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.

Signed, Sealed, And Delivered

Psalms 116:1-4 ESV
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

His mercy is complete. Even when we do not seek His mercy, He is there waiting, ready to love.

We call on His name and it becomes ours. In His name is life. He answers with salvation. It is personal.

Silence In Heaven -Revelation 8:1-5

Revelation 8:1-5 ESV
1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

After the jubilation in heaven, the exultation of the savior by the saved, comes the time for the trumpets to be blown. There is a pause between the seals now broken by Jesus, the strong and mighty Son of the Most High, and the decrees are now to be sounded of the judgements to be directed toward earth. It is for a short time. Jesus always said He was coming soon and quickly.
Now we see seven angels that stand before God. Previously, we saw a reference to the seven spirits of God which are before the throne. We also saw Jesus standing between the throne and the living creatures with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into the world. His eyes were upon the seven churches we saw in chapters two and three. They are described as Lampstands, as lights of witness in this dark world. The seven spirits of God are described as torches of fire before the throne of God.

Trumpets are made ready for the word to sound.

The worship and prayers of the saints is shown to be in concert and an agent of the will of God. God works through us. It is through us that He reveals Himself and His will done. This lends an added perspective of our being in the body of Christ. Our presence and life are informed by His presence and life everlasting.

Out Of The Great Tribulation -Revelation 7:9-17

Revelation 7:9-17 ESV
A Great Multitude from Every Nation
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Out of the great tribulation come a multitude before the throne of heaven. From the peoples of the earth come people of God, responding to the witness of Israel as God intended and for which they were chosen. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, He was met by a crowd waving palm branches and giving glory to God. This time the people enter His house as they give Him the glory.
There is no mention of the Holy Spirit. Could it be that the Spirit is not present on earth, no longer restraining Satan with the church in heaven? Israel may take the stage in proclaiming God as only God's unique and particular people are able.

All Flesh Shall Come

Psalms 102:25-28 ESV
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.

Isaiah 66:22-23
“For as the new heavens and the new earth
that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
so shall your offspring and your name remain.
23 From new moon to new moon,
and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.

Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Revelation 22:14-16
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

The earth shall be made new and the children of His servants will remain. So shall the offspring of His name remain.

Then all flesh will come to the New Jerusalem to worship the Lord. It would seem the new earth will be populated with people with bodies different from those living with God in Jerusalem. Just as there were people outside the Garden of Eden where Cain went to live and take a wife.

They will come to worship the Lord at the appointed times and we will be with Him and lift our voice in praise on His Holy Mountain.

144,000 -Revelation 7:1-8

Revelation 7:1-8 ESV
1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,


12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

The unleashing of the winds does not happen until sealing of Israel takes place. He repeatedly said He would save it remnant of His elect. Once done, the seventh seal is now ready to be opened.

Zechariah 6:5-8
And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.” 7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.”

Ezekiel 9:3-5
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.

Revelation 9:14-15
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.

Revelation 14:1-5
1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

The Lamb and the 144,000 stand on Mount Zion. Israel now fulfills its promise to give witness to the glory and testimony of God. They at last become the first fruits of the earth. Many will believe. Heaven rejoices.

How Long?

Psalms 79:5-9 ESV
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that do not call upon your name!
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
for your name's sake!

This same question of "how long?" is heard from those beneath the alter in the throne room of heaven. God's wrath in Israel's rejection of the Lord has been playing out in history and seems to coming to culmination in the ongoing hatred directed toward them from the world today.
Our question of how long will remain until God moves. There is no question that He will.