V. The Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8:2–11:19)

V. The Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)

8:2-3 Seven angels who stand in the presence of God are given seven trumpets (8:2) that will be used to release another series of judgments. In the meantime, another angel offers to the Lord a large amount of incense and the prayers of all the saints (8:3). These prayers are the petitions of martyrs from the tribulation who cried out previously for divine vengeance and justice and were told to wait (cf. 6:10-11). The fact that they rise with sweet smelling incense suggests it is a pleasant experience for God to receive the prayers of his people.

8:4-5 The martyrs’ prayers were not in vain despite God’s delayed response because now, as they go up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand (8:4), they prompt an immediate response of angelic fire being hurled . . . to the earth. This brings about accompanying peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake (8:5).

8:6-7 Within the seventh seal are seven trumpets, which depict a whole new round of judgments, and the seven angels prepare to administer them. The first trumpet’s hail and fire, mixed with blood depicts a firestorm that dwarfs even the most gigantic contemporary wildfires. While wildfires in the western United States, for example, burn tens of thousands of acres, this firestorm will affect a third of the planet, consuming a third of the trees and all the green grass.

8:8-9 The second trumpet brings something like a great mountain ablaze with fire that is hurled into the sea (8:8), scorching a third of the sea creatures and destroying a third of the ships (8:9). This may be part of the same firestorm triggered by the sounding of the first trumpet, or it could be a separate event.

8:10-11 The great star associated with the third . . . trumpet (8:10) appears to be a meteor or asteroid falling to earth. Science fiction works commonly have depicted the damage such a celestial body could cause were it to collide with earth, but in this instance the damage will be real. Wormwood (8:11) means bitter, referencing the effect this thing will have on a third of the rivers and springs (8:10). Many . . . people will die because of severely contaminated water that has been made bitter (8:11).

8:12 The fourth . . . trumpet brings a darkening of a third of the sunlight, a third of the moonlight, and a third of the stars. As a result, a third of the day will be without light, with a third of the night experiencing a similar effect. This means that normal cycles of daylight and darkness will be thrown off, perhaps somewhat resembling an Alaskan winter, whose lingering darkness has physical, emotional, and psychological effects.

8:13 Prior to the final three trumpets and their accompanying judgments, God sends an eagle flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice to warn those who live on the earth regarding the coming judgments’ severity. The warning has a twofold purpose. First, it suggests the remaining judgments will be harsh. That is because they are intended to purify and reclaim the earth. Second, it underscores the graciousness of God in offering an opportunity for humanity to repent before judgment falls. God the Father, like an earthly parent, takes two approaches with people—one of grace and another of wrath (cf. Rom 11:22). During the church age, he generally exhibits grace and mercy. He also exhibits a form of passive wrath by allowing people and nations to face the destructive consequences of their actions.

Romans 1 is a prime example of this, depicting idolatrous people whom “God delivered . . . over to degrading passions” (1:26)—that is, to homosexual passions. As recipients of this passive divine wrath, they “received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error” (1:27). As Paul explains, “Because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right” (1:28). When the tribulation begins, though, this passive form of God’s wrath that merely declines to hold back the just dessert of human actions will yield to more active wrath. God’s wrath will rain down as it did on Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Gen 19:23-29).

9:1 Upon the fifth angel’s trumpet blast, John saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. Notably, the star is not an inanimate object but has a personal identity, for John says a key was given to him. Specifically, the star represents Satan. In Isaiah 14:12, the prophet says the “shining morning star” had “fallen from the heavens.” The subsequent description of that star in Isaiah 14:12-14 has led many Bible interpreters to conclude that the passage is describing Satan, in addition to its reference to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. In other words, Isaiah spoke of Satan’s original fall into rebellion and applied it to Babylon’s prideful king.

Just as a key grants us access to a home, office, or car, this key grants Satan access to the shaft to the abyss. The abyss is the abode of the demons, according to Luke 8:31, in which demons begged Jesus “not to banish them.” During the tribulation, Satan will be granted authority to unlock the pit. A principle illustrated in this verse is that Satan only has as much authority as God grants him. Nowhere in Scripture is that principle more prominently displayed than in Job 1:12 and 2:6, in which Satan cannot harm Job without God’s permission. But what the devil intends for evil, God intends for good.

9:2-4 From the abyss comes smoke . . . like smoke from a great furnace (9:2). When it rises, the sun and the air will be darkened as though it were nighttime (9:2). Locusts will emerge from the smoke with scorpion-like powers (9:3) and will be told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads (9:4). Interestingly, this marks a departure from the activity of normal locusts, which eat grass, plants, and trees. But as indicated by their origin in the abode of demons, these “locusts” are demons. The “seal” represents God’s divine protection of believers. These demons will have to leave followers of Jesus alone.

