As we continue to dig deep into the book of Revelation, I want us to remember; ultimately we are here to honor and worship God. Every breath that we take, every action and decision should always be about glorifying God. And I want to remind us that God’s word contains many details and mysteries. Some of them we can know, others will likely remain mysteries, but we should always consider that God put all the words in his book. They all matter and we cannot ignore any part of it. Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror in their book, “Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel,” note a story of a master artist who traveled to America to work in places of worship. One day someone noticed this craftsman working really high up near the ceiling, and that no one would be able to see what he was working on. In other words, what the artist was working on would never be seen from the floor. So he asked the craftsman, “Why are you being so exact; no one can even see the detail you are creating from this distance? The artist quickly told the sightseer, “God can!” (p. 29) And I think this should be our attitude as we approach God and his word - every book, page, chapter and verse matters. Every detail counts.
Now, before we dive into Revelation today, I would like to consider another passage in the Old Testament. When you read the book of Jeremiah, it is a really good idea to go back and look at the book of Deuteronomy, specifically chapters 27-30. Why is that? Because this is where Yahweh lists out the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience for his people. When you consider the judgments of Revelation, I find it is imperative to review these chapters to help us understand the ways of God. In chapters 27-28 of Deuteronomy we find the blessings and curses of the Sinaitic covenant. Moses called on Israel to perform a ceremony to ratify the covenant with God. When the people entered the promised land, they were to set up large stones in which they would write the law. God was making his covenant with his people very plain. We notice in chapter 27, after every curse, the people must say “amen” – which in Hebrew means “so be it”. This includes verse 26 which states, “’Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’” However, the first part of chapter 28 discusses the blessings of God for obedience including, “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.” (vs.7) And in verse 12-13 it states, “The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them”. Then in chapter 28 there is a long list of curses for disobedience. But in chapter 30 the text discusses repentance and forgiveness, and the choice of life or death.
“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deut 30:11-20
So, after briefly reviewing these chapters in Deuteronomy what we can conclude that God made his covenant very plain to his people. There was no question what would happen for obedience or for disobedience. The law was literally written in stone! So, when we come to books like Jeremiah and Revelation, the judgments make more sense. In fact, David Chilton notes about this passage in Deuteronomy, “The Jewish War by Josephus reads almost like a commentary on this passage, for the Great Tribulation culminating in the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the subsequent scattering of the Jews throughout the earth was the definitive fulfillment of its curses.”
So, let’s begin with Revelation 8, which is the opening up of the 7th seal. Let’s read verses 1-5.
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The first thing we notice is the silence in heaven. We have previously noted that a sealed document like this was not able to be read until all the seals are broken. So, what we have here is the final process of opening up the New Covenant. The book is opened! And yet, the first thing is silence! This is actually very powerful. We have already noted how much the Apostle uses Old Testament symbolism. And here again if we go back to Old Testament texts, we find that silence is associated with divine judgment. You can reference Habakkuk 2:20 and Zechariah 2:13. Also in Zephaniah 1:7-18 it references the great day of the Lord and judgment coming. In verse 7 the text commands silence before the Lord God. So, when we find silence in heaven we know that God is standing at the door of judgment. The irony here is that the seventh seal contains seven angels blowing seven trumpets. In the Jewish apocryphal book of First Enoch it lists the names of the seven angels who stand before God. They are Uriel, Raphael, Raquel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel. Each angel is given a trumpet to blow. A good parallel to think about is the city of Jericho. Some might argue that Jerusalem would fall at the sound of the seven trumpets just like the ancient city of Jericho in Joshua 6.
Now, in verse 3 there is another angel who comes and stands at the altar in heaven and is given incense to offer with the prayers of the saints. I find it very interesting we have this introductory scene before the trumpets are blown. We are immediately reminded of Revelation 6, in the fifth seal, when those in heaven cried out, “how long before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Well, it appears that now we have that answer. The first verses of Revelation 8 are actually like a worship service – there is silence as the angel offers up the prayers of the saints to God. Verse 4 tells us the incense and the prayers rose before God. But in verse 5 is where we see the result of all those prayers. The angel takes the censer, fills it with fire and it is thrown to the earth. Does this passage teach the power of prayer – I think so! The prayers go up to God and in this case, God answers in a powerful way. William Hendriksen is his book, More Than Conquerors, makes this important point about this scene, “These saints in persecution and tribulation are praying. But their prayer life is imperfect. It needs to be incensed with the intercession of Christ. Once these prayers have been incensed, the seer notices that the smoke ascends to the very presence of God.” And this of course leads us into the seven trumpets.
