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The Tribulation Pt 5: The Blast of the Trumpets
In Part 4 of our study, we saw the last of the Seal Judgments, and an ominous half-hour silence in heaven as the prayers of the saints were remembered. They were delivered to the Earth in a censer that struck with force never before encountered in human history! Now, as we begin part 5, we witness the start of the next wave of judgments from the Throne: the Trumpet Judgments.Something to keep in mind as we read this next set of judgments: they are increased in severity and where they affect on the Earth. This isn’t Satan’s “anger”, but as mentioned in Revelation chapter 6: it is the wrath of “He who sits on the Throne” and “The Lamb”. This is God’s war on the Earth, and He’s not kidding around!
We watch as the Trumpets prepare to sound…
The First Trumpet Sounds:
" And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” (Revelation 8:6-7, NASB)
This hail is reminiscent of the hail God sent upon Egypt in Exodus chapter 9, but the difference is that instead of lightning flashing with it, this hail has fire and blood. Blood has always been symbolic of life; when it was spilled, it meant something or someone has died. Fire has always been seen as a purifier; God used it to cleanse, such as when he sent down fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. We then see that a third of the earth, including its vegetation, is destroyed in this judgment.
Trees and grass in nature have several purposes: wheat is considered a variety of grass, as are many other staples like rice. Trees produce fruit, lumber, spices, and they produce oxygen by utilizing carbon dioxide (CO2). What many do not realize is that trees and grass also hold soil in place with their roots, preventing it from blowing or washing away via erosion. During the Great Depression, the "Dustbowl" in the Midwest US was caused by a drought that killed a lot of the crops and grass that held soil in place; when windstorms came, the soil was blown away with it, removing a great deal of the farmland's ability to grow crops as well as polluting the air and making it unbreathable.
What scripture here is talking about is the abrupt removal of 1/3 of the earth's vegetation, thus reducing air quality, food availability and everything else associated with it by 1/3. With an already polluted atmosphere as it stands at this point in the Tribulation, and hunger and disease already pervasive from the ride of the Four Horsemen, this will only serve to make things that much more tense and explosive. Desperate nations will be trying to secure food and supplies any way they can, even if it means militarily.
The Second Trumpet sounds:
"The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed” (Revelation 8:8-9, NASB)
Here, we see that something LIKE a mountain has been cast into the sea. The Greek word hós, which means "as, like as, even as," denotes a similarity to something, and not that it is EXACTLY like it. All ablaze is what it says: completely on fire, flaming, burning all over. This could describe a meteor that was careening through the sky on its' final descent to the earth, as to John such a thing would look very much like a flaming mountain, but it might possibly be something supernatirual in origin. Upon landing in the sea, it turns the sea to blood, and kills a third of the life in it, and a third of the ships in it.
Chemically, seawater is not too dissimilar from blood. All of the basic chemical components of human plasma, minus the platelets, red and white corpuscles, antibodies and nutrients carried by the plasma. In fact, human plasma minus these elements appears as a pale yellowish color; it is only when the hemoglobin meets the outside air during bleeding that blood takes on it's characteristic crimson hue. So, something about this "mountain" changes the composition of the water to match that of blood.
In any event, the now- blood sea becomes poisonous to life; in the 1/3 of the waters that are stricken, and that life dies. It also results in 1/3 of the ships being destroyed; this means cargo vessels, luxury liners, oil tankers, military vships, small sailing boats, fishing vessels, etc. The loss of fishing, shipping, naval power and whatever others would hurt many nations, as well as a great loss of LIFE in those catastrophes. It would make a certain area of the planet utterly impassable, and traditional trading routes would be null; new ones would have to be charted. Just how it would destroy ships is unclear, but what it does make clear is that this would cripple the planet even further.
Another issue is that it would destroy phytoplankton; single cell microscopic plant life responsible for the production of 70 percent of the world's breathable oxygen. According to National Geographic, 40 percent of the world's phytoplankton has already been destroyed since 1950. The 1/3 of life in the seas dying would certainly include the phytoplankton as well, which would further choke our planet. This would serve to increase the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, causing chaos with the planet's temperature settings. Atmospheric CO2 serves as a "thermostat" for the temperature of the planet; an over production of it, with oxygen production being greatly reduced, would result in a major imbalance in the atmosphere, and further trouble for those living in the Tribulation...
