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We resume our study of the seven trumpets of Revelation
continuing from part one of this series.
John writes in verse 7 … “The first angel sounded, and there followed
hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the
third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” If this is truly to be literal, it must also
be a future event. Should our world lose
33% of its tree’s and 100% of its grass, the effects would be so devastating
that it might indeed end life as we know it on our planet. Therefore if we consider a more historical
context to apply the symbolism described here, we might find fulfillment in a
few ways.
First let us consider the implications of this trumpet being
another message of great importance to the church and the servants of Jesus
Christ. In this context, the first
trumpet may have sounded to announce the judgments of God on the city of
Jerusalem for its complete rejection of the Messiah and the role it played in
the murder of our God, done in the name of religion. Rome destroyed Jerusalem, inadvertently
setting the temple on fire, which melted the gold that dribbled down all the
way between the stones in the floor.
Thus the errant Roman soldiers were told to destroy the remains of the
temple and dig up the rocks so as to get the gold from its foundations, leaving
“no stone upon another”. But no
Christians died in the terrible siege and taking of Jerusalem. They saw signs in the heavens, and remembered
the warnings of Christ to flee without looking back to gather your
belongings. The early Christian church
was spread out into the world, and Jerusalem tasted the results of her complete
rejection of the cornerstone of her faith.
If the message of the first trumpet was directed at an early Christian
church under the pagan persecution of Rome, this may well have been the hail of
Roman destruction, that ultimately mingled fire in the blood spilled and cast
upon the earth in the temple there.
Another view of the first trumpet may have been in a more
political context. Trumpets often
precede war, and are used within war to give direction to coordinate troop
efforts when the noise of battle might otherwise overwhelm the sound of a human
voice. If the context were political in
nature, one interpretation might be assigned to the Visigoth barbarian hordes
that rained a hail of destruction down upon the once great Roman empire. This was the first step in reducing the legs
of iron into the feet of iron mixed with clay.
Constantine had divided the Roman empire into three sections in order to
place each of his three sons on a throne, and to better provide for the defense
of the empire. The western seat was
attacked by the Visigoth Alaric, equating to a destruction of one third of the
empire at that time. The reason to apply
this particular war to the sounding of this trumpet may also coincide with a
view of the ten horns or kingdoms, where three were up rooted by the little
horn. The Visigoths surely helped break
up the Roman empire, but their legacy was not to be forever felt.
Finally a more modernist view of the first trumpet sounding,
interpreted under the ideas that these trumpets are to sound in the last days
before His returning might be found in scorched earth policies exacted in the Second
World War. A great deal of modern
Ukraine was ruined during WW2 by policies of scorching the earth so that
nothing of value remained. This would
have met the idea that all the grass was burnt up, and nearly a third of this
area of the world destroyed in one form or another. Regardless of the viewpoints outlined here,
all interpretations include attributing symbolism described in John’s visions
to events in our history. Whether as
important messages to the church, or the history of the fall of an empire, or
the destruction we have witnessed in our last days – each employs the same
methods of ascribing characteristics and events in parallel with what John
relayed. Again it must be noted, that
perspective matters when taking this approach.
The earliest Christian church may well have interpreted the sounding of
the first trumpet as described above because they bore witness to those
events. The potential modernist view is
only possible from our own perspectives as now these events are a part of our recent
history.
Perhaps the most important question, is how do we see Christ
revealed in the view of interpretation we take of this revelation? Do we see a warning of the consequences of
rejecting the sole method of our salvation as witnessed through the destruction
of Jerusalem? Do we see that it is
Christ who ultimately controls the halls of power and succession of kingdoms
that traverse our history of empires? Do
we see that even in the massive destruction that occurs in our modern world of
war, that Christ is still ever present and ever in control of these events, and
more importantly of our salvation? These
prophecies are revelations of Jesus Christ.
They are not mere history lessons.
They are not meant to be scare tactics.
Fear does not bring about reform, only love can do that. Only love provides the motive for
reform. So if we are to see Jesus in
these revelations, how do we see Him? Do
we see the love of Christ, or have we become fixated on times and events and
the things that seem to threaten our way of life? Our lives in this world are of little
consequence, they only have meaning in how we can share in the ministry of
loving others to see them connect to the source of redemptive love and
salvation. Destruction is not the goal,
redemption is. Without this context, our
study has little relevance.
John’s vision continues in verse 8 as he relays … “And the
second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was
cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; [verse 9] And
the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and
the third part of the ships were destroyed.”
