The Trumpet Judgments, Part I
The Seventh Seal
When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Rev 8:1, NKJV
J. Vernon McGee in his "Thru the Bible" commentary related this story: "Many years ago I was speaking at a conference to about three or four hundred young people here in Southern California. I was out on the grounds of the camp, and coming toward me was a group of girls, and in the middle of them there was one boy. It looked like the girls were going to take him apart, and they were making a great deal of noise about it. Finally, they came up to me, and the girls wanted me to hear what this fellow had said. He said to me, "Dr. McGee, did you know that there are not going to be any women in heaven?" I said, "No, I didn't know that. Do you have Scripture for it?" He said, "Yes. The Bible says that there is going to be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour. If there are any women there, there couldn't be any silence for that long!""
Well, to be honest preachers wouldn't be there either if that was the case!
Perhaps this silence is a calm before the storm, as some commentators note. However, McGee comments why there is a silence here:
"Why is there this strange silence? God's patience is not exhausted. When the sixth seal was opened and nature responded with a mighty convulsion, brave men weakened for a moment. Christ gave them opportunity to repent."
God gives people every chance to repent. God is a God of wrath, of judgment but God is also a God of long suffering and mercy. Those people that say that God is not merciful and hateful by stating that "a good God would not send anyone to Hell" does not understand a few key points about God:
1) No one "deserves" heaven. Because of the fall of Adam and Eve, the human race all died both physically and spiritually. Each person, because of sin (definition) should go to Hell. People truly do no understand the fact that sin is a crime against God and only the innocent go to heaven.
2) If God were to let unrepentant sinners go to heaven, he would violate his attribute of justice:
He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD. Prov 17:15, NKJV
3) Jesus would have died in vain on the cross.
One thing you will note when studying Revelation is this: men in that time will be given every opportunity to repent. God will show them many horrors. They will endure many judgments. However, due to the hardness of the hearts of men, they would rather go to Hell than repent to God.
The Trumpet Judgments
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. Rev 8:2-6, NKJV
Trumpets play different roles in the Scriptures, often as an announcement to summon the nation of Israel together, at religious feasts, to announce news, as fanfare for a king or to announce a new king or to signal the charge to war. However, it is also quite prominent in prophetic passages as we see here with this new group of seven angels in verse 2.
Here we see prayer and the response to prayer. The censer, or incense container, contains incense which symbolizes the prayers of God's church--the saints. These prayers of the saints of course are prayers of many kinds, but the response here would seem to indicate that they are in answer to prayers for justice, as we saw from the Tribulation Saints in Revelation 6:10b: "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
This censer used to offer up the prayers of the saints will carry the fire of judgment from the throne of God upon the earth. Fire is most often symbolic of judgment, and there is little doubt that this is the case here; there are noises, thunderings, lightnings and an earthquake. These forces of nature are being fired by God in heaven, and it indicates that the silence has been broken and that judgment is coming. The seven angels are ready to sound their trumpets in the ordained succession.
Did you ever think that your prayers don't make a difference? We often think that we don't make a difference with our actions, don't we? Sometimes the smallest action or reaction can make all the difference in the world. We have all had those times in our lives where we decided to do or not to do a certain thing contrary to our intended plan, only to have life altering results. But I know that when we get to Heaven one day we will see all sorts of little things that changed the course of our lives, the lives of others and even perhaps major events in history.--JH
The First Four Trumpet Judgments
A) Fire and Hail Mixed with Blood
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. Rev 8:7, NKJV
As we go through these judgments, you will notice a striking similarity to the plagues that were send by God on Egypt in the book of Exodus. This first judgment is reflected in Exodus 9:
And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. Exod 9:23-25, NKJV
These plagues sent by God to Egypt were to convince Pharaoh to "let my people go". Here, again, we see the thought that God is a merciful God. But people will continue to reject God.
We should take this judgment--and all of the judgments--literally. Think about this...some people would question fire and hail mixed with blood. But don't forget that God rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact I saw a documentary a few years ago where some archeologists feel that they have found the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah. One thing that they have found in great quantities is brimstone, which is sulfur; we know from the Scriptures that God destroyed those two evil cities with fire and brimstone.
One third of the trees and all the green grass is burned up--now there appears to be a contradiction of this verse when you go farther down in the trumpet judgments and you see grass referred to again. But remember that it is not as though there will be a short interval between each judgment. There may be months between, plenty of time for the green grass to regenerate.
In regards to the blood mixed in the hail and fire, here is a thought; this is "sanctified speculation" as I call it--in other words it is my opinion. There have been many documentations of animals being swept up in powerful tornadoes and in hurricanes. Farm animals have been swept away and found many miles away. Structures have been destroyed, and parts of those buildings found miles away.
Now think about this: animals and people have been swept away in storms, and buildings as well, as well as flammable tankers and large tanks. This debris could be caught in the cyclic movement in the clouds that forms hail, pulverizing animals and humans creating blood in the atmosphere, and the flammable liquids raining down and being ignited by lightning that accompanies storms...
