Unpacking Prophecy: The Trumpets
Notes
Transcript
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat, / He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat.
Julia Ward Howe
Last week, we went through what is commonly called the seal judgments. Today, we are going to go into what is called the trumpet judgments. I will say this the trumpet judgments are significantly harsher than the seals. I read a quote this week that I want to share with you.
The judgment of God is the reaping which comes from sowing, and is evidence of the love of God, not proof of his wrath. The penalty of an evil harvest is not God’s punishment; it is the consequence of defying the moral order which in love he maintains as the only environment in which maturity of fellowship and communion can be achieved.
Kirby Page
Notice what Kirby Page says here, it is the evidence of the love of God, not the proof of his wrath. I love that statement. We serve a just God. We serve a patient God, He does not want any to perish but for all to have everlasting life.
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
There will be a time when His patience will run out. As we see in the parable of the persistent widow.
Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them?
Let us make sure we understand that these judgments are not God’s wrath on those who have called upon His Son and came to Him in repentance, it is the consequence of defying the moral law that has been placed upon this world. Let’s get started today, with the first trumpet.
And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
We will notice that some of the trumpet judgments will reference back to the plagues that happened to Egypt in the book of Exodus. Here we see what happened to in the seventh plague
So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning struck the land, and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both people and animals. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field.
Some scholars believe that the massive earthquake that happened in the seal judgment, will filter over to here. Still some say that this is a different set of circumstances. Either way, the effects will be horrific. It seems that this judgment targets plant life and crops. This will cripple the world’s already stretched food supply and destabilize society. Losing the grasses, will cause the livestock to die from starvation. Losing all of this oxygen producing plants and grass, will cause a deterioration of the world’s air supply. Imagine having to walk around with a respirator tank strapped to your back. Thankfully those who had called upon the name of Jesus Christ before the first seal was opened, will not have to be here for this. Let’s move on to the next trumpet.
The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So a third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Something like a great mountain ablaze, most scholars believe that this represents a large meteorite crashing into the sea that will cause huge tsunamis. Think of the movie Armagedon. According to Marinetraffic.com, there are over 172,000 ships that are sea bearing at this time, that means 57,000 will be destroyed in one big swoop. Doing research for this, I found that most believe that will mostly be centered in or around the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the fact that the Anti Christ or also know as the beast will have control over this area for commerce.
The sea becoming blood goes back to Exodus 7 again, when Moses tells Aaron to stretched out the staff over the Nile and it turned to blood. Just as God punished Pharoah for suppressing the Israelites, here He is punishing the beast for suppressing those who refuse to worship him. Because at this time, people would have had to have the mark of the beast either on their hand or on their forehead to purchase goods.
And it makes everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.
This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.
Explain the effects of this prophecy.
The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.
So here we see 1/3 of the worlds water supply poisoned. Some interesting facts about wormwood. Wormwood if used correctly has great medicinal properties. It is also a poison that if ingested enough can be a poison that will cause hallucinogenic and schizophrenic episodes before death. It is believed that the Persians would mix this with alcohol to make what we call absinthe. But a much stronger version. The Persian military would take this potion give it to deserters that were caught and send them out into the wilderness to die.
Another interesting point to this prophecy is that many believe that this may represent nuclear war. In fact Chernobyl derives its name from the plant wormwood.
The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light and also a third of the night.
Darkness falls upon the land. Some feel that the ash from volcanic eruptions and the wars will cause the a layer of smog around the world. Dimming the light available by 1/3.
This 1/3 keeps appearing through out these judgments. It represents that God is still trying to get the majority of the population to turn to Him before His full wrath is unleashed. Surprise! What we have talked about last Sunday and today, is not God’s full wrath upon the morally corrupt.
Up to this point, the beast is convincing people that all of the judgments that have been cast upon the earth is all natural phenomenons. but lest’s look at the next verse
I looked and heard an eagle flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!”
Remember when we talked about the angels singing Holy, Holy Holy. That three is a exclamation. That is what is happening here. The angels are saying the worst is yet to come. And that is why the last three trumpets are known as the great woes. Here God sees that the beast is trying to convince the people that all this is just natural, so what does God do, He creates things that only a Superior One could.
The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key for the shaft to the abyss was given to him. He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft. Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth, and power was given to them like the power that scorpions have on the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads. They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings someone. In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.
The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces; they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth; they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle; and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. They had as their king the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.
This sounds like it has come straight out of a Wes Craven horror movie. Creatures that look like this. This fallen angel that gives the key to the abyss maybe the same one that is named as Destroyer. We do not know. I am not going to fancy trying to understand this because I would not do it justice with it’s true meaning. What I will say, 5 months of being stung. We complain when the mosquitoes are biting. We also see the divine influence that those who have the mark of God on their forehead will be spared. And the torment will be so great that they will wish for death but they will not be able to die during those 5 months.
The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four horns of the golden altar that is before God, I heard a voice say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of the human race. The number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number. This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur. A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues—by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that inflict injury.
The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
The majority have seen the images of the Euphrates river drying up. This corresponds back to Daniel’s vision in Daniel Chapter 7. Here again we see creatures only some One could create. Again I am not going to fancy a speculation on this prophecy. But these two woes is the start of Armageddon. The greatest battle that will ever be. The pure battle of good versus evil. And God steaks His claim in the final trumpet or the final woe
The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying,
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign forever and ever.
I said before that this is the start of Armageddon. Up to this point, repentance is still an option. God’s grace and mercy is still available to those who call out to Him. There will be a time when it will not be available. The sad truth is that each time a person rejects the offer of salvation, their heart grows harder towards it. We will see as we continue on in Revelation, this hard heartedness and rebellion will escalate into all out war with God. But it will be like an ant battling an elephant. Foolishness.
This is a practical reminder for us to respond to God when his path intersects ours. If you do not know the Lord, please respond to His offer of salvation before it is too late. Give you life to Jesus Christ today, this very hour. If you are a believer, use today to live for the things of God with everything in you. With the things happening in Israel, to the Euphrates drying up, to talks of a one world government and economy, it is time to man up or shut up. It is time to stop letting your feelings get in the way from fellow shipping with other believers. Take a stand today to follow the Lord with everything in you.