Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 8
The trumpets of Rev. 8-11 are clearly based
upon the plagues of Ex. 7-12. Yet those plagues were each one designed to
induce repentance in Egypt; there were various possible futures and
outcomes related to each of them. If, e.g., after plague eight, Pharaoh
had truly repented- then the other plagues wouldn't have happened. And
perhaps it will be the same with the trumpets of the last days. See on
Rev. 16:12.
The six seals of Rev. 6 brought judgment upon
God’s people Israel within the land or earth promised to Abraham. A
minority responded and were “sealed” in Rev. 7. Now there are seven
trumpets, which are judgments on the Jews who are impenitent, and also on
others within the land. But trumpets are warnings. In these judgments
there is still an appeal being made, even though time is more than up for
both Israel and her enemies. The trumpet judgments begin with desolations
upon the physical land, in order to help people in the land understand
what is going to happen to them. After the trumpets, there is yet another
desperate appeal for repentance; and then in 15:7,8 the temple is closed,
and the vials are poured out- of final and utter destruction. The vials
come in rapid succession, because they are not intended to elicit
repentance. Their finality is implied by the words "the seven last
plagues". Whereas under the seals and trumpets, only a third or
quarter of things were destroyed, under the vials there is total
destruction. The language of the trumpets and vials is similar- because
Babylon is being made to drink the cup of judgments which she gave others
to drink during the seals and trumpets:
:
|
Trumpets |
Vials |
|
1st. earth |
earth |
|
2nd. sea (salt water) |
sea (salt water) |
|
3rd. rivers and fountains (fresh
water) |
rivers and fountains (fresh water) |
|
4th. sun, moon, stars |
sun, moon, stars |
|
5th. sun and air darkened |
kingdom of beast full of darkness |
|
6th. River Euphrates |
River Euphrates |
|
7th. "The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord" |
"It is done" |
This explains why the trumpet judgments are
effected through a variety of agents, some of them evidently human. The
vials, however, are all poured out by Angels.
It should be noted that the seven signs,
relating to the destruction of the beast, are also related to the seven
trumpets:
|
Trumpets |
Signs |
|
(Chapters 8 -11) |
(Chapters 12 onwards) |
|
A great star falls from heaven (8:10) |
The dragon is cast out of heaven
(12:9) |
|
A third part of the stars is smitten
(8:12) |
The dragon's tail casts down a third
of the stars (12:4) |
|
"Woe, woe, woe to the inhab-iters of
the earth" (8:13) |
"Woe to the inhabiters of the earth"
(12:12) |
|
The beast that comes out of the
bottomless pit . . . |
The beast that comes out of the sea .
. . |
|
. . . makes war against the witnesses
and overcomes them . . . |
. . .makes war against the saints and
overcomes them . . . |
|
. . . they of the people and kindreds
and tongues . . . |
. . . power over kindreds and tongues
and nations . . . |
|
. . . they that dwell upon the
earth... (11:7-10) |
... all that dwell upon the earth . .
. (13:1-8) |
|
Resurrection and judgment (11:18) |
Resurrection and judgment (20:4 and
11-13) |
|
"Thy wrath is come" (11:18) |
The vials of God's wrath |
|
Temple of God opened (11:19) |
(chapters 15,16) |
|
Lightnings, voices, thunderings,
earthquake and hail (11:19) |
Temple of God opened (15:5) Voices,
thunders, earthquake and hail (16:18,21) |
8:1 And when he opened the seventh seal,
there followed a silence in heaven for about half an hour- Literally
“whenever he opened the seventh seal...”, as if there is an
element of doubt as to whether it will be opened. See on :13. On 6:1 I
discussed whether in fact the seventh seal is opened, or has anything in
it; hence the silence.
But the silence is also an allusion to the
silence in the temple at the time of the incense offering (see on 5:8).
The run up to the final tribulation will provoke a “praying always, that
ye may be accounted worthy... to stand before the Son of man" (Lk. 21:36).
Perhaps this intense latter day praying of the faithful is what Rev. 8:1
refers to, in speaking of "silence in heaven" when the seventh seal was
opened- for this is one of Revelation's continual allusions to the temple
service: "In the Temple, when the incense was offered, the people retired
from the court and prostrated themselves in silent prayer".
8:2 And I saw the seven angels that stood
before God; and there were given to them seven trumpets- The presence
of the article "the" indicates these seven Angels have already been
referred to. But the only time we have so far read of them in Revelation
is in the description of the seven Angels of the churches who represent
the believers before God (Rev. 1:20). The seven Angels feature later in
Revelation, pouring out the vials of Divine wrath upon the land and the
beast system. The Angels responsible for God's people are the same ones
who pour out such terrible calamities upon the land. This is the power of
our representation before God in the court of Heaven. This is exactly in
context, because we go on to read that because of the prayers of the
believers, things are poured out upon the land and Angels blow trumpets.
This is the power of prayer, and it will be especially evident in the last
days.
The theme of ‘seven’ judgments coming upon
the land surely connects with the claim that Mohammad waged seven military
campaigns against the infidels in the land [promised to Abraham]. The
Hadith several times speaks of the "seven military expeditions led by the
Messenger of Allah himself (may peace be upon him)" (e.g. Book 19.4469),
or of the “seven battles” he was victorious in (Book 19.4462). This would
explain the seven fold structure of the seals-trumpets-vials, and the
feature of ‘seven’ judgments in various others way within the Apocalypse.
The Muslim pretenders to the pattern of Mohamad bring seven judgments upon
Israel, and are punished by likewise receiving back seven judgments,
drinking the cup they made others to drink.
The Hadith claims that Mohammad predicted
three cycles of calamities in the last days, which would be subdivided
into various other calamities: "Hudhaifa b. al−Yaman reported: By Allah, I
have the best knowledge amongst people about every turmoil which is going
to appear in the period intervening me and the Last Hour; and it is not
for the fact that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) told me
something confidentially pertaining to it and he did not tell anybody else
about it, but it is because of the fact that I was present in the assembly
in which he had been describing the turmoil. and he especially made a
mention of three turmoils which would not spare anything and amongst these
there would be turmoils like storms in the hot season" (41.6908). This is
exactly the Biblical picture- of three cycles of judgments and turmoils in
the land (seals-trumpets-vials), subdivided into various specific
calamities. As the jihadists strive to obey the letter of their writings,
they will thereby be fulfilling the outline picture of the last day crisis
which is foretold in Revelation.
