And
I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to
them. Revelation 8:2
Trumpets are used in the Bible for
a number of things:
·
To announce the coming
of the Lord (Exodus 19)
·
To gather God’s people
for a sacred assembly (Numbers 10)
·
To signal the armies
(Joshua 6 – Jericho, Judges 7 – Gideon)
·
To praise God (Psalm
47, 98)
·
To warn the people of
coming destruction (Ezekiel 33)
Many of the prophets use the
trumpet imagery – Amos, Joel, Hosea, Zechariah
The trumpets in Revelation Chapters
8-11 are used to announce the coming of judgment. Each of the trumpets announces a different
judgment on a different part of the earth.
·
FIRST TRUMPET: Hail
and fire – a third of the GRASS on earth burned up.
·
SECOND TRUMPET:
Blazing mountain (volcano) thrown into the sea – a third of the OCEAN turns to
blood, creatures die, ships destroyed.
·
THIRD TRUMPET: A
meteor (or an angel/star) hits drinking water supply – FRESH WATER turns
bitter.
·
FOURTH TRUMPET: A
third of the SUN, MOON and STARS are struck.
·
FIFTH TRUMPET: Some sort of locusts are released and sting
on non-believers. It’s a judgment on
PHYSICAL HEALTH. These locusts can’t be
real and are described in fantasy terms.
·
SIXTH TRUMPET: A large
army kills lots of people. A judgment on
MANKIND and our SAFETY.
·
SEVENTH TRUMPET: A
final call, a closing bell announcing the end.
Rest from judgment.
Are these real
events that have occurred or will occur?
The devastation that would occur on
earth by the first trumpet would ruin life as we know it. Take away the oceans (second) then the fresh
water (third) and we’re cooked. There’s
no way the earth could exist by the time the sun was turned down by a third and
the moon destroyed by a third.
The earth could barely survive the
literal devastations of the Seals. Now the
Trumpets?
Do the references
have to do with the Old Testament?
Joel, in 835 BC, spoke of a locust
plague that devastated the area and comparef it to a greater judgment coming
soon, an army. Known also as The Day of
the Lord. The opening of Joel 2 talks
about trumpets and judgment. John
borrows Joel’s descriptions of judgment.
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the
alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who
live in the land tremble,
for the day of
the LORD is coming.
It is close at
hand-
a day of darkness
and gloom,
a day of
clouds and blackness.
Like dawn
spreading across the mountains
a large and
mighty army comes,
such as never
was of old
nor ever will
be in ages to come.
They have the
appearance of horses;
they gallop
along like cavalry…
The sun will be
turned to darkness
and the moon
to blood
before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the LORD. Joel 2:1-4, 31
What are the
trumpets announcing?
Then
the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. Revelation
8:6
In Revelation Chapter 11, the
trumpets climax with the measurement of the temple. It is found that the temple does not measure
up. Once it is found to fall short, the
final trumpet sounds.
The trumpets seem to be announcing
that a harsh judgment was about to strike, devastating the world, because the
temple did not measure up to God’s standards.
It is impossible for these to be
future events because of the literal devastation they would cause on the earth
in the early stages.
John uses apocryphal language to
bring attention to the seriousness of the upcoming event through fantastic images
and hyperbole.