Three-Fold Woe Announced Series

Habakkuk used the image of an eagle to symbolize swiftness and destruction (see Habakkuk 1:8). The picture is of a strong, powerful bird, here called an eagle (also a carrion bird), flying over all the earth, warning of the terrors yet to come. The eagle was used as a pennant of the Roman army. In a sense it was the symbol of Roman power. While the first four trumpet judgments were horrible the eagle is saying that worse was yet to come: Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels. There is one “woe” for each remaining trumpet blast. The word “woe” is a Greek interjection meaning “alas for.” The word is not an announcement of judgment but portrays the miserable condition of those who have rejected the Gospel (see also Matthew 23:13-33; Luke 11:42-52). John uses three woes in 18:10-19 to refer to the various plagues and disasters of the final judgment. Many Jewish scholars of John’s day refer to the “woes” of the Messiah. These were sufferings experienced by humanity in general before the kingdom could be established (see Daniel 12:1; also Revelation 12:1-6).

While both believers and unbelievers experience the terrors described in 8:7-12, the “inhabitants of the earth” means much more than “people who live on the earth,” for that is where all living people reside. Instead, it refers to a kind of people; those who live for the earth and the things of the earth. These are just the opposite of people who have their citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:18-21). John described this worldly sort well in his first epistle (1 John 2:15-17), and later in this prophecy he again makes it clear that “earth-dwellers” are not born again (Revelation 13:8). They are the ones who will meet spiritual harm through the next three trumpet judgments. God has guaranteed believers protection from spiritual harm (7:2-3; 9:4). The parallel wording of 8:13 and 3:10 may be meant to contrast the fortunes of God’s friends and enemies as judgment visits the planet.

Where do we stand today in regard to God’s timetable? Honestly, I don’t know. There are many who say they do know, yet the Bible states that nobody knows the date or the time of Jesus’ returning. But there is something that I know for sure. If the current lesser judgments do not take effect, the church and the world must expect greater; and when God comes to punish the world, the inhabitants shall tremble before him. Let sinners take a warning to flee from the wrath to come; let believers learn to value and to be thankful for their privileges; and let them patiently continue in well doing.