ACT THREE — THE VISION OF THE SEVEN TRUMPETS
I. OVERVIEW (Chapters 8-11):
. . A. God warns the wicked of His displeasure.
. . . . 1. The first four trumpets announce the various "plagues" that God sends on wicked men — not to obliterate them,
. . . . . . . but through natural disasters of all kinds to warn them of His displeasure and eventual final punishment.
. . . . 2. The fifth and sixth trumpets announce God’s release of evil forces (formerly held in check by Him), permitting
. . . . . . . them first to “hurt” all and then to kill some of those who refuse God’s gracious offer of pardon and forgiveness.
. . . . 3. But even these measures fail to move the wicked to repentance.
. . B. God sends His Church into the World with the Gospel.
. . . . 1. The presentation of the "little scroll" to John by the huge angel emphasizes the importance God places on the
. . . . . . . preaching of the Gospel.
. . . . 2. The vision of the Two Witnesses shows the interplay between the Church and the World as the Church obeys
. . . . . . . Christ’s command to preach the Gospel to the whole world.
. . C. This vision concerns the execution of God’s plan for the future of mankind as seen on earth (opening of the seventh
. . . . seal).
. . . . 1. God uses the forces of nature to punish the wicked, but only to a limited extent, so that those not affected may
. . . . . . . see God’s displeasure with their lifestyles, and repent.
. . . . 2. For those who do not repent, God releases the forces of evil He has formerly held in check, so that they may be
. . . . . . . hurt and some killed by their tampering with the occult.
. . . . 3. God uses the Church to spread the Good News of God’s gracious offer of pardon, forgiveness, and restoration
. . . . . . . of fallen man. He provides the Church with supernatural powers and protects her by supernatural means until the
. . . . . . . job is done. Then, at the return of Christ, the Church will be taken up into Heaven before God destroys the
. . . . . . . first earth and the first heavens and consigns the unrepentant of mankind and fallen angels to the second death.
. . D. The seventh trumpet introduces the second half of the book, where the remaining visions depict the titanic struggle
. . . . between Christ and Satan, both in Heaven and on earth, which culminates in final and glorious victory for Christ
. . . . and final defeat for Satan.
II. THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS (Chapter 8):
. . A. The opening of the seventh seal (by the Lamb) introduces the seven trumpets, but only after a long period of
. . . . silence.
. . . . 1. The pattern of four, two, and one, introduced by the opening of the seven seals, is to be repeated with the
. . . . . . seven trumpets and the sevän bowls of God’s wrath, in which the seventh in each series introduces the next
. . . . . . series or event.
. . . . 2. The long period of silence emphasizes the awful solemnity of God’s judgments on sinful man.
. . B. The offering of the prayers of the saints by the angel with the golden censer shows God’s interest in and acceptance
. . . . of the petitions of His faithful on earth. This is even more important to Him than the execution of His judgment
. . . . upon the sinful.
. . C. The first trumpet blast is followed by a rain of hail and fire “mixed with blood” upon the earth. God uses the
. . . . various natural calamities of storm, lightning, hail, volcanic eruption, and drought to show man His displeasure at
. . . . their evil ways.
. . D. The second trumpet blast is followed by “something like a huge mountain, all ablaze” being thrown into the sea.
. . . . Maritime disasters of all kinds — hurricanes typhoons, tidal waves, shipwreck — are used by God to warn men of
. . . . His anger at their evil lives.
. . E. The third trumpet blast announces a great “star” named “Wormwood,” blazing lika a torch, falling from the sky upon
. . . . a third of the rivers and springs of water on earth. God causes floods, drying up of springs, and poisoning of
. . . . drinking water by natural means to emphasize His anger at the evil lifestyle of mankind.
. . F. The fourth trumpet blast unfold’s God’s use of the celestial bodies — sun, moon, and stars — which normally are
. . . . orderly and predictable, to direct man’s attention to His commands and the penalties He has announced for their
. . . . violation.
. . G. Thus God uses His control of the natural environment of mankind to demonstrate His dissatisfaction with evil men,
. . . . just as He did to the ancient people of Egypt for mistreating His chosen people (Exodus 7-11). He will do this
. . . . throughout the Christian era.
. . H. The dramatic interlude of the eagle, flying at the very zenith of the sky, to announce the terrible woes yet to
. . . . come, stresses the grim fact that God has control even over the powers of the underworld, and will use them to
. . . . express His intense displeasure for mankind’s continued disobedience.
III. THE FIFTH AND SIXTH TRUMPETS (Chapter 9):
. . A. The plague of demonic locusts is announced by the fifth trumpet.
. . . . 1. Joel (1:2-2:11) describes a terrible plague of actual locusts upon Judah, showing it to be punishment from God.
. . . . 2. John’s locusts are far more terrible — right out of the Abyss — described as horses prepared for battle. These
. . . . . . creatures do not eat the green plants of earth as did Joel’s locusts, but attack evil men directly with their
. . . . . . “scorpion” stingers.
. . . . 3. This “woe” is a woe of warning — the men aren’t killed by the locusts’ stings, although their pain is so great
. . . . . . that they long for the release of death. And the time of affliction is short — five months — the usual length
. . . . . . of life for the predatory locust.
