The First Four Trumpet Judgments - Revelation 8:6-13
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we watched as the seventh and final seal on the scroll was broken, the scroll which Jesus Christ, the only worthy One, had taken from the hand of God the Father. As the Lord Jesus Christ broke that final seal and the scroll unrolled, all heaven grew silent for about half an hour. This silence was the result of the reality of the judgment and destruction that was seen written on the scroll, heaven falls silent as they wait, and they fall silent in awe of what God is about to do. This silence was like the lull before the storm.
Following the silence, John saw seven angels who were given seven trumpets, the trumpets of God’s judgment about to be sounded on the earth. Before sounding their trumpets, they wait as another angel offers incense mixed with the prayers of all the saints up before God from the golden altar of incense. Then as if signaling the judgment of God to begin the angel at the altar hurls a censor filled with the fiery coals from the altar to the earth which causes thunder, sounds, flashes of lightning and an earthquake which announces the beginning of God’s judgment on the earth, the fear of those who dwell on the earth, who had cried out in fear of the wrath of Him who sits on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb are about to have their fears realized as God’s righteous judgment against sin begins. Let’s pray and then get into our text for this morning.
--PRAY--
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Revelation 8:6-13, we will pick up with the verse that we left off with last time. Please stand if you are able for the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Revelation 8:6-13,
“And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!’” (Revelation 8:6–13, NASB95)[1]
THE SEVEN ANGELS PREPARE (Revelation 8:6)
Last Sunday as we finished up, the angel at the altar of incense had just thrown the golden censor to the earth and we read that the seven angels who had been given the seven trumpets of judgment prepared themselves to sound them. They were about to become a part of God’s judgment on the earth and as we look at these first four trumpets as they are blown this morning we will see as John Walvoord points out that the first four “…judgments relate to various parts of God’s creation, it is significant that though God created them and they were good, now they are coming under divine judgment because of sin in the world. As the blessing of God is often interpreted as relating to the physical world in which we live, so the destruction and judgment on the world indicate God’s purging of the world in preparation for the millennial kingdom.”[2]
THE FIRST TRUMPET – JUDGMENT ON THE EARTH (Revelation 8:7)
John tells us that the first of the seven lifted his trumpet to his lips and sounded a long, clear blast. And immediately there came hail and fire, mixed with blood and they were thrown to the earth. Many try to make all of these judgments symbolic of something, but I think that we can take it as it is literally written to us by John. Others want to explain what is happening in these verses scientifically, but we must remember that we are dealing with a supernatural, omnipotent, omniscient God who created science and often goes beyond the laws of science to fulfill His purposes in the world. This is not the first time that hail has fallen to the earth, heavy hail with lightning and thunder was the sixth plague that God brought on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go free. This is not the first time fire has fallen from heaven. Fire and brimstone rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed those cities for their wickedness and sin. Fire fell from heaven when Elijah prayed on Mount Carmel and consumed his sacrifice, the wood, the stones of the altar, and the dust and it says it licked up the water that was in the trench around the altar. Here in the first trumpet judgment there is hail and fire, and mixed with blood. Is this impossible for God to do? No! I believe that what John describes is exactly what he sees.
As we continue in verse 7 we read the destruction that was brought on by this judgment, it says that the fire that fell with the hail and blood burned up a third of the earth, with that a third of the trees were burned and all the green grass was burned up. The word translated “trees” here is a word that is used for fruit trees in Greek. So it may be that a third of the world’s fruit trees were burned up which would have a huge impact on the world’s fruit production. The word translated “grass” is a very general word that includes all kinds of grasses that are used in feeding cattle, sheep, goats and all other domestic animals, but it can also refer to the grains, wheat, barley, etc. To say that all this was burned up would result in a severe shortage of food, not to mention what was destroyed by the hail or contaminated with the blood. And this is only the first trumpet.
