Revelation 8 opens with a picture of seven angels standing before God, ready to blow their trumpets. Before the trumpets are blown, another scene is inserted. Its purpose is to explain the theological meaning of the trumpets.
Verse 2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
This verse introduces a new and distinct series of events. In the seals we have had the history of the church during what is called the Christian Era. In the seven trumpets now introduced we have the principal political and warlike events that occur during the same time.
Verse 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. 4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. 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.
After introducing the seven angels upon the stage of action in verse 2, John for a moment directs attention to an entirely different scene. The angel who approaches the altar is not one of the seven trumpet angels. The altar is the altar of incense, which in the earthly sanctuary was placed in the first apartment. Here then is another proof that there exists in heaven a sanctuary with its corresponding vessels of service, of which the earth was a figure, and that we are taken into that sanctuary by the visions of John. A work of ministration for all the saints in the sanctuary above is thus brought to view. Doubtless the entire work of mediation for the people of God during the gospel era is here presented. This is apparent from the fact that the angel offers his incense with the prayers of all saints. That we are here carried forward to the end of time, is evident from the act of the angel in filling the censer with fire and casting it unto the earth; by this act he shows that his work is done. No more prayers are to be offered up mingled with incense. This symbolic act can have its application only at the time when the ministration of Christ in the sanctuary in behalf of mankind has forever ceased.
With the prayers. The picture is that of the angel adding incense to the prayers of the saints as these prayers ascend to the throne of God. The scene portrayed may be understood as symbolic of the ministration of Christ for His people (see Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1; cf. PP 356; GC 414, 415; EW 32, 252). Christ, as intercessor, mingles His merits with the prayers of the saints, which are thereby made acceptable with God.
Along with the description of the daily ser¬vices in the temple in Jerusalem given below: a Jewish commentary on the Bible explains that at the evening sacrifice the lamb was placed upon the altar of burnt offering, and the blood was poured out at the base of the altar. An appointed priest took the golden censer inside the temple and offered incense on the golden altar in the Holy Place. When the priest came out, he threw the censer down on the pavement, producing a loud noise. At that point, seven priests blew their trumpets, marking the end of the temple services for that day.
Revelation 8:3–5 provides important information regarding the trum¬pets in Revelation:
a. The seven trumpets are God’s judgments on rebellious humanity in response to the prayers of His oppressed people.
b. The trumpets follow the death of Jesus as the Lamb and run con¬secutively throughout history until the Second Coming (see Rev. 11:15–18).
The angel fills the censer with fire from the altar and hurls it down to the earth. Significantly, this fire comes from the very altar on which the prayers of the saints were offered. The fact that the fire comes from that very altar shows that the seven trumpet judgments fall upon the inhabitants of the earth in answer to the prayers of God’s people and also that God will intervene in their behalf in His appointed time. The throwing down of the censer also may be a warning that Christ’s inter¬cession will not last forever. There will be a close of probationary time (see Rev. 22:11, 12).
The Time When the Trumpets Begin
The throwing down of the censer (or fire) in Revelation 8:5 suggests to some Adventist interpreters a glimpse of the close of probation. The seven trumpets seem to forecast events in the course of Christian history leading up to that event. A number of indications in the text substantiate this interpretation.
First, the pattern in the first half of the book is that the visions begin with the New Testament era and cover events throughout Christian history. Second, whatever the casting down of the censer (fire) in Revelation 8:5 means, probation is clearly not yet closed at the time of the sixth trumpet. The intercession at the altar is still taking place (Rev. 9:13). The gospel is still going forth (Rev. 10:11; 11:3–6). That the “interlude” of Revelation 10:1–11:13 should be included in our understanding of the sixth trumpet is shown in theme IV on page 96. Finally, the proclamation of the gos¬pel ends and probation fully closes only at the sounding of the seventh trumpet (Rev. 10:7). So the seven trumpets of Revelation seem to cover the whole course of history from John’s day to the close of probation and final events.
Verse 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
The subject of the seven trumpets is resumed. These trumpets occupy the rest of this chapter and all of Revelation 9. The blowing of the trumpets by the seven angels comes as a complement to the prophecy of Daniel 2 and 7, beginning with the breaking up of the old Roman Empire into its ten divisions. In the first four trumpets, we have a description of the special events which marked Rome’s fall.
