Revelation 8: The Sounding Trumpets

Welcome people present, people at home on YouTube, Facebook, and in our online archives. If you haven’t been with us, we have deconstructed these gatherings down to the essentials: We begin with prayer, sing the Word of God set to music (as a means to get it into our heads), and then we sit for a moment in silence here at the Church/Studio. When we come back, we pick up where we left off last week in our verse-by-verse study. And that takes us to Acts chapter 23, verse 12.

Prayer Song Silence

Okay, so let’s now get into the sounding trumpets. Beginning at verse 7 let’s read.

The First Four Trumpets

Revelation 8. Part III Meat August 20th 2017 Open Water Baptism and Hot Dog BBQ

7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

Okay, to reread verse 7:

7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Emblematic or Literal Interpretations

In the first trump, the first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth or the Gahay, meaning the land and not the world. The result was that a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. We note that this first trumpet relates to the seventh plague of Exodus found in 9:23-25.

There God sent hail and fire upon the land of Egypt and the result? “And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.” Similarly, here in Revelation, this plague of hail and fire, like the first trumpet of Revelation, destroyed the plants and trees of the land.

Symbols and Siege Works

We have to ask: Was this actual hail and actual fire and actual blood reigning down on the land or are these emblems representative? Some suggest that the blood that is mingled with the hail and fire is emblematic of Jesus' blood raining down upon those who cried in Matthew 27:24-25 where the Jews at the trial of Jesus cried: “His blood be on us and our children.”

Additionally, it is believed that the hail, fire, and blood mentioned in this verse were possibly all the result of Roman siege works. In predicting the impending siege and fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonian army in 588 B.C., Ezekiel poetically describes this siege in Ezekiel 13:10-15 in imagery denoting the coming of the Lord on the clouds of heaven as it is described in Psalm 18:7-15. We talked about this last week.

The Ezekiel passages describe the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem as a storm with violent wind, flooding rain, and hailstones—all signs of the coming of the Lord on the clouds of heaven according to Psalm 18:7-15. Similarly, Ezekiel 13:13-14 predicts the fact that Jerusalem’s walls would fall by violent wind, rain, and hailstones as it says: Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath. So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground.

The Fall of Babylon and the Siege of Jerusalem

So that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst.”

The fall of the wall mentioned here regarding Babylon was fulfilled in 588 B.C. It was at this time that the Babylonian army by means of a battering ram broke through a wall in Jerusalem before massacring the people within the city.

Ezekiel 13:13 also mentions “flooding rain.” Floods frequently symbolize invading foreign armies as is clearly indicated in Isaiah 8:7-8; 17:12; Jeremiah 46:7-8; Daniel 9:26; 11:10; 11:40; Joel 2:9 and Nahum 1:8. But what about the hailstones? The hailstones mentioned in Ezekiel 13:13 also appear to be related to the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. As stated, in 588 B.C., the Babylonians used a battering ram to topple the city wall. This battering ram was defended by siege towers from which soldiers shot arrows and hurled stones at the people defending the city walls.

Stones and Fire as Instruments of Siege

The hailstones mentioned in Ezekiel 13:13 appear to be these stones launched at the people of Jerusalem during this siege. I would therefore suggest that the “hail” mentioned in Revelation 8:7 also represents stones launched by enemy soldiers into Jerusalem. However, due to improvements in warfare these hailstones of Revelation 8:7 were probably much larger than the stones launched into Jerusalem during its fall in 588 B.C as those of Revelation 8:7 were boulders launched by Roman catapults. According to Josephus, these boulders were white and thus looked like giant hail stones when they fell to the earth.

So there is the hail but what about the fire? The fire represents flaming arrows and other firebrands launched by Roman archers or siege engines. During a siege, flammable materials were frequently launched into a city in order to burn provisions or start random fires to distract soldiers from defending their walls. During the siege of Jotapata, one of the cities besieged by the Romans earlier in the war, Josephus states that firebrands were launched into the city, saying:

“At the same time such engines as were intended for that purpose threw at once lances upon them with a great noise, and stones of the weight of a talent were thrown by the engines that were prepared for that purpose, together with fire, and a vast multitude of arrows, which made the wall so dangerous, that the Jews durst not only not come upon it, but durst not come to those parts within the walls which were reached by the engines.”

Imagery of Blood and Destruction

Another interpretation of the fail and fire being mixed with blood is the fact that when these stones struck the high wall tops and smashed into the bodies of soldiers that it would rain blood down upon the heads of those around and below them. Some have supposed that the Romans also catapulted the corpses of the Jews back over the walls (to spread epidemics) which may have created the same its raining blood imagery.