It’s noteworthy that the seven seals and seven trumpets and seven vials
all conclude with the seventh being the establishment of the Kingdom. So
there are actually six judgments in each case. The Hadith (Book 41.7040)
speaks of six signs before the last day: "Hasten in performing these good
deeds (before these) six things (happen): (the appearance) of tribe
Dijjal, the smoke, the beast of the earth, the rising of the sun from the
west, the general turmoil (leading to large-scale massacre) and death of
masses and individuals". These six are very similar to the things spoken
of in the seals and trumpets- signs in the sun, mass death, smoke, beasts
of the earth. The jihadists are seeking to consciously fulfil the Hadith
and so, due to the allusions the Hadith and Koran make to Revelation, they
will end up fulfilling God’s word of their own volition.
The Angels "stood before God". We have just
read of how the great multitude, the minority of the Jews in the land who
repent as a result of the six seals, stand before God (7:9), as do their
representative Angels (7:11). They are "before God" in that their
representative Angels are literally in His presence in the throne room of
Heaven. Now, those Angels act on behalf of those believers. And the
prayers of the believers are likewise before God (:3). There is only one
mediator, the Lord Jesus. The Angels do not mediate those prayers, but
Heaven is aware of the prayers on account of their Angels. Our final
'standing before God' at judgment day (20:12) is effectively going on now.
We are right now in the presence of His judgment throne.
Again we note the idea of "given"; they were "given" the trumpets. The
judgments and calamities to be poured out are not because of any radical
human evil, unrestrained in the world. These things are all under God's
direct Angelic control. The trumpet sound is very much associated with the
return of Christ to earth (Mt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16). Our change to
immortality will be when the last trumpet sounds (1 Cor. 15:52);
and the seventh trumpet announces the full establishment of God's Kingdom
on earth (11:15). These trumpets therefore speak of events immediately
surrounding the Lord's return.
The trumpet judgments contain several of the
plagues on Egypt:
|
Trumpets
|
Plagues on Egypt |
||
|
1. |
Fire from the altar cast upon the
earth. |
Dust of the furnace (of the altar)
sprinkled abroad. |
|
|
2. |
Hail and fire. |
Hail and fire. |
|
|
3. |
Sea became blood. |
Waters turned to blood. |
|
|
4. |
Darkness. |
Darkness. |
|
|
5. |
Locusts. |
Locusts. |
|
|
6. |
Abaddon, the Destroyer. |
The Destroyer Angel (Ex. 12:23). |
|
7. |
Men slain by angels. |
The firstborn slain by angels. |
The seal judgments of chapter 6 came upon Israel to bring them to
repentance, and a majority repented, as explained in the sealing of the
144,000 in chapter 7. Now, that repentant remnant are spared the plagues
on Egypt, as it were; but the impenitent amongst Israel will suffer along
with ‘Egypt’, the unbelieving world. This is as predicted in Dt. 28:59,60-
the plagues of Egypt will come upon unbelieving Israel: “Then the Lord
will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great
plagues… He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt”.
8:3 And another Angel- Perhaps
representative of the Lord Jesus, seeing He is the mediator of prayer.
Came and stood over the altar-
There are two altars in view
here. The Angel takes fire from the bronze altar of sacrifice, which we
have recently encountered in 6:9 as the symbol of the sacrifice of the
faithful during the tribulation, under which is their blood which
cries out for vengeance, and uses this to ignite the incense on
the golden altar of incense, which we again encounter in 9:13. The
sacrifice of the faithful remnant, their endurance unto death, gives power
to the prayers offered for the coming of Christ. The sacrifice of the
believers during the tribulation in 6:9 gave rise to the prayer "How
long...?", the begging for the Lord's coming. And it was because of their
sacrifice that their prayers were heard. That is represented here by the
fire from the blood covered altar of sacrifice being used to ignite the
incense of prayer on the incense altar. Our lives are in that sense a
prayer, and give credibility and integrity to our words of prayer.
Otherwise, prayer is mere words. But those prayed words cannot be powerful
unless they are rooted in a life lived before God. God is not a
magician and prayer is not of power just because of the words, otherwise
prayer is merely like a pagan incantation. If this were not the
case, then answers to prayer would simply go to those who know how to
wordsmith their language nicely and persuasively. That is a mistake made
by so many Orthodox believers, but we can all tend to believe it too.
Having a golden censer; and there was
given to him much incense, that he should add it to the prayers of all the
saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne- One Angel is given much incense- i.e. prayers- presumably by the
individual guardian Angels. He then offers this up on the altar (Christ)
to God, and the response from God comes in the form of the Angels sounding
their trumpets. It is interesting to note that actually these Angels had
already been prepared for what they were going to do (Rev. 8:2) when they
had been earlier before the throne of God. God knows our prayers before we
say them. He knew what the prayers of the people at that time would be,
and had earlier prepared the Angels to answer them, and this was unleashed
by their cumulative prayer. But without that prayer- that human part of
the equation- the prepared answer would not have been put into action. The
prayers were offered up by one Angel- this either means there is one Angel
with overall responsibility for offering up prayers to Christ (the altar),
or that there is one Angel who collects together the prayers from one
period of time or about one particular subject and then offers them up to
Christ. The fact "much incense" is mentioned presumably means that there
was much prayer made at this time, and this was added to the "prayers of
all saints" (v. 3) which had already been made about this.
The sky, the trillions of kilometres between Heaven and earth, are in fact
no ultimate distance. That’s the simplest message of those visions. In
Revelation we see the incense of human prayers arising into Heaven,
resulting in Angels coming to earth, pouring out bowls, blowing trumpets,
and major events happening on earth (Rev. 5:8; 8:3). Prayer is noticed; it
brings forth quite out of proportion responses.
Rev. 8:3-5 as well as Rev. 11:6 certainly
allude to Elijah as a pattern for our latter day witnessing. Much incense
of latter day prayer is added to the existing incense, resulting in fire
being brought down on earth after the pattern of Elijah (Rev. 8:3-5 RV).
The especially intense prayers of the latter day remnant are added to the
cumulative prayers of former generations, and result in the second coming
and the beginning of the final judgments.
8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with
the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand-
The same Greek words for 'smoke ascended up' are found in Rev. 14:11; 19:3
concerning the smoke of the destruction of the beast system. This
ultimately will be brought about by the prayer of the latter day remnant.