The Meaning of the Trumpets
In portraying God’s interventions on behalf of His people, Revelation uses the imagery of trumpets in the Old Testament. Trumpets were an important part of the daily life of ancient Israel (see Num. 10:8–10 and 2 Chron. 13:14, 15). Their sound reminded people of the worship in the temple; trumpets also were blown in battle, at harvesttime, and during festivals. During battle, the trumpet sound gave key instruction and warnings and called upon God to save His people. This concept is the backdrop for the trumpets in Revelation.
The clearest single passage on the meaning of trumpets is Numbers 10:8–10. In ancient Israel the trumpets were always to be handled by the priests (Num. 10:8), even in warfare. So there is a spiritual meaning that Israel was to discern in the blowing of trumpets. Signaling trumpets represented a prayer to God for intervention in battle (Num. 10:9). Likewise, in the temple and on the feast days, the blowing of trumpets invited God’s spiritual intervention in the lives of His people (Num. 10:10). So the essential meaning of trumpets in the Old Testament is covenant-based prayer, calling on God to remember His people.
At first glance, it might seem that signaling in warfare is the primary meaning in the seven trumpets of Revelation. But the connection between the trumpets and the fifth seal underlines the prayer theme as the primary one here, too. The trumpets are a response to the prayers of the suf¬fering saints of God (Rev. 6:9, 10; Rev. 8:2–6). It assures them that God has noticed their suffering, and, even though He may seem silent in their experience, He is already acting in history against those who have persecuted them (compare Rev. 6:10 and Rev. 8:13 ).
The events triggered by the trumpets in Revelation denote God’s intervention in history in response to the prayers of His people. While the seals concern primarily those who profess to be God’s people, the trumpets herald judgments against the inhabitants of the earth (Rev. 8:13). At the same time, they are warnings for those who dwell on the earth to bring them to repentance before it is too late.
1st Trumpet
Verse 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.
Hail and fire. The picture here is that of a great storm of hail mixed with lightning, reminiscent of the seventh plague in Egypt (Ex. 9:22–25).
Earth. The earth, with its vegetation, is shown as the particular target of this scourge (cf. ch. 16:2). The scourge is singularly descriptive of the invasion of the Roman Empire by the Visigoths under Alaric. This was the first of the Teutonic incursions into the Roman Empire that played such an important part in its final downfall. Beginning about a.d. 396, the Visigoths overran Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece in the eastern part of the empire. Later they crossed the Alps and pillaged the city of Rome in a.d. 410. They also ravaged much of what is now France and ultimately settled in Spain.
Third part. This fraction occurs repeatedly in the Revelation (see vs. 8, 9, 11, 12; chs. 9:15, 18; 12:4; cf. Zech. 13:8, 9). It probably implies a substantial part, but not a major portion.
All green grass. The severity of this tempest is dramatized by showing it as destroying much of the vegetation of the earth.
The blast of the first trumpet has it location about the close of the fourth century and onward, and refers to these desolating invasions of the Roman Empire under the Goths. –Uriah Smith
Our Lesson’s View
The first trumpet uses the Old Testament language of God’s judgments (hail, fire, and blood [Exod. 9:23–26, Isa. 10:16–20, Ezek. 38:22]) directed against symbols of God’s Old Testament people (vegetation and trees [Ps. 1:1–3; Isa. 61:3; Jer. 11:16, 17]). Hence comes the lesson’s suggestion that the first trumpet represents God’s judgment on the Jerusalem that had rejected Christ (Matt. 23:37, 38; Luke 23:28–31).
2nd Trumpet
Verse 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; 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.
As it were. John apparently finds in a burning mountain the closest representation of the scene that takes place before his eyes. The figure of “burning mountains” occurs in Jewish apocalyptic literature (see Enoch 18:13; R. H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 2, p. 200), but there is no evidence that John derived from that source his description of the phenomenon he now sees. Compare Jer. 51:25, where the prophet describes Babylon as a “destroying mountain” that will be made a “burnt mountain.”
Sea. The sea, with the life in it and upon it, is shown as the special object of this judgment (cf. ch. 16:3).
The catastrophe announced by the second trumpet has been seen as describing the depredations of the Vandals. Driven from their settlements in Thrace by the incursions of the Huns from Central Asia, the Vandals migrated through Gaul (now France) and Spain into Roman North Africa and established a kingdom centering around Carthage. From there they dominated the western Mediterranean with a navy of pirates, pillaging the coasts of Spain, Italy, and even Greece, and preying upon Roman shipping. The high point of their depredations came in a.d. 455, when for two weeks they looted and pillaged the city of Rome.
