Introduction
To follow with intelligence the course of events connected with the trumpets, it will be necessary to recall what has already been considered. After the Lamb had taken the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne and had received the homage and adoration of both heaven and earth, as the One who alone was worthy to make good the character of God in government in virtue of His redemptive work, He proceeded to open the seals. Six of the seven seals are opened in Revelation 6, and the various events connected with them follow in succession. Before the seventh is broken, the 144,000 of the elect of Israel are sealed— sealed for safety and preservation—in view of the approaching judgments which will precede and usher in the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. (See Rev. 11:13.) There is, moreover, the presentation of the great multitude of Gentiles, who will be brought, according to the purpose of God, through the great tribulation which is about to come upon the whole habitable world. Before therefore God lifts up His rod to smite His ancient people, and also the nations of the earth, He permits us to see that in the midst of wrath He remembers mercy; that while Israel will be sifted “among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth” (Amos 9:9); and that the terrible scourge which will be wielded in judgment over the nations will not be allowed to destroy one of that countless number whom He has named and reserved for blessing. Though therefore His path is in the sea, and He rides upon the wings of the wind, He cheers our heart by unveiling to us the issue of His dealings in judgment in pure and perfect blessing.
Another thing must be observed. There is evidently a break between the first six seals and the seventh with its developments. The first six bring in preliminary judgments which constitute perhaps “the beginning of sorrows,” whereas the last introduces that period of “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (See Matthew 24:8,21-22.) Bearing this distinction in mind, it will be easier to follow the subsequent events.
Revelation 8:1-2
We have then, first of all, the opening of the seventh seal: “And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets” (vss. 1-2). Immediately upon the opening of the seventh seal there follows, not the attendant juudgment as in the previous cases, but silence in heaven for the space of half an hour. Surely this expresses the solemnity of the crisis which has now arrived. It is, as it were, a divine pause before the infliction of the last and most awful judgments upon the habitable world. The seven angels which stood before God then appear, and to them are given seven trumpets. It will be remarked that the trumpets are developed out of the seventh seal.
Revelation 8:3-5
Before, however, the angels sound their trumpets, there is the introduction of a brief but most significant scene. “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [Literally, the word is “give”; that is, as to its meaning, that He should give efficacy to their prayers.] it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake” (vss. 3-5). This scene is clearly in heaven, as marked by the golden altar and the throne. The angel therefore can be no less a personage than the great High Priest, the Mediator between God and His people. The prayers of all saints—saints on earth, it need scarcely be said—are seen ascending up to God upon the golden altar; but it is the action of the “Angel” in adding the incense that gives the efficacy to their prayers, for the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. This is a blessed familiar truth to every believer, and one embodied continually in our hymns of praise. For example—“Boldly the heart and voice we raise, His blood, His name, our plea; Assured our prayers and songs of praise Ascend, by Christ, to Thee.”
Yes, we all know that it is Christ—Christ in all the value of what He is to God, as having glorified Him on the cross—that gives efficacy to the prayers of His people; and it is this truth that is embodied in this symbolic scene.
But there is more. It is as an answer to the prayers of the saints that the angel took the censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth. That is, God is pleased to associate His saints with Himself even in His ways of judgment; and thus the judgments, set forth by the fire of the altar, are seen going forth in response to the cries of His people. This plainly indicates who the saints are. They are the earthly saints after the rapture of the church, the remnant so often appearing in the Psalms and pleading for vengeance upon their adversaries. (See also Luke 18:7-8.) The voices, thunderings, etc., are but varied symbols of the different forms of divine power in judgment with which this poor world is about to be visited.
Revelation 8:6-7
The seven angels in the next place “prepared themselves to sound. 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” (vss. 6-7). (In the best manuscripts, before the statement that “the third part of trees was burnt up,” there is found this clause, “And the third part of the earth was burnt up.”) The form of these judgments is reminiscent of those that fell upon Egypt. (See Ex. 9:22-26.) The language, of course, is symbolical. “Hail” is often found in Scripture as the expression of violent and destructive judgment (see Josh. 10:11; Isa. 28; 30; Ezek. 38:22); “fire” signifies the holiness of God as applied in dealing judicially with men, with the thought of an all-penetrating and consuming character; while “blood” will be indicative of death, but death under the judgment of God. The expression, “the third part of the trees,” points to the area of the judgments. From Revelation 12:4 there can be little doubt that “the third part” refers to the extent of the Roman empire. If this be so, the prophetic Roman earth will be the scene of the terrible judgments here following upon the sounding of the first trumpet. The objects of the devastating judgment will be “trees” and “green grass.” If we connect this with Revelation 7:1, it will be seen that the judgment is one of those restrained by the angels there, until the servants of God should have been sealed in their foreheads. The “trees” here, therefore, will as there, mean the great ones of the earth; while the “green grass” being burnt up would signify, as it appears to us, the destruction of all general prosperity. God at length has stepped in, and dealt with “the man of the earth” in his pomp and pride and dried up at the same time the sources of his wealth and greatness; but it is only as introductory to even severer judgments.