Now, before diving into the trumpets, I think it is helpful to consider what trumpets being blown means in the Bible. David Chilton in his excellent book on Revelation discusses the symbolic significance of trumpets. First, in the Old Testament trumpets were used for ceremonial procession. We might think of the Ark of the Covenant or as we already mentioned the march around Jericho. Trumpets were also blown to announce a new king. We find this in I Kings 1 when Solomon is anointed king over Israel. And when we get to the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11, it is announcing King Jesus as Lord and his kingdom manifest. Third, trumpets were used to sound an alarm or warning of approaching judgment. This usually was a call for national repentance. Fourth, in the Old Testament Moses used two silver trumpets. This was to call the people for worship and it was used as an announcement for a battle or war. Here in Revelation it is no different. For a large portion of the book shows a worship service in progress and the trumpets were announcing a holy war on apostate Israel.
Trumpets were also used at feasts and on the first day of every month (Numbers 10:10). You might think of the Feast of Trumpets – Numbers 29. I think this gives us a general understanding of the Biblical symbolism being used, and certainly the first century readers would have this background in mind.
Now, let’s move to the trumpets of Revelation 8-9.
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. Revelation 8:6-7
Now if you remember the first four seals seemed to grouped together. That seems to be the case for the trumpets as well; however, the first five trumpets do in fact resemble the plagues of Egypt from Exodus.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. Exodus 9:22-24
This was the seventh plague of Egypt and you can see the similarities to the first trumpet. It is interesting that in the seal judgments you have fourths, but the trumpets appears to be in thirds. Since the seals, trumpets, and bowls do seem to recapitulate, it would appear this shows a progression. We have gone from ¼ to 1/3. Either way we know the judgment is not total, at least not yet. This first trumpet is about the land and vegetation. So, what is this talking about? Well, I think again we are talking about the judgment of God coming on Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in the first century, when the book of Revelation was actually written. The Romans destroyed the land and vegetation as a strategy of warfare. Josephus notes, “The countryside, like the city, was a pitiful sight, for where once there had been a multitude of trees and parks, there was now an utter wilderness stripped bare of timber; and no stranger who had seen the old Judea and the glorious suburbs of her capital, and now beheld utter desolation, could refrain from tears or suppress a groan at so terrible a change. The war had blotted out every trace of beauty, and no one who had known it in the past and came upon it suddenly would have recognized the place, for though he was already there, he would still have been looking for the city.” (The Jewish War, vi.i.1)
Now, I know it is difficult talking about God’s judgments. But remember God is administering his justice and he is answering the prayers of his saints.
Now, let’s move to trumpets 2 and 3.
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. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 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. 11 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. Revelation 8:8-11
First of all we are reminded again of the plagues of Egypt.
Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” Exodus 7:15-19
Now, I want to point out that in Revelation the earth typically represents Israel and the sea, Rome. Mountains as noted previously represent kingdoms or cities. And the sea represents gentile kingdoms. You can reference Daniel 7:2-3, Isaiah 8:7-8, 17:12, 60:5, Jeremiah 47:1-2, 51:55-56. So, a mountain being thrown into the sea is a metaphor that means a military conquest by a foreign nation. We know Jerusalem was called, “the mountain of the Lord”. But also according to William Telford, mountain was a standard expression among the Jewish people that meant the Temple mount.
A good example of the mountain and sea metaphor is found in Jeremiah 51.
“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
declares the Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
and make you a burnt mountain.
26 No stone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be a perpetual waste,
declares the Lord.
27 “Set up a standard on the earth;
blow the trumpet among the nations;
prepare the nations for war against her;
summon against her the kingdoms,
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like bristling locusts.
