Four Trumpets -Revelation 8:6-13

Revelation 8:6-13 ESV
6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing 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 people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

The passage below from Zechariah speaks of two thirds of the people perishing. God will save a remnant of His people. They will be tested and found true during this time of tribulation. This might be compared to 144,000 that will be called.

Zechariah 13:8-9
In the whole land, declares the Lord,
two thirds shall be cut off and perish,
and one third shall be left alive.
9 And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God. ’”

The first trumpet announces hail, fire, and blood from heaven. This is like the seventh plague Moses called down on Egypt.

Exodus 9:23-24
Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

Ezekiel 38:22-23
With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. 23 So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Revelation 9:12-15
The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind.

Again we see reference to the gold alter before the Lord and its role in the plan of God. Here we are told that one third of mankind will perish at the release of these four angels.

The second trumpet sounds and a mountain is thrown into the sea.

Jeremiah 51:25-29
“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
declares the Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
and make you a burnt mountain.
26 No stone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be a perpetual waste,
declares the Lord.
27 “Set up a standard on the earth;
blow the trumpet among the nations;
prepare the nations for war against her;
summon against her the kingdoms,
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like bristling locusts.
28 Prepare the nations for war against her,
the kings of the Medes, with their governors and deputies,
and every land under their dominion.
29 The land trembles and writhes in pain,
for the Lord's purposes against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.

The third trumpet is sounded. A star falls from heaven, likened to a blazing torch. The mountain that fell into the sea was on fire as well. Instead of the sea, this star called Wormwood, enters the fresh water of the earth and many die. Wormwood means bitter. It turns the water bitter. Satan seeks to turn all mankind into bitter creatures like himself. From vessels of the living water of life, he would have us become like puddles of a stagnant and dead sea. Both trumpets could be addressing the defeat and fall of Satan.

The fourth trumpet sounds. As a result of Satan cast down, the darkness he brings settles in creation. The light is diminished, but not extinguished. More about this darkness is revealed after the fifth trumpet.
Before the last trumpets are blown, an eagle warns of the weight of the woes to come at their sounding. We are moving from the judgements made by the opening of the seals, to their proclamation with the trumpets, to the pouring out of the bowls of wrath after the seventh trumpet is blown.