Day 12
Revelation 8: 1-12, the first 4 trumpet judgments.
Revelation 6 to 19, corresponds to the 7-year tribulation on earth after the rapture of the church in Revelation 4 to 5. There will be 3 consecutive series of 7 judgments viz. the 7 seal judgments, followed by the 7 trumpet judgments, and the 7 bowl judgments. Revelation 8 described the first 4 trumpet judgments. Revelation 9 described the 5th and 6th trumpet judgments. Revelation 10 described the 7th trumpet judgment. The trumpet judgments speak a global nuclear war on earth.
V 1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Opening the 7th seal resulted in 30 minutes of silence in heaven.
VV 2-6, 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
After the silence, God gave the 7 trumpets to the 7 angels. Another angel with a golden censer was given much incense with prayers of all the saints. He took the prayers of all the saints and placed them on the golden altar before the throne of God. This angel is Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, who took the prayers of all the saints, add incense to them, and offered them to God. This should give us an incentive to pray more every day. Jesus takes all our prayers, store them in the golden censer, and offer them to God. God will answer our prayers when the golden censer is full. Christ filled the golden censer with fire and pour it out to the earth, resulting in lightning, thunder, and earthquake.
V 7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
Blowing the first trumpet resulted in hail and fire mixed with blood, thrown from heaven to earth, burning up one-third of the trees and all the green grass.
V 8-9, 8 Then 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. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Blowing the 2nd trumpet resulted in a burning mountain falling from heaven into the sea. One-third of the sea became blood, one-third of sea creatures died, and one-third of the ships were destroyed.
VV 10-11, 10 Then 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 water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water because it was made bitter.
Blowing the 3rd trumpet resulted in a great burning star falling from heaven to earth, poisoning one-third of rivers and springs. The name of the star is called Wormwood, an ornamental shrub with a bitter taste. In 1986, a nuclear reactor plant exploded in Chernobyl, Ukraine causing massive loss of lives due to radioactive contamination. Coincidence or not, Chernobyl in the Ukraine language means Wormwood. In 2011, another nuclear disaster happened in Fukushima, Japan, releasing massive radioactive wastes into the Pacific ocean. What happened in Chernobyl and Fukushima will happened again on a global proportion.
VV 12-13, 12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. 13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
Blowing the 4th trumpet resulted in a global cosmic black out, blocking off one-third of the sunlight, moonlight, and starlight. A flying angel proclaimed 3 woes to the earth’s inhabitants because the 5th, 6th, and 7th trumpet judgments will be much more severe than the first four!
