The Seven Trumpets Judgements
In the Old Testament, trumpets sounded the alarm for war and threw the enemy into a panic, or they called an assembly of God’s people. These seven trumpets will sound as God’s battle-alarm during the great tribulation.
Seven Trumpets
The sealed scroll was introduced in Revelation Chapter 5, and the seals were opened one by one up to the sixth seal in Revelation Chapter 6. We waited for the last seal to be opened and the contents of the scroll to be revealed – but then were given a pause with Revelation Chapter 7, the revealing of the 144,000 and the great multitude out of the great tribulation. Now the idea of a pause between the sixth and the seventh seal is emphasized by this silence in heaven for about half an hour.
This silence is striking; some have seen it as “breathing space,” or that the angels are silent so the prayers of the saints can be heard, perhaps even the cry of the martyrs of Revelation 6: 9-11. More likely, this silence in heaven demonstrates a sober, awestruck silence at the judgments to come, now that the seals are off and the scroll can be opened.
As God’s people pray for the resolution of all things, their prayers were touched by the fire from the altar in heaven and then “thrown” back down to earth. All things will not be resolved on this earth until judgment comes, and when the prayers of God’s people “come back” to earth, they bring the groundswell of judgment.
As catastrophic as these events might seem, this era of God's judgment can—and will—become even worse. John describes a bird calling out "woe" to those who are about to experience the other three trumpet judgments. The Greek word used for "eagle" here is aetos, which might also refer to carrion birds such as vultures. The horror of the remaining trumpet judgments, beginning in chapter 9, is somehow direr than what's been seen so far (Revelation 8:13).
Revelation Chapter 8
1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
- Zechariah 2:13 - Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
- Zephaniah 1:7- Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD, for the Day of the LORD is near. Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests.
(Silence fills heaven, a brief pause occurs before the following judgements. These judgments are more terrible than anything the world will have ever seen (Mark 13:19–20).
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.
(Parallel to Ezekiel 10:2-4)
4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
- 2 Corinthians 5:2 - For in this tent (body) we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
- Psalms 14:1-2 - May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
- Rev 16:18 - And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake the likes of which had not occurred since men were upon the earth--so mighty was the great quake.
- Rev 6:9 - And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.
See Rev 11:6- These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on 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.
- Joel 2:30 - I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
(This judgment bears some similarities to the seventh plague in Egypt (see Exodus 9:23–24).
8 The 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,
9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
- Rev 16:3 - And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it turned to blood like that of the dead, and every living thing in the sea died.
(This judgment is similar in some ways to the first plague in Egypt (see Exodus 7:20–21).
10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water—
- Rev 16:4 - And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they turned to blood.
11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
(Wormwood is a very bitter substance, and proverbial for bitterness and sadness)
- Jeremiah 9:15 - Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, 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 turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
- Exodus 10:21 - Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness will spread over the land of Egypt--a palpable darkness."
- Isaiah 13:10 - For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened when it rises, and the moon will not give its light.
13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”