28 Prepare the nations for war against her,
the kings of the Medes, with their governors and deputies,
and every land under their dominion. Jeremiah 51:25-28
“How Babylon is taken,
the praise of the whole earth seized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
42 The sea has come up on Babylon;
she is covered with its tumultuous waves. Jeremiah 51:41-42
The text of Jeremiah is talking about the nation of Babylon. But what about Revelation? What is the mountain-kingdom? Well, in Revelation 18:21 it states, “Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;’” But when the book of Revelation was written Babylon was no longer around. While the Apostle John is using imagery and symbolism from the Old Testament, Babylon in Revelation refers to apostate Israel. Israel has become like ancient Babylon. This becomes clear when you study the last half of Revelation. In Revelation 8, the mountain is Jerusalem or Israel. But what about the rest of the text for trumpets 2 and 3.
During the Jewish War in the first century when the Roman armies arrived, the Jewish rebels in the cities of Joppa and Taricheae went out to sea in ships. Joppa and Taricheae were on the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee. When the people went out to sea, the ships were destroyed and many people fell into the water and drown. Josephus in writing of these events says this: “One might then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following days over the country, for as for the shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all swelled.” (The War of the Jews 3.10.9)
So, while the two cities were conquered by Rome, they were also quite literally thrown into the sea. And we are reminded here if what Jesus says in Matthew 21:21, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.”
Now, let’s talk briefly about the third trumpet. Here in the text a star falls from heaven. In a literal sense this could be a meteor falling to the earth. But Biblically speaking an angel falling from heaven is typically talking about Satan. When Isaiah prophesied about the fall of Babylon, he uses similar language that sounds like the original fall from heaven. Let’s read it.
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit. Isaiah 14:12-15
However, this fall is talking about the king of Babylon. G. K. Beale in his extensive commentary on Revelation notes, “The star, as elsewhere in Revelation (1:20,2:1, etc.), is an angelic being often representative of an earthly person or kingdom.” He goes on to say , “Israel’s religious leaders figuratively ‘polluted’ Israel with idolatry, so God is pictured as polluting them with bad water. . . Wormwood is a bitter herb which contaminates water.” (pg. 175) The term wormwood is used in the Old Testament to warn Israel, you can find it in Jeremiah 9:15 and 23:15, Lamentations 3:15, and Amos 5:7. Furthermore, in Numbers 5:11-31 there is a ceremonial test for adultery. The wife or woman is made to drink bitter water which will bring a curse if she is guilty. In Revelation 8:10-11 God is giving his people bitter water to drink. So, here in Revelation we are talking about spiritual adultery. God’s people have worshipped other gods and been unfaithful to Yahweh.
Now, as we come to the 4th trumpet, we again see cosmic signs. Verse 12 says, “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.” We are again reminded of the Exodus because the ninth Egyptian plague was darkness.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. Exodus 10:21-23
Now, Revelation 8 shows us there is not total darkness, it is like a partial eclipse. This reminds us of Revelation 6 with the sixth seal, except as I mentioned, it is partial or 1/3. Now, when we talked about Revelation 6 I discussed there were some lunar and solar eclipses around 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was destroyed. There were also some partial eclipses. On October 18, 69 A.D. there was a partial lunar eclipse and on April 14, 70 A.D. there was a penumbral lunar eclipse, which was during Passover that year. There was another penumbral lunar eclipse on October 8, 70 A.D. Both this eclipse and the one in October 69 A.D. were during Sukkot, which is a Jewish pilgrimage festival and holiday. During this time, as we discussed when we studied Revelation 6, there was also a solar eclipse on March 30, 70 A.D., which was Nisan 1, the beginning of the religious year and on September 21, 70 A.D., which was on Rosh Hashanah. Do I think Revelation 8 refers to these eclipses? Yes I do, but as noted before, it doesn’t just refer to the eclipses in the heavens. These heavenly bodies are symbolic of rulers. David Chilton notes, “The imagery here was long used in the prophets to depict the fall of nations and national rulers.” He references Isaiah 13:9-11,19, Isaiah 24:19-23, Isaiah 34:4-5, Ezekiel 32:7-8, 11-12, Joel 2:10, 28-32, Acts 2:16-21. I am not going to go through all those verses because we discussed this idea at length in Revelation 6. But certainly he is correct. F. W. Farrar in his book, The Early Days of Christianity, notes, “ruler after ruler, chieftain after chieftain of the Roman Empire and the Jewish nation was assassinated and ruined. Gaius, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, all died by murder or suicide; Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa, and most of the Herodian Princes, together with not a few of the leading High Priests of Jerusalem, perished in disgrace, or in exile, or by violent hands. All these were quenched suns and darkened stars.” So, we are starting to understand the duality of the language. How there is a literal and symbolic meaning.
