Chapter 8. The 7 Trumpets
“And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.” Joshua 6:4
8:1 The angels are ready to sound the trumpets. The seventh trump is blown at the time of Jesus’ return, as was the sixth seal. Accordingly, that means the first of the trumpets must be sounded near the same time as the opening of the first seal. That piece of information confirms that the sets of visions are concurrent!
8:3 The prayers of the saints were offered to God as sweet incense prior to the Lord opening the first seal. Now, as the 7 angels prepare to sound their trumpets, another angel approaches the golden altar before God. He has a golden censer filled with incense and the prayers of ‘all the saints.’ God received the aroma of the incense and our prayers as holy worship, prior to the sounding of the trumpets.
It’s heartening to know our prayers are received as an incense by God. The fire thrown from God’s altar to the earth is not an act of anger! It is heaven’s joyful response to the saints’ prayers and worship, and it speaks of the Holy Spirit being poured out on God’s people on the Day of Pentecost. It was a celebration for the establishing of God’s church. Jesus told His disciples: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Acts 1:8
The loud noises and thundering that followed were God’s words sent throughout the world.
"Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.” Exodus 20:18
Here’s more proof that Book 1 is founded on God’s love for His children, and Book 2 speaks of God’s judgement on unbelievers. The visions of the seals and trumpets in Book 1 were all preceded by God blessing the prayers of ‘all the saints’.
When the visions of the bowls of wrath were poured out, there were no prayers or incense offered to God, (See Chapters 15 and 16). That is because God’s wrath is reserved for the unrepentant sinner.
8:7 The First Trumpet. Hail and fire are synonymous with the Holy Spirit. This is speaking of the fulfilment of God’s promise to usher in a new, and better covenant with His people. The new covenant promises God will pour His Spirit out on all His people. That promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, and it will continue until immediately prior to Christ returns:
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 31:33,34
Before we go charging off, crying “woe, woe, woe, God’s angry with us and He’s going to rain fire down on us because we’re bad lads … Stop and remember some basic guidelines for understanding prophetic text:
· Trumpets call God’s people and His backsliders to safety!
· Trumpets call God’s people to feasts and celebrations.
· Trumpets are sounded as a warning to His enemies.
· His wrath is poured out from the bowls, not the trumpets!
Incidentally, this is a good time to introduce a very important clue which helps us to see better the true purpose of the trumpets and the bowls of wrath:
The clue is the first bowl, shown in Ch.16:2 -
“So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.”
The first bowl of wrath impacts the people who worship the beast from the sea.
“Babylon The Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the earth.” Ch.17:5.
Placing the 3 sets of visions in a spreadsheet format, shows the Mark has been inflicted, unknowingly, on worshipers of the newly-formed Roman Church. That places the Mark as early as 315AD! More on that later.
That church, the beast that comes from the sea, is the primary target of God’s wrath.
As a comparison, God’s trumpets are sounded to awaken and bless His true church.
8:7 “And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.”
In this vision, a third of the trees are burned up, however, all the green grass is totally burnt up, not partially as the trees.
“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season.” Psalm 1:3
Many scriptures in Book1 and Book 2 interpret the trees as being adult people who belong in God's kingdom and thus the green grass could be symbolic of newborn believers.
The vision of the first trumpet shows the Holy Spirit awakening God’s people with zeal; from one third of the mature believers, to all the new converts identified as the fresh, green grass.
8:8 The Second Trumpet. The words of this vision are similar to those spoken by Jeremiah when prophesying against the city of Babylon, the harlot church. He called Babylon ‘a destroying mountain’ and a ‘burnt mountain’, identical to words written in this text: “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all the earth,” says the Lord. “And I will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain.” Jer. 51:25
The temples of Babylon were the biggest of all pagan nations in the ancient world. Its priests embraced all the false religions and proudly displayed the fine workmanship of their idols in all their temples. But the great city of Babylon was burnt to the ground by the invading Persians in 539BC and has resisted all attempts to be rebuilt. This above quoted verse is a prophetic warning to the false, idolatrous church, the modern-day Babylon, that it will receive the same judgement from God.
8:9 The spiritual meaning of this verse is hidden to the writer. Any understandings may be emailed to howardshepherd@outlook.com and will be gratefully acknowledged.
8:10 The Third Trumpet. This verse is speaking of Satan being booted out of heaven. Rivers and springs of water quite often speak of different nations and languages. The vision is saying the devil has been forced out of heaven and that he will sorely impact the people who live on the earth. This prophecy was fulfilled when Christ was resurrected. Jesus told His disciples that He saw Satan falling from heaven.
8:11 Satan is depicted here as the poison Wormwood. He will cause many people to fall away from the faith. Jeremiah prophesied that God would bring judgement on the false prophets of Jerusalem. This judgement is not aimed at God’s true believers.
“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: ‘Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’” Jer. 23:15
8:12 The Fourth Trumpet. This vision reads as a coded message describing Satan’s rebellious take-over war in heaven which is also recorded in Book 2.
“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.” Rev. 12:7,8
Satan recruited one-third of God’s angels and attempted a military coup in heaven, but he was defeated and booted out. In this vision, a third of the angels were no longer bearers of great light but became darkened when they rebelled against God and His Son, and joined the kingdom of Darkness.
THE THREE WOES
8:13. Woe, Woe, Woe! Demonic Madness! The last three trumpets will sound out warnings of woe to all people of the world. Three terrible events or eras will happen on earth with a ferocity the world has never before experienced.
The term, ‘people of the earth’ always refers to general mankind. They are the people who love the things of the world and have little or no concern for God.
We have travelled much closer to the end of God’s timeline and Satan knows his time is short. He will now unleash his evil with an intensity never seen before.
“Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Rev. 12:12
This is the first time God has sounded three woes about to descend upon the whole world. It is understandable we ask, do the three woes refer to three world wars?
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