The Book of RevelationClass 3: 
The Seven Trumpets (Rev 8:6 - 11:18)
30 March 2003

Review.  Last week we discussed the organization of heaven that John saw.  The organizational scheme, which placed Christ the Lamb at the top, is necessary to the redemption of creation (the earth).  A diagram depicting the organization of heaven with Christ in the central position can be found in Arthur E. Bloomfield.  The Key To Understanding Revelation:  An Easily Grasped Structure of a Complex Book.  (Minneapolis, MN:  Bethany House, 2002), page 130.

Literary Divisions Within the Book of Revelation.

The Book of Revelation is sectioned into views of heaven and views of the earth.  Chapters 4 -11 refer to heaven only, and 12-16 refer to the earth only.  If something concerns both heaven and earth it is found described in parallel in both sections. A table showing this organization can be found in Arthur E. Bloomfield.  The Key To Understanding Revelation:  An Easily Grasped Structure of a Complex Book.  (Minneapolis, MN:  Bethany House, 2002), page 167.  Interestingly, in the heaven section, things are described chronologically (most events are numbered, like the 7 seals, and the seven trumpets).  In the earth section, events are topically organized in symbolic language.

Themes in this Section of Revelation:  Judgment is nigh!

John sets up a parallel between the Pharaoh’s treatment of the Israelites and the emperor Domitian’s treatment of Christians.  And, as Moses was able to send plagues to Egypt to urge Pharaoh to soften his heart, the angels blow their trumpets and bring about plagues that serve both as a judgment and a warning to the Emperor (viewed as Satan) to repent. 

Remember that this sequence of trumpet blasts begins with profound silence.  In Class 2 it was mentioned that the silence may come from 4 Ezra 7:30-31: 

“And the world shall be turned back to primeval silence for 7 days, as it was at the first beginnings; so that no one shall be left.  And after 7 days the world, which is not yet awake, shall be roused, and that which is corruptible shall perish.”

When the angel with the censor casts the flame toward the earth by, John turns our attention from the heavenly court to the earth.  The trumpet blasts bring on God’s judgment in the form of plagues and woes (see the Table below).  Note that John’s own world is between the sixth and seventh trumpet blasts.

The plagues serve two purposes:  First, they strike at the Emperor/Satan both spiritually and physically, and, second, they purge the earth.  There is a beautiful rendition of the six plagues by Pat by Pat Marvenko Smith at http://www.revelationillustrated.com. Her work is for sale and can be ordered on line.

The Plagues and Woes
Brought About by the Trumpet Blasts

1.  Plague Against the Land (8:7)

The first trumpet brings hail mixed with blood, recalling the seventh plague on Egypt.  One third of the land mass (trees and grass) are burned up.  Note that in this and subsequent verses that the most intense damage is reserved for those areas where the influence of the beast is the strongest. 

2.  Plague Against the Sea (8:8-9)

The second trumpet causes a mountain-like mass to plunge into the sea, turning it to blood.  This recollects the first plague on Egypt.  The effect is the death of one-third of the sea creatures and destruction of one-third of the ships.  Remember that Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E., so John may have seen or heard reports about this that influenced his vision. 

3.  Plague Against the Fresh Waters (8:10-11)

With the third trumpet blast, the star named “Wormwood” falls from the sky and causes the fresh water rivers to become “bitter” (poisonous?) so that “many people” die.

4.  Plague Against the Cosmos (8:12)

With the fourth trumpet blast, one-third of the celestial bodies (sun, moon, and stars) turn dark.  One-third of the total light is gone.  This recalls the darkness that covered the land in the ninth plague on Egypt.

 

The significance of “one-third:”  One-third is an incomplete number.  As such, it symbolized a warning rather than a judgment.  John sees the natural disasters as warnings to the Romans.

5.  The First Woe 9:1-12

An eagle cries out that the next three blasts of the trumpets will bring woes.  Woes are an important part of the eschatological framework.  Jesus pronounces woes on cities (Mt 11:21) and upon the betrayer (Mk 14:21), the rich (Lk 6:21 ff), Scribes and Pharisees (MT 23).  Jesus links the end of times (eschaton) with seven woes (see MT 23-24). 

