Seven Trumpets

Revelation 101

Finding Jesus in the Book of Revelation

Session 5

The Seven Trumpets

Welcome: A brief review of the seven seals, the 144,000 and the great multitude. First four seals were grouped as four horsemen; then two seals that included the cry “How Long O Lord?” from the fifth seal martyrs and the cry for the rocks to “Fall on us and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb” from the sixth seal.

“Who will be able to stand?” The 144,000.

The “great multitude” turned out to be the same group.

(Prayer)

Introduction to this session: . The seven trumpets. This is perhaps the most difficult portion of Revelation when it comes to confusion, misunderstanding, and uncertainty. We will be humbly tentative.

Structure includes an introductory sanctuary scene, repetition of the same time period as the seven seals (the Christian Era), and a 4-2-interlude-1 sequence.

Introductory sanctuary scene: Read .

A. Historical/cultural context (key two) helps. The daily temple services described in ; are called tamid. The “throwing of the censor” doesn’t get described, but the Mishnah describes it somewhat like church bells calling people to worship.

B. This introductory sanctuary scene provides a wake up call to come worship God in prayer. The incense lets us know our prayers are important, God hears, and prayer will be a vital part of the seven trumpets.

The Seven Trumpets

A. Trumpets have many Old Testament roots—Participant’s Guide, page 60. Trumpets signify that God is going to act. Examples include war, coronation of kings, call to gather people, warning, call to worship. It also signifies the “Day of the Lord.” The New Testament includes a trumpet call at the Second Coming (; ).

B. —general overview passage for trumpets.

C. Feast of Trumpets—10 days to turn to God in prayer and repentance.

D. Joshua and the Battle of Jericho—. Use of trumpets.

E. Trumpets as God’s “PR” message: P=Prayer; R=Repent

F. Structure of Revelation and the Trumpets:

1. Repetition from the seven seals (but not the first or the seventh seals) Participant’s Guide, page 61.

2. Pyramid symmetry; compare with the seven bowls. Participant’s Guide, page 62.

3. Trumpets—1/3 of the earth; Bowls—entire earth; the Seals—1/4 of the earth.

4. Trumpets—still an opportunity to repent.

5. OT root of the plagues on Egypt.

First Trumpet:

A. Doesn’t sound good. Old Testament roots (; ). With the first trumpet, God brings judgment on those who fail or refuse to know God. This judgment seems to fall on God’s people ( trees; ; , ). God starts his warning and punishment with those who claim to be his followers so they will truly turn to him before he returns.

Second Trumpet:

A. Spanish Armada? Old Testament roots ( Babylon as a mountain; God’s mountain; water to blood kills the water animals). Ships have Babylon allusions (). With the second trumpet, God warns and punishes those opposed to his people so they will turn to him before he returns.

Third Trumpet:

A. A star (singular). —star of the morning who seeks to become like the Most High. The fifth trumpet will give another clue to this. Rivers and springs of water—nourishment () or persecution () or cleansing () or people (). This context seems to mean nourishment. One-third become wormwood (same name as the star). Satan takes what God offers for spiritual nourishment and contaminates it to bring about death rather than life (). NT examples (, , ; ; ; ; 1 ; ). With the third trumpet, God warns that what is supposed to give life will bring death when tainted by apostasy.

Fourth Trumpet:

A. Darkness covered the earth before creation (). Light gets associated with God and darkness gets associated with evil or doom (). The next to last Egyptian plague was darkness (). Other OT roots include , ; ; . NT examples include ; ; ; . The contrast of light and darkness (). “Practice prayer” or “Make prayer your practice.” When people don’t pray, things go dark. The third trumpet warned us about Satan’s contamination of God’s nourishing waters. The fourth trumpet moves from corruption to apostasy, from false religion to anti-religion, from perversion to obliteration. The fourth trumpet tells us that the light of God gets obscured as people live without any sense or need of God.

Transition:

A. We have completed the first four trumpets. The sequence of 4-2-interlude-1 used with the seals is the same sequence for the trumpets. The last three trumpets get labeled as “woes.” Apparently, things are going to get worse.

B. Transition statement in . Eagle—the Greek word aetos which can mean either vulture or eagle. In the same word is used to describe those who will feast on God’s enemies that are about to be destroyed. That sounds more like a vulture than an eagle. OT root indicates impending judgment (; ; ; ). NT reference in . God is still doing everything he can to communicate—inform, warn, cajole, shout, beg, alarm, rattle, awaken—that people need to turn to him, and to do so before it’s too late.

C. “Those who dwell on the earth” is the code term for people who don’t follow God—the wicked.

D. The final three trumpets are three woes, with an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets.

Fifth Trumpet:

A. More descriptions, but little understanding. Be tentative about the details and keep a focus on the revelation of Jesus. The fifth trumpet begins with a star that fell from heaven to earth, and the key to the bottomless pit was given to him. At the end of the fifth trumpet, the king of the destructive locusts is the angel of the Abyss, who is also given the Hebrew name Abaddon and the Greek name Apollyon. Both mean the same thing—destruction or the place of destruction. This presents the opposite of God, the Creator. The Abyss describes the world prior to creation () when all was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. This is the world without God. And this is the world that Satan seeks to have the earth become again. God the Creator versus Satan the destroyer.

B. In the fifth trumpet Satan opens the Abyss and smoke goes up, like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air get darkened by this smoke. That phrase, “the smoke of a great furnace” has Old Testament roots (; ; and the ninth plague on Egypt). The smoke and the locust seem to obliterate the sun. The light is still there, but it’s hard to see because the darkness obscures it.

C. The darkness harkens back to the ninth plague on Egypt, while the locusts that come from the smoke remind us of the eighth plague on Egypt. Another Old Testament root: Joel begins his book by describing God’s judgment through swarms of locusts upon the land. In the second chapter, after the call to blow a trumpet, darkness and a consuming fire give way to invading horses, chariots and soldiers in anticipation of the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment—similar to the fifth trumpet in Revelation nine.

D. Locusts are given scorpion power to hurt and torment people for five months. But they do not hurt the grass or tree or any green thing (symbols of God’s faithful people), but only those who do not have the seal of God. In other words, when God releases Satan’s host, they hurt only Satan’s followers. The self-destructive nature of sin shows itself once again! There is a limit of time (five months) and scope (those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads).

E. Five months—OT roots in ; —150 days for the flood. Only those who heeded the warning entered the ark and survived the flood.

F. Many parts of the fifth trumpet we simply don’t have much of a clue for an explanation. For example: scorpion tails on the locusts? describes the head and tail of Israel being cut off with the head being people of honor and the tail being false prophets. Could the scorpion tails be false prophets? We don’t know for sure. Details that we simply say: “I don’t know.”

1. Locusts like horses prepared for battle

2. Heads appear to be crowns like gold

3. Faces like the faces of men

4. Hair like the hair of women

5. Teeth like the teeth of lions

6. Breastplates of iron

7. Sound of their wings like the sounds of chariots and horses

G. The general message from these details matches the general message already given—there’s a spiritual battle between good and evil that’s intensifying. Wake up. Pray and repent. Now!

H. If God is in control, why does he allow this? As we near the center of the pyramid in Revelation, already we see two opposing sides—God and Satan, good and evil. The center places it in a bold presentation.

I. One woe is past, and two more are yet to come. The fifth trumpet can be summarized as: When God gives Satan the freedom to roam the earth, Satan destroys it, while God wants the people to pray and repent.

