Prophecy Chart Series: The Trumpet Judgments

Part 1

Tim Moore: So, last week, we did talk about these seven seals that Jesus will break on a book or a scroll as it was known in that day. And that final seal that is broken initiates the series of seven Trumpet Judgments. And that’s going to be our focus today.

Nathan Jones: Our discussion of the Seal Judgments last week left us at the beginning of Revelation 8. We did offer a preview of the war in Heaven that is described in Revelation 12, but we’ll return to that episode later today. In terms of the flow of activity, John had just observed an interlude in Heaven, 30 minutes of silence when Jesus broke the seven seal and ushered in the Trumpet Judgements.

Tim Moore: But something very important happens in and immediately following that interval of silence. The prayers of the saints are mixed with incense and offered to the Lord. And John’s description raises an important question that we should grapple with. What happens to the prayers we offer to God right now?

Part 2: Back at Desk

Tim Moore: Well, as we wrapped up our time over at the Prophecy Chart, we were talking about the prayers offered up to God. And Nathan, as we enter this time of interlude, the silence in Heaven followed by the breaking of the seventh seal, we’re told that the prayers of the saints are collected and gathered with incense to lift up before the Lord God. And that kind of begs a question, what happens to our prayers right now? Do they just float off into the ether to perhaps be heard by the Lord God?

Nathan Jones: You know, that’s the beauty of the passage here in 8:4. Says, “And the smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints out of the angel’s hand before God.” In other words, the Lord created us to have fellowship with Him forever, to bask in His glory. And so prayer connects us to God. It’s like a sweet fragrance to Him. It’s like something He’s anticipating and waiting, that He wants as part of our life. I just love it, incense.

Tim Moore: It reminds me even of what David had to say in Psalm 56, this is verse eight, when David said that the Lord God took account of his wonderings. This is a time of great distress in David’s life, but he said that the Lord put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? The Lord’s saving up tears, not because of any kind of celebration of our sorrow, but it’s kind of like a mother saving a locket of her own child’s hair as something to be cherished and treasured. And the Lord cherishes every interaction that we would have with Him.

Nathan Jones: Yes, and the Lord hasn’t forgot us. I love Exodus 3:7. “I have surely seen the affliction of my people and have given heed to their cry, for I am aware of their sufferings.” A lot of times when we’re suffering, we feel so alone, that God doesn’t understand. But that’s our own human limitations. It’s a false notion.

The Bible repeatedly says that God knows our afflictions. He suffered affliction Himself so that He could relate to us. I mean, what God of the universe who didn’t need to know sin and suffering, put it upon Himself, so He could relate to us?

Tim Moore: That’s a great point. Jesus came down to experientially go through what we are encountering day by day in human form. I love it, Nathan. You made the point that God has seen the affliction of His people. That’s reiterated in Psalm 106:44, where it affirms that “He looked upon their distress, He heard their cry,” referring to the people of Israel. Isaiah 63:9 that says, “In their affliction, He was afflicted.” I’m reminded of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers. But even as he was in periods of lows in his life, Scripture could not be clearer, the Lord was with him. The Lord’s with us.

Even though we think we’re going through a low point in life, we need to stay engaged and interactive with Him. And that’s what prayer does for us.

Nathan Jones: I love that old song, “Trust and Obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.” He wants us to know that He’s going to be victorious. And as His children, we will be victorious through Him.

Tim Moore: You know, there’s another element, even as we’re talking about prayer and all that is going to be unfolding in Revelation. Some people think it would be wrong to actually pray that the Lord would vindicate, that He would judge.

And it is not our will that He punish sinners just for the sake of beating them up. But we have a rightful sense that there’s injustice in the world, there’s wickedness being multiplied in the world, and we want to see God vindicated, not because that we want a blood thirsty and vicious kind of punishment bestowed. But because He has righteous indignation, and the righteous appeal of His people for justice is solid, rightful and biblical.