THE SECOND TRUMPET – JUDGMENT ON THE SEAS (Revelation 8:8-9)
Following the first trumpet John describes the second angel with the second trumpet sounding the second long, clear trumpet blast and John says that something like a great mountain burning was thrown into the sea. Here John uses the word “like” to describe what he sees, it was not a mountain, but in size and shape it was like a mountain. This is evidently a great asteroid or a giant meteorite that God had prepared for this purpose. John said it was burning, possibly the gases around it ignited as it passed through our atmosphere. Today we hear all the doomsday predictions of what would happen if a large asteroid would hit the earth, and here that prediction will come true and we are told what the result will be. It will strike somewhere in the world’s oceans with an explosive power far greater than that of an atomic bomb. Imagine the gigantic waves that this huge object hitting the ocean will cause. There may be tidal waves associated with this object hitting the oceans.
John then lists three supernaturally designed judgments that will come from this object hitting the ocean. First, John says a third of the sea will become blood. Understand that this word that is translated “sea” is a very generic collective term used in Greek and can refer to a specific sea, or all the oceans of the world as a collective group which I believe is what it is referring to here. Some have said that this blood is a red tide, but I believe it is actual blood, just as God turned the Nile and the lakes and streams or Egypt into blood in His first plague on that nation. Second, John goes onto tell us that one third of the sea life in the ocean died, and third, the giant waves from this object will destroy one third of the world’s ships, the waves will capsize huge ocean-going vessels and completely swamp ports destroying the ships docked in them. Again, there will be a huge loss in seafood production and the resulting disruption of commerce and transportation will cause economic chaos, as well as a huge hit to the navies of the world, leaving some without protection on their coasts.
THE THIRD TRUMPET – JUDGMENT ON THE FRESH WATER (Revelation 8:10-11)
Then the third angel lifted his trumpet to his lips and sounded it and John relates for us that at the trumpet blast a great star fell from heaven. So John sees another flaming object hurtling to the earth. The Greek word that is translated “star” can refer to any celestial body except for the sun and the moon. The massive object that smashed into the ocean stayed intact, but this fiery object begins to break up as it enters our atmosphere, the fact that John describes it as burning like a torch supports that it will be either a meteor or a comet, since torches where used in those time to describe meteors and comets. The fiery debris of this object fell into a third of the rivers and springs around the globe, polluting a third of earth’s fresh water.
John tells us that this star that fell, or comet, or meteor is called Wormwood. This is the only place that wormwood is mentioned in the New Testament. Wormwood is a shrub that grows in the Middle East, it is extremely bitter. It is mentioned eight times in the Old Testament and two of those times it is associated with poisoned water. We do not know what the poison this object affects the water with, but we read in the end of verse 11 that many men will die from drinking the water that was made bitter. Rivers will run with this deadly poison, wells and springs will bring death to those who drink from them, lakes and reservoirs will be filled with toxic water. Water will have to be shipped to those places where their water supply is affected by this judgment.
This is the opposite of what happened to the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. They were without water and at last came to the waters at Marah, but the water was bitter, it could not be used for drinking. God showed Moses a tree and told him to throw it into the water and it would become sweet, drinkable, potable. Here God in His judgment will make the sweet water bitter, a third of the earth’s fresh water will be affected. This is not the worst yet, that is still to come.
THE FOURTH TRUMPET – JUDGMENT ON THE HEAVENLY LIGHTS (Revelation 8:12)
The fourth angel of the seven lifts his trumpet to his lips and blows a long, clear blast and the focus of this fourth judgment shifts from the earth to the heavens. The sun, the moon, and a third of the stars are hit with a plague from God, so that a third of the sun would be darkened, a third of the moon would be darkened, and a third of the stars would not give their light. John tells us how this will affect the earth, the sun will not shine for a third of the day, the moon and the stars for a third of the night. This judgment must be temporary, because in a later judgment God will increase the amount of heat coming from the sun.
At this judgment, the loss of the heat from the sun for a third of the day will cause temperatures on the earth to plunge drastically. This judgment will severely disrupt the earth’s weather patterns and the ocean tides, which in turn will lead to violent unpredictable storms and tides. This judgment will affect farming and crops will be destroyed for lack of sun and heat, which will lead to further loss of animal and human life.
