A Revelation Invitation

Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them …

Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing 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 people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.

The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. (Revelation 8:2,6-12 ESV)

Those who have enjoyed the 1976 film Rocky will recall the distinctive trumpet introduction to its theme song. Before the climactic boxing match, the trumpets announce that a battle looms between the humble, obscure Rocky Balboa and the arrogant, overconfident reigning world-champion Apollo Creed. The trumpets announce this epic showdown between a modern day David and Goliath. It wasn’t exactly good vs evil. But if it strikes you that way, the filmmakers are fine with it. This is in some measure what the heavenly trumpets of Revelation are doing. John’s early readers were alerted to a looming clash between good and evil, between God and the powers and principalities of the world, between the kingdom of God and the Roman Empire. The trumpets warned the world of Rome’s impending downfall much as when the Israelites sounded trumpets before conquering Jericho. Often in the Old Testament, trumpets announced some imminent, divinely ordained calamity whether against the enemies of God’s people or against God’s people themselves. By the sounding of these trumpets God announced his intentions beforehand graciously giving pause so that people could repent.

As you read the description of these first four trumpets, you may recognize parallels between them and the plagues of Egypt, a previous confrontation between God and empire. Among those ten plagues were a severe hail storm that killed man and beast and destroyed crops and trees, the Nile River turning to blood killing all the fish in it, a swarm of locust that destroyed all vegetation and three days of utter darkness. Those events are echoed in the sounding of the heavenly trumpets in Revelation. With each plague Pharaoh was admonished to repent and let God’s people go. Pharaoh was powerless to resist these judgments from God. Those reminders of the Egyptian plagues assure the church of the same result: deliverance!

What events and conditions are these plagues pointing to? The trumpets may represent natural disasters, massive crop failures due to insects and disease, economic collapse, social unrest, political upheaval, civil war and more. These disasters strike the land and the people. These trumpets do not represent a sequence of events. Rather, they are a collage of apocalyptic images all warning that God has had enough.¹ The Roman Empire experienced such warning long before its final collapse. When we witness similar happenings today, Revelation equips us to view them from heaven’s perspective.

These trumpets are not the final confrontation between good and evil. They are only warnings as noted by the fractional one-third attributed to each disaster. Still, God is dealing decisively and drastically with evil. Evil cannot be finessed or coaxed into changing direction. God knows that the systems that oppress and abuse must be demolished. Major surgery is required; a little therapy won’t do. God must crush the strong in order to deliver the weak. But in his mercy he delays final judgment so that men might repent. Whether they do or not, God is sovereign, and they are going to have to deal with him.

From our political, educational and cultural elites to our next door neighbors, most people, if they believe in God at all, don’t really believe that he is involved in the world. To these people all things can be explained and even manipulated scientifically, sociologically and economically. Our elites think that they are in control. These heavenly trumpets should disabuse them of this belief. They are helpless to stop what God is sending their way. Whatever systems the rulers, powers and authorities put in place, God will tear down. He shook the Roman Empire at its foundation. He will do the same to the arrogant oppressors of our day. God will confront evil. These heavenly trumpets merely announce the beginning of that confrontation. Will people heed God’s call? God’s people will experience persecution and exploitation from empire—political/military empires, religious empires, corporate empires, ideological empires. And God’s people await their deliverance.

Sovereign Lord, I pray for a heavenly view of current events. Nothing happens in this world except by your sanction. Thank you for revealing your intentions to us so that we can understand our difficult circumstances. I know that these difficulties are not permanent and they are not the end. Help me trust you for deliverance from the evil in this world and from the disasters that evil brings upon itself. Amen.

1Hamilton, James H., Jr., Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches, Crossway, p 203.