I even liken it to this, Nathan, which is more correct. Asking God to judge and to be bestowing righteousness and holiness upon the Earth or ignoring the sin, tolerating the wickedness and violence, and just wringing our hands and remaining silent before the Lord. I think to put our will in alignment with His, He is grieved in His heart when He sees wickedness, and so are we. And so it is rightful to say, “Lord, set right this wicked world, please. And soon, we pray.”

Nathan Jones: And that’s what the book of Revelation is. It’s finally that punishment we’ve been praying for. But through that punishment, He brings salvation.

Tim Moore: In wrath, He remembers mercy, and that is a prayer of Habakkuk, even when he heard about God’s outpouring of wrath, deservedly so, on His people, Israel. Well, let’s turn now with that kind of setup to the period of the Trumpet Judgments.

Pastor Skip Heitzig

Skip Heitzig: Now once the Rapture happens, and the Tribulation begins, and judgements are poured out, they’re going to happen one after another in rapid succession, like dominoes tipping over. But all the signs that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24 find their fulfillment in these chapters. In fact, look at it this way. Revelation chapter six to 18 or 19, the rest of the book, basically, takes what Jesus said in Matthew 24 and expands it in great detail. The Seals are followed by Trumpets. Seven trumpets are blown. With each blow of the trumpet is an announcement of judgment. The judgment comes and they include hail and fire from the sky. Rivers, springs and grass being affected. One third of the vegetation, 30% of the sea life, one third of the fresh water supply decimated. Oh, and the sky gets black. Becomes dark. At that point, an angel flies through Heaven, saying, “woe, woe, woe,” to the inhabitants of the Earth. In other words, it’s been bad so far, but the worst is yet to come.

Part 4

Tim Moore: Let’s walk through these and what they actually herald, these trumpets themselves.

Nathan Jones: Some say that the seven Seal Judgment kicks off the seven Trumpet Judgments. So, verse six of chapter eight. “The seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. And the first sounded, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the Earth, and a third of the Earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” Tim, what in the world could possibly cause a third of the world to be destroyed?

Tim Moore: You know, it sounds supernatural. And yet, we know having discussed last week the possibility that that last, well, the sixth seal is a nuclear conflict erupting on the Earth. We’re not definitive on saying how it will happen. We just know that it will happen with a third of all the vegetation being burned up. And that even leads to the next Trumpet Judgment that is sounded when a great burning mountain is thrown into the sea and a third of the sea becomes like blood, undrinkable, and really unconducive to life.

And then a third trumpet, when a great star, we, again, would think this would probably be a meteor, falls from Heaven, making a third of the fresh waters bitter and deadly. And that star or that meteorite is actually called Wormwood. It’s given a name, a personified name.

Nathan Jones: I mean, we’re talking about here a third of the sea creatures dying. Imagine, you know, they’re bloated…

Tim Moore: The stench…

Nathan Jones: Rotting carcasses. It says the ships aren’t moving, so the ships are stuck. A third of the world… So people are dying of thirst. It’s a complete attack upon the world’s ecological systems and it affects the world in ways that are unimaginable.

Tim Moore: Unimaginable. And as you hear about this third trumpet with the meteorite, this Wormwood star falling from Heaven, it says that this fourth Trumpet Judgment is, a third of the light from the sun, the moon, and the stars will be darkened or quenched. You have to imagine, if God is using a natural means to accomplish this particular star, this meteorite falling to Earth named Wormwood, it has been orbiting some were out there in outer space since the beginning of time, since the Creation itself.

Nathan Jones: And what’s neat is that God has set up the atmosphere to burn up a lot of the objects that hit. But if you look at the great meteor that hit in Russia back in the early 1900s, for hundreds of miles, the trees were leveled over because of the impact. And you’re right, when that kind of destruction happens, it kicks up the dust, the dust fills the atmosphere, and it reduces the light.

Tim Moore: Just like a volcano. It’s said that after a major volcanic eruption, you can actually measure the decrease in light and the impact on the Earth for a period of years. And that’s been even in recorded history over the last few hundred years.