. . . . 4. Unlike the plagues of the first four trumpets, in which God’s people also suffer, the locusts are forbidden to
. . . . . . attack those with God’s seal on their foreheads (Chapter 7:3-8).
. . . . 5. This plague must represent the consequences to evil men when they seek pleasure and excitement from forbidden
. . . . . . things — drugs, prostitutes, occult practices, and the misuse of sex, liquor and tobacco. The very name of the
. . . . . . king of the locusts means “Destroyer” in both Greek and Hebrew.
. . B. The plague of demonic armies follows the sounding of the sixth trumpet.
. . . . 1. The initiation of the demonic invasion of earth is by the release of the four angels, who had been bound at the
. . . . . . River Euphrates for that very hour, day, month, and year by God Himself, now to kill one-third of mankind.
. . . . 2. The “horses” of this huge army may represent the engines of war devised by man over the centuries — more and
. . . . . . more terrible — as history shows.
. . . . 3. God’s people are spared this woe also, as shown by verse 20.
. . . . 4. Even this terrible woe — death of the wicked directly caused by their forbidden practices — drugs, venereal
. . . . . . disease, AIDS, lung cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, demonically induced suicide — does not bring those spared
. . . . . . of death to repentance.
IV. THE ANGEL AND THE LITTLE SCROLL (Chapter 10):
. . A. The mighty angel — right foot on the sea and left foot on land:
. . . . 1. This angel exhibits many characteristics of Christ Himself — God’s holiness shown in his face, God’s judgment
. . . . . . indicated by the cloud, God’s mercy and faithfulness by the rainbow.
. . . . 2. The angel shouts and the seven thunders speak. But John is forbidden to write what is spoken by the seven
. . . . . . thunders. There are some things in God’s plan for mankind that only His most trusted servants may know.
. . . . 3. The angel makes a solemn oath to God that there shall be no more delay in the sounding of the seventh trumpet.
. . . . 4. Nevertheless this sounding does not happen immediately! Another vision intervenes. John is showing us that a
. . . . . . single vision is inadequate to describe God’s plan. We must see each major facet from several angles before
. . . . . . we can understand it.
. . B. John takes the Little Scroll.
. . . . 1. The taking of the Little Scroll is mentioned three times — so important in God’s sight is our responding to
. . . . . . the Great Commission (the Little Scroll) that it is thrice repeated.
. . . . 2. The Gospel is sweet in the new believer’s mouth, but bitter in his stomach. Is this bitterness due to the
. . . . . . persecution that immediately arises? Or is it due to the sadness of the believer when his witness is
. . . . . . rejected, particularly by his loved ones?
. . . . 3. In spite of the bitterness, the believer must continue to witness to all about him, from the lowest to the
. . . . . . highest in society, telling them what God has done for him and can do for them.
V. THE TWO WITNESSES (Chapter 11:1-13):
. . A. John is told to measure the temple of God and the altar, and to count the worshippers there.
. . . . 1. Measuring and counting are both used in Scripture as symbols of God’s protection (Ezekiel 40:3, Zechariah 2:1,
. . . . . . Revelation 7:1-8).
. . . . 2. The outer court (the court of the Gentiles) is excluded. God’s protection is limited to true believers. Those
. . . . . . who give only “lip service” to Him are said to trample the Holy City.
. . B. The two witnesses are given power to prophesy.
. . . . 1. They are clothed in sackcloth. They mourn for their brothers in the flesh.
. . . . 2. They are to prophesy for the same period of time (1260 days) as the Gentiles trample the Holy City (42 months).
. . . . . . This time is referred to in Daniel 12:7,13 as the time before the “end” — hence it must here be understood
. . . . . . as the time of the Christian era — between Christ’s first and second comings.
. . . . 3. The two witnesses are the two olive trees (Zecheriah 4:3) and the two candlesticks (Revelation 1:20). They
. . . . . . must represent the true Church of Jesus Christ — two because the testimony of two witnesses is true
. . . . . . (Deuteronomy 19:15), and because Jesus sent out his disciples in twos (Luke 10:1).
. . . . 4. The two witnesses are given the same powers to “plague” the wicked as were given to Elijah and Moses.
. . . . 5. When their witness has been completed (and not one day sooner!), Satan will be allowed to kill them and leave
. . . . . . their dead bodies unburied on the city street. Today we can see former churches now used as warehouses and
. . . . . . factories in Communist countries. The wicked gloat over the death of the witnesses and even send presents
. . . . . . to one another!
. . . . 6. But in 3½ days (a very short time) Christ will appear in His second coming (implied), and the church will be
. . . . . . brought back to life and join Him in the clouds (First Thessalonians 4:17).
. . . . 7. The passing of the first earth (Revelation 21:1) begins immediately.
VI. THE SEVENTH TRUMPET SOUNDS (Chapter 11:14-19):
. . A. The heavenly court breaks into song in praising God for taking His great power and beginning to reign over the
. . . . nations.
. . B. John is about to be “taken behind the scenes,’ to be shown visions (Rev. 12-22) of the titanic struggle between
. . . . Christ and Satan, which underlies the earthly struggle between the Church and the World, and which will culminate
. . . . in Satan’s utter destruction and the coming of the new heavens and the new earth.
Go to Revelation at Midpoint
Go to Act 4 (Chapters 12-14)
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