The Old Testament prophets predicted that signs in the heavens would herald the Day of the Lord. The prophet Isaiah declared in Isaiah 13:9-10, “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.” (Isaiah 13:9–10, NASB95)[3] Jesus, during His earthly ministry, predicted signs in the sun, moon, and stars. The book of Luke chapter 21, verse 25 records Jesus’ words, “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves…” (Luke 21:25, NASB95)[4] When God created the sun, the moon, and the stars on the fourth day He placed them in the heavens to make a distinction between day and night and to be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. And God declared that they were good. They were a blessing for man on the earth. They were to be a reminder to man of God’s power, sovereignty, and wisdom. The fact that the sun and the moon and the stars are affected in the fourth trumpet judgment is so that man will realize that this is God dealing with them. That fact that everything happened in thirds is not a coincidence, it is evidence that this is God’s judgment on sin. This is only the beginning and it is going to become more devastating as God continues to righteously judge unrepentant sin on the earth.
THE EAGLE (Revelation 8:13)
It is unclear if verse 13 is a part of the fourth trumpet or just a continuation of John’s vision, what is clear is that the first four trumpets are not only judgments in themselves but also warnings of the last three judgments which will be far more severe in character.
John records that he saw an eagle flying in midheaven and he is announcing a message to the people who are still on the earth with a loud voice. This eagle is flying in midheaven at a height that everyone can see him, and his voice is loud enough that everyone can hear his message. His message is: “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” (Revelation 8:13b, NASB95)[5] The eagle’s warning is that the last three trumpet blasts will be more devastating than the first four. The worst is yet to come is what he is saying.
Woe is used throughout Scripture as an expression of horror or grief in light of coming judgment, or destruction, or condemnation. Double woes are used for emphasis, but here the eagle gives a triple woe which is one warning for each of the remaining trumpet blasts. The eagle announces these woes “to those who dwell on the earth” a phrase that is used in the book of Revelation to refer to unrepentant man, a phrase used of those who reject the gospel. God’s wrath and judgment in these woes will fall upon those who reject the offer of His Son for the forgiveness of their sins. They will acknowledge that the judgments are from God, but they will not repent. They will be destroyed because they refuse to listen to the warning that God addresses to all sinners.
CONCLUSION:
As we look at our world today and the chaos that is in it, the hate, the bigotry, the wickedness that prevails day in and day out in our world and I wonder how much worse can it get? When will the end come? Then I am reminded of the words of Peter in 2 Peter 3 when he was writing about God’s judgment on the ungodly, he wrote in verse 9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise (His promise to judge the ungodly), as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9, NASB95)[6] For us who live now in this day of grace, this day of God’s patience, it is difficult to imagine these catastrophic judgments that we have been looking at, the Word of God is plain, and men are called everywhere to receive God’s grace before it is too late. I believe that time is drawing near, I believe that Jesus Christ is soon going to call His church, His bride home to heaven to be with Him. He promised that He is preparing a place for us who have put our faith in His death for our sins, His burial, and His triumphal resurrection. Will you be with that group called the church when they go to be with Jesus Christ, or will you find yourself still on the earth after the church has left? When He calls the church to heaven that will mean His patience has come to an end and He will begin His judgment on the ungodly that we have been studying in the book of Revelation. Today in Revelation 8:13 we learned that what we have already studied is just the beginning and the judgment is going to become more severe, more devastating. Do not waste another day, Jesus Christ could return at any moment, if you are not sure if you would go with the church when Jesus Christ calls them to be with Him, then you must put your faith in Jesus Christ. Agree with God that you are a sinner and you cannot do anything to make yourself acceptable to God, but you want the free gift of God’s grace and you believe that Jesus Christ’s death paid the penalty for your sin, that He was buried proving that He was dead, and three days later He rose from the dead victorious over death and sin. If you believe this you are saved from the wrath to come, you will be with the church when Jesus Christ calls the church to be with Him in heaven. As a follower, a believer in Christ we need to be sharing the good news about Jesus Christ. If you for the first time this morning put your faith in Jesus Christ, please share that with someone here this morning. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I do not know how much time we have left, have you told anyone the good news this past week? Are you going to this week?
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]Walvoord, John F., Every Prophecy of the Bible. Colorado Springs, CO : David C. Cook, 1999
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995