Trumpets
There are three sets of seven in the book of revelation: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. In today’s passage the seventh seal is opened and this act seems to be the signal for releasing the second seven, the seven trumpets.
We will discover later on that these trumpets seem to run somewhat in tandem with the seven bowls in terms of what they release. Whether or not they occur sequentially or simultaneously is a matter of question.
Four trumpets are sounded in today’s passage with the following effects. A significant amount of the earth’s vegetation is destroyed. A significant amount of the sea and its wealth is made desolate. A significant amount of the fresh water becomes unusable. The earth’s atmosphere is adversely affected.
I can’t really see anything to be gained by debating the symbols such as a burning mountain or a great star blazing like a torch. Nor do I think it is likely profitable to get into the specific math of this “a third” business. What is unmistakably clear is that there is severe ecological damage done to the earth. Is this damage due to the sudden appearance of great blazing mountains and stars, or is it the result over time of sinful man’s abuses? Either could be argued and I will leave that argument to others.
What I find amazing is that in John’s day I suspect that pollution was virtually unknown. Virtually all waste was organic, essentially no fossil fuels were burned, and to imagine such calamity coming upon the earth required Divine intervention. Today we see it in action all around us. There may still be Divine intervention, but it is enough for me to know that God’s Word saw it almost 2,000 years ago.
John not only saw and heard these trumpets, he saw our day as well.
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