9:5-6 These locusts will be permitted to torment nonbelievers on earth for five months, though they will not be permitted to kill them. We do not know the specific manner in which this demonic attack will be delivered, but it will be painful, like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings (9:5). This will make people long to die, but death will flee from them (9:6). They will be forced to live through a period of prolonged, demonic suffering intended for those who do not know Jesus as their Savior.

9:7-8 The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle (9:7). This sentence emphasizes the ferociousness of the locusts and their intimidating looks. In the Old Testament, locusts were instruments of judgment, as in the eighth plague God brought upon the Egyptians (see Exod 10:1-20) and in the judgment envisioned by the prophet in Joel 1:2-12. The placement of something like golden crowns . . . on their heads signifies authority—in this case, authority from hell. The locusts’ demonic origin is further underscored by their strange appearance: they have faces . . . like human faces and hair like women’s hair (9:7). That they have teeth like lions’ teeth (9:8) also points to their ferociousness.

9:9-11 Because the locusts have chests like iron breastplates, they will be protected from harm as they torment others. This second mention of horses rushing into battle (see 9:7) highlights the organization and the power of God’s judgment on nonbelievers. Venomous tails with stingers like scorpions (9:10) are mentioned in addition to the locusts’ teeth as another instrument of destruction. The harm they inflict will last for five months (9:10). The angel of the abyss, the Hebrew name Abaddon, and the Greek name Apollyon (9:11) are references to Satan. He is directing the entire locust attack.

9:12 Prior to the fifth trumpet’s sounding, an eagle spoke a threefold “woe” (8:13). John tells readers the fifth seal represented only the first of those. So though the locust judgment may seem sufficient from a human vantage point, God says he is only getting started.

9:13-15 At the sounding of the sixth . . . trumpet (9:13), the command for further judgment comes from God, who orders the release of four angels bound at the great river Euphrates (9:14) to kill a third of the human race. Even the judgments directed by Satan are carried out under God’s authority, but here God’s role is explicit and direct. These angels of judgment were prepared for this specific hour, day, month, and year (9:15). The deaths noted here, combined with the fourth of the earth killed in 6:8, bring the death total during the first three and a half years of the tribulation to more than half of the world’s population.

9:16-17 Two hundred million mounted troops probably refers to the same demons associated with the fifth trumpet (cf. 9:1-11). They will serve again as instruments of judgment. As with the fifth trumpet, the agents of judgment here are described in terms of horses (cf. 9:7) and lions (cf. 9:8). This time, their ferocious appearance is heightened by mouths emitting fire, smoke, and sulfur.

9:18-19 The mode of death is specified for the third of mankind mentioned in 9:15. They will be killed by plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur (9:18). The description of the horses (9:19) underscores the likelihood that the agents of judgment associated with the sixth trumpet are the same as those of the fifth trumpet, both having mouths and tails with destructive powers.

9:20-21 Why would God allow something as horrific as the judgments described in this chapter? A partial answer is that despite these plagues, mankind did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols (9:20). Moreover, they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts (9:21). This is a picture of utterly hardened hearts. Already, technology could allow every human on the planet to witness these catastrophic judgments; and as 6:16-17 explained, all will know that God is the source of them. Yet men and women will continue to harden their hearts.

The anti-God movement in America today is a harbinger of this tragic reality. It used to be that atheists were quiet about their beliefs, whispering here and there. Now, though, atheists and worshipers of false gods are becoming bolder. As Romans 1:21-25 explains, when people possess ample evidence of God’s activity but fail to honor or give thanks to him, he gives them over to the just consequences of their actions. Those consequences come in the form of passive wrath during the church age, in which God’s hand of restraint and protection are removed. But during the tribulation period, his wrath will be active. You can get a lot of stuff without God—money, popularity, notoriety. However, your soul will starve without him, and eventually you will face the Lord’s judgment.

10:1 A majestic, mighty angel emerges from heaven . . . with a rainbow over his head and a cloud beneath it. The rainbow and cloud serve as a reminder of God’s faithfulness to keep his promises. That was, after all, the stated purpose of the rainbow amid clouds when God pointed to it following the flood (see Gen 9:12-17), and that was likewise the rainbow’s significance in 4:3, where it surrounded God’s throne. The angel’s face . . . like the sun and legs . . . like pillars of fire denote awesome majesty.