You know when they used to have an intermission in a long play or movie. Well, right here in the text of Revelation 8, we have just that – an intermission between the fourth and fifth trumpets. Verse 13 states, “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!’” An eagle is a symbol of covenant blessing, but also curses (Exodus 19:4, Deuteronomy 32:11, Jeremiah 4:13, Habakkuk 1:8). And with this short intermission we progress to the last 3 trumpets. The eagle’s announcement is ominous as judgment draws near.
And with this we transition to chapter 9 which is the fifth and sixth trumpet. Let’s read chapter 9:1-11
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
Again with the start of the fifth trumpet we have a star falling from heaven, just like in the last chapter. Now, before proceeding I want to point something out. In verse 1 it states, “I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth.” In some other places in Revelation the text states an angel was coming down from heaven. Examples are Revelation 10:1 and 20:1. But in Revelation 9 it says, “a star fallen”. In the Greek the word is “pipto” which means to descend, to fall or be cast down. It can also mean to fall under judgment. This word “pipto” is also used in Revelation 14:8 where is says, “fallen, fallen is Babylon the great”. This clearly means a falling down from a higher place. The Greek word used in Revelation 10 and 20 is “katabaino” which means to come down or descend. You always have to look at the context as well, but it seems clear that the English translation is correct by saying a star fallen in Revelation 9. Why is this important? Because many commentators have tried to identify the angel in Revelation 9:1. The text says star but we know stars in Revelation can represent angels. And in this case I think it is fairly important to know if we are talking about a descending angel or a fallen one. In Revelation 9 the angel is given a key to the abyss or bottomless pit. When the angel opens the pit, it releases what appear to be demons. So, we can see why it is important to know the identity of the angel if possible. And certainly we are reminded of Luke 10 where Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” And in Revelation 12:9 where it says, “the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan.” But is Revelation referring to Satan? Well, some commentators think so. Some believe it is another angel and some believe it is Christ because he is given the key to the abyss. The belief that it is Christ is based on Revelation 1:18 where Jesus says, ”I have the keys of Death and Hades.” And in Revelation 20 where an angel has the key to the bottomless pit. I think it is clear that Revelation 20 does indeed refer to Christ. But the angel or star that has fallen in Revelation 9 cannot be Christ. Jesus is never referred to in this way. So, who is this star? In all honesty, I don’t think we can know for sure, but it is likely Satan or one of his representatives. We must also remember that stars also represent human rulers. So, we could also be talking about a king or ruler that falls.
Now this judgment comes in the form of locusts, and while we may be reminded of the eighth plague of Egypt (Exodus 10:12-15), these locust represent something else entirely. Let’s read Joel 1:2-7.
Hear this, you elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has come up against my land,
powerful and beyond number;
its teeth are lions' teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vine
and splintered my fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches are made white.
This text is talking about locusts but it is a metaphor for national conquest where an enemy destroys the land. In Revelation 9:7 the text says the locusts are like horses prepared for battle. Locusts are in fact a Biblical metaphor for an invading army. In addition, the Babylonian Talmud states, “The destruction of Jerusalem [during Israel’s first century war with Rome] came through a Kamza (locust) and a Bar Kamza (son of a locust).” Again this is because locusts were a symbol of a foreign army. Now the locusts in Revelation 9 had an odd physical description. They had human faces, women’s hair, teeth like a lion’s and tails like a scorpion. The Roman legions would often use a military flag to identify with a sign of the zodiac. In 70 A.D. Titus took over the Roman siege on Jerusalem. This was a 5 month siege just like the text of Revelation 9 says. Ironically, on the night when Titus began his assault on Jerusalem which was during Passover, the constellations were Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Ophiuchus, and Sagittarius. In the text, you have the metaphoric language of a lion, women’s hair (Virgo), the tail of a scorpion, and imagery of a horse with a human face (like a centaur). Now, I don’t want to go too far with this but clearly here as with other portions of Revelation, the stars or constellations are being referenced in the text.
