The Great Tribulation
(Chap. 8:1–11:18)
Vss. 1-6—The unfolding of events in chapter 6 is resumed with the opening of the “seventh seal” (chap. 8:1). It results in the seven trumpet judgments falling on the Western nations that have had the light of Christianity, but have rejected it. These judgments will be executed directly from the hand of the Lord Himself (the Angel-priest) and are more direct and severe than the seal judgments. These judgments cover the last half of the prophetic week of Daniel 9:27 (3½ years), which is the time of “the Great Tribulation” (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 7:14).
In connection with the trumpet judgments in chapters 8-9, it is significant that the Spirit of God uses the expression “the third part” fourteen times (in the J. N. Darby Translation). It is a technical expression in prophecy referring to a restricted area of the world—the Western prophetic earth—which is essentially the territory that the old Roman Empire once held.
The first four trumpet-judgments have to do with the apostatizing of the Christianized nations in the West, whereas the fifth trumpet-judgment is concerned with the apostatizing of the Jews in the land of Israel. The result will be a thorough apostatizing of this once enlightened part of the earth.
The First Trumpet
(Chap. 8:7)
The prosperity (“trees” and “green grass”) in the Western nations will dry up. This marks the collapse of the economy in the West.
The Second Trumpet
(Chap. 8:8)
John sees “a great mountain burning with fire” dissolve into “the sea”—i.e. a giant volcanic eruption. This refers to a great and powerful nation in the West disintegrating and dissipating in the “sea” of nations (Rev. 17:15). It is a judgment of God, of which “fire” is a symbol. The result is that many in the West will formally give up their profession of God and apostatize (become “blood”). Some think that this mountain might be the United States of America. If this is true, it explains why that great military power is not mentioned as having a part in the coming wars of Armageddon.
Mr. W. Kelly said, “The United States of America will be swamped into a political marsh; and as they have been hitherto a mere omnium gatherum or conglomerate from the rest of the world, especially from Europe, comprising no doubt a vast deal of skill, industry, and enterprise, but also not a little of the scum and refuse of all nations; so I believe they will break up into factions of noisy primitive elements; and, after going off in boastful vapouring, will at length burst as a bubble....So as to America, I conceive that the young giant power which has grown so fast will sink still faster, probably through intestine quarrel, but assuredly somehow before that day comes. They will break up into different fragments. Their prime object is to maintain political unity. This is their great ambition, and though it may appear to stand and advance, as everything ambitious is apt to prosper for a time, it will be all blown down before long. For it is a remarkable fact that there is no place in prophecy for a vast influential power, such as the American United States would naturally be, if it so long retained its cohesion. Is it conceivable that there should be such a power existing at that day without any mention of it? Can the omission be accounted for save by its dissolution?” (Lectures on the Minor Prophets, pp. 109-110).
The Third Trumpet
(Chap. 8:10-11)
A great person in a high position of influence in the West (“a great star”) will formally give up his professed knowledge of God, and this will lead more into apostasy.
The Fourth Trumpet
(Chap. 8:12)
Many other influential leaders in the West who men look to for guidance and advice (“the sun,” “the moon,” and “the stars”) will also fall into apostasy. These might be respected political men, financial analysts, etc.
The Fifth Trumpet
(Chap. 9:1-12)
The Antichrist, the Jew’s false Messiah (“a star”), will come forward in his full satanic character. He will be allowed to open “the abyss”—the prison house of demons (Luke 8:30-31)—and let loose their blinding influence (“smoke”) on earth. The symbol of “locusts” with “tails” like a “scorpion” and with a “sting” of a scorpion (vs. 10) is used to describe the spiritual destruction of apostasy that these demonic agents will cause in souls. Their mission will be to cause the unsealed mass of the Jews in the land of Israel to believe the “lie” of the Antichrist (vs. 4). T. B. Baines points out that since the sealing in chapter 7 was not for the Gentiles, but for a select number from the twelve tribes, we can deduct that this trumpet-judgment is particularly concerned with the reprobate mass of the Jews in the land of Israel (The Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 120). As a retributive judgment, God will allow them to be blinded by the lie (Isa. 8:21-22) because they refused to believe the gospel of His grace when it was preached by the Church. (His blinding power will also deceive the mass in the western, once Christianized, nations, and it will lead them into apostasy (2 Thess. 2:9-10).
The Sixth Trumpet
(Chap. 9:13-21)
The federation of ten nations in the West (the beast), which will have control of the land of Israel as being part of its empire, will have its eastern border (which “the great river Euphrates” symbolizes) give way to a vast army of attacking soldiers. This will be the armies of another ten-nation confederacy of Moslem nations to the north and east of Israel. They will be led by “the King of the North”—the Assyrian (Psa. 83:1-8; Dan. 11:40-41). See Revelation 16:12. In a matter of a few days, these armies will sweep through the land of Israel destroying the mass of the Jews who will have received the Antichrist and worship the image of the Beast. These fierce warriors are described as being driven by Satanic power—“their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents” (vs. 19).