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Introduction to the Eighth Chapter:

The Seventh Seal contains what is called the “seven trumpets”. These seven trumpets cover the last three and ½ years of the Tribulation period. It will not be complete until the seventh trumpet occurs. The seventh trumpet is the Rapture being finished with the coming of Christ to take charge of the Earth. When this event occurs the seventh seal will be complete. What I mean to say by this is; that the end happens during the seventh seal fulfilled at the end by the seventh trumpet. Since the seventh trumpet is included in the seventh seal, the seventh seal isn't over until the seventh trumpet is finished. The beginning of this seal shows thirty minutes of silence in Heaven. This silence shows the gravity and sincerity of the moment because when the trumpets begin it will be to bring vengeance on God’s enemies during the last 3 and ½ years.

The second part of this is the vision that John had about seven angels who are each given a trumpet to blow. The interesting thing about the seven trumpets is that they are only half of the story. In order for them to be complete we must place the seven vials of wrath parallel to them. Each one of these trumpets and vials of wrath complement each other and make it clear what they are trying to convey. The seven trumpets and vials of wrath will begin to start with a signal. This signal is the earthquake that takes place at the time the Antichrist invades Israel, which is at the middle of the seven years of tribulation. From that time on these seven events will begin to occur and will end at the same time that the seventh seal, seventh trumpet and seventh vial of wrath happen. We will see this earthquake along with thunder and lightning at the time the seven angels get ready to blow their trumpets.

The way to look at these events is like this: There will only be seven events, not fourteen. The reason that one account of these events is called the seven trumpets is because these events of God’s wrath are happening to become a warning like a trumpet sounding the alarm that the end is coming. As each one of these get closer to the end everyone who is knowledgeable about the word of God will know it and warnings will become louder and louder as God’s people sound the alarm. Secondly they serve to punish the Antichrist and his people that hate Israel and God will bring about a series of punishments on the them the same as he did with Egypt with the ten plagues. This however will only have seven and the seventh will be the events that occur at the time of the Rapture followed by the battle of Armageddon.

1: And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
When Christ opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven. In the Greek the word "was" is translated as "began to be." The silence that follows is only thirty minutes and expresses the gravity of the moment and what is about to happen.

2: And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
John has another vision in which he sees seven angels that stand before God. In Luke 1:19 we read that Gabriel was an angel that stood before God, whether or not he was one of these is not for sure. These seven angels will have a special task. Each one of these angels is given a trumpet.

With the sounding of each of these trumpets there are certain events that will take place. These events will be warning of the approaching end and return of Christ at Armageddon. As I said in the introduction that each one of these is a parallel to the seven vials of wrath that is poured out on the Antichrist and his ten nations.

The first four of these trumpets are connected together and the last three that is found in the chapter nine which alone have Woe, woe , woe.

3: 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 it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Another angel, which means a separate angel from the seven angels who hold the seven trumpets came and stood at the altar. There was given to him much incense to burn on the golden altar as he offered it with the prayers of all the saints.

At this point we should remember the souls that were under this altar who were being killed more and more each day and growing in number as the Antichrist during the last 3 ½ years has them killed for refusing the mark of the beast.

Their prayers are foremost and come up before God as a remembrance as each one of these people are martyred for his name sake.

4: And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
The smoke from the incense and prayers come up before God out of the angel’s hand. This is to dramatize this moment and help us to understand how important these prayers are to God as he receives them from the saints who are in distress.

5: 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.
The fire from the Altar is to symbolize God’s fiery judgments that are about to happen to the enemies of God. This is happening in response to the prayers of the saints that are in distress from God’s enemies, the Antichrist and his people that God call’s the beasts of the earth. John heard voices, thunders and lightnings. The voices are a mixture of earthly and heavenly. The thunder is the voice of God as he speaks when men do not understand what he is saying. The lightning is the voice of God when it is revealed to men and they do understand.

