The Trumpets - Part 3 Series

Jeremiah 17:7-8 - "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

o They are not allowed to kill people – only torment them for 5 months.

There is disagreement amongst scholars as to the time frame of the 5 months. The only other 5-month period mentioned in the Bible is found in Genesis (7:24; 8:3) in connection with the flood during which Noah and his family were under divine protection from the flood waters.

The 5th Trumpet, then, describes the spiritual condition of the world in the aftermath of the Enlightenment. Atheistic, human-centered philosophy replaced God-centered theology. When human reason and philosophies – which are a moving target – become the ultimate standard of truth, people are alienated from God and each other.

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can understand it?

This creates a sense of loneliness, emptiness and meaninglessness. You may have 5,000 Facebook “friends”, but what does that matter when you are sitting alone in the dark?

Satan all too happily fills this emptiness with lies and deceptions, causing further alienation. By rejecting the gospel, people are left defenseless against these demonic activities.

Psalm 118:8 - It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.

That brings us to Trumpet #6.

If the 5th Trumpet is an “amping up” of the 4th Trumpet, then the 6th Trumpet is an “amping up” of the 5th Trumpet.

Spiritual darkness has now been given the ability to kill.

• The 6th Trumpet - 2nd woe (9:13-21)

At the sound of the 6th Trumpet, John hears a voice coming from the 4 horns of the Golden Altar of Incense. The voice orders the release of the 4 angels “who are bound at the river Euphrates.”

In the Old Testament, the Euphrates River separated God’s people from her enemies.

o Joshua 1:4 - Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates -- all the Hittite country -- to the Great Sea {the Mediterranean} on the west.

o 1 Kings 14:15 - And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their forefathers and scatter them beyond the River {the Euphrates} because they provoked the LORD to anger by making Asherah poles.

o Isaiah 7:20 - In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River {the Euphrates} -- the king of Assyria -- to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to take off your beards also.

Whose attacks are described as an overwhelming flood sweeping over Israel:

o Isaiah 8:7-8 - therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River -- the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!"