As the seventh seal is opened by The Lamb, we go back to the vision earlier but this time when the seal is opened, silence falls on the place. Seven angels are given seven trumpets, and while another angel is offered the incense with the cries of the martyrs, this angel pours the fire onto the earth. This brings about the end of the Day of the Lord(Revelation 8:1-5).
3 Sets of 7 Divine Judgements
It is important to note that the 3 sets of 7 that we are currently walking through: that being the 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 bowls; overlap each other. As we finish with the seventh seal, the seventh seal opens us up to the 7 trumpets which take us back to the beginning and retells the story of the seven trumpets that we went over earlier.
Seven Trumpets
The seven trumpets retell the story of the seven seals just instead this time by using the language of the Exodus story(Exodus 7-11).
The first 5 trumpets reuse the language of the plagues in Exodus as follows:
1.) First Trumpet-Hail
2.) Seconds Trumpet-Blood
3.) Third Trumpet-Poison Water(you need water to survive but not this water)
4.) Darkness
5.) Demon Locusts
The sixth trumpet brings about the four horsemen that we seen earlier in the seven seals.
Images from Exodus
Revelation is not simply recounting what happened in Mose’s day, it is depicting judgements on the world in familiar Biblical terms
Craig Keener(NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)
Let’s now back up through the first five Trumpets and look at the imagery being used from the Exodus story.
1.) First Trumpet-“Hail and fire mixed with blood”
Hail in the ancient world was viewed as a warning about divine judgement to come. Specifically in scripture we see hail used in Exodus 9:23-24:
Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and Yahweh sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And Yahweh rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
In this story of the Exodus where hail rained down, it kills all the life in its way. As it says in Exodus 9:25
The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.
2.) Second Trumpet-“a third of the sea turned into blood”
This evokes that imagery again of Exodus 7:20-21:
Moses and Aaron did as Yahweh commanded. In the sight of Pharoah and in the sight of his servants Moses lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water turned into blood. And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
It is important to remember that fish were more apart of your diet than any other meats available at this time. So if the water is turned to blood the likelihood you are eating fish is soon out of question. The food supply is now gone.
3.) Third Trumpet- “a third of the waters turned bitter”
The water yet again is ruined, but this time with a star called “wormwood” that disrupts the waters. This star can be associated with a plant called “wormwood.” This plant is deemed poisonous therefore the water has now been poisoned.
4.) Fourth Trumpet-“a third of the son was struck, and third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark.”
Though darkness in a Batman movie is a good thing, for the people of this time, darkness was a sign of judgement. So with the taking out of the “lights in the sky” darkness would have fallen and brings to mind the plague against Egypt from Exodus 10:21-22:
Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.(ESV)
At the time the story of the Exodus was happening, the Egyptians believed that as long as the sun was continuing its rotation in the sky, then that meant that the sun-god was pleased. But if darkness overcame the land then the sun-god was passing a judgement on them.
5.) Fifth Trumpet-“demon Locusts”
This plague would bring to mind the plague against Egypt in Exodus 10:13-14:
So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and Yahweh made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again
Plagues of locusts were a major sign that the gods were pissed and were in the mode to punish the people. These plagues of locusts were viewed as a curse from the gods. For the Egyptians, this would be one of the many signs that Yahweh uses to catch the Egyptians attention. Yahweh uses the usual plagues and judgements of their gods, to announce his judgement on them as well.
The idea though in Revelation that these locusts are like an army invading comes specifically from the book of Joel 1:6 & 2:4:
A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness
They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like Calvary.
6.) Sixth trumpet-“four angels”
Early Jewish writers often believed that evil angels were bound beneath. Here we have “four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates”(NIV). Readers would then associate these four angels as four evil angels that God is using to judge the world.
What is the Response?
John then goes on to tell us that “the rest of the people who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of their works of their hands to stop worshipping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts”(Revelation 9:20-21 NIV).
This lack of repentance after these plagues from the Exodus story would have brought to mind the unrepentant heart of Pharoah in the Exodus story. Even after all the plagues and suffering Pharoah went through, he did not repent, and the nations will likewise not repent.
This begs the question for us though: How will we get to that image of “all nations, tribes, languages and peoples” who have repented and are now apart of the Kingdom of God?
The plagues did not cause people to repent. What does bring about ultimate repenatance of all nations?
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