10:2-3 There is no mention of what is written on the little scroll opened in his hand, but context suggests it contains more prophecy of events to transpire during the tribulation. The presentation of this scroll is accompanied by a roaring in nature signified by the angel’s right foot on the sea and his left on the land (10:2) as he cries out with a voice like a roaring lion. This suggests the judgments described in the scroll are awesome and powerful. To underscore this reality, the seven thunders raised their voices (10:3).

10:4 Seven is the number of completion in Scripture and denotes that all prophecy on the scroll had been revealed to John. Thus, John was about to write the prophecy when a voice from heaven stopped him: Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down. On many occasions in Revelation, an angel speaks for God. But here, God himself speaks and says he wants the scroll’s prophecy to remain secret, at least for a time. For all the information Revelation tells about Christ’s second coming, there are still some things God has opted not to disclose yet.

10:5-6 Upon hearing God’s prohibition against revealing the scroll’s prophecy, the mighty angel raised his right hand to heaven (10:5) and swore an oath that there would no longer be a delay (10:6). With the rapid pace at which descriptions of judgment have proceeded thus far, it may seem surprising that God’s messenger would say there has been a delay! Yet what has been delayed to this point is the full and final outpouring of God’s wrath. Through the judgment of the seven seals (6:1-17; 8:1-5) and the first six trumpets (8:6–9:21), God has been restraining his final judgment to allow continued opportunity for repentance. As Peter put it, the delay is not slowness but patience: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9).

10:7 This verse begins with a word of contrast—but—to signify a change from the delay referenced in 10:6. When the seventh angel will blow his trumpet in 11:15, it will mark a shift to the end of the tribulation, when the seven bowls of God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth (16:1-21). At that point, the narrative truly will begin rushing toward the return of Jesus to set up his throne on earth. It might seem puzzling that John would announce a rush to the second coming when there are still twelve chapters remaining in Revelation. However, some of those chapters will rehash from a different perspective events already described. Thus far, God has revealed events to come. Beginning in chapter 11, he will focus on personalities involved in those events. These include the two witnesses, the Antichrist, and the false prophet.

10:8-9 Following the angel’s oath, the voice speaks once again and commands John to go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel (10:8). The angel’s further command to take and eat the scroll is accompanied by this explanation: It will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth (10:9).

10:10 John’s consumption of the scroll is reminiscent of events in Ezekiel 2:8–3:15, in which the prophet had a similar experience. God instructed Ezekiel to take a scroll from an extended hand and eat it. When Ezekiel obeyed, he reported the scroll to be “as sweet as honey in my mouth” (Ezek 3:3). Yet after learning the people of Israel would not listen to God, the prophet reported feeling “bitterness” and “an angry spirit” and that “the Lord’s hand was on [him] powerfully” (Ezek 3:14).

Likewise in Revelation, God’s words of prophecy are sweet as honey in John’s mouth. But when he begins to digest them in his spirit, he reports, My stomach became bitter. The hard word of prophecy is pleasant to receive because it is, after all, the very word of God. Processing the prophecy internally, however, is a different matter that can prove difficult and even unpleasant.

10:11 Equipped with this harsh word from God, John is instructed by the angel and the voice from heaven: You must prophecy again about many people, nations, languages, and kings. Even when the word of God is difficult, then, the man of God must continue to proclaim it.

11:1 John is given a measuring reed like a rod and told to go measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who worship there. To measure a structure or piece of property in Scripture is a means of laying claim to it. You measure it because you own it. In this case, then, God is laying claim to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem that will be rebuilt during the tribulation. Today a Muslim mosque known as the Dome of the Rock sits on the temple site. Orthodox Jews, however, pray daily for the return of the temple at the Western Wall—the one remaining structure from the ancient Jewish temple complex that sits beneath the Dome of the Rock.

11:2 The measurement is not to include, according to these instructions, the courtyard outside the temple . . . because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. “Nations” is a translation of the Greek word that refers to Gentiles in this context. The outer court of the temple will be the only place in the complex that Gentiles are allowed to enter. “Forty-two months” correspond with three and a half years, indicating that the events described in this chapter will occur during the latter half of the seven-year tribulation.

11:3 During the tribulation, two witnesses will be granted authority to prophesy 1,260 days—three and a half years on the Jewish calendar of thirty-day months. One reason to be confident in the Bible’s truth is its specificity in passages like this. It not only prophesies events, but precise details about their occurrence. The message of these two witnesses will be somber, for they will be dressed in sackcloth.

11:4 The two witnesses are pictured metaphorically as two olive trees and two lampstands that stand before the Lord. Olive trees stand for God’s people in the Old and New Testaments (see Ps 52:8; Jer 11:16; Rom 11:24). The lampstands signify that God will provide spiritual illumination through these witnesses.