Perhaps this act, if legitimate, lent to the plague of boils we will read about in Revelation 16:2? We then read: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. Throughout Revelation I would suggest that when we read about the earth we are talking about Israel, Judea and/or Jerusalem. When we read the sea we are talking about symbols for foreign nations, in particular Rome. Keep this in mind as we move through the book. In any case, we are told that (in direct relation to these hurled stones and fires and blood”

and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

This burning up of the trees and grass were all part of the results of the Roman scorched earth policy. Josephus says:

“He [referring to Titus] also at the same time gave his soldiers leave to set the suburbs on fire, and ordered that they should bring timber together, and raise banks against the city. . . . So the trees were now cut down immediately, and the suburbs left naked”

Josephus adds in his, War of the Jews, these three sentences.

“Now this country [Jericho] is then so sadly burnt up that nobody care [sic] to come at it…”

And

“[N]or did the Romans . . . leave off either by night or by day, burning the places in the plain . . . so that Galilee was all over filled with fire and blood. . . .”

And

“He [Vespasian] also set fire, not only to the city [of Gadara] itself, but to all the villas.”

The Symbolism of the Second Trumpet

Of course, futurists preach and read this passage and entertainingly describe our world receiving similar judgements – but from God. Verse 8 and 9.

8 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, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The second trumpet blast may correlate to the first plague of Exodus, the plague of blood. In this plague, Moses struck the Nile and it turned to blood killing all the fish of the river (this is found in Exodus 7:20-21).

But let’s work our way through the passages:

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea.

The Mountain and the Sea

Mountain is a word frequently used in the Bible to symbolize a kingdom or city since cities were often built on mountains for military defense. For example, the city of Jerusalem is often called the “Mountain of the Lord” throughout the Bible. We also see this imagery used in Psalms 2:6 and 48:1, in Isaiah 66:20; Jeremiah 51:25; Joel 3:17).

“Sea” represents the Gentile nations and we see this in Daniel 7:2-3; Revelation 17:15, Psalm 65:7; 144:7; Isaiah 8:7-8; 17:12; 60:5; Jeremiah 47:1-2; 51:55-56; Ezekiel 26:3. We can get mixed up when discussing the Sea in scripture because sea and the term, “abyss,” (the afterlife realm of the dead) are used synonymously. In other words, “sea” simultaneously signifies both foreign nations and the abyss or the afterlife realm of the dead.

When we are presented with the symbol of “a mountain being cast into the sea” it is a common biblical metaphor. What is the result of a city being invaded (or swallowed up) by a foreign army? DeathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God., or the Abyss. So imagery of such is described in a mountain (a city of Israel for example) being scooped out and dropped into a dark abyss of Gentile warfare. Thus the city or mountain victimized by foreign military aggression is sometimes depicted in the Bible as a mountain descending into the Abyss, the land of the dead, when attacked by aggressive foreign powers.

Jeremiah 51:25 and 42 is a good example of this symbolism. In these verses, mountain represents a city or kingdom and sea represents its foreign conquerors AND the Abyss simultaneously. Listen to what it says: “I am against you, you destroying mountain [Babylon], 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. . . . The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.”

When the city of Babylon fell in 539 B.C. the city was not overcome by literal flood waters (just as the mountain city mentioned in Revelation 8:8 was not literally thrown into a literal sea). Rather, in Jeremiah 51:25, 42, Babylon, the destroying mountain, is punished by the the foreign armies of the Medes and Persians which are depicted as the sea. Tapping into this imagery we can see that floods and flooding are not always literal and pertaining to water in scripture – especially in apocalyptic scripture. We see floods used metaphorically in (Isaiah 8:7-8; 17:12; Jeremiah 46:7-8; Daniel 9:26; 11:10; 11:40; Joel 2:9; Nahum 1:8).

Historical Fulfillment

Having said all of this the “mountain cast into the sea” in Revelation 8:8 conveys a similar message of death by way of foreign military conquest. What is interesting is that vs. 8 and 9 were actually fulfilled much, more literally than what we might think.

The cities of Joppa and Taricheae were situated on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. Upon the arrival of the Roman military, the Jewish rebels of these two cities retreated out to sea. There the rough waves and heavy winds at the coast of Joppa drowned many people. Their ships were also destroyed as they struck each other and the rocks along the coast. Many people of Joppa fell into the water and according to Josephus were “dashed to pieces” against the rocks “insomuch that the sea was bloody a long way.”

The city of Taricheae did not fare better. Upon fleeing to the Sea of Galilee, the rebels of Taricheae were killed by the Romans. Concerning their deaths at sea, Josephus writes: One might

Revelation's Symbolism of Destruction

Then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following days over the country; for as for the shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all swelled.