As I point out in The Last Days, much emphasis is given to prayer
in the latter day prophecies. But the ascending up of the smoke of their
prayers is also to be compared with the ascending up of the smoke from the
bottomless pit in 9:2, which gives rise to the locust invasion which
torments those in the land. This judgment on the land is therefore a
direct response to human prayer. And God finds our prayers
pleasant, just as the Mosaic sacrifices and the sacrifice of Noah were a
"pleasing odor" to God (Gen. 8:21). But the smell of sacrifices was not
pleasant to human smell. But it was to God. Likewise Eph. 5:2, "Christ
gave Himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God". Prayer
likewise may seem a bizarre exercise to the secular man. For sweet
smelling incense is the symbol of prayer: "May my prayer be counted as
incense before You" (Ps. 141:2; Rev. 5:8). It gives God joy: "Oil and
incense make the heart glad" (Prov. 27:9). But that incense must be
"beaten small" in humility: "he shall take a censer full of coals of fire
from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten
small; and he shall bring it within the veil" (Lev. 16:11-14). The
impression we get from Lev. 16:12 is that as much as possible should be
brought: "a censer full of coals of fire... two handfuls of sweet
incense". As much coal and incense as possible. The idea is that we should
indulge in prayer, and not be minimalists. As there was always fire on the
altar (Lev. 9:9), so prayer can always be offered.
8:5- see on Rev. 5:8.
And the angel took the censer, filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it upon the earth- The fire from the bronze sacrifice altar was used to ignite the incense on the incense altar; see on :3. The earth / land has the fire of judgment thrown at it because of the prayers of and about those who were slain in it during the tribulation. This is the scene at the altar in 6:9; the blood on the altar leads to a promise of judgment against those who shed it. The Lord perhaps foresaw all this when He used the same words about how He came not to cast peace on the land but fire and a sword (Mt. 10:34; Lk. 12:49)- because Israel refused to accept Him. The scattering of fire on the land recalls Ez. 10:2, where fire is scattered over the city of Jerusalem; and the Babylonian desolation which this primarily refers to is a prototype of the latter day desolation of Jerusalem. Clearly, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth" (Lk. 12:49) required the incense of prayer to trigger it. The events of AD70 were therefore in response to the blood of the martyrs of Rev. 6, "the souls under the altar", arising as prayer-incense and triggering this response from Heaven. We see here how God's people were totally uncompromised with the Jewish world around them, who of course were praying and fighting for the preservation of Jerusalem and victory against Rome. But the Roman judgment of Jerusalem and the temple with fire, was in fact all sent from the Lord Jesus, triggered by prayer and the blood of those slain by the Jewish system. The judgments are thrown onto the earth / land directly from the incense altar to show that it was the lives and prayers of the faithful that brought about those judgments. Whereas in the world systems around the believers, prayer was to be offered for Jerusalem and the land [by Jews] and for the empire [by Romans].
The cry for vengeance of the blood of the souls under the altar in Rev. 6 is answered throughout the visions of judgment in the rest of Revelation- e.g. "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgements are true and righteous; for... He has avenged the blood of his bond servants on her" (Rev. 19:1,2). But this was all brought about by the incense of prayer. Just as the incense ascended up, so the judgment of their persecuters is "smoke" that "rises up forever and ever" (Rev. 19:3). And this is why in Rev. 16:6,7 we find the altar apparently speaking: "They poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and blood have You given them to drink. They are worthy. And I heard another ["another angel" is not in the original] out of the altar saying: Yes, O Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments". The dialogue from the altar is because the voice of prayer is the voice of the lives of the martyrs, and being dead they still speak from God's perspective, as does the blood of Abel (Heb. 11:4 "he, though being dead, still speaks"; "the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel", Heb. 12:24). Likewise when the sixth trumpet sounds, John hears “a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God” (Rev. 9:13). The vials etc. which form part of the sixth trumpet were all triggered by the voice from the incense altar- God's voice responding to the voice of the incense / prayer which had been offered there, and the voice of the martyrs of Rev. 6:9 which came from that altar.
The direct connection between prayer and the outpouring of judgments is continued in Rev. 15:7, where “one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God”. In Rev. 5:8, the golden bowls are filled with incense, which is stated there to represent prayers. The similarity of the "golden bowls" is to show how prayer results in the triggering of the outpouring of Divine judgment. On one hand, God is sovereign and does as He wishes; and yet He also will only do what He does in response to man. The fire thrown onto the earth in Rev. 8:3-5 is thrown from the incense altar. And that fire came from the altar of sacrifice where the blood of the martyrs cries for vengeance. The clear idea is that prayer is directly related to God causing major geopolitical events and judgments on this earth. This is where understanding Revelation changes our whole perception both of ourselves and of the world around us.
There followed thunders, voices, lightnings and an earthquake-
Whatever the specific fulfilments of these things, we must not
fail to gather the overall impression which would have been taken by a
first century illiterate Jewish audience. Thunder, voices, flashes of
lightning, seven trumpet blasts and an earthquake all go together with the
classic theophanies whereby God 'comes down' to earth with a great trumpet
sound (Ex. 19:16-19; Is. 19:6; Rev. 11:19; 16:18). And this is triggered
by the incense of prayer.
What was seen in the Heavenly throne room at the start of the vision (4:5
cp. 11:19). This awesome Divine activity in the temple of Heaven, the
throne room (11:19), is triggered by the prayers of men on earth. Voices,
thunder, lightning and earthquake are all experienced in the events which
make Babylon fall in 16:18 under the seventh vial (16:17). The voice of
thunderings proclaims the establishment of God's Kingdom in 19:6. Putting
these things together, we see that the voices, thunders and lightnings are
all part and parcel of the same final judgment of the beast system and
establishment of God's Kingdom at Christ's coming. There is no way that
these various passages refer to events over a 2000 year period. They are
the events of the very last days. The earthquake which is associated with
voices, thunders and lightnings is clearly that of 16:18, for the same
words are used. The literalistic, linear thinking mind would expect that
there must be a progression of chronological events between chapters 8 and
16. But that is not how apocalyptic works, nor do we find such a
chronological development in Old Testament Bible prophecy. Rather are we
given repeated snapshots of the same events from different angles, and
often the end point is declared and then there is an explanation of how
that position was arrived at. This is true of Biblical language generally-
consider how in 2 Samuel 24 we are told that the Lord spared Jerusalem
because of David's prayer, but then the text reverts in time to explain
how that came about.
