The 7 Trumpets - Rev.8:7-13

The seven trumpets are unleashed by God through His angels as an answer to the prayers of the saints (Rev. 6:9-11). The sound of the first four trumpets delivers God’s judgment and punishments that affect the earth (8:7); the sea (8:8-9); the rivers and springs of water (8:10-11); the sun, moon, and stars (8:12). All of which brings devastation to a third of God’s creation deliver’s God’s judgment against man although mankind were affected and hurt by the first four trumpets as well. Where the first four trumpets focused on the physical earth, the sound of the last three trumpets focuses on the spiritual realm of demons from the abyss (9:1-11); Demons from the East (9:13-21); the coming of the end for the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of God (11:15-19).

Revelation 8:7 “The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.”

The first angel sounds the trumpet, and it unleashes fire and hail mixed with blood (humans and animals) upon the earth—the fire and hail are like the plagues that afflicted the Egyptians (Exod. 9:13–35)—which leads to a loss of vegetation (all crops along with the trees and green grass) on earth (Rev. 8:7).

Some have questioned what John wrote when he said “A third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned.”

Robert Thomas in his exegetical commentary on Revelation, writes This poses a dilemma, because grass still exists when the fifth trumpet arrives (Rev 9:4). It is hermeneutically wrong to see this as an inconsistency retained to preserve artistic effect.… Two considerations help to resolve the quandary. First, a time lapse between the first and fifth trumpets allows time for grass to be regrown after the burning, but before the assault of the fifth [trumpet]. Second, in most parts of the earth, grass is not green the year round, but is seasonal. Burning of all the grass that is green during a particular season would leave the remainder untouched until its season of dormancy is over.… Whether the affected portion was one-third or some other percentage, the text does not say. The description simply says “all” that is green at the time of the plague. Either of these two explanations allows for taking “all” in its literal sense without contradicting 9:4. (Revelation 8–22: An Exegetical Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1995], 17–18)

Even though God has unleashed his wrath upon the earth we can’t help but see His mercy because He only destroys a third part of the earth while keeping the remainder of the earth untouched. This is the first warning to people to repent and turn to God.

Revelation 8:8–9“Then 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 living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

When the second angel sounded the trumpet, John saw what he could only describe as something like a great mountain burning with fire that was thrown into the sea. He doesn’t say it was a great mountain but something like one. The word “like” is a simile, which tells us that it wasn’t an actual great mountain but a huge, massive rock, most likely an asteroid or meteorite, which are massive rocks from space. Asteroids are huge masses of rock that can be as large as several hundred miles.

On June 30, 1908, a massive 100-meter- (328-foot)-wide space rock exploded near the Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia, marking the biggest asteroid event ever witnessed on Earth.

The fireball disintegrated mid-air in a flash briefly brighter than the sun and didn’t chisel out an impact crater. However, historical records based on limited instrumentation at the time note that the shockwave from this enormous explosion created a butterfly-shaped area of destruction that killed herds of reindeer and flattened about 80 million trees.

On February 15, 2013, yet another football field-sized rock struck Earth near the Chelyabinsk (chuhle-yaa-binsk) city in Russia. Video recordings by dashboard cameras in cars showed a ball of bright light streaking across the sky, ending in an explosive flash that rivaled the sun as the asteroid broke up just 19 miles above the surface. While much of the asteroid’s energy was absorbed into the atmosphere, the shockwave it generated still injured about 1,500 people and damaged over 7,000 in apartments and commercial buildings.

John sees this massive like burning mountain with fire that hits the sea and the third of the sea became blood- again like the plague in Egypt (Ex 7:17). If you look at a map all the world’s oceans are connected, so you can understand how a third of the sea became blood from the death of living creatures, and the third of the ships were destroyed when the impact of this burning massive object hits the sea causing tidal waves and boiling hot temperature. To quote Craig Koester, “In Revelation, ships are associated with the riches that the ungodly accumulate by trafficking with “Babylon,” the symbol of greed, arrogance, and bloodshed (Rev 18:15–20). Thus the loss of ships means economic loss.”

God’s mercy is seen again, for only a third of the sea was devastated, while all other sea and living creatures and ships were not affected.  Living mankind time to repent and turn to God.

Revelation 8:10–11“Then 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 water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.”

When the third angel sounded the trumpet, John witnessed a great star (we now call them meteors) fall from heaven, burning like a torch, and it poisoned a third of the rivers and fountain springs of water.  Similar to the plague in Egypt (Ex 7:21, 24). You can imagine that this great star, like the great mountain, was visible to every living person either by eyewitness or viewed nationally on TV. This will be God’s design to call the wicked to repent from their sins and turn to God. The name of the star is called “wormwood.” It was grown in Palestine. This type of wood had a strong, bitter taste. It is mentioned in the OT, where it is associated with bitterness, poison, and death (Deut. 29:18; Prov. 5:4; Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19; Amos 5:7; 6:12). Water mixed with wormwood isn’t lethal, but John is reminded of God’s judgment in the book of Jer 23:15; Lam 3:15, and he sees the combination of wormwood and water as being deadly since “many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.”

It is ironic that the reference to wormwood is reminiscent of when the children of Israel were at the waters of Marah (Ex 15:23-25). There, the tree cast into the bitter waters made the water sweet.  In contrast, here the wormwood that is cast into the sweet water makes it bitter.

Revelation 8:12–13“Then the fourth angel sounded: 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 did not shine, and likewise the night. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

When the fourth angel sounded the trumpet we are told by John that 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 did not shine, and likewise the night. In the OT, God used Moses to lift up his staff for the ninth plague to darken the sky over Egypt that was so dark that it could be felt (Ex 10:21-23).

Here, God strikes a third of the sun, moon, and stars, causing a third of the day not to shine or at night. God, who created them for light, was struck and turned off as a sign to those who were living and denied Him as the creator of the universe that He is the divine creator of the universe, and they needed to repent of their sins and place their faith in God. Both believers and unbelievers hear the sound of the trumpets; believers know that these are signs of God’s judgment. But the wicked will pass them off as nothing more than nothing and will continue to disbelieve (Rev. 9:20-21).

The eagle that John sees announces the woe, woe, woe because of the last three trumpets and the severity of plagues that will come afterwards.  Those who dwell on the earth is a repeated expression in the Revelation (Rev 3:10; 6:10; 11:10; 13:8; 17:2, 8). 

Here, again, we will be reminded that the plagues of God’s divine wrath will fall upon the rebellious, evil society, but that the believers, which has been sealed with the protective seal of God, is somehow spared from the suffering of these plagues. This is explicitly stated after the fifth angel sounds his trumpet in Rev 9:4.