Sea became blood. This judgment is reminiscent of the first plague in Egypt (Ex. 7:20). In the second plague (Rev. 16:3) the sea “became as the blood of a dead man.” “Blood” here doubtless implies wholesale human slaughter.
Creatures. Gr. ktismata, “things created.” The Greek word does not necessarily imply life, hence the qualification “which … had life.” See Ex. 7:21.
Life. Gr. psuchai (see on Matt. 10:28).
The Roman Empire, after Constantine the Great, was divided into three parts. Hence the frequent remark, “a third part of men,” is an allusion to the third part of the empire which was under the scourge. This division of the Roman kingdom was made at the death of Constantine, among his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. Constantius possessed the East, and fixed his residence at Constantinople, the metropolis of the empire. Constantine II held Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Constans held Illyricum, Africa, and Italy. –Uriah Smith
Our Lesson’s View
The second trumpet recalls, in general, God’s judgments on those who opposed Him (Exod. 7:19–21), and in particular the fall of ancient Babylon (Jer. 51:24, 25, 41, 42). The lesson, therefore, associates this trumpet with the fall of the Roman Empire (compare Peter’s apparent designation of Rome as “Babylon” in 1 Pet. 5:13).
The first two trumpets herald judgments upon the nations that crucified Christ and persecuted the early church: rebellious Jerusalem and the Roman Empire.
3rd Trumpet
Verse 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; 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.
Fell a great star. This has been interpreted as portraying the invasion and ravages of the Huns under the leadership of their king Attila, in the 5th century. Entering Europe from Central Asia about a.d. 372, the Huns first settled along the lower Danube. Three quarters of a century later they were on the move again, and for a brief period raised havoc in various regions of the tottering Roman Empire. Crossing the Rhine in a.d. 451, they were stopped by combined Roman and German troops at Chalôns in northern Gaul. After a short period of marauding in Italy, Attila died in a.d. 453, and almost immediately the Huns disappeared from history. In spite of the short period of their ascendancy, so rapacious were the Huns in their devastations that their name has come down through history as synonymous with the worst slaughter and destruction.
Lamp. Gr. lampas, here probably meaning a torch (see on Matt. 25:1).
The rivers. This judgment falls upon the sources of fresh water, as contrasted with the salt-water bodies affected under the previous trumpet (v. 8; cf. ch. 16:4).
Name. As the “name” often denotes a characteristic of that to which it is attached, the name of this star may be taken as descriptive of the judgment that falls under this trumpet (see on Acts 3:16).
Wormwood. Gr. apsinthos, a notoriously bitter herb, Artemisia absinthium. In the present passage the waters themselves become wormwood.
In the interpretation and application of this passage, we are brought to the third important event which resulted in the subversion of the Roman Empire. –Uriah Smith
Our Lesson’s View
The symbolism of the third trumpet parallels biblical imagery for the work of Satan (Isa. 14:12–19, Luke 10:18, Rev. 12:9). But the symbolism of lamp, springs, rivers, and water suggests spiritual life and growth (Ps. 1:3; Ps. 84:6, 7; Ps. 119:105; Jer. 2:13). The falling of the stars and the embittering of the waters connect the two ideas, suggesting a perversion of truth and a rise of apostasy. The lesson, therefore, associates this trumpet with the condition of the church in the Middle Ages.
4th Trumpet
Verse 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.
The sun. The sun, moon, and stars have been interpreted to represent the great luminaries of the Western Roman government—its emperors, senators, and consuls. With the removal of its last emperor, in 476, the extinction of Western Rome began (see pp. 21, 22; cf. p. 111). Later, its senate and consulship came to an end.
Shone not for a third part. The thought seems to be that these bodies would be smitten during one third of the time of their shining, not that one third of the bodies themselves would be smitten so that they would shine with two-thirds brilliance. Thus one third of the day and one third of the night would be dark. Applied to the divisions of the Roman government, the figure may describe the successive extinction of the emperors, senators, and consuls.
We understand that this trumpet symbolizes the career of Odoacer, the first barbarian ruler of Italy, who was so intimately connected with the downfall of Western Rome. –Uriah Smith
Our Lesson’s View
In the fourth trumpet, the sources of light (sun, moon, and stars) are darkened, the symbols of truth are partially eclipsed. This darken¬ing could represent the deepening of apostasy in the church (Exod. 10:21–23, Job 38:2, Isa. 8:22, John 1:4–11, John 3:18–21).
The third and fourth trumpets portray heaven’s judgment against the apostasy of the Christian church in the medieval period.