Sixth Trumpet:

A. Releasing the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates has links before and after the trumpets. Four angels held back the four winds of strife until God’s people had been sealed (). The seven bowls have a corresponding element with the sixth bowl and the sixth trumpet—the Euphrates River (see Participant’s Guide, page 62 and ). For right now, understand that God’s angels have held Satan’s forces under wraps in Babylon at the Euphrates River.

B. This world would have self-destructed or suffered from Satan’s destruction before now had it not been for God restraining the devil. With the sixth trumpet, Satan’s forces get released so they can do even more damage than they did under the fifth trumpet, moving from torment and torture to actual killing.

C. Like the other trumpet messages, the judgment and doom falls on one-third of the people, serving as a warning and invitation for people to turn to God in prayer and repentance while there is still time.

D. The number two hundred million certainly sounds like “a lot” and it is! It represents everything that Satan has. The literal reading is “two myriads of myriads, which would be written 2 x 10,000 x 10,000 = 200,000,000. The devil is bringing all he has! Literal interpretation: Satan’s army is larger than God’s army. Symbolic interpretation: God’s kingdom (12 x 12) is ready for battle (1,000). Satan tries to double his tested/complete military units (2 x 10 x 10 x 1,000 x 1,000). We are preparing for a final showdown. In it will be labeled as the Battle of Armageddon.

E. The sixth trumpet ends with the amazing comment that those not killed do not repent. Repentance is still an option! But they refuse. They “worship the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk.” Almost a word-for-word description of what Daniel told Belshazzar the night that Babylon was overthrown by the Medo-Persian armies following God’s judgment on them (see ).

F. The door of mercy is still open. The message of the sixth trumpet is that when God stops protecting the wicked, they refuse to repent even though Satan intensifies his destruction of them.

Interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets:

A. Little scroll—biblaridion and “scroll” biblion can be used interchangeably (). The Lamb who was worthy to break the seals has now made it possible to read what is in the scroll.

B. The angel shouts and the seven thunders reply—God speaking with power (; ; ; ; ). But John is told to seal up what the seven thunders replied! Unusual for Revelation! Be careful with your imagination here! We simply don’t know.

C. The “mystery of God” will be accomplished. What is this mystery? God knows (). So do his prophets (). See Participant’s Guide, pages 66-67 for examples of the “mystery of God.” The “mystery of God” can be known to anyone because God has revealed it through apostles and prophets, and now through the church.

D. Eating the scroll; sweet in the mouth but sour/bitter in the stomach. (; ; ) provides a strong OT root. One final call to proclaim the good news, which may result in sweetness or bitterness.

Interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets:

A. The two witnesses. Solicit feedback to get a read on the listeners, not to “correct” them.

B. Measuring God’s temple, altar and people. OT root in . Measuring and making judgments has links to the Day of Atonement, which follows the Feast of Trumpets. We don’t know who truly is on God’s side, but God does. So he measures those who claim to be his people. The Gentiles don’t get “measured” at this time. (; ; ; ; , , ; ).

C. Gentiles trample the holy city for 42 months; the two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days. Same as 3 ½ years (; ; ).

D. What about these two witnesses in ? We know some things about them, but we don’t know for sure. Possibly the Bible or God’s people. Let’s see which you think they are.

1. The two witnesses as the Jewish legal system () required two witnesses to establish truth. Christ’s disciples were witnesses (; ; ; ; ). In Revelation, God’s people are persecuted for their witness (; ; ; ; ).

2. The two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth (), the garb associated with prophets (see ; ; ).

3. The two witnesses could be the two olive trees and the two lampstands before the Lord of the earth. OT root of . Get feedback on this passage. Zechariah describes the religious priest (Joshua) and the political leader (Zerubbabel).

4. OT root of one who shut up the sky for three and a half days/years (Elijah) and one who had power to turn water into blood (Moses). Could the two witnesses be Moses and Elijah? includes the Law of Moses and sending Elijah the prophet. Or could it be broader—the Law and the Prophets of the OT?

5. According to , the beast from the Abyss attacks and kills the two witnesses. That doesn’t describe Moses and Elijah. Could the two witnesses be God’s witnesses throughout time, recorded in Scripture?

6. The killed witnesses aren’t given a proper burial, but are left in the public square of the great city (Sodom/Egypt/Jerusalem)—whoever is opposed to God and his people. (for Jerusalem, see ; ).

7. Revelation continues by naming three and a half days as the time period without proper burial, and celebration. After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God enters the two witnesses and they experience resurrection. This results in terror to the onlookers and eventually the two witnesses are called up to heaven. Does this remind you of anything? (Solicit responses. Hopefully people will think of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. There are also hints that could make people think of Moses and Elijah.)

8. The phrase “the breath of life from God” () takes us all the way back to creation (). Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones (). God did it at creation. He did it when Israel seemed dead after they had settled into Babylonian captivity. He will do it when the two witnesses seem dead towards the end of this earth’s history.

9. Personal application. Are you living at a time or in a place where the two witnesses are dead or alive? It isn’t hard to find evidence for both.

10. Elijah, “I’m the only faithful witness.” God said there were 7,000 who had remained faithful. 7,000 is 7 x 1,000 which would mean a perfect (7) army (1,000).

11. Vote on who you think the two witnesses are:

a. Moses and Elijah?

b. Law and the prophets?

c. Old Testament and New Testament?

d. Responses: Yes; take your pick; or “I don’t know”

e. We don’t need name tags to get the message, “Listen to Jesus!”

E. A severe earthquake in which a tenth of the city collapses and 7,000 people are killed. The survivors are terrified and give glory to the God of heaven (). Why the number 7,000? That number symbolized God’s perfect (7) army (1,000) (). But wait, those were God’s faithful people. In the 7,000 are part of the evil city. John is alerting us to the coming deception in which the devil will try to present himself as God and use some of God’s identifying characteristics and actions? In the next segment of Revelation, we’ll find that to be the case.

F. The interlude has come to a close. We are ready for the final trumpet to sound.

Seventh Trumpet:

A. What a relief! What a celebration! This describes the return of Christ to earth. It’s the answer to the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” ( TNIV).

B. In the 24 elders give thanks to “the Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was.” John has dropped “who is to come” in . Why? (Solicit responses.) He has come!

C. Shouldn’t this be the end of the Book of Revelation?

Wait. There’s more! We’re at the center of the book now.

Review the time frames we’ve covered:

1. Seven churches for John’s time and our time

2. Seven seals for the Christian Era

3. Seven trumpets for the Christian Era

4. Now we come to the center of the Book of Revelation, it’s most important part. This isn’t over!

D. The focus for the rest of the book will be the final events at the end of the world. We have a duodirectional verse with . It will review the past AND give us the outline for the rest of the book! See the Participant’s Guide, page 69.

1. The nations were enraged

2. Your wrath has come

3. The time for the dead to be judged

a. Reward to your saints

b. Destroy those who destroy the earth

E. The nations get enraged. The wrath of God is a response to the wrath of the nations against God. Going opposite directions and with opposite goals, compromise isn’t an option. Final judgment comes, as was promised in the seven trumpets and in response to the prayers of those who prayed from under the altar in the fifth seal. Even though it may not look like it at times, according to the Bible, God wins! And so does everyone with him. That requires faith when it looks like God is losing.

Summary of the seven trumpets:

A. God warns of the need to repent. He sends and allows difficulty, destruction, and death to get people’s attention. In such uncertain chaos, prayer continues to be our lifeline to God.

