LEARNING DAILY

 

Revelation 8:1, When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

 

Revelation 8:7, The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth.  And a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

 

Revelation 8:8-9, Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.  And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

 

Revelation 8:10-11, Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.  The name of the star is Wormwood.  A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

 

The seventh seal contains the next judgments that are going to be directed at the wickedness seen on earth.  Notice that two things happen as the trumpets are about to sound.  To this point there has been the sounds of worship in heaven; now silence occurs.  During this time, those martyred saints to this point in the Tribulation join the raptured saints in prayer.  The incense added to their prayers may indicate that the coming trumpets will be an answer to questions discussed in seal five.  The silence is an indication of how terrible the trumpet judgments will be on the earth.  As the trumpets are about to begin the earth trembles – “with thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake”.

 

In the Old Testament. Trumpets were used to call the people to worship or prepare for war.  At the sound of the first trumpet one-third of the earth’s vegetation is destroyed by fire and hail.  At the sound of the second trumpet one-third of the salt water, including sea life is destroyed.  Since three-fourths of the earth’s surface is ocean, it is not difficult to understand the devastation this trumpet brings.   The “great mountain burning” may refer to a great meteor which falls into the sea turning it into blood. 

 

The third trumpet concerns the earth’s fresh water supply as “a great star fell from heaven polluting the rivers and springs of water”.  Wormwood is a plant with a very bitter taste and represents God’s judgment.  Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum wrote an interesting comment about this in his book The Footsteps of the Messiah. “Whenever the word star is used symbolically, it is a common symbol of an angel, and this is the case here.  The angel’s name is Wormwood, showing the angel to be a fallen one.  The fallen angel causes one-third of the sweet water to turn bitter, which in turn causes the death of many.” 

 

In doing some reading on these trumpets a very interesting comment revealed what is probably obvious to everyone else.  A note in The Life in the Spirit Study Bible said “the judgment is limited to one-third of the world, because the purpose of judgment is partially to warn people and bring them to repentance.”  My mind has thought through all sorts of scenarios with this thought.  Fires in the western United States, hail in Texas the size of softballs, the drought in this country – could they be a hint of the trumpet judgments?  Notice the wording “a hint of” because the trumpet judgments will be much, much worse.

 

As a Christian, we will be part of those praying saints.  Do you know of those you need to be praying for right now?  We all know people who have not given their life to Christ or are not living the life on the narrow way that leads to God’s kingdom.  We have a responsibility to do so!

 

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