After the seals are opened, seven angels are tasked with blowing trumpets to usher in judgment. This devotional reading looks at what occurs when the first four trumpets are sounded.
Nuggets
- The first trumpet summons hail, which reflects one of the ten plagues.
- A great mountain is going to destroy the sea.
- The third trumpet signals the destruction of freshwater supplies.
- The fourth trumpet damages the sun, moon, and stars.
It always confuses me as to whether the trumpets and the bowls are all part of the seventh seal or if it is just the silence is part of the seal. I can see it either way.
While the silence is the main focus of the seal, the angels do show up and wait in the silence. They have their trumpets and are just waiting for their cue to play.
Either way, the trumpets have some important things happening in them. Let’s dig in.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in The Trumpets and the Bowls series
The First Trumpet
“Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up” (Rev. 8: 6-7 ESV)
The first trumpet summons hail, which reflects one of the ten plagues.
Hail and Fire
Man. The image John created is scary.
Hail falling is no fun. Fire falling from the sky with it would be bad enough. The blood mixed in is terrifying.
But hasn’t it been done before?
The hail and fire were reminiscent of the plagues in Egypt where hail and fire rained from the sky (Ex. 9: 22-25). “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.’ Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation” (Ex. 9: 22-24 ESV).
It was sent along with the other nine plagues so that Pharaoh would free the Israelites from their slavery.
If the Church has been raptured by now, that freeing has already been accomplished. But the earth would still need to be freed from sin.
We know the fire is used for refining. It takes the impurities out. “So that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 1: 7 ESV).
God wants our sinful nature cut out of us. The way that happens is that we go through trials and persecutions. These trials are refining us.
Only by enduring do we cultivate the perfected, mature character that we are to have. This happens in the sanctification process, which is a refining procedure.
The bottom line is we need refining because we have sinned. God offers us salvation and a process through which we can be refined.
Blood
It doesn’t say whose blood it is. Is it Jesus’ blood? Only His blood can cleanse our souls. Will His blood also be used to cleanse the earth?
If it is Jesus’ cleansing blood, that makes this an interesting trio. Both the fire and hail are destructive. Jesus’ blood is redemptive.
Regardless of whether salvation is still an option at this point, the function of the trio is to redeem the earth and its inhabitants. It will be up to us whether we are rewarded or repaid for our choice of submitting to God.
Destruction
Even though only one-third of the earth is destroyed, I would say this is a global event. If this were to happen only on one continent, those on the other continents might not put the weight needed on this important event.
One-third of the trees are also destroyed. That would severely impact oxygen production.
All green grass will be gone. I don’t know about you, but I really miss the green grass in the winter. At least, I know it is coming back in a couple of months. I doubt that happens here.
Well, the worldview people may delude themselves into thinking that — if they don’t know their Bible prophecy.
But then we don’t know timing of the trumpets and how long it will take to complete all seven. Will they have time to recover from the first trumpet?
Green gave us an important reminder. By destroying only one-third of the earth, God is showing mercy. He wrote,
“It is not a final overthrow, nor is it a vision of destruction. In the disturbance of the material world is portrayed the upheaving in the spiritual. The judgments are chastisements — a part suffers for the good of the whole. The eye is plucked out to save the whole body. Here a portion — a third part — suffers that the whole perish not.
Resource
Green is making an awful big assumption. He is assuming that salvation is still on the table. Only God will decide when faith in the unseen is replaced by faith in the seen.
The Second Trumpet
“The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed” (Rev. 8: 8-9 ESV)
A great mountain is going to destroy the sea.
A second trumpet is sounded with some of the same results – fire, blood, and destruction. But this time the destination was the saltwater sea, not dry land.
That visual isn’t any less scary than the one from the first trumpet. A burning mountain (maybe a volcano) hurtling through the sky would set the heart pumping.
I always believed that the judgments would be seen by everyone in the world. It is above my pay grade to figure out how someone who is landlocked is going to see this. Yes, we have the joy of 24/7 news coverage now.
I just personally don’t think that is what God has in mind. If we make personal decisions to sin, the judgment will be personal, also. I think everyone is going to have a front-row seat.