The same earthquake is in view throughout Revelation (6:12; 11:13,19;
16:18). We naturally think of the great earthquake which is to accompany
the return of the Lord Jesus in Zech. 14:5. The earthquake is described in
various parts of the Revelation prophecy because chronological order is
not very significant in apocalyptic. The images overlap, giving a
kaleidoscope effect.
The language in 8:5 and indeed throughout the trumpets is alluding to the
prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction in Isaiah 29:
"I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation... I
will encamp against you all around... and you will be brought low... in an
instant, suddenly, you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder
and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the
flame of a devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight
against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress
her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night... so shall the
multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion... In that
day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and
darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy
in the LORD... For the ruthless [the Islamic Jihadists] shall come to
nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut
off... Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale...
those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding". It's hard to
find a complete historical fulfilment of this- when God revealed Himself
to deliver a besieged Jerusalem with thunder, earthquake and great noise,
which then results in the repentance of a remnant in Israel. This time is
yet to come, and it is the time spoken of in Revelation 8. The earthquake
which fells Babylon is Jerusalem's salvation, and it comes at a time when
Jerusalem is surrounded by enemy armies. This is the scenario of Zechariah
14- Jerusalem surrounded by armies, who are judged by the Lord's return
and a huge earthquake.
8:6 And the seven Angels that had the seven trumpets- The blowing
of trumpets is commonly used in the OT for preparing war against Israel's
enemies. The war being prepared is against Israel's latter day desolators.
The obvious connection is with the seven priests blowing the seven
trumpets which caused the fall of the great city Jericho (Josh. 6:4,6).
Israel's latter day enemies are the equivalent of the Canaanites, the
non-Jewish inhabitants of the land promised to Abraham. The Angels are as
it were the priests, and we have read earlier in Rev. 8 of the Angels as
it were doing priestly duty in the Heavenly tabernacle. The blowing of the
trumpets is preparing for the fall of the great city Babylon, the epitome
of the beast.
Prepared themselves to sound- We imagine them lifting the
trumpets to their mouths. The detail adds to the general impression that
all the calamities of the last days have been carefully prepared. They are
not at all the outcome of random evil which has got out of even Divine
control. That point is repeatedly made doubtless because it might well
appear like that to those who endure those things. There is a strong theme
in Revelation of things being prepared by the Angels and then happening on
the land (the locusts are prepared for battle, 9:7; four Angels are
prepared for action at a precise moment, 9:15; the persecuted woman has a
placed of refuge prepared for her, 12:6; the hordes from the East are
prepared for release from the Euphrates, which is what we are seeing in
the preparation of the jihadist hordes in that very area today, 16:12; the
bride is prepared through all her tribulations, 19:7: 21:2). It is that
preparation process which we are seeing today in the development of the
radical Islamists.
8:7 And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled
with blood; and they were cast upon the earth- One reason why there
are such similarities between the seven vials and the seven trumpets [see
introduction to this chapter] could be that the vials refer largely to the
judgments to come upon the world, and the trumpets to the latter day
tribulation of the saints. See on Rev. 11:3.
Seven Vials Seven trumpets
16:2
8:7
16:3
8:8
16:4
8:10
16:8
8:12
16:10
9:1
16:12
9:13
16:17-21 11:15
The hail is seen prepared in Heaven in 11:9;
now it is sent to the earth. Hail is one of the final bowls that is poured
upon the beast system in 16:21. What the beast does to those on the land
is done to them; the cup or bowl they gave others to drink, they must
drink at the time of the bowls being poured out. The idea of "hail and
fire mingled" is clearly alluding to the plague upon Egypt, of hail
mingled with fire (Ex. 9:24). But the hail plague did not touch the
Israelites in Goshen (Ex. 9:26). This is exactly as we would expect- the
seal judgments led a remnant of Israel to repent, and through the
symbology of the 144,000 in Rev. 7, they are declared the true Israel.
They are sealed so that the judgments of the trumpets don't come upon
them. So the allusion to a plague on Egypt which didn't touch Israel is
appropriate. Is. 32:19 describes the repentant remnant of Israel as being
unharmed by hail in the last days. Note that the plagues on Egypt were
intended to elicit repentance in Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and that is
likewise the purpose of the trumpet judgments upon the beast system. We
gasp at God's grace- that He even wants jihadists to repent. We recall too
how a confederacy of five kings of the earth / land, under the leadership
of the antichrist figure Adonizedek (‘Lord of righteousness’, a fake
Christ), were likewise destroyed by hail during the conquest of
Joshua-Jesus (Josh. 10:11).
Hail cast down to the earth is exactly the
language of the judgment upon the impenitent amongst Israel in the last
days who do not accept the Messiah, the corner stone laid in Zion; those
who are not amongst the remnant who repent (Is. 28:2,5,16,17); those Jews
who will not 'come out of' the Babylon system will experience her
judgments, if they are not part of the repentant Jewish remnant, the
144,000. In similar manner, the impenitent Jews at the time of the
restoration were struck with hail, albeit as part of a program intended to
bring them even then to repentance (Hag. 2:17).
Hail and blood are used by God to “plead”
with Gog (Ez. 38:22). Ezekiel 38 is a latter day prophecy, but we again
must note that the judgment of hail, blood, plague etc. is in order to
plead even with Gog to repent. Only when the warning trumpets are ignored
are the vials of complete destruction poured out and the temple is closed
to men (15:7,8).
"Fire mingled with blood" is all part of the
Lord’s second coming, for He comes with flaming fire in judgment upon
those who have refused to know Him (2 Thess. 1:7); thus the eyes of Jesus
in Revelation are as a flaming fire (Rev. 1:7; 2:18; 19:12). This is the
picture of Him at the time of His coming in judgment to earth. Yet the
Angels are His eyes, according to Revelation 1 and 4:5, and they are
therefore made a flaming fire (Heb. 1:7). Thus the actual, mechanical
outworking of His coming in judgment in fire will be through the medium of
Angelic activity. And this is what we have spoken of here in Rev. 8:7.
Casting fire on the land [of Israel] recalls Amos 7:4, which also mentions
locusts, whom we will meet in the fifth trumpet: “The Lord God contended
by fire... and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the
land (R.V., LXX: “the Lord’s portion”). The context goes on to predict
that “the high places of Isaac (where Isaac was offered- Moriah, the
temple mount) shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries [the great
sanctuary?] of Israel shall be laid waste”. Notice once again that the
punishment by fire is Yahweh ‘contending’. It is again an appeal for
repentance.