So let’s pray!

Color Codes

Black print—Verbatim: Read this aloud

Red print—PowerPoint slide

Pink print—Discussion Questions for small groups

Orange print—Notes for the presenter (read to yourself; not aloud)

Green print—Participant’s Guide reference

Revelation 101

Finding Jesus in the Book of Revelation (slide 1)

Session 5

The Seven Trumpets (slide 2)

Discussion Question 1: Has anyone ever warned you not to do something that you went ahead and did anyway? What happened?

Optional: Describe a disastrous time you slept through your alarm clock.

Welcome to Revelation 101: Finding Jesus in the Book of Revelation. In our last session we began with the longest sanctuary scene in all of Revelation. We read of the enthronement of Christ as the Lamb who took his seat at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. All heaven celebrated with a crescendo of praise. Only the Lamb was worthy to open the scroll that had seven seals. The seven seals showed the Gospel going forth as well as people’s rejection of the message. The breaking of the covenant paralleled the covenant language of the Old Testament. God is serious about people responding to him. The first four seals were grouped together in a fashion similar to horses and chariots in Zechariah.

Next came seal number five with “souls crying out from under the altar.” We reminded ourselves of the words of Christ regarding persecution from others who can hurt our bodies but not our souls. The cry, “How long?” has echoed throughout history, waiting for God to vindicate his people and take vengeance on the wicked perpetrators. The sixth seal indicates when that will happen—at the end of the world. Yet because this message is given now, the wicked can still turn to God instead of crying later for the rocks to fall on them to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb!

The question arose, “Who will be able to stand to face him who sits on the throne of heaven, and the wrath of the Lamb?” The answer came in the form of a group called the 144,000—a kingdom number representing God’s people. We read about their characteristics, which seem to involve dependence on the Lamb and perseverance in clinging to him. We found that the group labeled “the great multitude” provided additional texture to this same group. And we even considered a few verses in —the only other place in the entire Bible that mentions the 144,000.

With that review from our last session, let’s begin this session with The Lord’s Prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, amen.

This session covers ! We call it the seven trumpets, although we’ll find much more than that. You should know at the beginning of this session that this portion of the Book of Revelation is probably the most confusing, misunderstood, and uncertain portion of the whole book. We will come to verses in which we will basically say, “We have no idea!” or “It might mean ____, but we wouldn’t say that with a high level of confidence.” Beware of those who are fixated on the seven trumpets or share them with overconfidence.

Remember that each segment of Revelation begins with a sanctuary scene. (slide 3) When chapters and verses were added later, they were done so without an awareness of these segments. That’s why our last segment ended at and this one begins at . The sanctuary scene gives us a clue about the overall message in the segment.

The time period repeats the same time as the seven seals—the Christian Era that began after Christ’s ascension to heaven and ends with the Second Coming of Christ. The pattern of 4-2-interlude-1 we found with the seven seals is the same pattern used for the seven trumpets. The structure of the Book of Revelation gives us some repetition—in this case, the seven trumpets follow the seven seals. The pyramid structure will enable us to compare the seven trumpets on this side of the middle of the book with the seven plagues on the other side of the middle—they match!

But before we get into all of that, let’s take a look at the introductory sanctuary scene and see if we can get a hint about why God chose to reveal to John this portion of the sanctuary for this segment of Revelation.

Introductory Sanctuary Scene. Let’s read (TNIV): (slide 4) “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar before the throne. (slide 5) The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. (slide 6) Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.”

We have seven angels standing before God. We have an altar and a golden censor and “much incense” and smoke. There’s another angel who then throws the censor to earth, which causes quite a commotion. And now the seven angels get ready to sound seven trumpets. Is this a hint to alert us to how obscure and difficult this section of Revelation will be? Old Testament roots don’t give a clear connection, but we have additional keys for understanding the Book of Revelation.

Key number two is the historical and cultural context. The historical background of John’s day can help us understand this sanctuary scene. But first we need a refresher on the daily practices in the sanctuary. and give a brief description of the daily activities in the temple. These were called tamid, meaning “daily.” (slide 7) The daily temple activities included offering an animal sacrifice, a food offering, and a drink offering on the altar of burnt offering outside the tabernacle on behalf of the people. describes what happens inside the tabernacle with the morning and evening offering of incense on the altar of incense.

But the throwing of a censor isn’t included in the description. For that, you must go to a historical record closer to John’s own day. That’s why the historical context is so significant for the sanctuary scene in Revelation eight. A written form of the daily (tamid) practices in the temple can be found in a rabbinical treatise written shortly before John’s day. It’s called Tamid, meaning the daily practices. The Tamid indicates that at one point in the proceedings, a priest would take the metal shovel used for cleaning the ashes, and throw it to the ground with such force that the noise it created would get everyone’s attention. This signaled a gathering for worship or blessing. It functioned somewhat like what church bells in Europe later did to signal the start of worship, or what an alarm clock can do today for a person who needs to wake up early. The Tamid records that the sound could be heard as far away as Jericho, 15 miles from Jerusalem. Once that signal had occurred, the priests would blow their trumpets. That sounds like what we read for this introductory sanctuary scene, doesn’t it?!

The announcement of trumpets sets the scene. Note that this scene takes place in heaven and it impacts what will happen on earth. Another angel stands at the altar and will offer “much incense” with the prayers of all of God’s people. Incense in the tabernacle represents the prayers of God’s people. (slide 8) The fire that enhances it comes from the coals from the altar of sacrifice. This symbolizes that Christ’s sacrifice and his ascension into heaven make our prayers effective because he is our high priest in heaven.

Why “much incense”? The crying out from the souls under the altar in the fifth seal () produces a cumulative sum of prayers ascending to heaven. And heaven hears. (slide 9) David wrote, “I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice” ( TNIV).

This introductory sanctuary scene provides a wake up call to come worship God in prayer. (slide 10) This daily practice matters. As we consider the seven trumpets, keep in mind that daily prayer and worship provides the context for these messages.

Although final judgment is not passed in the seven trumpets, God responds to the prayers of his people in an attempt to get the wicked to stop and to repent. He wants them to turn back to God before it’s too late. Some may see this as only punishment or judgment, but God does it to get people’s attention. Imagine a kindergarten teacher telling little students they need to leave a burning building. Will the teacher focus on kindness or urgency in the tone of voice used? Of course, urgency would be more important in this instance. Likewise, Jesus will take extreme measures to get people’s attention because of his hope that they will turn to him. Do you want this full revelation of Jesus or would you prefer a partial picture?

The throwing of the censer to the earth serves as a wake up call to come worship God. The action of “peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake” ( TNIV) have an Old Testament root of when God came to Mount Sinai to call his people into a covenant relationship, including God speaking the 10 commandments to them and giving trumpet calls.

Discussion Question 2: The opening sanctuary scene highlights a regular call to repentance, prayer, and worship. What prompts you to pray and worship? How regular is this?

Trumpets. After the accumulated prayers and the loud call to worship, the trumpets prepare to sound. This certainly isn’t the first time that trumpets appear in the Bible! Think back to Old Testament days. Please share an example of a time when trumpets were used. (Solicit responses.) When we read about seven trumpets in , we probably won’t know specifically which Old Testament root John is using.

Look at your Participant’s Guide, page 60 (Participant’s Guide, page 60) (slide 11). These aren’t the only times the word appears. There are actually about 150 times you can find this word in the Old Testament. Trumpets signal that God is going to act. You can see lists of major categories in which trumpets were used: war, coronation of kings, a call to gather people together, a warning, and for worship. God also uses a trumpet to signal the “Day of the Lord” which would be the end of the world. You’ll find that in New Testament passages as well (; ).

