Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Tonight we will continue our series by finishing up chapter 8.

We will be looking at the first four of the seven trumpets.

This is the third of seven cycles in Revelation.

In Cycle 1, we got a picture of the history between the first and second coming of Christ by seeing Jesus standing in the midst of His churches.

He is in control and governing them.

They are suffering and dealing with a host of problems, but if they are repentant and enduring, they will receive great reward from Him as His faithful servants in the end.

In Cycle 2, we saw a picture of the history between the first and second coming in the Seven Seals.

The seals showed us what life is like in the world until Jesus returns:

Conquest, War, Famine and Death will be in the world.

Believers will lose their lives for their faith

But God will make things right in the end when His Son returns and saves His people forever and judges His enemies, vanquishing them for good—including sin and death

And now we are in Cycle 3

We have seen the prayers of the saints rise up to God and now, God will respond in the judgment of the Trumpets.

Let’s read the passage and get into it.

We will handle the first four trumpets tonight and then take a nice, long break and blow the 5th trumpet on January 4th.

READ Revelation 8:6-13

JUDGMENT IS NEAR

I think there are three observations we can make from this passage tonight.

The first one is this:

1.

The first four trumpets show us that judgment is near.

If you are wondering why we are only dealing with four trumpets tonight, it isn’t just for the sake of time.

In the text, we can see that the first four trumpets are grouped together in similar fashion as the first four seals.

Back in chapter 6, the opening of each of the first four seals resulted in one of the four living creatures summoning a rider on a horse.

The white horse represented conquest

The red horse represented bloodshed in war

The black horse represented famine

And the pale horse represented death

When the fifth seal is opened, there is no rider.

Things are different.

Clearly the first four are to be grouped together.

Here in chapter 8, we see a similar thing.

The first four trumpets occur and all bring about similar results in the different aspects of creation.

But then in verse 13, this eagle flies overhead, crying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe.”

As if to say, “The worst is yet to come.”

Then we go forward with the blowing of the fifth trumpet in chapter 9 and much like the seals, it feels different.

But I want to be clear from the outset that when we look at the first four trumpets, we are not looking at the end times yet.

We are not looking at the return of Christ.

Just like the first four seals showed us how things would be in the world until Christ returns—it will be filled with conquest, war, famine and death—the first four trumpets show us how God will judge the world in the build up to the 2nd Coming of Christ.

Because though Final Judgment is yet to come, God is already judging the world through the events the occur in the nations.

Psalm 105:7 “He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.”

As we covered two weeks ago, the trumpet was used in multiple ways in the Old Testament.

It was used to gather the people together.

It was used as a sound of victory.

But it was also an alarm for imminent judgment.

Joel 2:1 “Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,”

In fact, that Joel passage includes locusts that John will draw on for imagery when the fifth trumpet sounds and demons come out of the abyss like locusts.

That sentence probably got you all very excited for January 4th.

That’s the dangling carrot to get everyone back after the holidays.

Demon locusts rising from the bowels of the abyss.

But getting into the trumpets, let’s remember the scene established for us in the beginning of the chapter.

There are seven angels who have been given seven trumpets and they stand before God.

Then another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer and offered incense with the prayers of the saints

The prayers of the saints rise up and are accepted by the Father

God responds to the prayers of the saints by the 8th angel take the censer and fill it with fire and he threw it down on the earth

This is a sign of judgment

Fire represents judgment and storm elements regularly accompany judgment in Revelation

So judgment is coming on the earth—not just in the 2nd coming, but throughout history

And the history of God’s judgment in the world is explained to us through the images of the seven angels blowing the seven trumpets

So in verse 6, the angels are ready to blow the trumpets.

It is time to for us to learn about God’s fair and wise judgments in the nations that are building toward the Final Judgment in the return of His Son.

When we look at these first four trumpets, we see that each trumpet brings about an event of judgment that we can relate back to God’s judgment on Egypt in Exodus.

And we can see that they impact the whole earth—land, sea, springs and rivers and the heavens.

I don’t think we should lose our heads about what all the symbols might mean and the significance of the fractions.

Instead, I think the imagery is simply supposed to remind us of Exodus so that we know judgment is taking place and we are to know that this judgment is impacting the entire arena of the earth, but it is limited and the earth is not yet destroyed.

That being said, I do think the results of the judgments can lead us to make some conclusions about the sort of things we will see in the world until Christ comes back.

We start with the first trumpet in verse 7.

Hail and fire, mixed with blood is thrown on the earth.

1/3 of the earth is burnt up.

1/3 of the trees.

All of the green grass.

This is meant to conjure up images of hail in Exodus 9:23-25

The blood mixed in is different from Exodus, but maybe it is drawing on Ezekiel 38:22 as well

The Old Testament allusions let us know we are dealing with judgment here.

We don’t need to try to think of specific instances.

That isn’t the point.

Instead, John is showing us that until Jesus returns and Final Judgment comes, God will judge the earth in a limited way for its sin.

And this judgment will impact the earth’s resources.

A third of the land is gone.

A third of the trees are gone.

You can imagine the agricultural impact of calamity like that.

Not just agricultural, but ecological and economic

All of the green grass is gone

A sign of famine

But we aren’t talking about the apocalypse yet.

We know that because the judgments are impacting only 1/3 of the earth and 1/3 of the trees

The judgment is restrained because God is merciful

The second trumpet is blown in verse 8 and its impact carries into verse 9.

The second angel blows the trumpet and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, is thrown into the sea and 1/3 of the sea turns to blood.

Certainly this is meant to conjure up the images of Exodus 7:20

The mountain burning with fire that is thrown into the sea sounds a lot like a volcano.

The ancient near-Eastern world was thrown into fear when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.

It buried Pompeii in ash and ruined the life in the Bay of Naples

It is possible that event is being pointed to here as an example of God’s judgment in the world, but we can’t be sure about that

Regardless, if the first trumpet was supposed to make us think of the distress that comes about as a result of God’s judgment on the earth , the second trumpet points us toward the impact of God’s judgment on the seas.

1/3 of the sea life dies

1/3 of the ships are destroyed

The fish are being killed—a major source of food and economic flourishing for the ancient world

The ships are destroyed—meaning the trade system is struggling