Revelation 8:8-10
The next, as connected with the sounding of the second trumpet, is described as “a great mountain burning with fire,” which was “cast into the sea.” (vs. 8) A mountain in Scripture is figurative of established power, and hence sometimes of the seat of government. This symbol will accordingly mean that some such power, kindling with fire as God’s judgment, is cast into the midst of the seething masses of the people, as represented by the sea. The consequence is that “the third part of the sea became blood; 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” (vs. 8-9). The extent of these judgments is the same as that of those which precede, as shown by the term “the third part.” All through the peoples (the sea) of the Roman earth, the “blood,” the “deathful power of evil” prevails. A third part of the creatures in the sea that had life died; that is, as another has written, “I suppose dying here to be departure from the profession of association with God, public separation from Him, or apostasy.” Infidelity and atheism indeed always flourish in times of great disturbances, social earthquakes and revolutions. The destruction of the third part of ships points plainly to the ruin of commercial means of prosperity.
Revelation 8:10-11
Upon the sounding of the third trumpet “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; and the name of the star is called Wormwood:... and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (vss. 10-11). A star is the symbol of authority in government, not supreme (for this is represented by the sun), but subordinate, and one therefore, from the very emblem employed, who should have been the source of light and order to men. But he falls “from heaven,” from the place in which he had been set by God (for “the powers that be are ordained of God”); that is, he is now by his fall dissevered from all connection with God, though he still burns, not as a star, but as a lamp, and thus attracts by his light and radiance. He falls upon and corrupts all the sources, the moral sources, of life, as set forth by the rivers and fountains of waters. Accordingly his name indicates the effects of his action, for a third part of the waters (the sphere and range of his influence) become wormwood, bitter and poisonous to those who drink of them, and consequently many die. (Compare Deut. 29:18; Prov. 5:4.) An illustration of such an effect may often be seen when one who has been prominent in the church of God becomes unfaithful or apostate, and morally destroys his hearers by infidel teachings. In manifold ways it is possible for those who have fallen from high places, whether amongst men or in the church, to poison the sources of life, and it is just this that will take place on a grand scale, alas! at the fall of the star Wormwood.
Revelation 8:12
It is the governments of the earth that are affected by the sound of the fourth trumpet (Rev. 8:12), and no form of it escapes; for, as before pointed out, the sun is a symbol of supreme authority, the moon of that which is derived from the supreme, even as the moon derives her light from the sun and reflects it, while the stars as plainly speak of that which is subordinate. Sun, moon, and stars, therefore, are an expression of every order of human authority in government. Again, the “third part” appears in these judgments; that is, they are as yet confined to the Roman earth, to its western empire; and the effect is that confusion and darkness reign instead of peace and security. Little do men apprehend how much they are indebted to orderly and stable governments. It is only in insurrectionary or revolutionary periods, when thrones are overturned and lawless passions reign supreme, that they learn the value of the priceless blessings, which, in a human sense, are connected with the maintenance of sovereign and righteous rule. Hence the striking language here employed to designate the dire consequences of the overturning in judgment of “the powers that be.” “The day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise” (vs. 12) that is, as another has said, “Not only the public course of things was cast into confusion and darkness—the day in sunlight darkened, but the more private and hidden life of man lost the light that guided it.”
Revelation 8:13
A division occurs between the first four trumpets and the last three, and this is marked by the last verse of this chapter. “And I beheld, and heard an angel [There can scarcely be a doubt that “eagle” should be here substituted for “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” (vs. 13). As this solemn proclamation (if it be not denunciation) forms the introduction to the last three trumpets, comment upon it is reserved for the next chapter. The judgments following upon the first four trumpets have covered the whole of symbolic creation. The earth, trees, grass, the sea, rivers, fountains of waters, and the celestial bodies, all have been smitten—proof of the unparalleled character of the sorrows and trials which will compose what is termed “the great tribulation,” “the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10). But when God arises to judgment, if men repent not, He will vindicate His name and authority with ever-increasing severity; and hence we find that, terrible as the first four trumpets have been, they are surpassed in their judicial terror by the three “woe” trumpets yet to be sounded.