A good general passage that describes trumpets is (TNIV): (slide 12) “The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies. (slide 13) Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

In the series of feasts God set for the Israelites after they left Egypt, the “Feast of Trumpets” lasted for 10 days as the people prepared for the Day of Atonement—the final judgment day. This was a time to give special attention to repentance and to accept God’s forgiveness and mercy. Who would want to enter the Day of Judgment without God’s forgiveness and mercy? The trumpets called the people to repentance. The 10 days for the Feast of Trumpets reminds us of the symbolic meaning of the number 10—a complete testing. Those who turn to God in prayer and repentance will be forgiven and stand with God unafraid on the Day of Judgment. Those who don’t will stand on their own, unforgiven, for breaking the covenant.

Another great Old Testament root for trumpets comes in the story of the fall of Jericho. (slide 14) The story can be found in Joshua six. Just after crossing the Jordan River into the long-awaited Promised Land, God’s people marched around the city of Jericho with the Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing the presence of God. Seven priests who carried seven trumpets blew the trumpets as they marched around the city one complete revolution. They did this same routine for six days. On the seventh day, the seven priests blowing the seven trumpets marched around the city seven times. Then all the people shouted and the walls came down.

Was there magic in the trumpets or in the number seven or in marching around the city? No, not at all. The supernatural came from God, but he wanted Israel’s participation and he was rather specific about what he wanted them to do. They obeyed, the walls fell, and the Israelites were victorious over the people of Jericho.

Would you associate the trumpets with good news or bad news? If you were part of God’s people, the trumpets are good news. If you’re not part of God’s people, the trumpets seem like bad news (unless you are Rahab or part of her household). We have a family in Jericho that is saved. Conversely, we have a disobedient family in the camp of Israel that gets killed. You can read about Achan and his family in Joshua chapter seven.

In the same way, alerting people to the return of Christ can be seen as good news or bad news, depending on whether or not you want Jesus to return. Those who are faithful to Jesus, of course, are eager for his return. Those unfaithful to Jesus might want a little more time to turn to him. That’s exactly why the trumpets sound—to let God’s people know that he is returning, and to wake up those who aren’t ready so that they will turn to God by repenting. The trumpets are God’s “PR” message to the world. (slide 15) P is for Prayer and R is for Repent.

Key number seven for understanding Revelation has to do with the structure of the book. One element is the repetition, which can give us a clue by comparing with other similar passages within the Book of Revelation. For example, the seven trumpets provide a bit of repetition of the seven seals that we already studied. Look at the Participant’s Guide, page 61 (Participant’s Guide, page 61) (slide 16). While the repetition isn’t identical, it is quite similar. Both the seals and the trumpets are wake up calls intended to lead people to repent.

Another structural element we noticed was the pyramid shape that points to the middle of the pyramid as the most important part of the book. Corresponding sides of the pyramid relate to each other. Compare the seven trumpets with the seven plagues. Do these two segments match each other? Take a look at your Participant’s Guide, page 62 (Participant’s Guide, page 62) (slide 17). These show remarkable similarity! The sixth trumpet makes more sense when you compare it with the sixth plague that also mentions the Euphrates River.

One key difference between the seven trumpets and the seven plagues is that the trumpets fall on one-third of the earth compared to the plagues that fall on the entire earth. When the trumpet judgments get carried out, there is still an opportunity for repentance. When the plagues fall, probation has closed and repentance is no longer available—only final judgment! Our prayer is that the trumpets will indeed serve as a wake up call to those in need of repentance. When we pray in our sessions here, let’s be sure to include repentance so there’s nothing between God and us!

The seven trumpet warnings and the seven bowls/plagues have additional Old Testament roots. We should mention the most famous plagues in the Old Testament. These relate to Revelation because they were given as a warning to the people of Egypt that Yahweh would soon deliver his people. Your Participant’s Guide, page 63 (Participant’s Guide, page 63) (slide 18) shows the 10 plagues that fell on Egypt. We’ll refer to those with the trumpets now, as well as with the bowls/plagues in a later session.

With that, we’re ready to begin looking at the trumpets one by one.

(slide 19) The First Trumpet: (TNIV) reads, (slide 20) “The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”

That doesn’t sound good, does it? Are you tempted to look for a meaning that is either literal or semi-symbolic? Some search for a terrible hailstorm with lightning strikes that begin terrible forest fires. Others look to some historical event after John wrote Revelation, and then tag that to prove that John was viewing the future. We’ll do the opposite by following key number five for interpreting Revelation: “Look for Old Testament Roots.”

If you think back to Old Testament examples of hail, fire, and blood as judgments or wake up calls from heaven, one obvious location is the plagues on Egypt. According to (TNIV), (slide 21) “When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. (slide 22) Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree.” Earlier, the first plague on Egypt was the water turning to blood (see ).

Ezekiel combines all three elements of hail, fire, and blood in the judgment on Israel’s enemy named Gog. According to (TNIV), (slide 23) “I will execute judgment on him (Gog) with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” With the first trumpet, God brings judgment on those who fail or refuse to know God.

Two more items call for our attention in this first trumpet. One is the fraction one-third. Earlier, the seals affected one-fourth of the earth (see ). (slide 24) Now, the trumpets will affect thirds, indicating a greater breadth of impact. Later in Revelation, the bowls/plagues will affect all of the inhabitants of the earth—a term referring to those who belong to this world in contrast to heaven. At this time, mercy continues to be available. By the time of the seven plagues, mercy ceases. Even though judgment comes with the trumpets, mercy continues to be offered.

The other element we need to pay attention to in the description from the first trumpet is the target of this judgment. The hail, fire and blood that fall on one-third of the earth burn up a third of the trees and all of the green grass. But trees and green grass symbolize God’s people in the Old Testament! Remember , (slide 25) which likens God’s people to a “tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers”? (see also ) Ezekiel warned the Israelites that God would consume with fire every green tree and every dry tree because God’s people continued to follow the ways of evil.

Wait a minute! I thought that judgment would come on God’s enemies, not on his own people! Actually, in , God’s judgment begins with his own people, and within that group, he starts with the leaders of his people. In the New Testament, Peter wrote, (slide 26) “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” ( TNIV). When Jesus first sent out his disciples, he sent them “to the lost sheep of Israel” ( TNIV).

Is it possible for God’s own people to not know who God is, or for them to need a wake up call to return to him? That certainly was the case in Old Testament times. And it was true in Christ’s day when the religious leaders sought to destroy him and eventually had him crucified. God isn’t fooled. When he sends a warning to prepare people for Christ’s return, he first of all goes to those who fit in with his people, but they aren’t actually in relationship with God themselves. When you pray for God to reach people, do you include those within the church in addition to those outside of the church? Do you pray for yourself?

(slide 27) The message of the first trumpet is that God starts his warning and punishment with those who claim to be his followers so they will truly turn to him before he returns. The “PR message” certainly holds true here: “P” is to Pray and “R” is to Repent! (Participant’s Guide, page 68 lists the summary statements for all seven trumpets.)

Discussion Question 3: Which Old Testament story or use of trumpets stands out most to you?

Why do you think God might begin his message of warning with his own people?

(slide 28) The Second Trumpet: (TNIV) reads, (slide 29) “The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

What could this mean? Fanciful and creative interpretations include the large Spanish Armada that sailed to defeat England, but went up in flames on the sea. Was John looking into the future to predict what we now call “European history”?