The earthquake in this verse is the same earthquake that swallows up part of the army of the Antichrist when he invades Israel at the middle of the tribulation period. This will happen 3 ½ years before Armageddon.

Revelation 12:
15: And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16: And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

6: And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
The angels prepare to blow the trumpets.

7: 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.
Remember that I have said that the seven trumpets and vials of wrath are the same events. When we place the first vial of wrath with this we get a much clearer picture of what is happening in this event.

Revelation 16: 2: And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

It is easier to understand when we realize that this event only happens in the fourth part of the earth, or the ten nations that are under the rule of the Antichrist. The hail that is mingled with fire is like hot molten metal that falls on the people of the Antichrist who have the mark of the beast and worship the image of the Antichrist. This burning hail is the cause of the grievous sores on these people, as it falls on them it causes severe burns that turn into sores. This does not fall on the whole earth. The hail will cause all the grass and a third of the forest of the Antichrist nations to burn up.

8: And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
Compare this scripture with the second vial of wrath in the 16^th Chapter.

3: And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

9: 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.
We must realize that this is happening to the Antichrist nations as another measure of God’s wrath for the terrible things that they are doing.

This is something that happens at sea, not all of the oceans of the world, but a particular sea such as the Mediterranean. There is something that causes an explosion so big that it looks like someone had thrown a giant mountain into the sea. Does this sound like a nuclear explosion to you? It does to me.

Picture this as a scenario: There is about to be a sea battle in which the number of the ships of the Antichrist only makes up a third in the total number of ships that there. All of his ships are destroyed by a huge explosion, which would mean that every living soul in the navy of the Antichrist is killed. The good ships are spared. You see the wrath of God is being poured out on the Antichrist and his nations, not the whole world.

10: And the third angel sounded, and 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;
Angels and men are often referred to in the scriptures as being stars. In this particular case I believe that this star is an angel of wrath. He is on fire, burning like a torch. Once again we look at the third vial of wrath in the 16^th Chapter which will give us the rest of the clues that we need to understand this mystery.

Revelation 16: 4: And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

Notice the rivers and fountain of waters that in the next verse we are told will become bitter. The reason they are made bitter is because they are turned to blood. Just as God turned the water in Egypt into blood, God is turning the water in the nations of the Antichrist into blood. There is a reason for this.

11: And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
The angel that this star symbolizes is named Wormwood because like wormwood that is very bitter, God is bringing bitterness to the ten nations of the Antichrist. These verses from the third vial of wrath in Revelation 16^th Chapter explain the rest of this mystery.

5: And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6: For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7: And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

12: And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
What we are looking at is a curse of darkness that will affect a third part of the earth. We will understand this mystery when we take a look at the fourth vial of wrath in Chapter 16.

Revelation 16: 8: And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

9: And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

By looking at the fourth vial of wrath we see an immediate contradiction. But when we understand the event we will realize what is happening. In the fourth trumpet we have a curse of darkness, in the fourth vial of wrath we have a curse of daylight. How could this possibly be the same event. It is something that God has already done in the past. He causes the earth to stand still. God did this once with Joshua to add more hours to the battle and again with Hezekiah when he rolled back the earth to prove his message. This will cause one side of the earth to suffer from darkness and the other side of the earth will be suffering from heat. The hot side of this is going to be on the nations of the Antichrist. This is punishment on the Antichrist for the evil things that he is doing, but it will also serve as a wakeup call to the rest of world to repent and accept Jesus before it is too late.

It is interesting to know that when the sun is shining on one side of the world that it does not create half light and half darkness. The light from the sun will bounce off of the atmosphere and cause what we call twilight which accounts for why only a third part of the earth suffers from a curse of darkness.

13: And I beheld, and heard an 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!
The next three trumpets will become so serious that God will call them, Woes, to the inhabiters of the earth. The inhabiters of the earth are speaking of worldly people. We see this happening in Chapters nine through eleven.

God Bless You
Tommie Spurgeon

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