...but it's about to get worse.
The Third Trumpet sounds:
"The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.” (Revelation 8:10-11, NASB)
The next trumpet brings yet another celestial body, and this one has a name: "Wormwood".
One possibility is what Scripture as a "star" could possibly be a comet, which in the dark of the sky seems to blaze.To suport this,comets have been mistaken as stars in history. In one particular instance, the Bayeaux Tapistry shows a "star" with a tail (considered to be an omen of King Harold's death), is considered by most historians to be Halley's Comet (It was determined that Halley's Comet would have appeared in 1066 given it's 76 year cycle, which coincided with the Norman Conquest and King Harold of England, whom appears in the Tapestry).
Of particular note: comets are made of ice, and have a dark coating of carbon on them; what you see is the comet's "tail" as it vaporizes from the body in space. It's feasible that a comet heads towards earth, and begins to break apart on entry into the atmosphere. Parts of would to fall into several lakes, reservoirs and other bodies of water, which often feed streams and rivers, and ultimately empty into the seas and oceans. Additionally, evaporation and condensation in the clouds allows water to rain back down upon the planet, and seeps into the ground to collect in underground springs and aquifers.
My point in all of this is that there are mechanics in place that would allow a "star" like wormwood to get into 1/3 of the freshwater supply of the planet, and contaminate it. In Greek, "Wormwood" is apsinthos, which is described as "a type of bitterness". This is probably an allusion to the plant known as wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), from which our modern drink Absinthe is made. The plant is know for it's bitter taste, and the fact that the "star" makes the waters "bitter" to drink is not lost on this fact. What I am thinking this "bitterness" is may be a poisoning of the water by a chemical contained in the comet's inner fragments or it's outer coating.
Admittedly, it is just supposition and at best, hypothesis given some possibilitues. What we do know for certain is that it will kill many people because of the contamination, and it will affect 1/3 of the planet's fresh waters.
The Fourth Trumpet sounds:
" The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.” (Revelation 8:12, NASB)
With this judgment, we see that 1/3 of daylight, moonlight and starlight are removed. While the Lord could certainly extinguish with ease 1/3 of the Sun and stars, the moon doesn't give light; it just merely reflects it. 1/3 of the sun's output reduced would take care of the moon as well though. But should it be due to a comet that fragmented into pieces on impact, it's just as likely that debris from its entry has contaminated the atmosphere. Additionally, since 1/3 of the grass and tress burned up, a great deal of dust is now free from 1/3 of the planet to blow into the sky. Keep in mind also that in an earlier judgment, the sky was already darkened considerably by potential ash from volcanoes. So, with that in mind, the planet is getting darker by the minute, and LOT less inviting to live on.
This reduction of light has physical and psychological effects on the planet: crops stunted because of poor sunlight; trees and other plants begin to wither and fade; weather patters begin to change as the winds, solar driven, are deprived of even more of the source of energy that moves them, and people begin to suffer across the planet the effects of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), due to the reduction of UV light. Days take on a gloomy pallor; becoming almost dusk during storms. Nighttime becomes pitch black, and curfews would most likely have to be in place for the safety of people. This would also mean "nightlife" in cities like New York and whatnot might be curtailed; in smaller cities without lots of light and small towns, completely dead.
But even worse is preparing to step onto the world stage...
“Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” (Revelation 8:13, NASB)
Translated as "angel" in the KJV, an eagle (Greek aetou) cries out to the planet that the next blasts of the trumpet are coming, and that what they can expect is NOT going to be pleasant. In Numbers chapter 22, Balaam's donkey spoke with a man's voice, so for an eagle to be able to speak is not so far fetched.
But what he says bears importance.
The strongest word for trouble in Scripture is "woe". When you hear that word spoken by the Lord, it means severe trouble is on the way. And the eagle says it THREE times.
In Part 6, we'll read about the three "woes" and finish out the trumpets.
Stay tuned; this is going to get a LOT more interesting as we go...
I bid you all peace.
YBIC,
-Sojo414
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