The Trumpets
6Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Dig Deeper
For the first almost two years of my oldest son’s life, I was still enrolled in college in Oklahoma. I would leave Wisconsin and go to my university in Oklahoma while he and his mother remained back in Wisconsin, only visiting occasionally. We all remained very close during that time, but there were some difficulties that popped up from not interacting with one another on a daily basis. After graduation, I moved back to Wisconsin for good and we were all finally together all of the time. There was one day early on, when I asked my young son to put his empty juice box in the garbage. Rather than obeying, he just looked at me. I again asked him to put his box in the garbage, but he just stood there staring at me. I then warned him that if he didn’t obey I was going to have to discipline him. Rather than obeying though, he just started to cry. My wife walked into the room and asked what the problem was and I quickly told her. She looked confused as well for a minute and then began to laugh. She looked at him and said "go put that in the trash," which he promptly did. He simply had no idea what the word "garbage" meant and didn’t know what to do because his mother always used the word "trash". Because we had been separated so much in not only distance, but also in culture and language to a small degree, I realized that we were not really able to communicate properly and understand one another.
The book of Revelation is packed full of symbolism, imagery, and figures of speech that were common to those fluent in the language of the Old Testament and familiar with the symbols and figures of speech of ancient Judaism. The farther that we get from that time and culture, though (and we are quite far in language, culture, and time), the more difficult it can and the more work we have to put in to understanding what John was writing to his original audience. John was not writing a book of prophecy that is still largely in the future for us. He was writing a book with immediate impact for his first century readers. Thus, when we read passages like this one in which a huge mountain was thrown into the sea, we should realize that John is appealing to Old Testament language and imagery and is not actually predicting some sort of future cataclysmic earthquake of some type. If we’re not careful can we can wind up becoming just as confused as two year-old wondering what the strange word "garbage" means.
8:6-7 - The imagery here reminds us not only of the fall of Jericho but also of the plagues that came upon Egypt in the Exodus. As the judgments are cast down to earth, a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. If John intends to use the trees and grass (all the grass on a third of the land burned up) as imagery for the righteous (as we mentioned in 7:3), then he seems to be indicating here that some individuals will not be completely exempt from physical suffering and death as God’s wrath is poured out on apostate Israel. If this is meant to include some members of the Church, the point must be remembered that the Church will not be completely destroyed in any judgment (Matt. 16:18), and even better, unlike the wicked which face eternal judgment, the Christian’s ultimate destiny is not wrath but life (Rom. 2:7-9; 1 Thess. 5:9).
John, most likely, is also making reference to the physical landscape of Israel, and Jerusalem in particular. It is more likely that the earth, trees, and grass represent Israel, of which a third will be destroyed. This means that the devastation will bring about the end of the Jewish nation but will certainly not destroy all of Israel or kill all Jews. Jewish historian, Josephus, confirmed the destruction of the Judean countryside at the hands of the Romans writing, "The countryside, like the city, was a pitiful sight, for where once there had been a multitude of trees and parks, there was now an utter wilderness stripped bare of timber. . . The war had blotted out every trace of beauty, and no one who had known it in the past and came upon it suddenly would have recognized the place."
8:8-9 - The second angel sounds the second trumpet. We are told that something like a huge mountain was thrown into the sea. This makes more sense when we remember that the nation of Israel was God’s "holy mountain," (Ps. 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; 99:9; Isa. 11:9; 56:7) the mountain of God’s inheritance" (Ex. 15:17). What was once the "holy mountain" of God had now become a "destroying mountain." God now speaks of Jerusalem in the same way that He once spoke to Babylon (this will soon become one of the central pieces of imagery in the book). In Jeremiah, speaking to Babylon, God says, "I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth. . . I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain" (Jeremiah 51:25).
Also consider that in a series of parables and talks about the destruction of Jerusalem (Matt. 20-25), after cursing a fig tree as a symbol of judgment on Jerusalem, the disciples asked how this happened so quickly. Jesus responded, "if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matt. 21:21-22). Jesus was not literally telling his followers that they could pray mountains into the sea, nor was He curiously changing the subject, He was instructing them to pray for the destruction of the apostate mountain of God. John is encouraging his readers that Jesus’ words were even closer to being fulfilled than when He said them. They need to continue praying in faith, for the time is soon to come. Just as John had written in the beginning of the Revelation: "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near" (Rev. 1:3).
Devotional Thought
The Bible calls us to be students of God’s word in order that we might correctly handle it. How much effort do you put in to truly learning the Bible as a student would? Do you primarily approach the Bible as a devotional aid seeking only guidance and comfort, or do you also put time and effort into understanding the Bible more deeply?
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