Again from a purely literal point of view this would also have to be a
future event. It describes what we might
refer to as a meteor which descends into an ocean killing a third of life
there, and a third of the naval ships in that ocean. The level of destruction between the first
trumpet and the second could all but kill life on our planet from a pure
reduction in oxygen if nothing else. So
again to interpret these events as purely literal seems counterintuitive to
looking at our God attempting to draw us closer to Himself that He might redeem
a fallen world. If we then attempt to
interpret this passage in a symbolic form there are several meanings that might
emerge.
First, if the message is again similar in context to a
warning to the church, it might be applied to God’s judgments against pagan
Rome. After addressing Jerusalem in the
first trumpet warning, this centers our attention on the ideas that false gods,
and many gods, do not form alternate paths to the real God. Pagan Rome had at the center of its doctrine
the worship and exaltation of self. No
passion or pleasure were to be denied to the affluent citizens of Rome. They did not use their wealth and knowledge
extensively in the service of others, but instead like Israel before them, they
turned inward, became corrupted and only deepened in their self-embraced
slavery to indulgence. The various forms
of false gods included the ideas that war, or sex, or violence were to be
praised. While human sacrifice may not
have been an official form of worship, it was highly condoned in the arenas
with the gladiator slaves who were sent there to die violently to the cheers of
the crowds. The level of debauchery had
no equal. And the judgment of our God
was to be felt on this ideology.
The lesson was for us to see. The lesson has not been heeded. We emulate Rome nearly perfectly. We no longer have arenas where slaves are
made to fight for their existence. But
we do have a class of people with great means, who are content to see their
fellow citizens struggle to survive while they spend their means indulging
their every whim. The poor aspire to be
the rich. The rich work to insure this
never happens. The class warfare
exploited by our politicians is all too real, but it is waged in secret in the
halls of power. What is missing in our
society was the same thing missing in ancient Rome, a desire to see wealth used
to benefit all in need. Today, we blame
the poor and downtrodden for their own condition. We judge them that it is their lack of
willingness to work, to take ‘dirty jobs’, or work 60 hours a week instead of
40 that sees them remain in their poverty.
There is little if any empathy.
There is instead an abundance of apathy and self-obsession and desire to
be ‘entertained’. We too look to the
needs of our empire before we look to the needs of our citizens. We too worship the false gods of money, of
power, of defense, and of control. But
worst of all, we too worship the exaltation of self at the expense of our
submission to something greater than ourselves.
So what might have been a message to our ancestor role model regarding
the fate of this path, remains unheeded in our day.
If the sounding of the second trumpet was to be of a
political variety, then perhaps the Vandals did to pagan Rome in a physical
sense, what was also seen from a spiritual one.
The Vandals grew in power in Spain eventually crossing the straights of
Gibraltar into Africa. They swept
through the southern Mediterranean coasts of Africa and built a sizeable
navy. Rome, not wishing to lose the
jewel of its supply lines sent its own navy to combat the Vandals. The Vandals used combustibles and sent them
into the heart of the Roman fleet. The
net result was a great fire spreading out across the fleet. Soldiers died either in flame, or by the
sword of the Vandal navy who remain relatively unscathed. Death by fire in the sea could be seen as a
more historical and political view of the sounding of this trumpet.
If we were to look for a modern day fulfillment of this
trumpet sounding, with an eye towards an interpretation of keeping the trumpets
in the days of the last generations; we might find its fulfillment in the great
naval battles of the Second World War.
From Pearl Harbor, to the war’s end, nearly 36,000 ships were lost (just
about a third of those that fought). The
imagery of fire cast into the sea, could have been seen in the testing of
nuclear bombs that would have killed sea life in the area. Or it could be fulfilled in the normal
conventional naval bombing runs that occurred throughout the war. Many millions of lives were lost in WW2, and
the imagery John witnessed could have conceivably met its interpretation if we
put the lens of modern perspective on these events.
Once again, no matter how we choose to interpret the imagery
and prophecy of the vision John describes, we must ask ourselves, how does it
reveal to us Jesus Christ and His intent to see us redeemed? In one sense, Christ may be revealing to us,
that the worship of self leads to the level of debauchery the Roman empire
experienced, and to a similar fate of self-determined destruction. He may also be revealing to those who have
means, that prolonged abuse of the poor and downtrodden gives rise to the
Vandal empire who may resort to physical retribution to the apathy that has
kept them under the oppression of the rich.
Wealth after all, did not defend the Romans from the Vandals, but
instead made them a target of retribution and theft. Wealth is therefore, by definition,
temporary. It can be shifted. Whereas wealth, or what is truly important in
the kingdom of heaven, cannot be shifted or taken away. Love of others, absent selfish motive, can
offer a permanence that transcends even this life. That is the kind of wealth, that does not
inspire retribution, and cannot be taken by the Vandal hordes.
If we are to see Jesus revealed in the great naval battles
of WW2, what are we to learn of Him there?