The third part of the earth was burnt up,
as was the third part of the trees; and all green grass was burnt up-
In Ez. 5:1-5 Ezekiel shaves his hair and is told to divide it carefully
into three parts, except for a mere few bound in the hem of his robe.
These three parts are then consigned to destruction by fire, sword or
scattering. We have just read in chapter 7 of the 144,000 faithful
remnant. They will be saved, but the three parts of Israel who remain
apart from them are to be destroyed. Note that the context of Ezekiel 5 is
specifically Jerusalem. Zech. 13:8,9 speaks of two thirds of Jews in
the land being killed, and a third being refined. Zech. 14:2 has half
of Jerusalem going into captivity. Bearing in mind the difference between
Jerusalem and the whole land, these proportions aren’t necessarily
contradictory. The point is, these Old Testament prophecies of a partial
desolation of Jerusalem and the land of Israel are being alluded to in
Revelation; and the context is of the last days, rather than of some
period in past history.
Not all trees were destroyed by the hail. This is in intended contrast to
how the hail upon Egypt destroyed every tree of the field (Ex.
9:25- although some escaped, 10:5,12,15) as well as all the grass. Here,
all the grass is destroyed but only a third of the trees. We may not need
to think in terms of literal grass and trees. Perhaps the point is being
made that yes, the situation is analogous to Israel in Egypt and the
plagues upon Egypt, but still they are more restrained than those upon
Egypt. This would be because God wants the beast system to perceive the
similarities [perhaps therefore literal hail will be used], and to repent-
before the bowls are poured out, which speak of utter destruction of the
beast system. We note that in this case, Moses before Pharaoh must have a
latter day equivalent, and we see this in chapter 11, where the two
witnesses have similarities to Moses at this time.
The destruction of trees recalls what Babylon
did to Jerusalem: “For thus hath the Lord of Hosts said, Hew down her
trees (RVmg.), and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be
visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her” (Jer. 6:6).
Likewise Ez. 20:47: “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall
devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame
shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be
burned therein”. These words were applied by the Lord to Jerusalem’s
future judgment, both in AD70 and therefore also in the last days (Lk.
23:31). The idea is that the Babylonian judgment upon Israel is to be
repeated in the last days. And that may simply be the point of reference
to the trees- perhaps we don’t need to look for any literal application.
It could be that as in the Lord’s latter day parable of the fig tree,
trees represent nations within the land / earth promised to Abraham.
Another Old Testament allusion to be aware of regarding trees is
Zech. 11:1,2: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your
cedars. Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are
spoiled: howl, O oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come
down”. These words preface a prophecy of the rejection of Jesus and of the
resultant judgment for that in the last days.
It’s not my style in this exposition to unduly dwell on the very evident
application of Revelation to the run up to AD70, for we want to know the
relevance to our days. But it’s worth noting that there was a literal
removing of trees then. Josephus claims that trees were felled
indiscriminately to build engines of war and even the crucifixion of
prisoners had to cease through lack of timber to make crosses. There has
been an especial attempt to reforest the land of Israel since 1948. This
is typical of the way that natural Israel have sought to bring about the
fulfilment of Bible prophecies about the fertility of the land- in their
own strength. And all that reforestation will be burnt up in the
tribulation.
We note that the olive and vine trees were
not to be hurt during the time of the seals (6:6). But now, a third of
them are. The Hadith records how generally, trees should not be destroyed
by Moslems when on campaigns: “The first Caliph Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased
with him) gave to his army while sending her on the expedition to the
Syrian borders[commands] permeated with the noble spirit with which the
war in Islam is permitted. He said: "... Bring no harm to the trees, nor
burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful" (The Hadith,
Book 19 Jihad and Expedition (Kitab Al−Jihad wa'l−Siyar). As
often happens, the jihadist may go well beyond their own religion. Or it
could be that these particular judgments on the land are brought about by
non-Moslems.
"Burnt up" is the same word used about the
burning up in judgment of the last day when Christ returns (Lk. 3:17; 1
Cor. 3:15; 2 Pet. 3:10) and the burning up of Babylon (Rev. 17:16; 18:8).
The weeds are gathered together and burnt up (Mt. 13:30), and this is
effectively a latter day prophecy of the gathering together of the nations
to Armageddon and their being burnt up in the land. "Just as the weeds are
gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The
Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom
all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery
furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Mt.
13:40-42). The furnace is specifically defined as Jerusalem under judgment
at the hands of Babylon-Assyria (Is. 31:9; Ez. 22:18), the latter day
Sodom and Egypt which are also described as a furnace (Gen. 19:28; Dt.
4:20; 1 Kings 8:51; Jer. 11:4). Sodom and Egypt are Jerusalem of the last
days (Rev. 11:8; Is. 1:10; 3:9; Jer. 23:14; Ez. 16:46). The prophecies
about this will therefore be fulfilled in stages within the last few days
around the coming of Christ. The furnace of Rev. 9:2 must be understood
likewise; the overthrow of Babylon is as when God overthrew Sodom (Is.
13:19; Jer. 49:18; 50:40).
The specific mention of green grass
may suggest that this happens at Passover time (cp. Mk. 6:39). Chloros,
here translated “green”, is the same word used about the chloros
[AV “pale”] horse” of the seals (Rev. 6:8). This similarity with the seals
is because what was done to Israel is now being done to those who did it.
Babylon is drinking the cup she gave others.
8:8 And the second angel blew his trumpet
and as it were a great mountain- This can refer to Israel and Mount
Zion: “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall
not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say
unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it
shall be done” (Mt. 21:21). “This mountain” was Zion, before which the
Lord stood at that time, with its altar fire, which never went out. Yet
the great destroying mountain is also Babylon (Jer. 51:25). The
punishment upon Babylon will come upon an Israel who fail to come out of
her.
The mountains had been moved out of their
places in the seal judgments (6:14), and now this is in turn done to the
enemies of God's people. For the mountain falling represents the
destruction of Babylon in the Old Testament. But it also represents
Judaism. The fall of Israel as an entity is framed in the same terms as
the fall of Babylon. They had failed to come out of Babylon, and so
Babylon's judgments come upon them. We're dealing here with a double
symbol- of both falling Babylon and falling Israel. By contrast, the
"great mountain" of God's Kingdom, the Mount Zion, stands secure (Dan.
2:35; Rev. 14:1; 21:10). The clearest Old Testament allusion is to Zech.
