Sunday School Notes: Revelation 8:6-9

⁶ And the seven angels holding [the] seven trumpets prepared to blow them. ⁷ And the first blew, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it fell to the earth, and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up and all the green grass was burned up. ⁸ And the second angel blew, and something like a large mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. ⁹ And one third of the creatures, of those in the sea, those having life, died, and a third of the boats were destroyed.

The seven angels before the throne of God prepare to blow their trumpets, ready to proclaim the Lord’s judgment. The verb I’ve translated “blow” is actually the verb form of the noun meaning “trumpet” (salpizô is the verb, salpigx is the noun), so you could say “they trumpeted their trumpets.” But they don’t blow them all at the same time; each blows sequentially in turn. This doesn’t mean each of the visions is supposed to follow a chronological order. This is simply the order in which John has the visions. As we begin looking at each trumpet vision, it’s interesting to note how different they are to the seal visions. With each seal, John sees some kind of “earthly” calamity–wars, conquests, famine, pestilence, death, and so on. The trumpets, however, depict calamities of a more supernatural nature: stars falling, mountains being thrown, the moon and stars going dark, etc. That’s not to say there aren’t supernatural aspects to the seal visions and “earthly” aspects to the trumpet visions, but generally speaking the hand of God behind the trumpet calamities is far more obvious. These are things that couldn’t easily be ascribed to “natural” phenomena (though I’m sure people will try to).

In the first trumpet vision, John sees hail and fire mixed with blood falling to the earth. As a result, one third of the earth is burned up along with one third of the trees and all the grass. We recalled a couple of the Exodus plagues, in particular Exodus 9:22-25, in which Moses called down hail and fire, which affected the land, plants, and trees. There is no mention of blood in the Exodus plague, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a parallel. The first trumpet may also be referencing the first Exodus plague, turning the water to blood, though the mention of blood and fire may simply be calling attention to the supernatural nature of this occurrence, lest anyone think this is just another hail and thunder storm.

Why one third? This fraction occurs frequently, so it must have some meaning. In Ezekiel 5, the Lord passes judgment on Jerusalem instructing Ezekiel to shave his hair and cut it into thirds. In verse 12 He explains the meaning of this: a third will die in pestilence, a third will die by the sword, and a third will be scattered. Perhaps the “third” is simply to draw attention to the fact that this, along with the other trumpets, is a fulfillment of such prophecies. Zechariah 13:8-9 also speaks of two-thirds of the land being cut off, and one third left alive to be refined by fire. Since these things only happen to a select portion, we are again assured that this is an act of God. He has chosen the third portions that will suffer. It might suggest that God’s people and their land and property might be spared, but the text doesn’t tell us this. God’s people would certainly experience the fall out from this disaster, but maybe we are being told that this is not their judgment. These things are not happening on account of God’s people.

This judgment appears to affect mainly agriculture, a vital part of both their society and ours. With trees and fields being burned up, a major part of the economy would be affected. There would be food shortages, which links to the third seal, and the horseman bringing famine, though this is a more severe punishment since the food source is being destroyed at its root. In the Egyptian plague, the crop supply was also affected. So this judgment strikes at the land.

The second trumpet brings a vision of something like a burning mountain being thrown into the sea, turning a third of the sea to blood and killing a third of all the sea creatures and destroying a third of the boats. Some suggest this is a reference to a volcano, perhaps a volcanic eruption contemporary with John–Vesuvius, perhaps, which erupted in 79 AD. Notice, however, John says it was like a mountain, so it’s not necessarily a literal mountain. And also this “mountain” was cast into the sea, whereas a volcano spews lava into the seas and onto land. So it’s unlikely this is a reference to any kind of volcanic activity.

There is an interesting connection between this trumpet vision, and Jeremiah 51 and Revelation 18. Jeremiah 51 (particularly verses 25-27 and 63-64) speak of God’s judgment against Babylon. We’ve discussed before how names in Revelation (e.g., “Jezebel”) might be code names for actual people and places. Using such codes would protect the churches as they pass this letter around in the event it should fall into hostile hands. Jeremiah may well have meant literal Babylon, but that name has come to epitomize a city that is prosperous but morally bankrupt. It would certainly apply to Rome in John’s day, and I’m sure we can think of countless other places that would fit the description today. Reading those passages and seeing references to Babylon being hurled into the sea, and her boats being broken, it’s hard to miss the parallels to the second trumpet vision. We’ll talk more about “Babylon” when we get to Revelation 18, but for now we can understand such judgments as indicating that cities like it shall not stand. God’s judgment of them shall be final and devastating. All those who shunned the Lord and refused to repent, choosing instead to rely upon their wealth and resources will find their security stripped away.

This second trumpet vision shows God’s judgment targeting commerce and the fishing industry, again a very important part of the first century economy. Not only are the fish killed, but ships are destroyed. In the first Egyptian plague, the water became undrinkable, which would also have affected the lives and livelihoods of those who use it. Once again, we see God’s sovereign hand striking out against those who deny the Lord and instead trust in their own labors for their prosperity.

We’ll continue with the trumpets next time!