Besides, how many of us have turned off the nightly news broadcasts because we don’t want to hear the worldview slant on all of the horrible things happening now?
But this judgment and the next do seem that they are geographically specific. There is no way that everyone is going to personally witness this.
This plague will not only kill sea creatures but also commerce of the area. That will probably have global impact.
The Third Trumpet
“The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing 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 people died from the water, because it had been made bitter” (Rev. 8: 10-11 ESV)
The third trumpet signals the destruction of freshwater supplies.
Again, it is only a third of them, but it is significant. Along with the creatures in the ecosystem, freshwater supplies help in water purification, flood mitigation, and treatment of waste products.
John described it as a great star. Was he seeing a meteor? Maybe some space debris reentering the atmosphere?
Many people died from the bitter water, but it does not number them.
Jeremiah helped us understand what John is getting at here. “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: ‘Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land’” (Jer. 23: 15 ESV).
If you look at this verse in the Complete Jewish Bible, it make a little more sense. “… I will feed them bitter wormwood …” (Jer. 23: 15 CJB).
Amos also used wormwood to identify justice. “O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!” (Amos 5: 7 ESV).
That is logical. Guild described it this way. He wrote, “By the fall of this star from heaven, we see that apostasy from the truth in pastors is a Luciferian sin, and they thereby are like unto him.”
Resource
The result of apostasy – not being a Christian – is the absence of grace. The product of that is the lack of perseverance.
This destruction is cause by a great star, not a rinky-dink one.
I get that this is reminiscent of the first plague in Egypt, blood in the Nile (Ex. 7: 14-25 ESV).
“Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile’” (Ex. 7: 17-18 ESV).
The Fourth Trumpet
“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, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!’” (Rev. 8: 12-13 ESV)
The fourth trumpet damages the sun, moon, and stars.
The fourth trumpet sees a third of the sun, moon, and stars cripled. This diminishes the light on the earth.
Unlike the with the other trumpets, John does not tell the cause. He does say that the effect causes damage, not elimination.
The sun is very important to the life of the planet. It not only controls our weather and climate, but it also controls seasons and ocean currents. Plant life is dependent on it for the production of photosynthesis.
As we’ve discussed that these judgments seem reminiscent to the plagues in Moses’ time, this one reminds us of the ninth plague of darkness.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, ‘Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.’ But Moses said, ‘You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.’ But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, ‘Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.’ Moses said, ‘As you say! I will not see your face again’” (Ex. 10: 21-29 ESV).
Bradford cautioned us not to think they are the same. He described the Egyptian plague as a spiritual darkness with this being a physical darkness.
Resource
Making the Connections
I know. This is confusing me.
The sixth seal talked about the sun, moon, and stars being destroyed. “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place” (Rev. 6: 12-14 ESV).
If the sky vanishes, the sun and the moon won’t be hanging around.
The seventh seal was the silence in Heaven. The seven angels with the trumpets came right after the seal was opened. “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them” (Rev. 8: 1-2 ESV).
The first trumpet heralded destruction for a third of the earth. “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, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night” (Rev. 8: 12 ESV).
How can a third of the sun, moon, and stars can be damaged if the sky has already vanished?
We think about the order to Spafford’s words in the song It Is Well with My Soul.
- Sky and clouds are going to be rolled back as a scroll.
- The trumpet will blast.
- Jesus will descend.
That indicates the Church will be raptured during the events of the sixth seal. The sky isn’t rolled back as a scroll before then.
First Thessalonians says Jesus is going to descend with a shout and a trumpet blast. “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (I Thess. 4: 16-17 ESV).
That doesn’t say anything about the sky being rolled back as a scroll.
What do I get out of this? A trumpet will sound when Jesus calls the Church home. It may or may not be part of the seven trumpets.
How Do We Apply This?
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Father God. We try to understand what You are telling us in John’s visions. We know we won’t get everything right. Maybe You don’t want us to understand until we see it playing out before us. Help us to know You Word in depth so we can discern events when the trumpets sound – if we are here to hear them. Amen.
What do you think?
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