4:7: "Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a
plain. And he shall bring forward the corner stone amid shouts of 'Grace,
grace to it!'". The corner stone is the Lord Jesus, whose second coming
will mean the fall of the "great mountain". The creation of a plain
instead of elevated land is the language of the required levelling of
Israel by the work of the Elijah prophet before the coming of Messiah (Is.
40:4). The immediate context of Zech. 4:7 speaks of how the mountain of
opposition to Zerubbabel would be removed so that the restoration of
Israel's Kingdom could come about. And that opposition was from local
Arabs such as Sanballat who were opposing it. Zerubbabel failed to restore
the Kingdom and become the Messiah figure he could have become. The
essence of the prophecy is to be fulfilled in the last days, when the Lord
Jesus will be in perfection the Messiah of Israel. The great mountain will
then speak of the fake kingdom of God established by the Babylon beast,
which shall be cast down.
Burning with fire-
This burning with fire is part of the outworking of how fire was cast into
the land as a result of the prayers of the faithful remnant (8:5). The
mountain is cast down, burning- just as fire is cast onto the earth from
above. Yet burning fire is a feature of God's latter day judgment upon the
beast, as often spoken of later in Revelation. The Lord Jesus will sit in
judgment on the beast enthroned with wheels of burning fire (Dan. 7:19),
replete as that language is with reference to the Angel cherubim (Ez.
1:13), the four beasts of Heaven. Again, we are clearly to see in this the
language of the last day. The lamps of fire burning before the throne in
Rev. 4:5 speak of the view of the Heavenly throne room as it will be in
the last day. Finally, the lake of burning fire- fire burning on water- is
the end of the beast system. And this same image, fire cast into water and
the water burning, is found here in the second trumpet (and also in the
third trumpet, where fire hits water again, the rivers). Perhaps we could
understand that this is a foretaste of the final judgment of the lake of
fire. Only a third of the water is affected, and then a third part of the
rivers, unlike the symbology of the entire lake of fire burning. There is
again the implication that even at this late stage, men can see what
condemnation will be like and avoid it in repentance. This would be in
keeping with how God has worked so many times- He gives worked examples of
condemnation to men to warn them of where their path shall lead them.
Quite simply, because He wishes their repentance. Significantly, the Koran
several times claims that the judgment of unbelievers will be severe
exactly because they have rejected warnings (especially Sura 54.16-24).
The Moslem followers of the beast will be treated exactly in accordance
with their own perceptions of Divine judgment.
Was cast into the sea-
In this sense, there is a sea of glass mingled with fire in 15:2. The sea
of glass speaks of the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, but
the picture is mingled with fire because the throwing of fire into the sea
is what brings about the Kingdom. We see again how apocalyptic is not
interested in precise chronology- the events are run together. Different
aspects of the same picture are given. What this means, however, is that
the casting of the mountain of fire into the sea is definitely a picture
of latter day events, immediately around the time of the establishment of
the sea as glass, the Kingdom of God on the sea of nations.
The wicked are as a troubled sea (Is. 57:20). But closer examination of
that passage reveals that is talking about the Jews at the time of the
Assyrian invasion who chose not to be amongst the righteous remnant. This
exactly fits our context. And the Hebrew word translated "troubled" means
literally 'sent away', and is also translated 'divorced'. The metaphor of
divorce is certainly used about God's relationship with Israel, and the
destruction of the faithless majority of Israel at the time of the end
will be the final climax of that great divorce. such troubling of the sea
will be the lot of the majority in Israel, but "Peace, peace" to the
repentant remnant (Is. 57:19).
And the third part of the sea became
blood- In the AD70 application, this
may refer to the mass killing of Jews in the Sea of Galilee. Josephus
recorded: “One might see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for
not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight, there
was on the following days over the country. In this way thousands were
slain” (B.J. 3:10:9). Likewise, on the Mediterranean coast: “The sea was
bloody a long way, and the maritime ports were full of dead bodies ... and
the number of the bodies that were thus thrown out of the sea was 4,200”
(B.J. 3:9:3). Perhaps something similar will happen in the last days.
Water becoming blood is obviously a reference
to the plagues upon Egypt (Ex. 7:20). The continual allusion to those
plagues suggest that there has been an abuse of Israel by a latter day
Egypt. In The Last Days
chapter 5 I work out in more detail
the typology of Egypt's domination of Israel, with the Passover
deliverance being a type of the second coming. That might explain the
reference to "green grass", associated as it is with Passover. Bother
"rivers" and "waters" are described as being turned into blood in Egypt
(Ps. 78:44; 105:29), and both rivers and waters are spoken of here in the
trumpets.
A burning mountain coming into the sea would
create the impression of a sea of fire- and the lake of fire is the
picture of the beast’s final destruction (Rev. 19:20; 21:8). There may
therefore be no specific symbology in the ‘sea’ or water beyond this.
Fire destroying things in water is surely an
indication that this is from God. The Hadith (Book 41.7012) says that the
Antichrist of the last days will do the same: "The Dajjal would
appear and there would be along with him water and fire and what the
people would see as water that would be fire and that would burn and what
would appear as fire that would be water". The Muslims will therefore see
the entity bringing these things about- the Lord Jesus- as the antiChrist
and thus be the more motivated to engage in mad warfare against Him, to
their own destruction.
In Rev. 8:8 we have an Angel casting a
mountain into the sea. This must surely connect with the Lord's
encouragement that we can cast mountains into the sea by our faith (Mk.
11:23). Therefore... it surely follows that our prayers have a direct
effect upon the Angels. They throw mountains around because of our
faithful prayer... Inevitably we see a connection with Ps. 46:2, which
comforts us not to fear when mountains are cast into sea. Surely the point
is that we shouldn’t be scared when we perceive the awesomeness of the
power of prayer and its influence upon Angels. It’s all too easy to ask
for things without perceiving how it would really be if that prayer were
answered. We need to have specific and focused faith in what we ask for,
realizing that legions of Angels are potentially able to operationalize
what we ask for. See on Is. 6:7.
Jer. 51:25 calls Babylon a "destroying
mountain" which is to be judged by fire to become "a burnt mountain". The
use of identical language in Rev. 8:8 must make that passage have some
reference to the fall of latter-day Babylon. "Destroying mountain" is the
language of Dan. 2:44 concerning the little stone destroying the image and
growing into a mountain, symbolizing God's Kingdom. Jer. 51:20-23 stresses
no less than nine times how 'Babylon' is to be "broken in pieces", which
is another connection with Dan. 2:44 concerning the breaking in pieces of
the nations who are confederate with 'Babylon', the head of gold.