Now hear verse 8 and 9 again!

8 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, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Not only were the mountains of Joppa and Tricheae conquered by Rome (which was a foreign army representing the sea or Abyss in Revelation 8:8) but the people of these two cities were quite literally thrown into the sea–the sea of Galilee–and subsequently killed and therefore cast into the sea representing the Abyss, the realm of the dead.

Dual Fulfillment of the Mountain Into the Sea

Interestingly there appears to be a dual fulfillment to the mountain thrown into the sea in Revelation 8:8-9. The second trumpet which was fulfilled in the fall of Joppa and Tricheae could foreshadow the fall of Jerusalem.

In Matthew 21:10 Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey. Then after entering the Temple, Jesus drives out the money changers. That night Jesus left Jerusalem to spend the night in Bethany which was just outside of Jerusalem (Matthew 21:17). Then in the morning on His way back to Jerusalem, Jesus says to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Matthew 21:21-22).”

We often miss the fact that the mountain that Jesus was referring to in these verses was the mountain that stood right in front of them at that time—Jerusalem, God’s Holy Mountain. It may be a stretch but could it be that Jesus promised the disciples that if they prayed for Jerusalem, God’s Holy Mountain, to be cast into the sea, it would be done.

This would fulfill the passages in Revelation 6:9-11 (which we have covered) where the prayers of the saints to have vengeance for their unjust deaths taken. Perhaps their prayer rising up to the nostrils of God was, toss that city into the hands of the Gentiles like you would toss Jerusalem into the sea.

In Luke 13:33 Jesus says something interesting, “[N]o prophet can die outside of Jerusalem!” OR “All prophets are put to death in Jerusalem.” Then in Matthew 23:34-36, Jesus says that “all the righteous blood that has been shed on the earth would be placed on Jerusalem.”

The Fall of Jerusalem

When Jesus said that all the righteous blood that had been shed on the earth would be placed on Jerusalem He meant that regardless of where a prophet died the blame for the deed would be placed on Jerusalem because of her lengthy history of killing the prophets. Interestingly, the people of Jerusalem accepted the blame for the unjust deaths of the righteous when after chanting to have Jesus crucified during Jesus’ trial before Pilate, the people of Jerusalem are recorded saying, “His blood is on us and on our children.”

So, in Revelation 6:9-11 the martyrs (those who died at their hands) prayed for vengeance from God. Taking all of this in and then reading between the lines it seems obvious that the prayers of the righteous dead were to have the mountain of Jerusalem, the city responsible for their unjust deaths, cast into the sea.

And in fulfillment of Matthew 21:21-22, God honored these prayers. Jerusalem was cast into the sea in A.D. 70 when the foreign armies of the Romans, the metaphorical sea, destroyed and conquered Jerusalem (which, by the way, was also known as “Mount(ain) Zion.”) Thus “the blazing mountain” (as a result of Romans scorched earth policy) was thrown into the sea (the hands of the Roman army) and Revelation 8:8-9 was both initiated by the second trumpet and then fulfilled in A.D. 70.

Verse 10 and the third angel and therefore the third trumpet:

10 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—11 the name of the star is Wormwood.

The Bitter Waters and Wormwood

A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

Comets were ominous omens in biblical times. In The Wars of the Jews, Josephus mentions a comet that ran across the sky for a whole year. Perhaps this falling star was the Wormwood described here? However, while it is possible that Revelation 8:10-11 describes a real comet, this star from heaven ultimately seems to symbolize or represent one of the seven angels of the seven plagues. This star likely is or represents the angel of the third plague whose name in Greek is absinthos translated to wormwood in English.

We know that absinthe is an anise-flavored spirit derived from botanicals, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. The product Absinthe traditionally has a natural green color but may also be colorless and is used illegally in the US as a hallucinogenic.

The Symbolism of Stars and Angels

Because stars frequently represent angels in the Bible (Deuteronomy 4:19; Judges 5:20; Job 25:5; 38:7; Psalm 148:3; Isaiah 14:12-14; Daniel 12:3; Revelation 9:1-2) we might be talking about an angel – most likely the third trumpeting angel – that comes and poisons the waters and rivers. In Revelation 8:10-11 a falling star causes the waters to become bitter and appears to be an omen foreshadowing impending doom. Don Preston notes that the falling star of the third trumpet calls to mind the fall of Edom and Zion in the Old Testament. Concerning the defeat of Edom by its enemies, Obadiah 1:4 reads,

“Though you [Edom] build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,’ declares the Lord.”

