sea.”

The Third Trumpet

Turn with me in your Bibles, and let’s read Revelation 8:10-11:

10 Then 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 water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

The description we see in verse 10 is likely concerning nuclear fallout and radiation reaching inland and polluting the rivers and springs. Some would see here a similarity with a falling asteroid.

In verse 11, we see that the star was called “Wormwood.” Let me share why this might possibly be a description of nuclear fallout. The meltdown of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl occurred April 26, 1986. For three weeks the atmosphere was exposed to a full-blown nuclear fire and more radiation was released than at Hiroshima (actually 10 times as much). It created a no-man’s-land the size of the state of Massachusetts. The radiation from this nuclear disaster was carried into Sweden, Northern Italy, Germany, England, and to the East Coast of the United States.