<p>8:13<em> And I saw and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice- </em>According to Vine, &quot;It means, properly, the meridian, the highest point in the heavens which the sun occupies at noon; not the space between heaven and earth&quot;. The appeal from the place of the sun at its zenith surely speaks of the Lord Jesus. <em>En</em> (AV &quot;through&quot;) would be better translated &quot;at&quot;, 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.</p><p><em>Woe, woe, woe</em>- 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: &quot;When a decisive surah is revealed and war is mentioned therein... Therefore woe unto them&quot; (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 &quot;Woe&quot; upon those in the land is what the jihadists are preparing to do.</p><p><em>For those who dwell on the earth</em>- This talk of &ldquo;inhabitants&rdquo; 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 &lsquo;inhabiting&rsquo; it as their own land.</p><p><em>By reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound</em>- 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 &lsquo;the end&rsquo;, 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 &lsquo;the end&rsquo; 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.</p><p><br clear=all /></p>