Transcript Document

“And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven
trumpets.”
REVELATION – CHAPTERS 8-9
REVELATION “7’s”
Each set of seven -“unfolds” into the other
Not Chronological – 3 vignettes interspersed with other vignettes,
signs and scenes.
The 7 Seals – unfolding of general history
The 7 Trumpets – unfolding of “last days” – a focused look at the
generation of the “End Times”
The 7 Bowls – The outpouring of God’s Wrath after the rapture.
In scripture, trumpets are used at the following occasions:
1. To announce disaster because of sin, Is.58:1, Jer.4:4-6, 6:1,16-19, 51:25-29,
Ezek. 33:1-8, Hos.7:16, 8:1, Amos 3:6.
2- To announce the coming of God to Mt. Sinai, Ex.19:16
3- Calling the people together and having the camp move on, Num.10:2.
4- To announce the start of a battle, and feast days, Num.10:9-10.
5- When the Israelites entered Jericho, Josh.6:3-9
6- To announce the coronation of the king (Solomon), 1K.1:34.
7- To announce the winning of a battle, 1Sam.13:3
8- Warning of the second coming, Joel 2:1
9- To announce the second coming, 1Thes.4:16, Zep.1:14-18, Mat.24:31,
1Cor.15:51-52.
10- To announce the day of atonement, Lev.25:9.
11- Dedication of the temple, 2Chr.5:12-13.
12- To announce the arrival of the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem, 1Chr.15:24.
REVELATION – CHAPTERS 8-9
Chapters 8-9 - the “7” (perfect, complete)
trumpets (sounds of warning, announcing a
coming battle and coming King!) These
trumpets mark the “end time generation”
Jesus – Matthew 24: “I tell you the truth, this generation will
certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
The 7th SEAL opens up into the 7 Trumpets…a backing up of the
general revelation of the seals and a focused look on the very end
time..
Important to remember:
The word “trumpet” is used only 6 times in the New Testament OUTSIDE the book of
Revelation. In FOUR of those times it refers to the LAST trumpet… or the trumpet
that is blown at the return of Jesus! (I Corinthians 15:52 –2x, Matthew 24:31, I
Thessalonians 4:16)
The other two – Hebrews 12:19 refers to the O.T. trumpet blown on Mt. Sinai at the
giving of the Law and the other… I Corinthians 14:8, refers to speaking in
“intelligible” tongues as opposed to “gibberish” or “ecstatic utterances”.
AND…The ONLY place in the New Testament where a “series” of Trumpets is
mentioned that would include a “LAST TRUMPET” is in Revelation! If we let the
Bible interpret the Bible, then the “last trumpet” of the Second Coming mentioned
elsewhere in the New Testament would have to correspond with the 7th trumpet of
Revelation, and indicate the second Coming of Jesus!
(Interesting note: the ONLY other place in the Bible where 7 TRUMPETS are mentioned is in
Joshua – when at the blowing of the 7th trumpet – God’s people took and defeated JERICHO (the
world) and ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND! (Heaven)
READ THE TEXT – REVELATION 8: 1- 13
REVELATION 8:1-11
THE FIRST THREE TRUMPETS
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER –
1. Written in apocalyptic, symbolic imagery…
2. John was shown things He had never seen nor could imagine!
3. He tried to describe things the very best he could with the words he had.
4. This style writing was given by the Holy Spirit…because it serves ALL
GENERATIONS and has its ULTIMATE revelation when it occurs in the End
Generation.
5. 1/3 – a symbolic number (perhaps literal in some cases) indicating a significant
amount but NOT ALL, not even MOST… 2/3’s of the “earth” DOESN’T
EXPERIENCE these things! 2 billion people affected, 4 billion people of the
earth not affected. Also consider that these things may happen PRIMARILY
in the MIDDLE EAST and EUROPE …since this is where most Bible activity
and prophecy centers!
Trumpet One – Perhaps ecological disasters.
Trumpet Two - Perhaps saltwater pollution on a large scale.
Trumpet Three – Perhaps freshwater pollution on a large scale.
(If this is the interpretation – Then…we are in the TRUMPET DAYS!)
BUT…THERE ARE THOSE WHO SEE THINGS even more
related to our times…
For example…
Why would WWII, not be mentioned in the scriptures and
especially in REVELATION? It was the LARGEST WAR in
the History of the EARTH, involving more nations from
practically the whole globe than any other war in history- and
more people were killed in it than in ANY other WORLD in
HISTORY! It was the FIRST war to use a NUCLEAR
WEAPON!
Consider the following 4 or 5 facts of history…
1. Hitler had a “scorched earth” policy – he
left behind devastating disaster of burned trees, grass,
fields, homes, towns, cities…
He did this with bombs from the air, tanks, flame
throwers, set fires, etc. “ and there came hail, and fire,
mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the
earth.” / “…and 1/3 of the earth, grass and trees were
burned up…”
The devastation of this type to Europe left by ALL
THE FORCES in the war was UNSPEAKABLE.