Let’s step back a moment, we started with a fallen star, which definitely represents Nero at his death. After this we have a 5 month siege, which we know is likely Titus when he takes over for his father, Vespasian, in the Jewish-Roman war. And it should be noted that this scene could be a type of resurrection of the Roman Empire. When Nero died the empire was in chaos and the Julio-Claudian dynasty ended. But it was resurrected or healed (Rev. 13) with the ascension of Vespasian to the throne, which was also the rise of the Flavian dynasty. In verse 11, it states, “They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon. Now, Abaddon means destruction and Apollyon means destroyer. Here is my question. Is this king the same person as the angel? Is this Nero, could it be Titus? My answer to that is yes. Often the Bible is talking about a system, and I believe here it is referring to both Nero and Titus because they were leaders in the same beast system. So, what I am saying is the fifth trumpet is describing the death of Nero and the siege of the Romans on Jerusalem.
Now, before moving to the sixth trumpet, I want to point something out since some may not buy into an angel representing a heavenly and earthly person. In Ezekiel 26-28 the prophet is prophesying against Tyre. In chapter 28 the prophecy is about the earthly prince or king of Tyre. However, starting in verse 11, the text seems to be describing a heavenly being. Listen to verses 12-17.
“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:
“You were the signet of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering,
sardius, topaz, and diamond,
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle;
and crafted in gold were your settings
and your engravings.
On the day that you were created
they were prepared.
14 You were an anointed guardian cherub.
I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you.
16 In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.
Clearly again we have an earthly king and a heavenly being described, so either you have an earthly king being described in earthly and heavenly language or, more likely, what is happening on earth is a mirror image of the heavenly realm. There is a heavenly being who has an earthly counterpart.
Now, as we approach the sixth trumpet I would like for us to read the text, Revelation 9:13-21.
Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Immediately when the sixth angel blows the trumpet there is a voice. And we notice the voice is coming from the four horns on the golden altar. Now, symbolically horns represent power, and since this is on the golden altar before God, we are talking about God’s power. So, Yahweh is about to act in power in response to the prayers of the saints. Is prayer powerful? Do our prayers matter to God? Well, according to the Bible, God acts on our prayers. There is nothing more powerful to invite God to act than righteous prayer. Now, what we see in the text also is referring back to the Old Testament as we have seen over and over in Revelation. In Leviticus 4 we have what is termed the purification offering. The sins of the nation were atoned for by offering a sacrifice. Leviticus 4:18 says, “And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” This is how the altar was purified and the people would know that the incense would go up to God and he would hear their prayers. In addition, I want to mention something that David Chilton points out. Leviticus 26 contains a repeated sevenfold judgment upon Israel if they pollute the land with sin. Revelation does much the same with the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls. The good news is that as Jesus ushers in his kingdom, his blood is what purifies us and we can approach the king and his throne with confidence because our sin has been washed clean by King Jesus.
Moving back to Revelation 9, the command from heaven is to release four angels who have been bound. Now 2 Peter 2:5 and Jude verse 6 mention angels who have been kept in chains until the judgment. However, as already mentioned the Bible often uses angels to refer to heavenly and earthly activity. We might see it as heavenly authority that has an earthly counterpart – what we experience on earth is a mirror image of what happens in the heavenlies. This seems to be why the Bible mixes the earthly and heavenly language.
During the Roman-Jewish War in the first century, there were four Roman legions under the command of Titus, Legio V Macedonia, Legio X Fretensis, Legio XII Fulminata, and Legio XV Apollinaris. The four angels here in Revelation could indeed refer to the four generals of the Roman legions. But of course we cannot know that for sure, it is possible they refer to four kings or leaders involved in the conflict. In 63 A.D. at the end of the Roman-Parthian War, these four generals and the legions were stationed close to the Euphrates River. The Euphrates River is very important in the Bible. It marks a boundary, and in the first century the Euphrates marked the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. In fact, in Revelation 16 when the text discusses the sixth bowl this is what the text states, “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.” (16:12)
Now, when we look back at the fifth trumpet this is what is says, “They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.” (Revelation 9:4-5) So, in the fifth trumpet the Romans were allowed to torment but not kill. But when we get to the sixth trumpet the legions are released. And when we get to verse 16, it tells us the number of troops. Of course, like many numbers in the book of Revelation, it seems clear this number is symbolic. In Psalm 68:17 it states, “The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.” And in Revelation 5:11 it says, “Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,”. In the Greek Revelation 9:16 reads two myriads of myriads. And in ancient Greek a myriad is ten thousand. Some have translated this number as 200 million. But the language is using symbolism and hyperbole, the number means thousands upon thousands, a very large number of troops. So, we are talking about a huge army.
