Three Woes.
“AND I SAW AND I HEARD A VULTURE FLYING IN MID-HEAVEN SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, “WOE, WOE, WOE, TO THOSE WHO LIVE ON THE EARTH BECAUSE OF THE REST OF THE SOUNDS OF THE THREE ANGELS WHO ARE ABOUT TO BLOW THEIR TRUMPETS.” – REV.8:13.NIV
The depiction of the seven trumpets is escalating rather than sequential. The first four trumpets have (symbolically) reduced the order of God’s creation (the earth the seas, the waters and the heavens) to the inverse of what He had planned. Unfortunately, the destruction isn’t finished. The number 3 denotes unity and the 1/3rd is the inverse of that. The creation is no longer whole. We are witnessing the escalating impact of sin.
The role of the trumpets in Revelation is marked out more clearly than most people realize. The key to understanding them is Rev 6:9-11 (NIV). There the “souls under the altar” cry out, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” The “inhabitants of the earth” are those who have persecuted and martyred God’s faithful people through the ages. These “inhabitants” appear again in Rev 8:13 (NIV). The three woes of trumpets five, six and seven fall on “the inhabitants of the earth.”
The seven trumpets, therefore, are judgments on those who have martyred and persecuted the faithful people of God.
Revelation 8:2-6 tells us that the trumpets are blown in response to the prayers of the saints, which rise like incense from the altar (Rev 8:3-4). What are those prayers? They are the prayers of the martyred people of God (Rev 6:9-11), calling out for justice. When those prayers reach heaven mingled with incense, judgments are hurled down to the earth (Rev 8:5-6). The seven trumpets, therefore, carry a powerful message to those who have been abused, neglected and killed on account of their faith. The trumpets assure them that God is actively confronting those who oppressed them. Those judgments begin already in this life.
Christians suffering at the hand of others should never envy the position of those who persecute them. The seven trumpets are poured out on “those who live on the earth,” the very ones who persecuted the faithful, as described in the seals (Rev 6:9-10). Those who have hurt or killed the faithful people of God are marked in the “books,” (that’s the concept of remembrance – an omniscient God doesn’t need books,) and if they do not repent, they will suffer as much as or even more than those they persecuted. It isn’t a pretty picture. I’d rather face the wrath of man than the wrath of God.
The trumpets assure us that God marks the injustices of this world and will make them right in His time. The Fifth Trumpet Brings the First Terror.
Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.
Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. – Rev 9:1-6 NLT
Spend a moment and mark in your Bibles the number of times the word ‘like’ appears in this chapter. As we have noted before Revelation is using symbolic, figurative, and conceptual language to portray something that is real. Here it is the language of simile. Rev 9 and the 5th trumpet is outlining the devastating work of satan. Revelation 20 tells of his end. Five months is the life span of a locust – satan will have his end. The ‘smoke’ is great, it is the confusion and spiritual darkness that he causes. In the Language of Joel, these are his counterfeits of the heavenly horsemen of the seals. As humanity refuses to walk in the light, devils take over. As they reject the truth, satan is unshackled and given free rein. False theories are like tormenting locusts. Scorpions are symbols of demons (see Luke 10:18-20). The scorpion’s tail is his weapon of deceit.
In the 5th trumpet, he torments with false ideas – this was the counter-reformation that sought to obscure the great light of Justification by Faith. Here we are seeing the ups and downs that will accompany the gospel presentation.
Remember when the apostle looked through the open door into the heavenly temple and at the throne of God. The throne symbolizes God’s rule and governing authority over creation, while the rainbow around the throne signifies God’s faithfulness to His promises (Gen. 9:13–16; Isa. 54:9, 10). However, Satan, (he has even stolen the rainbow image) who usurped the dominion of this earth and is God’s adversary, has disputed divine authority. The central issue in the great controversy between God and Satan is about who has the right to rule. The purpose of the heavenly council that John saw gathered in the heavenly throne room was to affirm God’s rightful rule over the universe (Rev. 4:1–8, Rev. 5:11–14). The seven trumpets are demonstrating God’s right to rule.
Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” – Revelation 4:1.NLT
We noted Then how the scene of Revelation 4 and 5 is one of the most dramatic in the Bible. I am always astonished by it! Apparently, scholars say it is even more glorious in the original language than it is in translation. Read it again and receive an unbelievable thrill as you envision what worship in heaven must be like. The scene starts slowly but then crescendos and crescendos until the entire universe becomes a single vast, antiphonal choir ringing out the praises of the Lamb and the One sitting on the throne (Rev 5:11-14). The scene then concludes as the four living creatures utter “Amen” followed by thunderous silence. The same thunderous silence we ‘heard’ in Revelation 8:1
A danger readers face when going through a passage like Revelation 4 and 5 and here now in Revelation 8 and 9, is the tendency to make too much of every detail and thereby miss its primary purpose. That purpose is to set forth the greatness of the heavenly throne room, the greatness of God and, therefore, the surpassing greatness of the Lamb that was slain. The throne room of God lays all earthly claims to power and glory in the dust. When one has had a glimpse of the open gates of heaven, it makes no sense any more to be afraid of earthly powers or even specific human beings. The passage invites us to place all sources of earthly intimidation in the shadows of God’s transcending power and glory, and to acknowledge Him as the one true object of worship. When we truly know Him, we will know what true worship is all about.