We look to Old Testament roots rather than making guesses about the future. Not surprisingly, we find an Old Testament reference to a great mountain in Jeremiah’s description of God’s judgment on Babylon. (TNIV) reads, (slide 30) “’I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,’ declares the Lord. 
’I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.’” In the Old Testament, mountains could represent kingdoms or empires (see also ; ; ; ).

In John’s day, Babylon no longer oppressed God’s people. The oppressor at that time, their “Babylon,” was the Roman Empire. For John, “Babylon” was the code name for Rome. We’ll see more of “Babylon” from now on in the Book of Revelation. It represents the powers that fight against God’s people. It often looks overwhelming, and yet it falls and gets destroyed. The second trumpet provides a foretaste of this.

(slide 31) The sea becoming blood and a third of the sea creatures dying repeats the first trumpet’s allusion to the first Egyptian plague. Water turned to blood, which killed the animals in the water (see ).

The second trumpet makes a brief mention of one-third of the ships being destroyed. What could that mean? Are we back to the Spanish Armada of 1588? The Book of Revelation uses the ship metaphor again in to describe the fall of Babylon. John names shipmasters, passengers and sailors who cry out because of Babylon’s destruction. They had received great wealth from her ships at sea. Ships represent the economy and pride of Babylon. In it gets completely destroyed. But with the second trumpet, only one-third gets destroyed. There is still time to pray and repent. And that is true for Babylon!

(slide 32) With the second trumpet, God warns and punishes those opposed to his people so they will turn to him before he returns. (Participant’s Guide, page 68 lists the summary statements for all seven trumpets.)

Discussion Question 4: If God is willing to warn even those opposed to his people, what does that say about God?

(slide 33) The Third Trumpet: (TNIV) reads, (slide 34) “The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water—the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.”

Balaam prophesied that a star would come forth from Jacob () indicating the coming of the Messiah. With the birth of Jesus, the wise men came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” ( TNIV). When we read about the seven churches earlier in Revelation, one of the promises to the overcomers in Thyatira is that “I will give them the morning star” ( TNIV). At the end of Revelation, Jesus identifies himself as “the bright Morning Star” ( TNIV). A star from heaven makes us first think about Jesus. Stars, in the plural, often represent angels (; ).

But one passage sticks out like a sore thumb in contrast to this. We find this in (TNIV). (slide 35) “How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart,
’I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. (slide 36) I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.”

Any idea who this describes? (Solicit responses.) Yes, Satan, the great star that fell from heaven, the one who wanted to take the place of Jesus. It was Jesus who said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” ( TNIV). In the fifth trumpet we’ll read about a star that had fallen from heaven. This star has the key to the bottomless pit from which he releases demonic powers. The star that fell from heaven is Satan.

What about the rivers and springs of water? Water can symbolize several different things, such as nourishment or persecution or cleansing. (slide 37) (Various possible meanings for the symbol of water can be found in these Bible passages: nourishment—; ; ; persecution—; Cleansing— ; ) In the context of the third trumpet, nourishment seems to fit the meaning of the rivers and springs of water. But one-third of these streams become wormwood, the same as the name of the fallen star. What does wormwood mean? “Wormwood” is the name of Near East herbs known to taste bitter. Jeremiah used the word to describe the bitterness associated with God’s people who received God’s punishments for their repeated breaking of their covenant with God (). Moses used it to describe the terrible results for those who turn away from God to worship idols (). (slide 38)

What would cause water, the symbol of spiritual nourishment, to bring bitterness and death? A fallen star would cause that. In other words, Satan takes what God offers for spiritual nourishment and contaminates it to bring about death rather than life. Many false prophets gave false messages from God in the days of Jeremiah. In (TNIV) we read, “This is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets: ‘I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.’” (see also verses 16-22.)

Jesus warned his disciples that there would be false prophets and false Christs in the future. So did Paul, Peter, and John. (Bible passages that include warnings about false prophets and false Christs include: , , ; ; ; ; 1 ; .) We shouldn’t be surprised that false prophets, false teachings, and apostasy continue. But God warns against it, including trumpet calls to pray and repent before the final judgment.

(slide 39) With the third trumpet, God warns that what is supposed to give life will bring death when tainted by apostasy. (Participant’s Guide, page 68 lists the summary statements for all seven trumpets.)

(slide 40) The Fourth Trumpet: (TNIV) reads, (slide 41) “The fourth angel sounded 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 turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.”

Before creation, darkness covered the earth (). God started creation by saying, “Let there be light” ( TNIV). Light gets associated with God and darkness gets associated with evil or doom. Jesus told Nicodemus, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” ( TNIV). Jesus is the light, and the good news about Jesus can also be referred to as the light. Jesus claimed to be the light of the world (), and he told his followers that they were to be light in the world, reflecting Him ().

When God came in judgment on Egypt, the next to last plague was darkness (). Ezekiel repeats this for Egypt nearly 1,000 years later (). Joel wrote of a day of the Lord as a day of darkness: “Before them the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine” ( TNIV; Joel repeats this in . See also .).

Jesus predicted more of this before the world ends. “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken” ( TNIV).

Note the contrast between light and darkness. In the Old Testament, Isaiah wrote, (slide 42) “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you” ( TNIV). The promise of light is the promise of the presence of Jesus and the Gospel about Jesus. Darkness would symbolize the opposite—the absence of Jesus and the absence of the Gospel of Jesus. (slide 43)

This may describe you or some people you know. It has been true throughout the Christian age. Individuals and cultures at various times have deliberately denied God or felt no need for God. Currently in the western world, secularization seems to be the dominant religion. God gets marginalized or people simply relegate him to primitive cultures or those who are naïve. Some turn to prayer when they have nothing else left at their disposal. Others turn to prayer right from the start. Our introductory sanctuary scene indicated that prayer is a daily practice as we interact with our real God. We could say, “Practice prayer” or “Make prayer your practice.” When people don’t pray, things go dark.

The third trumpet warned us about Satan’s contamination of God’s nourishing waters. The fourth trumpet moves from corruption to apostasy, from false religion to anti-religion, from perversion to obliteration. (slide 44) The fourth trumpet tells us that the light of God gets obscured as people live without any sense or need of God. (Participant’s Guide, page 68 lists the summary statements for all seven trumpets.)

Discussion Question 5: The fourth and fifth trumpets point out that Satan attempts to twist that which was intended to bring life to bring death instead. It also shows that life without God is much like darkness. To what extent have you seen or experienced these statements to be true?

(slide 45) Transition. We have completed the first four trumpets. Just as the seals were presented in a sequence of 4-2-interlude-1, the trumpets use a parallel delivery. John gives us a transitional statement from the first four trumpets to the last three trumpets, and he labels these last three trumpets as “woes.” Apparently, things are going to get worse.

Let’s read the transition statement in (TNIV). (slide 46) “As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: ‘Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!’”

People generally think positively about an eagle. But some translations call this a vulture. The Greek word aetos can mean either vulture or eagle. uses the same word to describe those who will feast on God’s enemies that are about to be destroyed. That sounds more like a vulture than an eagle. In the Old Testament, a vulture symbolized impending judgment.