Poetically describing the fall of Zion in the sixth century B.C. by the Babylonians, Lamentations 2:1 reads,

“He has cast [Zion] from heaven to earth the glory of Israel[.]”

Implying the putrefaction of the heavenly place of the Nation by becoming earthly.

The Third Trumpet and Historical Parallels

So let us first discuss the similarities between the third bowl and third trumpet and the first plague of Exodus. The third trumpet here in chapter 8 is also the third bowl of Revelation 16:4. And the third bowl explains why the waters became bitter in Revelation 8:11. In the third bowl, the rivers turned to blood. According to Levitical Law, Jews were not permitted to drink blood. Therefore, this bloody water would be undrinkable to them. These two verses – one about the third trumpet and one about its corresponding bowl are a continuation of the plague of blood which would make water unpotable.

This was what occurred in Egypt too! (Exodus 7:21).

Just as the Nile River had turned bloody and smelled of decay, the same thing occurred at the Jordan River during the Jewish War. Jews fleeing from Gadara were cornered by the Romans at the Jordan River and there 15,000 Jews were killed. In discussing this massacre at the river, Josephus writes,

“[The] Jordan could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in it, but because the lake Asphaltitis [the Dead Sea] was also full of dead bodies, that were carried down into it by the river.”

Wormwood is a plant with a strong, bitter flavor. This is a fitting name for a star that turns the waters bitter. But listen – the waters of Israel were not just bitter because of the presence of blood, the water of the lake Asphalitis was already bitter. Concerning this lake, Josephus writes,

“The nature of the lake Asphaltitis is also worth describing. It is, as I have said already, bitter and unfruitful.”

Concerning the presence of bitterness or wormwood during the Jewish War and its aftermath, Rabbi Abin says the following interesting quote in the Midrash Lamentations, which are the most ancient of Midrash writings. There it says:

“He hath filled me with bitterness (Lam. 3:15): on the first nights of the Passover Festival. He hath sated me with wormwood: on the ninth of Ab [the day in which the first and second temples were destroyed]. What He filled me with on the first nights of Passover, therewith He sated me on the nights of the ninth of Ab, viz. wormwood. The nights of the week on which the first day of Passover occurs is always the same as that on which the ninth of Ab falls.”

Is Revelation 8:10-11 also fulfilled during and after…

The Parallel Between Jerusalem and Babylon

The Jewish War in the bitter lamentation of the Jews referred to as “wormwood” according to the Midrash? Perhaps so. Now, similar to the second trumpet of vs. 8-9, some or perhaps all of these trumpet plagues appear to have dual fulfillment in the fall of Jerusalem.

One thing that is important to remember is that because Rome and Jerusalem became one flesh as a consequence of their adulterous affair, both cities are called “Babylon” throughout the Apocalypse. This can be confusing. But remember, Jerusalem was in a marriage covenant with God (according to Isaiah 54:5). But in Revelation 17 she is pictured in an adulterous affair against God, her spiritual husband, with Rome. In Revelation 17, Jerusalem, the whore or Babylon, is pictured sitting on the beast as if in the act of adultery with the beast which is Rome. Because of her adulterous affair with Rome, Jerusalem is called the whore of Babylon in Revelation 17.

The Biblical Basis of Adultery Metaphor

We remember Paul writing in 1st Corinthians 6:16: “The one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her. For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.” Numbers 5:11-31 lays out a ceremonial custom by which a married man may test to see if his wife has committed adultery. In Numbers 5:11-31 the wife under suspicion is made to drink bitter water which is expected to bring a curse if she is guilty of infidelity. This prophetic custom is fulfilled in Revelation 8:10-11 because in this place Jerusalem is made to drink bitter waters which brings a curse (in v. 11) because of her adultery with the beast (Rome) mentioned in Revelation 17.

Interestingly, sixth century Jerusalem was also charged with adultery in Jeremiah 9:2 and thus made to drink water made bitter by wormwood in Jeremiah 9:15. The same message is also conveyed (to sixth century Jerusalem) in Ezekiel 23. There, Jerusalem and Samaria are portrayed as sisters who together commit adultery against God. As a result, Samaria is destroyed by the Assyrians, and Jerusalem is made to drink from the same cup that brings ruin in Ezekiel 23:32-34. That cup is, of course, a cup filled with “bitter water” which brings a curse which first century Jerusalem is also be made to drink in Revelation 8:10-11.

Trumpet Plagues

12 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.

Let’s leave this fourth trumpet and its application and fulfillment to next week.

Question or comments

Prayer.

October 1st 2017 Adams Road and the McCraney Sisters.

October 31st 2017 a grand opening of two shows taped live right here.