The first woe that comes with the fifth trumpet blast is another falling star.  This is described like a fallen angel who has the key to the abyss (7 of 8 references to the Abyss in the NT are in Revelation).  The angel is named Apollynon (destroyer), which is John’s pun on the Greek god Apollo (who was symbolized by the locust). 

The Greek word for the abyss is “tartarus” which in Greek mythology is a place below Hades where the evil are punished.

When the fallen star opened the Abyss, smoke rose that morphed into entomologist’s nightmares:  Locusts with human heads, scorpion stingers, lion-like teeth.  Importantly, they had crowns, meaning that they were linked with royalty.  They could torture all who lacked the sealing mark for 5 months (Five months is the period of the dry season during which locust activity was high).

6.  The Second Woe (9:13-21)

The voice of God commands the release of the four angels at the Euphrates river (South east of Baghdad) to kill one-third of all humans.  These angels command an army of 200,000,000 horsemen/horses.  The horses had snake-like tails, and the riders had the heads of lions that could breathe lethal plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur.  Despite the plagues, first woe, and deaths, the rest of people did not repent “of the works of their hands or give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.  And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their fornication or their thefts” (9:20-21).

Summary:  What John has done is to provide a coded analysis of the Roman empire.  It was an unrepentant empire that worshiped idols, and did evil things.  The minions of the emperor were like locusts with crowns that ate away at the empire itself.  It was an empire about to collapse. 

The Interlude:  The Little Scroll (10:1-11:14) and the Two Witnesses (11:1-19)

Note that this break in the action is parallel to the interruption we experienced between the opening of the sixth and the seventh seals.  There we had the angel with the censor interrupt the narrative of the opening of the seals.  In this interruption we are drawn back to the prophecy of Ezekiel, and John uses Ezekiel to describe his own role involvement.

Here, another angel announces that there will be no further delay.  The end is very near!  John is commanded to take the scroll, eat it, and then prophesy about many nations, kings, and people.  The eating of the scroll is similar to that described in Ezekiel:

What does the small scroll contain?  As stated in 11:1-13, it says that God’s people will be preserved from spiritual harm, the murderous beast will emerge and kill God's people, the resurrection of the dead will happen, and Rome will be destroyed. 

After eating the scroll, John is told to take the measure of the Temple and the worshipers there.  John is told that “Gentiles” will occupy the outer court of the Temple, and two witnesses prophesy as to the length of the occupation.  The Temple will be occupied for the same length of time that Antiochus Epiphanes IV occupied the Solomonic Temple.  The witnesses are characterized as lampstands and olive trees (from Zechariah) meaning they are priestly or royal witnesses.  These refer to Moses and Elijah (see 11:6).  This language coupled with the previous description in John of the churches as lampstands means that the churches are to prophesy in the name of God.  These witnesses will be also protected from harm as long as they testify.  But they too will be destroyed by the beast (Rome) who will come up from the abyss and persecute them 

Summary:  John uses symbolic language to state that the Gentiles (Romans) will rise up and kill God’s chosen witnesses that follow in the line of Elijah and Moses; i.e., the Churches.  But, in 11:11-12, the witnesses are resuscitated by God’s Spirit, and they are called into heaven like John was initially called into heaven at the beginning of this Book. 

7.  Heavenly Worship (11:15-18)

With the blast of the seventh trumpet, the heavenly host celebrate the kingship to God.  Some commentators see this celebration as a “transfer” of kingship to God.  But it is equally valid to say that it is not a transfer at all (how could that be, after all?), but rather a proper recognition of God’s sovereignty (possession, authority, administration). 

But on the third hand, it is a reasonable for John to describe power as being transferred, because anytime power is transferred from one nation to another (such as had been Israel’s lot), there is a period of chaotic instability. 

Those who persevere and who are (1) the saints and (2) fear God will be rewarded.  But what does Revelation mean here?  Who are those that “fear God?”  Are they the people who became terrified and gave glory to God, or are they those who will not worship the beast? (we will discuss this in a later class).  Does it include those who hear and respond to the Gospel?  The text is uncompromising and stubborn.  It resists our attempts to find concrete answers to this question.

The Third Woe

Though not part of the seven trumpet blasts, there is an implied third woe.  This appears in Rev 12:12.  In this section, Satan has descended to the earth and a woe is pronounced on the land and the sea as a result.  But the devil’s time will be short (the period of Roman persecution will be short-lived).