The First Four Trumpet Judgments
B) The Great Mountain Into the Sea
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. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Rev 8:8-9, NKJV
Now if you look at the wording there it does not say it is a great mountain, but it is "like a great mountain". Most scholars that I have studied say that this is probably a meteor that will crash into the sea. One question is what sea is being referred to. Tim LaHaye feels that it is the Mediterranean Sea, as "the sea" is often the terminology used in the Bible to describe the Med. Other commentators feel it is an ocean. However, we have to realize that there are quite a few ships on the Med, including the US Navy's 6th fleet. It is a hotbed of naval activity, not just of governments but also commercial enterprises. So if this meteor does strike the Med, then there will still be quite a bit of devastation. One third of the ships just there will still be a huge loss.
Will the sea really turn to blood? If it says so, then it will. Henry Morris, who feels that this meteor will strike an ocean, in his commentary "The Revelation Record" stated this concerning the loss of marine life: "These constitute the lowest and most basic components of the world's food chains, so their destruction must produce a domino effect on many higher forms of life".
The blood in the sea could well be the result of the pulverizing of sea life and the resulting blood mixed with the water. Of course, it could be that God will do this just as He did in turning the Nile to blood in one of the plagues visited on Egypt.--JH
The First Four Trumpet Judgments
C) Wormwood
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. 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. Rev 8:10-11, NKJV
Here is another quote from J. Vernon McGee, this one regarding Wormwood:
"Wormwood" is a name used metaphorically in the Old Testament, according to Vincent (Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2, p. 506), in the following ways: (1) idolatry of Israel (see Deut. 29:18); (2) calamity and sorrow (see Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19); and (3) false judgment (see Amos 5:7).
This star is literal and is a meteor containing poison which contaminates one-third of the earth's fresh water supply. The star's name suggests that this is a judgment upon man for idolatry and injustice. Calamity and sorrow are the natural compensations that are coming upon man because of this judgment.
This verse leaves no doubt that the "great star" is a meteor or something similar that will fall to earth from space.
Three thoughts here, all of which have validity:
1)Meteor. LaHaye felt that this is a meteor that will strike the earth and burrow into the water table near some of the great rivers and poison the headwaters and the water table itself.
2) Comet. Here is my take on it, and this is just a thought. Comets are made up of ice and other elements, such as dust, metal and other things. Comets have come close to the earth before, and if you were to see what all heavenly bodies are tracked by our government you would be stunned by the fact that we have not been hit yet!
My line of thought is that it will be a comet. Why? When a comet would hit our atmosphere, much of the ice that is on the surface would melt and turn to vapor. The vapor would then find its way into the clouds, falling then as rain. Rain would leach its way into our water tables, and if carrying a vile poison along with it, would pollute the ground water.
3) Our water systems. I used to sell insurance to water authorities, and I saw how the water was made drinkable. I can tell you that the filtering process does not take everything out. So those that are not affected by drinking well or spring water like me will in a matter of time get it from their local water system.
The First Four Trumpet Judgments
D) Diminished Light
Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. Rev 8:12, NKJV
A possibility here is that because of the previous two judgments--meteor and possibly a comet--the atmophere will be darkened by the material shed by them and also by the water vapor shot into the air when they strike the earth. The meteor mentioned in the 2nd trumpet hitting the sea could possibly shoot material at the bottom of the ocean up into the atmosphere as well.
In addition, one commentator, John Phillips, believes that this is symbolic and that the reference is to governments that will diminish in power.
However, the original Greek seems to indicate that there will be some kind of cosmic event that will affect the amount of light that the sun will give off. What this could be is not known for sure, but the word plesso in Greek is translated as smitten, a word used to describe plague. This would lead one to see the similarity between the ninth plague in Egypt (Exodus 10:21-22), notes John MacArthur. Perhaps the second and third events are part of some cosmic event consisting of a huge meteor storm or comets that will for the most part pass the earth but for a time block sunlight; it would have to be massive to do this.
But we must not dismiss the "supernaturality factor" either. In other words, God is God and, well, since He created light on the fourth day of creation week He sure could cause the sun to drop down the amount of light as well.
Regardless of the cause, one thing that will happen here is the equivalent of nuclear winter. Nuclear winter is what happens when a nuke goes off, and shoots dust into the atmosphere and blocks the light of the sun for months. Because of a lack of sunlight, the earth cools and even in July the temperature would plummet. We do not know how long this diminishing of the sun will take place, but any amount of time with a world-wide 33% drop in sunlight would be catastrophic.
Crops would be lost, and people in warmer climates now would quite possibly freeze to death. In the south, for instance, the heating systems in home are not built for extremely cold weather like they are in our area, or in the upper states of the Union.
These first four trumpet judgments affect the ecology of the earth--nature if you will. Again, God keeps showing the people of the earth that time is growing short. And time and time again, with some exceptions, they will not listen.