11:5 If anyone harms these two witnesses, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. These, then, are two extraordinary individuals. Yet that should not come as a surprise because the tribulation is not an ordinary period of history. To underscore the divine anointing on these witnesses, as well as the seriousness of coming against them, the death penalty is pronounced even upon anyone who wants to harm them.

11:6 Authority to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy harkens back to Elijah, and power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague reminds of Moses. Elijah prophesied a drought (see 1 Kgs 17:1-7), and Moses pronounced a series of plagues on Egypt, including the water being turned into blood (see Exod 7–12). These realities may indicate that the two witnesses are Elijah and Moses—who have returned to earth at least once before at the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matt 17:1-13). What’s more, Elijah did not die (see 2 Kgs 2:1-14) and Moses’s body was hidden by God (Deut 34:6), possibly hinting at the Lord’s intention to use both of their bodies on earth again.

Another reality underscored in this verse is that events connected with the Old Testament will occur again during the tribulation. The pattern of God’s work operative in the church age will change because his relationship to the world will shift at the rapture of the church.

11:7 The beast that comes up out of the abyss is also known as the Antichrist. He was introduced in 6:1-11 as the rider of four horses, and he will be discussed at length in 13:1-10 as a “beast,” the same appellation he is given here. By whatever name he is referenced, this figure is the chief antagonist of the tribulation. After the two witnesses finish their testimony, he will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them. No one will be able to stop these witnesses except the Antichrist. His power overrules theirs—but only temporarily.

11:8-9 It will be worldwide news when these two witnesses with supernatural powers die in Jerusalem and their dead bodies . . . lie in the main street. The wickedness of the city during the tribulation is highlighted by the reference to it as Sodom and Egypt (11:8). Some peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will not allow the two witnesses to be buried, viewing their corpses for three and a half days (11:9). Notably, just as some individuals from every “nation, tribe, people, and language” will be saved (6:9), some from every ethnic group also will harden their hearts against God. The beast will mastermind all this activity in an effort to show he is superior in power to God’s two witnesses.

11:10 Those who live on the earth will celebrate not only the death of the two witnesses, but the triumph of the beast as well. This celebration will involve gifts, like those given at a Christmas or birthday party, because wicked men and women will delight in the death of two figures who tormented them with supernatural judgments and preaching of righteousness.

11:11-12 After three and a half days of gloating over the slain witnesses, the party will end for the beast and his followers. The breath of life from God will enter the two witnesses, bringing about a resurrection, and they will stand on their feet, causing great fear to come upon all who see them (11:11). The beast’s bragging will be interrupted by God’s voice calling, Come up here. At that, the witnesses will be raptured in a cloud while their enemies watch (11:12).

11:13 At the moment of their rapture, a violent earthquake will cause a tenth of Jerusalem to fall to the ground and seven thousand people to die. The survivors will be terrified and give glory to the God of heaven. As God often does, in this instance he will allow negative events to occur because those events will bring him greater glory.

11:14 With the passing of the second woe, it is appropriate to pause and note that these events could be disorienting at first glance. That is because chapter 11 occurs in the section of Revelation describing the events of the tribulation without focusing much on the personalities involved. When the focus turns to personalities in chapter 12, John moves back chronologically and fills in details.

11:15 The seventh . . . trumpet announces the imminent arrival of Christ’s reign as loud voices in heaven declare, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever. This sequence depicts events strikingly close to the end of the tribulation and the coming of God’s kingdom. Take note that the rapture is not synonymous with the second coming. The rapture is when Christ will come in the air to receive believers into heaven. He will not come all the way down to earth in the rapture. He will only do that at the second coming, when he will be accompanied by the saints.

11:16-18 In preparation for Jesus’s coming, the twenty-four elders who were introduced in 4:4 fall down in worship (11:16). Their praise announces that God, in this great power, has begun to reign (11:17). Then they speak of another resurrection. This is not the resurrection of New Testament believers because that occurs at the rapture. This is the resurrection of Old Testament saints—God’s servants the prophets, who will be given the reward they are due along with those who fear [his] name, both small and great (11:18). The Old Testament has a unique connection to the tribulation because it prophesies this seven-year period (cf. Jer 30:3-7; Dan 9:24-27). Therefore, Old Testament saints will receive their resurrection bodies following the tribulation.

11:19 The culminating preparation for Christ’s return occurs with the opening of the temple of God in heaven and the appearance of the ark of the covenant. This is accompanied by flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail. Now the stage is fully set for Christ’s return. But prior to highlighting that glorious moment, John rewinds the narrative to discuss characters in greater depth.