8:9 And there died the third part of the
creatures (even they that had life) which were in the sea, and the third
part of the ships were destroyed- The connection is clearly with Rev.
5:13, where the "creatures" [s.w.] in the sea all give glory to the Lamb
enthroned. To get to that end point, the creatures in the sea who will not
give Him glory must be judged. The seals, trumpets, vials and descriptions
of the judgments upon the beast and whore can be read as being all aspects
of the final judgment. But it could also be that the last judgment of the
unbelieving world comes in stages. Here in the trumpets, a third of the
sea creatures die; in 16:3, the sea becomes as the blood of a dead corpse
"and every living creature died in the sea". The same Greek word
for "died" is used there as here in 8:9. As commented previously, God
gives warning of His final judgments, in the hope that men will learn from
the condemnation of others and repent. We marvel at His patience,
portrayed as it is throughout the various judgments we read of. Our human
sense would be to simply liquidate the entire unbelieving, abusive system
in one shot. But He works, with all the intricacies of the systems of
seven interlocking, interrelated judgments, in order to try to elicit
repentance at every turn. Truly, as Emil Brunner observed, "the wrath of
God is the love of God". Even in His style of condemning wicked men and
systems, we see shining through His urgent desire for human repentance and
other, better outcomes. "The sea" is the area from which the beast arises
(13:1). We can therefore interpret it as the power base of the beast- the
nations and peoples within the land promised to Abraham. This would
explain the repeated judgments upon the "sea" in Revelation. The emphasis
given to "the ships" being judged would therefore speak of the mercantile
activities within that area. The only other references in Revelation to
"ships" are when we read that the ships associated with the Babylon-beast
system are destroyed in her final judgment (Rev. 18:17,19). At the time of
the trumpet judgments, only a third of them are destroyed- but finally,
they are all destroyed. The destruction of a third of them is again a
portent of the final total destruction- and is therefore an appeal for
repentance. Likewise we read that this third part of shipping was
"destroyed" but the word is found elsewhere in Revelation only when we
read of the total 'destruction' of those who had destroyed the land
(11:18).
8:10 And the third angel blew his
trumpet, and there fell from heaven a great star- The Olivet prophecy
speaks of the stars falling from Heaven (Mt. 24:29), and the context begs
us interpret this as referring to the collapse of the Israelite ruling
system. The imagery can equally refer to the ruling system of any entity.
It seems a specific star or leader is in view, and his fall will result in
damage on the earth / land. A great star falling from Heaven to earth
recalls Isaiah 14, the parable of the fall of the king of Babylon. And
this surely looks forward to the last days. Stars represent rulers or
leaders, and Rev. 17:10 speaks of how the five kings supporting the beast
system ‘fall’ [s.w.]; here in the trumpets we have detail of the fall of
at least two of them.
Burning as a torch-
This is the language of the earlier vision of the Heavenly throne room,
where the seven lamps of fire burn before the throne (Rev. 4:5). The
implication is that this is a result of Angelic involvement in the
judgment. But there is also a continuation of the theme that the beast
kingdom is a fake kingdom of God. It has just been described as a “great
mountain”, which is the language of God’s Kingdom. Perhaps the
leader who falls will be known as the burning torch or lamp.
And it fell upon the third part of the
rivers and upon the fountains of the waters-
See on 8:8 burning with fire. Such judgment on water courses is
predicted in prophecies about latter day events in the land of Israel.
“The mountains of Israel... Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and
to the hills, to the rivers (R.V. “water courses”; the reference is to
wadis) and to the valleys” (Ez. 6:3). Ez. 36:4, 6 uses identical language
about the land of Israel, again in a latter day context. Before the
Assyrian invasion, typical of the latter day desolation of Israel, Joel
1:20 records that “the rivers of waters are dried up".
The Koran and Hadith speak hundreds of times
of paradise as being a place of rivers and fountains of waters. The
contrast is with the living “fountains of waters” which the
repentant 144,000 come to (Rev. 7:17). The “fountains of waters” of the
beast system are turned to blood and dried up in the various judgments
brought upon them. They are dead. The Muslim concept of paradise
will be destroyed and inverted. In seeking to establish a caliphate in the
land promised to Abraham, with Jerusalem as its capital and the temple
mount as its central point of worship, radical Islam is seeking to
establish a fake, imitation Kingdom of God- just as Assyria offered Judah
a land where each would sit under their own vine and fig tree,
appropriating the language of God’s Kingdom to their own. Whilst
there may be a literal element to these judgments upon the waters, I
suspect that the judgment must be understood in terms of the Islamic
conception of paradise.
8:11 And the name of the star is called
Wormwood- This is Old Testament imagery for the bitterness of
Israel’s judgment at the hand of their neighbours, especially Babylon at
the fall of Jerusalem: “Behold I will feed them, even this people, with
wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also
among the nations” (Jer. 9:15, 16; Lam. 3:15,19). “Behold, I will feed
them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the
prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land” (Jer.
23:15 cp. Jer. 6:26). The allusion is also to Numbers 5, the trial of the
bitter waters of jealousy, for the woman who has been unfaithful to her
husband. And that woman is clearly enough representative of Israel,
according to many Old Testament allusions.
Sura 37.62 of the Koran speaks of a similar
plant that Muslims believe is the food of dwellers of Hell-fire, part of
the diet of Adh-Dhari, bitter fruit, which intensifies their
torment (Sura 69:36,37). The similarities with the Koran could suggest
that the victims of these judgments will be subjected to an Islamic
judgment of condemnation, i.e. ministered by Islam. Or the hint could be
that the self-righteous jihadists will understand that they are being
condemned, they will feel their condemnation in terms they understand.