The vulture’s message sounds quite dire, “Woe, woe, woe.” These woes are for those who “dwell on the earth.” This is code language for the people who are not following God—the wicked. Your Participant’s Guide, page 64 (Participant’s Guide, page 64) (slide 47) shows several examples of this. Those “who dwell on the earth” contrast with the redeemed saints who “dwell in heaven” () and stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion () and who are “purchased from the earth” () and who “reign on earth” (). Doom and gloom stand ahead for those who resist, ignore, or deny God. Listen to the trumpets. Repent and pray. Partial judgments are happening now, which precede the final judgment. Get with God now. It’s better for you both now and later!

(slide 48) With that, we will go to our final three trumpets, the three woes. These will be much longer, more perplexing, and ominous. And we’ll expect an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets, just like we had between the sixth and seventh seals.

The Fifth Trumpet: (TNIV) reads, (slide 49) “The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. (slide 50) And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. (slide 51) They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

(slide 52) “The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. (slide 53) They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer). The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.”

We have a lot more detailed descriptions as we go into the “woe” trumpets. Some of the elements we simply won’t figure out, even with our Old Testament roots. But some of them we will. Let’s be sure we don’t get rigid or dogmatic when we really don’t know for sure, and let’s keep looking for the broad themes consistent with the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

(slide 54) The fifth trumpet began with a star that fell from heaven to earth. We already noted in the third trumpet that this probably refers to the fall of Satan. Here we see that the key to the bottomless pit, or the pit of the Abyss, was given to him. At the end of the fifth trumpet, the king of the destructive locusts is the angel of the Abyss, who is also given the Hebrew name Abaddon and the Greek name Apollyon. Both mean the same thing—“destruction” or “the place of destruction.”

This presents the opposite of God, the Creator. The abyss describes the world prior to creation () when all was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. This is the world without God. And this is the world that Satan desires the earth become again. God the Creator versus Satan the destroyer—that recurring theme shows itself again, and it will be even more obvious when we get to the middle of the pyramid structure of this book.

During the Reformation, when Martin Luther called the Catholic Church into question, one interpretation the Catholic Church came up with for the fifth trumpet was that Martin Luther was the star that fell from heaven, and Lutherans were the locusts. Since Martin Luther referred to the Catholic Church as the sea beast of , we shouldn’t be surprised that he received a negative association with something in Revelation as well. It’s easy to find people or institutions we don’t like and assign demonic motives to their activities.

Notice that in the fifth trumpet the key to the Abyss was given to Satan (). Satan opens the Abyss and smoke goes up, like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air get darkened by this smoke. That phrase, “the smoke of a great furnace” has Old Testament roots in several places. In , the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has the same wording. The smoke and the locust seem to obliterate the sun. The light is still there, but it’s hard to see because the darkness obscures it.

Darkness harkens back to the ninth plague on Egypt, while the locusts that come from the smoke remind us of the eighth plague on Egypt. In another Old Testament passage, Joel begins his book by describing God’s judgment through swarms of locusts upon the land. In the second chapter, after the call to blow a trumpet, darkness and a consuming fire give way to invading horses, chariots and soldiers in anticipation of the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment. That sounds quite similar to the fifth trumpet in Revelation nine, doesn’t it?

The locusts are given scorpion power to hurt and torment people for five months. However, they do not hurt the grass or tree or any green thing (symbols of God’s faithful people), but only those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. In other words, when God releases Satan’s host, they hurt only Satan’s followers. Sin is self-destructive. There is a limit of time (five months) and scope (those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads). The trumpets warn us that people on planet earth still have time to choose Jesus and his covenant. This is the time to pray and repent. The trumpets also foretell an increasing intensity and two clearly demarcated camps.

“Men seeking death and not finding it” describes suicidal individuals and societies that have lost all hope and purpose in life. By resisting or denying God, they are left with nothing. Declaring God to be dead, they end up desiring the very non-existence they attribute to God. Choosing a theory of origins without God, they lack meaning or direction for their current life or any future. Instead of peace, they suffer restlessness. Instead of love, they grasp for lust. Instead of trust, they live in fear. The trumpet blares—heed the warning! Pray and repent!

What about that unusual time period of five months listed as part of the fifth trumpet? While the literal lifespan of a locust typically runs about five months, we find one stark, Old Testament root of five months. Any idea where that would be? (Solicit responses although most won’t have any idea.) The Old Testament describes a time when God passed judgment on this earth and people had to choose whether or not they would be on God’s side. At that time, only a minority chose God, and he provided for their safety. The rest were literally destroyed. The time came when repentance wasn’t any longer possible. We can read about it in and 8:3 where the flood lasts for 150 days, which is five months! Could the mentioning of five months for the fifth plague serve as a reminder that the end will come again?

An inventive thinker, who possibly had some anti-Muslim sentiments, took the five months that would equal 150 days and then applied them prophetically to represent 150 years. Then, searching for a 150-year span in Muslim history, came up with the time from when Mohammed began to attack Christianity until the building of Baghdad. Since locusts are bad, assigning this to something Muslim seemed to be the goal. If you have an anti-Muslim bias, you might find an explanation like this to be attractive.

There are many parts of the fifth trumpet that we simply don’t have much of a clue for an explanation. Perhaps it was clear in John’s day, but obscure in ours. Here are some details that we simply say: “I don’t know.”

Locusts like horses prepared for battle

Crowns of gold

Faces like the faces of men

Hair like the hair of women

Teeth like the teeth of lions

Breastplates of iron

Sound of their wings like the sounds of chariots and horses

The general message from these details matches the general message already given—there’s a spiritual battle between good and evil that’s intensifying. Wake up. Pray and repent. Now!

If God is in control, why does he allow this? We are seeing two opposing sides—God and Satan, good and evil. The center of the pyramid will place it in a bold presentation. The larger picture provides the overview that specific smaller pictures may lack. The long view explains more than the short view. The fifth trumpet looks bleak. It is bleak for those without the seal of God. The difference will become more clear as we continue.

One woe is past, and two more are yet to come. (slide 55) The fifth trumpet can be summarized as: When God gives Satan the freedom to roam the earth, Satan destroys it, while God wants the people to pray and repent.

(slide 56) The Sixth Trumpet: --21 (TNIV) reads, (slide 57) “The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of the world’s people. (slide 58) The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.

“The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. (slide 59) A third of the people were killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

(slide 60) “The rest of the people who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

(slide 61) Releasing the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates has links before and after the trumpets. We already read about four angels holding back the four winds of strife until God’s people had been sealed (). That came after the sixth seal. If we take a sneak peak at the seven plagues on the other side of the pyramid in Revelation found in your Participant’s Guide page 62 (Participant’s Guide, page 62), we’ll see that the sixth plague corresponds to our sixth trumpet by naming the Euphrates River (see ).

What’s the significance of the Euphrates River? It served as the lifeblood to Babylon, and eventually led to its overthrow. It marked the original boundary promised to God’s people (). It represents Babylon (). We’ll look at the Euphrates River in more detail when we get to . For right now, understand that God’s angels have held Satan’s forces under wraps in Babylon at the Euphrates River.

Naming this as “the hour and day and month and year” demonstrates that this happens at a specific point of time, and only when God gives permission.

The number two hundred million certainly sounds like “a lot” and it is! It represents everything that Satan has. The literal reading is “two myriads of myriads, which would be written 2 x 10,000 x 10,000 = 200,000,000. If you interpret the numbers literally, Satan has a larger army than God. If you interpret the numbers symbolically, God’s kingdom (12 x 12) is ready for battle (1,000); Satan simply tries to double his tested or complete military units (2 x 10 x 10 x 1,000 x 1,000). No matter how you look at it, we are preparing for a final showdown. labels it as the Battle of Armageddon.

