The Seven Trumpets - Overview

An overview of the seven trumpets and the several intervening events between the Sixth and Seventh Trumpets– Revelation 8:7-11:19.

The series of seven trumpets follows the same pattern as that of the seven seals. Like the first four seals, the first four trumpets comprise a distinct group, and the last three are marked off from the rest as “the three woes.” Like the seven seals, several events interrupt the series between its sixth and seventh components, and both series are preceded by “the prayers of the saints.”

[Photo by Baguette Knight on Unsplash]

When the Seventh Trumpet is heard, it is followed by the consummation of the kingdom of God and the judgment of the dead. Like the seven seals, the series of seven trumpets ends with a final judgment scene, which is punctuated by thunder, lightning, and other phenomena:

• “And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given to them seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth. And there followed claps of thunder, and voices, and flashes of lightning, and an earthquake” – (Revelation 8:1-5).

• “And the seventh angel sounded. <…> And there followed flashes of lightning, and voices, and claps of thunder, and an earthquake, and great hail” – (Revelation 11:15-19).

• “And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” – (Revelation 5:8).

The first four trumpets are parallel to the first four seals. Both groups inflict damage within predetermined limits. The first four seals harm a “fourth of the earth,” and the first four trumpets affect “a third” of the earth, sea, rivers, and the heavenly luminaries.

There are also differences. The first four seals cause human suffering and death. In contrast, the first four trumpets affect the things that are necessary for society to function - agriculture, the seas that carry cargo, fresh water supplies, and the light from heavenly bodies. Men are killed, but only when they drink “the bitter waters” of the Third Trumpet. The seven seals were opened by the Lamb, but the seven trumpets are blown by seven angels.

The change in agency from the Lamb to angels may reflect the change in focus. The seven seals concerned the fate of persecuted saints (e.g., “The souls under the altar,” “the sealed company,” “the innumerable multitude”). In contrast, the seven trumpets target “the Inhabitants of the Earth” that are hostile to the Lamb and his saints.

The first four trumpets include language and imagery from two Old Testament stories, the Ten Plagues of Egypt and the prophetic dirge of Jeremiah against Babylon. For example:

• “Behold, I am against you, O Destroying Mountain, says Yahweh, which is destroying all the earth. And I will stretch out my hand upon you, and roll you down from the rocks, and I will make you a burnt mountain” - (Jeremiah 51:25).

• “And the nations were enraged, and your wrath came, the time of the dead to be judged, <…> and to destroy those who are destroying the earth” - (Revelation 11:18).

THE THREE WOES

After the first four trumpets were heard, an angel pronounced the arrival of the “three woes,” the last three trumpet blasts. The first four trumpets harmed things (e.g., agriculture, transportation). The final three trumpets harmed people - (Revelation 11:10, 12:12, 14:6, 17:2-8).

The Fifth Trumpet or First Woe introduces us to the Abyss, the place from which all things satanic ascend. For example, the Beast from the Sea is first seen ascending from the Abyss to kill the Two Witnesses. Symbolically, the Sea and the Abyss are identical. At the end of the age, Satan will be released from the Abyss for one final attempt to annihilate the saints - (Revelation 11:7, 13:1, 20:7-10).

When the Abyss is unlocked in Chapter 9, a horde of demonic creatures “like locusts” ascends from the Abyss to torment “the men who do not have the seal of God.” In contrast to the first four trumpet blasts, the locusts must not harm the vegetation of the Earth, only the men and women who refuse to repent.

The Sixth Trumpet or Second Woe unleashes a force from beyond the Euphrates River that kills a third of mankind. Despite the harm inflicted by the first two woes, the Inhabitants of the Earth refuse to repent. The “plagues” unleashed by the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets only harden their hearts further - (Revelation 9:18-21).

The first six trumpets are followed by three events that occur before the Seventh Trumpet is heard. First, John received the Little Scroll (Chapter 10). Next, John was commanded to measure the Sanctuary and “those who were rendering divine service in it” (Revelation 11:1-2). And third, the Two Witnesses give their prophetic testimony before the world until they are killed by the Beast from the Abyss - (Revelation 11:3-14).

The deaths of the Two Witnesses cause the intervention of God. He raises the slain witnesses from the dead, and the Seventh Trumpet is heard. This final trumpet blast produces the consummation of the Kingdom, the judgment of the dead, and the vindication of the righteous - (Revelation 11:15-19).

As with the opening of the Sixth Seal, at the conclusion of the series of trumpets we find ourselves at the end of the age and the time of judgment. As with the series of seven seals, the literary unit concludes with “flashes of lightning, and voices, and claps of thunder, and an earthquake, and great hail” - (Revelation 6:12-17 – “For the great day of their wrath is come, and who is able to stand?”).

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SEE ALSO:

• Silence in Heaven - (Revelation 8:1-6 - The seventh seal forms a transition to the next series, the seven trumpets)

• The First Trumpet - (Revelation 8:7 - The first trumpet unleashes a plague based on the seventh plague of Egypt, but with modifications)

• The Second Trumpet - (The second trumpet harms the commerce on which human society and political institutions must depend for survival – Revelation 8:8-9)

• The Lamb Reigns - (Jesus is the slain Lamb, the true Messiah of Israel sent by God to redeem humanity and Shepherd the Nations)