Daniel and Revelation

When the seventh seal was opened, a half-hour of “silence” ensued before the seven angels began to sound their “trumpets.” During that interlude, the prayers of the “saints” were heard ascending to the throne of God. Now, when the “seventh trumpet” sounds, “loud voices” declare the triumph of the kingdom and the possession of the nations by the “Lamb” as promised in the second Psalm.

The “ second woe ” does not end until the “ Two Witnesses ” have completed their “ testimony ” and their “ corpse ,” singular, lies on the streets of “ Babylon .” Only then will the final trumpet be heard as its ushers in the hour of the judgment. The martyrdom of the “ Two Witnesses ” puts the end into motion and seals the doom of the “ Dragon .”

In its task of prophesying before “ nations and kings ,” the church is symbolized by “Two Witnesses” that “ testify ” before the “ Inhabitants of the Earth .” Their work continues for the entire “ twelve hundred and sixty days ” or “ forty-two months ” until they “ finish ” their prophetic ministry. Afterward, they are “ slain by the Beast from the Abyss .”

The sanctuary must be “measured” before the city can be inhabited, but first, it must be “trampled underfoot” by the nations - Revelation 11:1-2.  In the preceding vision, John was commanded to “ prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings ,” which set the stage for the next two visions, the “ measuring of the sanctuary and the altar ,” and the testimony of the “ two witnesses .” Both are connected by the equivalent figures of “ forty-two months ” and “ 1,260 days. ”

Next, John sees the scroll again, only now it is unsealed and open, signifying the time for his call to prophesy once more to peoples and kings – Revelation 10:1-11.  The first six trumpet plagues failed to cause the “ inhabitants of the earth ” to repent. Instead, they only hardened their hearts even more.  Something more is needed to complete “ the mystery of God .” The narrative now takes a new direction. Rather than another plague, John sees the scroll unsealed, then he is commissioned to prophesy to “ nations and kings .”

The sixth trumpet unleashes the demonic horde from beyond the “Euphrates” to afflict the “inhabitants of the earth” - Revelation 9:13-21.  The blowing of the “ sixth trumpet ” also marks the commencement of the “ second woe .” While the description of the “ plague ” unleashed by the trumpet only continues until the end of chapter 9, the “ second woe ” does not end until the sounding of the “ seventh trumpet ” that will culminate in the final judgment. Presumably, the “ sixth trumpet ” will conclude when the seventh angel blows his trumpet.

The fifth trumpet unleashes the first of “three woes,” and malevolent creatures began to ascend from the Abyss – Revelation 8:13-9:12.  When the fifth angel blows his trumpet, John sees smoke “ ascending ” from the “ Abyss ,” a place ruled by an “ angel ” associated with “ destruction ,” and the “ Abyss ” becomes prominent in several subsequent visions. It is the source of entities hostile to the “ Lamb ” and his people, creatures that “ ascend ” to wreak havoc, sometimes on the “ inhabitants of the earth ,” but more often on the “ saints. ”

An eagle "flying in mid-heaven" announces the last three trumpets, the three woes unleashed against the Inhabitants of the Earth – Revelation 8:13. The first four trumpets have sounded. Now, an “ eagle flying in mid-heaven ” announces the final three trumpets and calls them “ woes .” Unlike the first four trumpets,  the plagues unleashed by the last three afflict the Inhabitants of the Earth directly. The first four trumpet blasts damaged the infrastructure on which the World Empire depends – agriculture, commerce, freshwater supplies, and light/energy.

The fourth trumpet blast causes a partial darkening of the sun, moon, and the stars of heaven over the Empire - Revelation 8:12. The darkening of the sun, moon, and stars as described in Chapter 8 is based on the ninth plague of Egypt, which darkened the land for three days, and on imagery from the judicial pronouncement against Pharaoh in the Book of Ezekiel , a judgment carried out by the ancient Babylonian Empire. Now, however, darkness will consume the empire of the Beast, and end-time Babylon will be the agent of its destruction, or at least, for a time:

The third trumpet results in a great star falling into the sources of freshwater and embittering them – Revelation 8:10-11. The passage describing the Third Trumpet includes language from the first plague of Egypt that polluted the sources of freshwater, as well as language from Isaiah’s pronouncement against the ancient city of Babylon and its king. The “ Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river ” because it was turned into blood. A great bright star fell into the freshwater sources of the World Empire , turning them bitter and undrinkable.

The second trumpet harms the commerce on which human society and political institutions must depend for survival – Revelation 8:8-9. The sounding of the Second Trumpet causes upheaval in the sea, disrupting a third of all seaborne trade. In the Book of Revelation , the “sea” is vital to the commerce upon which  end-time Babylon and the Empire depend  for power, and it is the place from which the Beast ascends. This explains why, at the end of the Book, no “ sea ” is found in New Jerusalem. In the symbolic world, the Sea is linked directly to the Dragon and the Beast.

The first trumpet blast unleashes forces that impact agriculture. It is modeled on the seventh plague of Egypt – Revelation 8:7. Fire from the golden altar was cast onto the earth in response to the prayers of the saints. This was followed by “ claps of thunder, voices, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake , ” phenomena that concluded the series of seven seals and signaled the start of the seven trumpets. Thus, we now find seven angels poised to sound their trumpets and unleash their plagues.

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 .”

When the Seventh Seal is opened, seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets to unleash judgments on the Inhabitants of the Earth – Revelation 8:1-6. The saints have been “ sealed ” and washed “ in the blood of the Lamb .” The full complement of witnesses for the Lamb is being assembled, and the time will soon arrive for the judgment of the “ Inhabitants of the Earth ” who slew “ the witnesses under the altar .” Their plea for vindication will be answered.

On the eve of the city’s conquest by the “ Medes and Persians ,” the Babylonian crown prince, Belshazzar, gave a feast “ for a thousand of his lords ” and “ tasted wine ” from the sacred vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the Temple in Jerusalem, thereby disrespecting the God of Israel while also praising the false gods of Babylon.