Revelation 8 Study Notes

8:8-9 The description of the second . . . trumpet sounds like the eruption of a great island volcano. A third of the sea becoming blood and a third of the living creatures in it dying is similar to what happened to the Nile River and its fish in the first plague on Egypt (Ex 7:17-21), but on a global scale.

8:10-11 The effects of the third . . . trumpet are like a meteorite (i.e., a falling star) hitting the earth and causing toxic water pollution, killing many people. Wormwood is a nonpoisonous but bitter plant common to the Middle East. Biblical authors use it as an analogy for bitterness, sorrow, injustice, etc. (e.g., Jr 23:15; Lm 3:15; Am 5:7).

8:12 It is difficult to understand the exact effects of the fourth . . . trumpet, though it clearly echoes the ninth plague on Egypt (Ex 10:21-23). For the sun . . . moon, and stars to be darkened by a third could mean one of the following. (1) These heavenly bodies are visible for “a third” less time than is normal. (2) The intensity of their light is reduced by “a third,” as if by the recent cosmic disturbances (see notes on the first three trumpets at vv. 7,8-9,10-11).

8:13 The remaining three trumpet judgments will maximize the woe upon the “earth dwellers,” whom God has previously spotlighted for judgment and vengeance for spilling the martyrs’ blood (6:10) during the “hour of testing” (the tribulation period, 3:10).