The 7th seal is opened in Revelation 8:1 and “there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour.” This is a mystery, as no reason is given and I could find no plausible explanation. It’s possible the silence is a “pregnant pause” (“pregnant” meaning, significant or meaningful) to emphasize the severity of the judgments that are coming. Then in verses 2-6 we see preparations made for the next series of judgments, the trumpets. In verse 2 seven angels standing before God are each given a trumpet. And in verse 3 “another angel” comes and is given a golden censer and much incense to offer with the prayers of the saints on the golden altar before the throne. The next verse says the smoke along with the prayers of the saints ascended up to God. This is similar to what we saw in Revelation 5:8 just before the first seal was opened. And, I suspect these are both examples of God acting in response to the prayers of the saints to do what He has purposed to do in judgment so He can finally fulfill what He has promised to do in blessing (see Revelation 5:10).
This brings us to verse 5, “Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and cast it to the earth. And there followed peals of thunder, loud rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.” Remember, this area has already been devastated by the “great earthquake” of the 6th seal in Revelation 6:12. And in verse 6 the angels prepare to sound their trumpets and the devastation continues.
In Revelation 8:7 the first trumpet is sounded “and there was a storm of hail and fire mixed with blood cast upon the earth. And a third part of the earth was burned up and a third part of the trees was burned up and all the vegetation was burned up.” Now, there are several ways to look at this, though I don’t think it really matters. But I’ll talk about it anyway. In Exodus 9:23-25 there is a similar event in that God sent hail and “fire ran down to and along the ground”. This description sounds like lightning, especially as it is accompanied by hail, and is translated lightning in some versions. Also in the Exodus account it says this was the worst storm they had ever had and the hail “struck down all that was in the fields, both men and beasts”, which could account for the blood. However, Revelation 8:7 in my Parallel New Testament in Greek and English says, “there occurred hail and fire having been mixed with blood and it was cast to the earth”. This sounds like the blood was in the hail and fire (or lightning) before it fell. Either way, the result is the same. A third of the area in question (remember that “fourth part” in 6:8), a third of the trees and all of the vegetation (the famine continues) were burned up.
Then the second angel sounds his trumpet in Revelation 8:8, “and something resembling a great mountain blazing with fire was thrown into the sea and a third part of the sea became blood.” The KJV says, “as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea.” So it’s apparent from the language this is not literally a mountain, but something as big as a mountain, probably a large meteor. And, it’s on fire, further indication that it is a meteor. The “sea” is, of course, the Mediterranean Sea. The similar event in Exodus is found in Exodus 7:14-21. God can turn water to blood when He wants to. Actually, if you want a more logical or natural explanation (like you’ll probably find in most commentaries), a huge meteor on fire that kills a “third part of the creatures in the sea” (verse 9) might cause the water to be full of blood. On the other hand, if the water were literally turned to blood, it would kill every living creature in it. Again, either way makes no difference, the devastation in the Mediterranean is obvious as the ships in this third part are destroyed as well (verse 9).
The third trumpet then sounds and “a huge star fell from heaven, ablaze like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water”. Here, “springs” (“fountains” in the KJV) is pege and from its usage in the New Testament includes both the underground springs and the wells that they supply. And, we have to pay particular attention to the language in this verse. A third of the rivers are affected, but all of the underground water in this area is affected in this trumpet judgment.
Verse 11 tells us the result, “and a third part of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from drinking the water, because it had been made bitter”. “Wormwood” means bitter or, in its Old Testament usage, unfit to drink. Again, an example is found in Exodus 15:23-25. So, from verses 10-11 we can see that a third of the rivers and all of the underground springs are made poisonous. So, for many of the people living in this area, fresh water would become difficult, if not impossible, to get. In desperation, they are forced to use the poisonous water and die.
When the fourth trumpet sounds, “a third of the sun was smitten, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so a third of the light of them was darkened, and a third of the daylight was taken away, and also a third of the light at night was kept from shining”. Now, if you remember from Lesson 30 and the explanation of the 6th seal judgment, part of what happened there was that the sun was darkened. This was a temporary thing, though we don’t know how long it lasted, because now in the fourth trumpet a third of the sun is darkened and a third of daylight is taken away.
The example in Exodus is in 10:21-23. And this one is interesting. If you read the passage, you’ll see that the Egyptians experienced a thick darkness for three days, they couldn’t see anything. But verse 23 says the Israelites had natural light in all their dwellings. Can you see the significance of this? During the day the Egyptians couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, but the Israelites living in the same country had normal light. This is why I emphasized the fact that the events of the 6th seal would be so revealing, not only to those directly affected by them, but to the rest of the world. In the 6th seal the sun was darkened, the moon turned red and the stars disappeared, but only to those in that fourth part of the world. To the rest of the world, everything was normal!
In these first four trumpet judgments, if people haven’t already figured it out, God is revealing Himself as the One responsible for these terrible events. How is He doing that? By duplicating what He had already done in the past. Is it possible for God to bring a storm of hail and fire mixed with blood? Can He turn water to blood, make water poisonous or darken the sun? Absolutely, He can! He did it before and now He’s doing it again to prove He is Who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. And if there was any doubt of this left in the world after the 6th seal when men acknowledged that the events of that judgment had come from God (Revelation 6:15-17), there should be no doubt now.
And, that’s the good news. The bad news is still to come. Between the 4th and 5th trumpet there is another parenthetic pause. This is Revelation 8:13, “Then I (John) looked and saw an eagle flying in mid-heaven, and as it flew I heard it shouting with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts the remaining three angels are about to sound!” If you’re reading a King James Bible, it says John saw “an angel”. I can’t explain the translation here. The word is aetos, an eagle, not angelos, angel.
Maybe we should review the scene. This fourth part of the earth has experienced political unrest and several years of war. Many have been killed, food supplies have been used up or destroyed, and so many more are dying of starvation. The unsanitary conditions brought about by the famine and widespread death has caused even more to die from disease. The dwindling food supply, along with the, no doubt, numerous human carcasses littering the ground have caused the animals to turn on human flesh for food. Then a devastating earthquake hits the area and is so severe it moves mountain ranges and large islands in the Mediterranean from their original places. Such shaking has to level many of the homes and buildings in this entire area. Then, to top it all off, so they would get the message, the sun is darkened, the moon turns red and the stars disappear. Then a storm brings hail and fire mixed with blood, burning up a third of the trees and all of the vegetation, resulting in a further destruction of an already scarce food supply. A third of the Mediterranean Sea is turned to blood, of third of the fish are killed and a third of the ships in the sea are destroyed. After that, they saw a third of the rivers and all of the underground water become poisonous, and many die because they can’t get fresh water. Then the sun, moon and stars start doing weird things again. And an eagle announces woe (meaning, deep suffering from misfortune, affliction or grief) to those who still remain because of the judgments still to come!
We’ll pick up with the 5th trumpet in the next lesson.