What shall we make of these horses and riders described in the sixth trumpet? They sound similar to those in the fifth trumpet, except these seem actually worse! With the sixth trumpet, the tails like scorpions (torture) have changed to serpents (lethal), and the heads and mouths have become more grotesque and now they can kill. The intensified description matches their attacks with what will eventually destroy them—fire, smoke and sulfur (see ; ; ).

Those who fixate on military machinery, nuclear arsenals, and the latest war technology miss the deeper battle. Paul used ancient military armor simply as a metaphor to symbolize our major battle against the powers of darkness and the spiritual forces of wickedness rather than merely human combat (see ).

The sixth trumpet ends with the amazing comment that those not killed do not repent. The fact they choose not to repent indicates that repentance is still an option. Some people want a happy universalism in which eventually everyone will come around to choose God from their hearts. The sixth trumpet makes it clear that such a state won’t happen. Given the disastrous results from the sixth trumpet, those resisting God persist in refusing to repent. Instead, they “worship the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk.” This is almost a word-for-word description of what Daniel told Belshazzar the night that Babylon was overthrown by the Medo-Persian armies following God’s judgment on them (see ).

The door of mercy is still open. God desires each person to come to repentance. What would prevent you from doing so? Prayer is how we began the message of the trumpets. But if we won’t talk to God, we’re left with a horrible substitute! (slide 62) The message of the sixth trumpet is that when God stops protecting the wicked, they refuse to repent even though Satan intensifies his destruction of them.

We have come to the end of the sixth trumpet. Before we move to the seventh trumpet, John follows the same pattern as he did with the seals. He takes an interlude to provide us with additional important information and help as we face the cosmic conflict between good and evil, between God and Satan. (slide 63)

Discussion Question 6: What do you take away from the two warnings from the fifth and sixth trumpets?

The angel and the little scroll. Let’s look at Revelation chapter 10. It’s not a very long chapter. We’ll read the entire chapter. , beginning with verse 1 (TNIV). (slide 64)

“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. (slide 65) He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.’

(slide 66) “Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, (slide 67) ‘There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.’

“Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: ‘Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.’

(slide 68) “So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, ‘Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. (slide 69) Then I was told, ‘You must prophesy again about many people, nations, languages and kings.’”

What are we to make of this little scroll? (slide 70) Remember the scroll with the seals that the Lamb was worthy to open (, )? “Little scroll” (biblaridion) and “scroll” (biblion) can be used interchangeably (see ). It seems that these two scrolls could actually be the same scroll. Because the Lamb broke the seven seals, the scroll can now be opened and read.

When the angel shouts, seven thunders speak. Thunder has Old Testament roots of God speaking with power (; ; ; ). God spoke a perfect message (the number seven) through the thunders. Wouldn’t you like to know what that message is? A voice from heaven tells John to seal up what the seven thunders said and don’t write it down. How unusual for the Book of Revelation! Creative conspiracy theorists find this fertile soil to let their imaginations run wild. Don’t go there! Based on the Bible, I would say that I don’t know and you don’t know, and that’s the way God wants it right now. For those of us who want every question answered now because we don’t trust God in areas of uncertainty, we should memorize (TNIV), “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” We certainly have plenty that has been written for us. We can trust God in areas unknown to us.

says, “The mystery of God will be accomplished.” Could this be another unknown element? Look at your Participant’s Guide, pages 66-67 (Participant’s Guide, pages 66-67) (slide 71). It contains several New Testament references for the term “the mystery of God.” It seems that the mystery of God can be known to anyone. God has revealed it through apostles and prophets, and now through the church. This mystery includes God’s purposes, plans and activities in this world. Jesus Christ embodied it, and that makes him worthy to open the scroll and reveal its mysteries. The death of Jesus provides salvation for all who will receive it—those who have been God’s people and those who haven’t. It’s available to all!

In John’s day, the cult of Dionysius had a set of mysteries that only the initiated could know. This would provide an avenue for their souls to migrate from this life to the next. This was to be kept a secret from those outside of the cult. Other mystery cults had secrets only insiders could know. In contrast, the mystery of God found in the New Testament is to be shared with all, especially those outside of Christ so they can join.

(slide 72) ends with a curious description of John taking and eating the scroll, which tastes sweet in his mouth, but sour (or bitter) in his stomach. He was told to do so. He obeyed. He experienced something pleasant and then not so pleasant. Most of us can identify with this sequence, even though we probably don’t literally eat scrolls. Have you ever done something you really enjoyed and later felt badly about it? Children’s stories abound regarding eating candy in unlimited amounts until a child becomes sick, or getting into mischief that seemed fun until you got caught. Can the same thing happen when a person shares the good news about God? Can it initially be positive and then actually turn negative?

In we read God’s message to the prophet, “’Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’ So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth” ( TNIV). He then gave God’s message to the people, who rejected it and rejected him. Not surprisingly, Ezekiel then experienced bitterness and anger (see verse 14).

Have you shared the good news with someone else and they chose to reject it and possibly reject you? You may have been excited to share the good news, but they weren’t excited to receive it. What you expected to be sweet turned out to be sour. In the final message of the warning given with the seven trumpets, this is our last push to share the Gospel with the world before the end comes. Before the seventh angel sounds its trumpet, heed the warning! The time for judgment is near. The problems of this world seem to be intensifying. Turn to God in repentance and prayer. But that’s not all. This interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets includes still another element.

(slide 73) The Two Witnesses. Let’s read the first 14 verses of . We’ll find that the Old Testament roots are very important to understand the symbols presented here. (TNIV):

(slide 74) “I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, ‘Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. But exclude the outer court, do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. (slide 75) And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. They are ‘the two olive trees’ and the two lampstands, and ‘they stand before the Lord of the earth.’ If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. (slide 76) They have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying, and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

“Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. (slide 77) Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days many from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. (slide 78) The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

“But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. (slide 79) Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.

“At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

(slide 80) “The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.”

Wow! That can be rather overwhelming, can’t it? Give me some feedback on what catches your attention as something that seems a bit familiar or something you understand. (Solicit feedback. Don’t try to answer every question. Instead, seek to get a read on how much people understand and what seems important to them.)

(slide 81) The first verse of describes the measuring of God’s temple, altar and people. This matches the instructions given to Ezekiel when God told him about a new temple to replace the one Babylon had destroyed (). A great separating is taking place. Not everyone who claims to be part of the people of God is really part of the people of God. And some who think they are out are not really out! Only God knows who are His and who are not His. And the separation is taking place at the very end (see also ).

Why aren’t the Gentiles measured? Because they are given 42 months to trample on the holy city. Simultaneously, God’s two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These represent the two sides in the cosmic conflict. We’ll look into this more in our next session—the center of the pyramid.

What about these two witnesses in ? Let’s just say from the start that we don’t know for sure. In spite of the many elements presented, it could mean more than one thing. Most who have studied this see the two witnesses as the Bible or God’s people. We’ll see what you think after we cover this.

The term “two witnesses” reminds us of the Jewish legal system that required the testimony of two witnesses to establish truth (see , ; ). Christ’s disciples were witnesses (; ; ; ; ; ). The two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth (), the garb associated with prophets (see ; ; ). Perhaps this relates to the prophetic message that is sweet in the mouth but sour in the stomach in the preceding verses.