And one third of the waters became
bitter-tasting; and many men died because the waters were made so bitter-
The parallel is between the waters
‘becoming wormwood’ and the waters being “made bitter”. There may not be
too much significance in the term “wormwood”, rather is the idea being
developed of a curse and bitterness. The judgments of the trumpets are
partly upon those in Israel who didn’t repent during the seals, and thus
weren’t sealed in chapter 7; and partly upon their desolators, or others
within the land promised to Abraham. The language of bitter waters
obviously alludes to Israel’s experience at Marah in Ex. 15:23. The bitter
waters were cured by a tree being cut down and cast into the water. This
clearly looked ahead to the tree of the Lord’s crucifixion, through which
the bitter waters were made sweet. The unbelieving Israelites were tested
/ tried at the bitter waters (Ex. 15:25). We could reasonably infer that
the way only a third of the waters were made bitter is a hint that this
partial judgment is intended to lead Israel to repentance, and to
acceptance of the tree / cross of the Christ whom they crucified. Again we
marvel at God’s ever saving intention, ever desiring human repentance and
salvation. After leaving Marah, and learning the lesson of the tree,
Israel came to Elim, where there were “fountains of [living] water” (Num.
33:9). The contrast between bitter water and living water is only really
found here in Rev. 8:10 and 7:17, where the repentant 144,000 come to
living fountains of waters. Those who don’t accept the crucified Christ
have the bitter waters of Marah, from which they will not move on to Elim.
8:12- see on Rev. 18:8.
And the fourth angel blew his trumpet,
and a third of the sun was struck and a third of the moon and a third of
the stars- The darkening of a third
of the stars and a third of the sun and moon is very much the picture in
Rev. 12:4, where a third of the stars fall to earth. The picture of a part
of the heavens falling is exactly how the Koran envisages the last day
judgment of apostates- “A fragment of the heaven falling” (Sura 52.44).
The judgment they envisage upon others will come upon them, and it will be
articulated in terms appropriate to their cultural understanding. This, I
suggest, is the significance of the similarities between the Biblical
pictures of the latter day judgments, and the wording of the Koran and
Hadith.
Harry Whittaker sums up the various usages of
sun, moon and stars as symbols of Israel: “(a) Joseph’s dream, where sun,
moon and stars stand for his father, mother and brethren, i.e.
the whole family of Israel.
(b) Revelation 12:1. The woman clothed with the sun and with the moon
under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars similarly
represents the nation of Israel. From this starting point the chapter
yields a coherent and highly relevant interpretation (ch. 27).
(c) Genesis 22:17: “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven.”
(d) Jeremiah 31:36: “If those ordinances (sun, moon and stars; v. 35)
depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall
cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
(e) Joel 2:10: “The sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining” - the final invasion of Israel in the Last Days
(cp. ch. 3:15).
(f) Daniel 8: 10: “The little horn waxed great, even to the host of
heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground,
and stamped upon them.”
(g) Amos 8:9: “I will cause the sun to go down at noon” is coupled with:
“I will turn your feasts into mourning.”
(h) Luke 23:45: “And the sun was
darkened and the veil of the temple rent in the midst.” Strange
conjunction of phenomena in one verse except it is that both are symbolic
of the same thing - the end of the Mosaic economy”.
They are "struck", using the same word as is
used in the LXX of the smiting of Israel by the Assyrians (Is. 1:5; 9:13),
who represent Israel's latter day invaders.
This meant that the third part of them
were darkened; and the day would not shine for the third part of it, and
the night in like manner- Darkness
coming upon the earth is the presage of a new creation (Gen. 1:2). The Old
Testament prophets use the metaphor about the latter day invader of Israel
bringing darkness upon the land (Is. 8:22; Am. 4:13), but that darkness is
the necessary precursor for the Lord arising in glory upon the land (Is.
60:2). This language of a darkened earth is therefore the signal that we
should expect imminently the active manifestation of God, through the
return of His Son. These events therefore specifically reference the time
of the immediate return of Christ. The unnatural eclipse of heavenly
bodies recalls the period of darkness at the crucifixion. As so often in
Revelation, the message is that the sufferings of the last days will
enable people to identify with the crucifixion sufferings of Christ, and
through that identification with Him to come to share in His resurrection.
The essence of this means to salvation in Christ has gone on throughout
the lives of all the Lord's people, at whatever time they have lived.
However, the victims of the trumpet judgments are those who did not
respond to those of the six seals. We again draw our breath in marvel at
how the Lord will even seek with those stubborn people to bring them to
identity with Him. Note that many of these judgments are a reversal of
creation- for God initially made the sun, moon and stars to shine upon the
earth (Gen. 1:15,17 s.w. LXX).
8:13 And I saw and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with
a great voice- According to Vine, "It means, properly, the meridian,
the highest point in the heavens which the sun occupies at noon; not the
space between heaven and earth". The appeal from the place of the sun at
its zenith surely speaks of the Lord Jesus. En (AV "through")
would be better translated "at", with reference to this specific point.
The warning that the next three Angels have very serious judgments to
declare must serve some kind of function. It may be to give the impression
that these judgments are not to be understood in chronological sequence;
they are known before they are pronounced. Or perhaps the declaration is
made because, yet again, it is an appeal to repentance.
Woe, woe, woe!- This can be read as an invitation to weeping; the
weeping of repentance. There is still just about time for repentance, even
from those who have turned down the appeals of the six seals. The Muslim
jihadists believe they are to pronounce woe upon the enemies in the last
hour: "When a decisive surah is revealed and war is mentioned therein...
Therefore woe unto them!" (Sura 47.20). The trumpets speak of judgments
which are to come on both the beast and the impenitent Jews. But the
judgments are brought about by the Moslem beast itself, which is exactly
how God's enemies have met their end in history- by destroying themselves.
Rev. 17:16 speaks of how the horns of the beast destroy the beast. So the
bringing of "Woe" upon those in the land is what the jihadists are
preparing to do.
For those who dwell on the earth-
This talk of “inhabitants” seems rather redundant; until we realize that
the reference is likely to those who have but recently invaded the land
promised to Abraham, grabbed the wealth of the Jews and are now
‘inhabiting’ it as their own land.
By reason of the other voices of the
trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound-
But only two of the woe trumpets appear to be sounded (9:12; 11:14). This
recalls how there is no seventh seal either- just a pointed silence in
Heaven, instead of an expected outpouring of calamity (see on :1). And now
it seems there is no seventh trumpet either. This may be because we are
intended to see ‘the end’, the final establishment of the Kingdom, as the
seventh trumpet and seventh seal. But the seals and trumpets are of
calamities happening to the land and people, not blessings. It could well
be that God planned a final calamity which will not happen, just as the
seven thunders are prepared but not recorded. His grace and pity may make
Him relent; or quite simply the prayers of the faithful for ‘the end’ are
powerful in bringing about some measure of shortening of His work. The Old
Testament parallel would be in Joseph apparently cutting short the more
extended program of education which He had intended for his brothers.
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