When the text describes the army it again becomes apparent that we talking about Roman legions. The text says, “the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads.” Have you ever heard of a chamfron. Well, in ancient times, it was a protective armor for a horse’s head. It is a known fact that Roman war horses would wear these chamfrons in battle. And often these chamfrons would have the head of a lion. These date back to the first century A.D. Now, one of the plagues mentioned is fire, and we know Jerusalem was destroyed by fire. But the whole picture laid out here reminds us of the Leviathan in Job 41. This mythical sea creature is often used to symbolize enemy empires. Speaking of Leviathan in Job 41 the Lord states, “Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.” (vs. 19-21) Firebrands or as the text states flaming torches were used in warfare. It is very likely the Romans launched firebrands during the Jewish War.
The text mentions a couple of times that a third of mankind is killed. According to Josephus, during the siege about 3,000,000 people were trapped in the city. However, we know that about 1,100,000 of the Jews died during the war. In other words, about 1/3 of the people died. Interestingly enough those who did not perish by the plagues do not, I repeat, do not repent as the text says in Revelation 9:20-21.
David Chilton in his commentary on Revelation mentions five signs that were given to Jerusalem leading up to the Jewish War. God was warning his people, he was blowing the trumpet. But the Jews did not heed the warning. I will mention a couple of the signs. The following is one thing that happened in 66 A.D. according to Josephus. “The east gate of the inner sanctuary was a very massive gate made of brass and so heavy that it could scarcely be moved every evening by twenty men; it was fastened by iron-bound bars and secured by bolts that were sunk very deep into a threshold that was fashioned from a single stone block; yet this gate was seen to open of its own accord at the sixth hour of the night [midnight].” Some thought this as a good omen. We might even think of an open door so to speak. But in reality, this was a sign of an open door to the enemy. The wise saw it as a sign of coming destruction.
Josephus reports another sign during Passover in 66 A.D. “A supernatural apparition was seen, too amazing to be believed . . . before sunset chariots were seen in the air over the whole country, and armed battalions speeding through the clouds and encircling the cities.” (The Jewish War, vi.v.3)
Another sign I have already mentioned is that a star that looked like a sword stood over the city for a whole year. These and other signs were given by God to warn his people. Yet, as noted, the Jews did not repent and Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. Over 1,000,000 people died and many others were scattered all over the world. God’s kingdom brings devastation to the wicked and rebellious. Kingdoms are shaken and even removed. God made his covenant plain to his people – he also made plain the blessings and punishments for obedience and disobedience. The sounding of the trumpets is an alarm. And just as God gave his people warning after warning before sealing their fate, God still warns today. Steven Keillor in his book, God’s Judgments, notes several cases to consider. And in chapter 7 he discusses the burning of Washington which occurred in 1814. Keillor notes that the crisis was likely a divine judgment, however, that is was a judgment on the ruling class. He writes, “Fires that temporarily disabled the national government had some effect on ordinary citizens, but the decentralized country carried on without its national leaders, as state and local governments functioned.” Toward the end of the chapter, Keillor asks the question, is the burning of Washington God’s judgment on the elites? He writes, “We have a long-term cause – elite distain for Christian faith – that could provoke God’s judgment.” Now, I do want to point out, as does Keillor, not all disasters are God’s judgment. But in this case in 1814, it seems clear due to the embarrassing nature of the events and the exemption of ordinary Americans, God was judging national leaders. And guess what? We live in a day just like that - the constant revelation of inept leaders, embarrassing facts and failures. The constant failures of national leadership. God does judge nations and leaders. There are many things we can point to, but I think Keillor is on point. The most devastating judgment comes to the top because of the constant distain for the Christian faith. The angels have been blowing the trumpets of warning. Will we repent – and more specifically will leaders repent? How many disasters have to come? When will leaders listen and change? The only true king is Jesus Christ! And he will bless this nation again. But until national leaders submit their operations to the leadership of Jesus, who alone is holy and righteous, they will continue to experience God’s correction and judgment.
And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:10-13
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