Could this be what John saw, but couldn’t describe in
any other way?
THEN JOHN SAID…I SAW…
2. “Something like a huge mountain, ALL
ABLAZE was thrown into the sea.”…
2. “Something
LIKE a huge mountain, ALL ABLAZE was thrown into the sea.”
Captain Robert Lewis, the co-pilot of the plane that dropped “the
bomb”, stated, "Where we had seen a clear city two minutes before,
we could no longer see the city. We could see smoke and fires
creeping up the sides of the mountains."Within three miles of the
explosion, 60,000 of the 90,000 buildings were demolished. Clay roof
tiles had melted together. Shadows had imprinted on buildings and
other hard surfaces. Metal and stone had melted.
Unlike many other bombing raids, the goal for this raid had not
been a military installation but rather an entire city. The atomic
bomb that exploded over Hiroshima killed civilian women and
children in addition to soldiers. Hiroshima's population has been
estimated at 400,000; approximately 70,000 died immediately from
the explosion and another 70,000 died from radiation within five
years.”
* 140 million of 400,000 people died! Right at 1/3 of the entire
population!
* 200 million soldiers fought in WWII from all the countries
involved. There were 61 million casualties – again…right at 1/3 of all
who fought!
* 105,000 ships were used in WWII and over
36,000 of those ships were destroyed in battle almost EXACTLY 1/3 of the ships!!
COINCIDENCE?
THE MOST AMAZING AND LITERAL fulfillment IS
TRUMPET NUMBER THREE…
“A great star – blazing like a torch fell from the sky” –
Something called “wormwood” causes large amounts of water to turn
“bitter” and many people die from “drinking the water”!
Wormwood – is a bitter and sometimes poisonous
herb. It yields a bitter oil and contains the toxic
chemical thujone, is used to flavor some distilled
liquors
Wormwood – translated to RUSSIAN = Chernobyl
(The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 6th edition and - The Dictionary of the
Russian Language by S. Ozhegov)
Remember the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant meltdown in Russia? The plant
exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe
Listen to the testimony of Hans Blix, Executive Director of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, in a speech given before the UN General Assembly
on October 23, 1990. To this great body he quoted Revelation 8:10-11 and
then said…
“In Slavic languages, including the Ukrainian and Byelorussian languages,
there is a word ‘chernobyl’, which means wormwood, bitter grass. This has a
striking relevance to the Chernobyl tragedy. I am no fatalist. I do not believe
in the blind inevitability of fate, but who can fail to be moved by these tragic
and mournful words from Revelation, which must leave their indelible
imprint on the heart.”
EXCERPT FROM:
The Chernobyl Disaster, a secular book by Soviet-born Viktor Haynes
“Relatively speaking, the number of deaths that resulted directly from the meltdown
itself, about 125,000, were few compared to the millions who have been poisoned with
radiation. Over 200 million are estimated to have experienced excess exposure, 3.5
million seriously. But are the deaths linked to the water? The first explosion came with
such a force it blew the two million pound concrete lid off of the reactor. It went into
the air, and came down cocked leaving the atmosphere fully exposed to a nuclear fire
for the next three weeks. (“blazing like a torch, it fell from the sky…onto the rivers”)
A second explosion hit just a. few seconds after the first explosion. Radioactive
material was blasted one mile up into the sky. The wind caught the radiation, and
carried it into Scandinavia, Northern Italy, Germany, Great Britain and, in a diluted
form, to the east coast of the United States. Then the rains came. It rained incessantly
for the next five days. The radioactivity was transferred from the clouds down into the
soil. The most deadly thing about the rain was that the water flowed into the rivers.
These deadly rivers then wound their way throughout all of Europe.
As these waters flowed through Europe, everyone who drank of those waters absorbed
the nuclide Cesium 137 into their body. Cesium 137 has a half-life of thirty years. It
goes into the bone marrow and can lay there for thirty years (until 2016!) before it
causes cancer.
Doctors and scientists say that the worst is yet to come. Generations will be affected.
They do not even know how to predict the far reaching implications of the Chernobyl
1. Something like a huge mountain ALL ABLAZE (Nuclear Bomb?)
2. 1/3 of the “creatures in the sea” (WWII soldiers?) destroyed
3. 1/3 of the “creatures in the sea” (Population of Hiroshima?)
4. 1/3 of the ships destroyed… exactly the number in WWII
destroyed.
5. 1/3 of grass, trees and earth – BURNED UP (Results of WWII?)
6. Hail and fire mixed with blood coming from above (Bombs,
rockets, mortars, bullets, air wars, ship wars, etc.?)
7. Wormwood (Chernobyl?) – (if you were reading a RUSSIAN
BIBLE it would read –”and the name of the star was
CHERNOBYL…”) The waters turned bitter (poisoned) and 1/3 of
the people in the area DIED.
Coincidence… or EXACTING PROPHECY?
IF IT IS EXACTING PROPHECY…THEN…
WE ARE IN THE TRUMPET DAYS!