The two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands before the Lord of the earth. This takes us to an Old Testament root in , which also mentions two olive trees and lampstands. Zechariah names two key individuals—Joshua as the religious leader and Zerubbabel as the political leader—who played key roles in constructing a new temple after God’s people returned from Babylonian captivity.

indicates these two witnesses have 1) power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain when they prophesy and 2) power to turn water into blood and other plagues. Can you think of Old Testament roots for those two witnesses? (Solicit responses, giving additional clues if needed.) Yes, it was Elijah who said there would be no rain. That lasted for three and a half years! Sound familiar? That’s the same as 1,260 days, the time that God protected Elijah from wicked King Ahab.

And what about an Old Testament root for someone who turned water into blood and other plagues? (Solicit responses.) Yes, that would be Moses (see ).

Maybe the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah. They also show up in (TNIV) in the context of the coming judgment, “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb (Sinai) for all Israel. See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.”

Sometimes the Old Testament gets divided into two sections called the Law and the Prophets. In a sense, Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets. Maybe the two witnesses are the Law and the Prophets. But then it was Moses and Elijah who appeared to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration ().

introduces a beast from the Abyss, the devil’s storehouse, who attacks and kills the two witnesses. Does that apply to Moses and Elijah? The beast didn’t kill them. But many of God’s people in Scripture did die from people and agencies working out Satan’s ploys. Maybe the two witnesses are God’s witnesses throughout Scripture.

describes the dead bodies of the two witnesses lying in the public square of the great city, figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. All of these represent those who ignore God, worship false gods, deny God or fight against God and his people. They stand in opposition to the covenant God described in the Bible. They killed God’s Son. The same happens to the two witnesses.

Revelation continues by naming three and a half days as the time period without proper burial. Three and a half days reminds us of the time Christ was in the grave, but also the time periods mentioned earlier in —the 42 months and the 1,260 days. Does this mean that the forces of evil seem to triumph for three and a half days? Perhaps that’s how it seemed when Jesus was in the tomb. When taken as prophetic time, three and a half days becomes three and a half years. That’s the time when evil continued in Israel during Elijah’s judgment that there would be no rain until he received the word from Yahweh.

After the three and a half days the breath of life from God enters the two witnesses and they experience resurrection. This results in terror to the onlookers and eventually the two witnesses are called up to heaven. Does this remind you of anything? (Solicit responses. Hopefully people will think of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. There are also hints for Moses and Elijah.)

The phrase “the breath of life from God” () takes us all the way back to creation and God’s breath of life that transformed humans from dust into living creatures (). Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones raised the question of whether or not there was any hope for God’s people after they had been taken captive to Babylon and the temple had been destroyed (). God did it when Israel seemed dead and captive in Babylonian. He did it at creation. He will do it when the two witnesses seem dead towards the end of this earth’s history.

Are you living at a time or in a place where the two witnesses are dead or alive? Is God, and those loyal to him, a laughingstock in your world? Are you the only one loyal to God? Or is God alive and well in your world?

(slide 82) Are the two witnesses Moses and Elijah or the law and the prophets? Are the two witnesses God’s people throughout earth’s history or the Bible as Old Testament and New Testament. Let’s take a vote (Feel free to adapt this as you choose.) All those who think the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah, raise your hand. How many think this refers to all of God’s people—his witnesses? Okay, how many think the two witnesses are the Bible—the Old Testament and New Testament. How many think the two witnesses are something else? How many don’t know?

We have the basic elements. We don’t necessarily need name tags to get the message.

(slide 83) Our interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets ends with a severe earthquake in which a tenth of the city collapses and 7,000 people are killed. The survivors are terrified and give glory to the God of heaven (). The city will be completely destroyed in . This serves as a warning call to turn to God. The number 7,000 symbolized God’s perfect army in Elijah’s day (). But in the 7,000 are part of the evil city. Is John alerting us to the coming deception in which the devil will try to present himself as God and use some of God’s identifying characteristics and actions? Indeed, in the next segment of Revelation, we’ll find that to be the case. Let this small irregularity tip you off to the rest that are about to come.

Discussion Question 7: What do you think are the most important aspects of what the two witnesses do?

The interlude has come to a close. We are ready for the final trumpet to sound.

(slide 84) The Seventh Trumpet: (TNIV) reads, (slide 85) “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah; and he will reign for ever and ever.’ (slide 86) And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. (slide 87) The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.’”

What a relief! What a celebration! This describes the return of Christ to earth. It’s the answer to the Lord’s prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” ( TNIV). Just as Jesus was inaugurated in heaven after his ascension, his reign on earth has finally begun. The showdown between the powers of good and evil in this world has ended. In the 24 elders give thanks to “the Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was.” (slide 88) Why has John dropped “who is to come” in (Solicit responses.) Based on what we read in the previous verses, He has come! The future has become the now! The “mystery of God” has been completed. Hallelujah!

It seems like the Book of Revelation should end at . The reign of Christ both in heaven and on earth are fully established. It’s over. Let’s go home.

But wait, there’s more. The first segment of Revelation had the seven churches, which related to John’s day as well as our own. The next two segments had seven seals and seven trumpets, covering the Christian Era. We have come to the center of the book—the focal point. Let’s definitely continue! Our focus will now shift from the entire Christian Era to the end of the world.

We have had a few key verses in the past that served to prepare us for what was to come. (For example: ; ; ; ) We have come to another key verse that actually provides an outline for the second half of the Book of Revelation. This key verse is . You will find it in your Participant’s Guide, page 69 (Participant’s Guide, page 69) (slide 89). Notice the sequence: (slide 90)

1. The nations were enraged

2. Your wrath has come

3. The time for the dead to be judged

a. Reward to your saints

b. Destroy those who destroy the earth

We won’t go into detail on these right now since that’s what the rest of Revelation will do! Let’s simply point out that the nations get enraged. The wrath of God is a response to the wrath of the nations against God. Going opposite directions and with opposite goals, compromise isn’t an option. And final judgment comes, as was promised in the seven trumpets and in response to the prayers of those who prayed from under the altar in the fifth seal. Even though it may not look like it at times, according to the Bible, God wins! And so does everyone with him. That requires faith when it looks like God is losing.

(slide 91) To summarize the seventh trumpet, it all culminates with this world becoming the kingdom of God. The sanctuary scene that introduced this segment of Revelation presented the daily prayers and the need for repentance. Those prayers will indeed be answered!

Discussion Question 8: What do you do when there is unexpected silence? What do you do when the silence is something you expect?

This brings us to the close of perhaps the most difficult portion of Revelation. Our summary statement for the seven trumpets can be found in your Participant’s Guide, page 70 (Participant’s Guide, page 70) (slide 92). It will take a few sentences: God warns of the need to repent. He sends and allows difficulty, destruction, and death to get people’s attention. In such uncertain chaos, prayer continues to be our lifeline to God.

Discussion Question 9: How can you respond to God’s call to pray and repent in your life?

What regular calls to repentance, prayer, and worship might you be able to institute for yourself?

So let’s pray!

God, there is so much! So much calamity! So much fear! So much hostility! No wonder you began this segment with the practice of so much prayer. While many elements have symbolic meanings that we might not be able to identify with certainty, the picture seems rather obvious. You want to be in covenant relationship with us. When we break that bond, you warn us and call us to repent. You promise judgment, but you also promise forgiveness when we repent. And your promise to return and eventually put an end to this perpetual battle is good news indeed. Until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of God, we renew our commitment to you. We repent of our tendency to place ourselves in the place of God. We continue our communion with you through prayer. And we thank you, Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.