Do the countless stories of heroism and self-sacrifice emerge under the
conditions of fire reigning into the sea?
Does what emerges become known as ‘the greatest generation’ not because
of their military prowess, but because of their willingness to finally
sacrifice self and isolation to keep freedom in the world? But if so, where is the revelation of Christ
in all of it. I am not fully certain the
redemptive love of God is found in the pride of our accomplishments, but rather
in the humble submission that results from knowing we need a savior, not that
we are one.
John continues his revelation in verse 10 … “And the third
angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a
lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of
waters; [verse 11] And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third
part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because
they were made bitter.” Once again a
literal interpretation seems unlikely.
For a star called Wormwood to fall to the earth and hit a central place
where all the freshwater emanates making a third of it bitter is again
unlikely. Obviously nothing is impossible
for God, but as in the previous soundings, this too seems more likely fulfilled
with the application of the symbolism, than in waiting for a future literal
event to occur. What begins to emerge
however, as we read these passages is yet another pattern of numbers. In this instance what we see are the results
of these trumpet soundings having an effect on “one third” of the things they
describe. In the first trumpet it is one
third of the trees. In the second, it is
one third of sea life and the navy. In this one it is one third of the fresh
water. In the next it is one third of
the atmosphere. Each of the first four
trumpets (as distinct from the remaining three woes), seems to affect one third
of the objects they reference. I am not
certain how this is to be understood outside of the context of the Roman empire
being divided in three parts, but it is worth noting.
If we are to seek the interpretation of the sounding of this
trumpet as a message to the church, it might be found in the revelation of the
difference between professed Christianity and actual Christianity. The worldwide ascendency of the Catholic
church who professed Jesus Christ in its doctrines did not set the true example
of the worship and ministry of our God.
Christ, the king of all things, came to our world in abject humility and
lived in humble service to others His entire life. He amassed no wealth. He made no elaborate cathedrals. He required no offerings of gold or silver to
obtain His favor, or purchase His free gift of redemption. He established no doctrine of celibacy among
those who were to lead His church. And
His own law forbid the crafting of graven images to serve as representations of
things to worship neither in this world, or in His heaven. Indeed, the exertion of control attempted by
the Catholic church alone, was completely counter to the ideas of submission He
taught and lived Himself. To compel the
conscience has never been His method, and only exclusively used by that of
Satan His enemy.
Because we ‘claim’ to serve our God of love and service to
others, does not mean that we do. Satan
is all too happy to see us purport to serve Christ, but instead serve only
ourselves and our own needs. If we do
not truly attempt to submit ourselves to Christ in order to see our own desires
changed, we will be doomed to continue to want the wrong things. Our struggle with sin will persist, because
we do not allow Christ to change our desires within us. What happened to the degeneration of the
doctrines and example of Christ within the Catholic church of the dark ages,
can just as easily happen in the hearts of the modern believer. When we rely upon self, and refuse to be
re-created, we embark on the same path, with the same predictable results. The third trumpet sounding may well have been
intended to wake us both up, to the nature of the path we tread upon.
If we are to see the continued political interpretations of
the trumpets, then the sounding of the third one may well have represented
Attila the Hun (the star who descended) and his hordes that forced the Romans
to endure the bitterness of humility at the point of a sword. During his rise to prominence Attila forced
the Romans to pay annual tributes of gold to keep his destructive force at
bay. At one point Attila changed the
terms of their agreement raising it from 350 pounds of gold per year to 750
pound of gold per year. In addition to
gold, Attila demanded a Roman princess Honoria accompanied by an immense dowry
of wealth. Indeed the bitterness of
humility of the once supreme Roman empire was brought about by Goths, Vandals,
and now the Huns who in concert seemed to only aggregate the damage and
destruction of once thought ‘eternal empire’ of Rome.
If we were to turn our point of view to a modern application
of this third trumpet, we might find it in the events of Chernobyl. Even the meaning of word Chernobyl can be
seen as Wormwood, and its effect of poisoning the fresh water of the nearby
rivers and connecting underground reservoirs was devastating to the entire
region. Many died from the contamination
brought about by the world’s worst nuclear disaster. The waters were indeed made bitter, and many
died from drinking them. This
interpretation definitely addresses the poisoning of fresh water, and is again
something found only in our own days, the days of the last generations before
He returns.
But if we are to focus on how Christ is revealed, and upon
His messages of redemption, what do we see of Jesus in these various
applications of this revelation? Perhaps
the key revelation of Jesus to the church, and to the pagan Roman empire, and
to modern men of science that build Chernobyl is the same. We are all in desperate need of
humility. It is our arrogance that
poisons church doctrine. It is our arrogance
that leads us to believe the empires we build will stand forever against the
sands of time. It is our arrogance that
makes us think our scientific knowledge exceeds the wisdom of God, and makes us
believe we need no humility or submission, instead we need only the next
achievement. Pride is said to be an
original sin. Pride is what is held in
common in all three interpretations of this passage, and the inevitable
destruction that follows pride, is the predictable result.
John continues his revelation in verse 12 … “And the fourth
angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of
the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was
darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” The last trumpet sounding in the sequence of
four, follows a similar theme to its counterparts. Again we avoid a strictly literal
interpretation as it is difficult to imagine how it might be achieved. But if the message is to be intended for the
church it might be found in the darkness of the Middle Ages. When once we have abandoned humility and
submission to Christ, we cut ourselves off from the source of all Light. We come to embrace the darkness of trusting
in self, and lose our ability to see the Light, for we turned away from its
source, instead trying to find it in the mirror. The trumpet blast is meant to call us to look
upwards once again. It is meant to sound
to call to our ears, what our eyes refuse to see. We are not the source of our own salvation,
nor is there to be found in us the truth we need to find. The only source of truth is Jesus
Christ. The only source of change and
reform is Jesus Christ. The only way to
find the Father is through the work of Jesus Christ. The trumpet sounds to wake us from our
self-imposed slumber and return us to the light of Christ.
If we were to seek a political application of this trumpet
we might find it in the fall of western Rome, the last vestige of the old Roman
Empire. The once great light of Roman
law, Roman representative government, Roman roads, even Roman justice had long
since decayed over time, and now was finally and fully snuffed out. The last emperor resigned, the senate had no
meaning left. The barbarian hordes had
done their work, and what light remained was now gone over the course of the
third of Europe. Rome was the iron legs
of the prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. It had now been officially reduced to feet of
clay mixed with iron. The world would
never again know a universal power until the Lord returns. To find application of these trumpets in the
Roman empire instead of the Incan, Aztec, Indian, or Chinese empires has more
to do with where the majority of Christians and the church of Christ were located. To this point in time the gospel had largely
been spread only in Roman territories.
The Messiah had come, lived, and died under Roman jurisdiction. A Roman governor pronounced sentence and
Roman troops insured the application of that sentence. While the Jewish religious leadership was
behind the death of their own Messiah, it was Roman hands that were sullied in
the work of it. Pilot might have
released and freed Jesus. Had he taken
this bold step, he would likely have joined in the fate of Jesus, for the
sacrifice must be made. However through
that outcome, Pilot might have helped to exonerate the Roman empire, and keep
them from any responsibility at all of what happened to Christ under his watch. But instead, Roman weakness, and Roman
corruption led to the death of innocent blood, a pattern that was destined not
to change.
If we change our perspective and look at the fourth trumpet
in light of modern events, one could ascribe the application of this revelation
to global climate change. The toxins in
our air have resulted in a steady decline in light that reaches our earth. Some studies of pollution in major cities
show this reduction to be nearly 37% in Hong Kong for example. Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City, etc., the
list goes on. Major population centers
with higher emissions are going to naturally result in a dimming of both night
and day light that reaches our world.
This is a condition that merely 120 years ago could not have been
imagined, yet it exists today.
Perhaps the blast of the fourth trumpet is meant to be the
noise we need for our ears to awaken us to look out of our darkness. We are not meant to trust in the greatness of
our political power, or our judicial systems.
We are meant to trust only in Christ.
We are not meant to pollute our world, or our souls, with the darkness
of trusting to self. But instead we are
to see the light of Jesus Christ as it is revealed in His work of changing who
we are into who we were intended to be. When
our eyes fail us, our ears must take up the work. When we are mired in darkness, we must follow
the sound of the trumpet and be led out of darkness. But as with the warning of the previous
trumpet, in order to be led, we must be willing to be led. It was our lack of humility that led us into
darkness. It can only be a return to
humility that will see us led out of it.
While we look to the mirror to find the light, we will find none. We must instead look upwards, and see the
true source of all light in Jesus Christ.
This is the revelation to call us to see. This is the mercy of our God, His hand
outstretched to us in all ages, in all times, in all locations. He calls us, with blast of the trumpets, to
find our redemption in Jesus Christ.
And now, as if heaven fully understood the concept of an
intermission long before the first movie epic was ever filmed, John continues
writing in verse 13 … “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the
midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of
the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,
which are yet to sound!” This message
would appear to tell us, that while the first four trumpets were of great
importance to us. The remaining three
are of even more consequence. This break
in the flow was not done by accident. It
was done by intent. It is to cause us to
focus even more on what is to follow. A
trumpet blast is meant to garner our attention.
No matter our method of interpretation of what is to come, its import
should not be overlooked.
And so we remain vigilant as the last three trumpets are
about to sound …
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