Well, Nathan, as bad as it has been thus far with the seven Seals, with these first four Trumpet Judgements, it’s about to get even worse. So, right after the fourth trumpet sounds, John says that he looks and sees in Heaven an eagle flying, saying with a loud voice, “woe, woe, woe,” to those who dwell on the Earth because the increasing horror of the Trumpets and the Judgments, and because of the three woes which are about to follow.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, the next three Trumpet Judgments are horrific. God switches from using natural disasters to punish the Earth to actually unleashing the demonic world upon the Earth.

Tim Moore: You know, we use that word “horrific” to describe all of Tribulation, but it seems to get worse and worse. It goes from bad to worse, to even worse. And so that is the best word we know to describe this period that we don’t want anyone to have to endure. And that’s why we appeal to you to flee into the arms of our loving Savior and escape the wrath that is to come. So what is unleashed out of this so-called bottomless pit?

Nathan Jones: Yeah, it’s interesting. John sees a star from Heaven. It falls to the Earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. So we know this star is an angel. This angel opens up this key to the abyss, which we believe is the bottomless pit that separated Paradise from Torments, that waiting place where the dead went before Jesus resurrected.

And so out of it comes demons. Demons that look like locusts. Locusts are kind of grasshopper type creatures. They had scorpion power to sting people, and yet they were commanded not to hurt the Earth, only the people. And they were tormented for five months. “It says the torment,” verse five, “was like a scorpion when it stings a man.” People will seek death, but they won’t die. So during those five months, it would appear that nobody dies on the Earth.

And look at the description of them, verse seven. “The locust looked like horses prepared for battle. They had crowns of gold on their heads. Their faces were like men. The hair was long like women. They had teeth like lions. They had breastplates of iron. They had wings. And they sounded like horses all going into battle. Their tails had stingers.” And so they were led too by a great general, a demon that’s almost as powerful as Satan. And he’s called Apollyon or Abaddon.

Tim Moore: Yes, you know, I’ve heard people speculate, and that’s really all it is, that this could sound like the description of a modern day instrument of war, a tank or some kind of helicopter or something. I actually don’t believe that. I think this is a demonic hoard.

Nathan Jones: But clearly, whatever they are, they’re something to be taken seriously because they inflict for five months. And now, you see a lot of sci-fi movies where aliens come and they conquer the world like The War of the Worlds type thing.

Tim Moore: Right.

Nathan Jones: This is what actually is going to happen. They’re not aliens from outer space, but aliens from the bottomless pit, so to speak. Demons that’ll be released upon the Earth and torment the people for five months.

Tim Moore: I think one of the most important things to recognize regardless of what speculation is most accurate, is that clearly, these demons are heeding the authority of God Almighty. They were confined to a bottomless pit for a long period of time. They are released from that bottomless pit. They are able to inflict men and women on the Earth. But even then, they are constrained in their ability to kill. And so they will have only power to hurt men for five months.

And so clearly, even now, the demons are yielding to the authority of God Almighty. And that reminds me of the account in Mark chapter five, where Jesus comes across a man who is demon possessed. And the demon calls out, “Lord, what do you have to do with me?” And Jesus says, “Who are you?” And he says, “I am Legion.” And he does not want to be constrained and cast away, so, he says, “Lord, let me go into this herd of pigs,” and Jesus in His authority allows that.

Nathan Jones: So they know that they have a limited amount of time.

Tim Moore: And they know who Jesus is.

Nathan Jones: Absolutely.

Tim Moore: Which is why, you made a point a couple of weeks ago; we can’t just ascent with our head. The demons know who Jesus is. We have to actually give ourselves over to Him with faith that comes from our heart, not just head knowledge.

Nathan Jones: Absolutely. That’s a good point. Well, the sixth judgment, the sixth Trumpet Judgment is yet, again, another demonic attack; comes from God. And He says, “Release the four angels who bound at the great river Euphrates.” The Euphrates is one of those ancient rivers that used to border the Garden of Eden but now is in Iraq. They release these four angels, and get this, Tim, they kill a third of mankind.

So, we keep having a third or quarter destroyed of whatever’s remaining. They led an army, horsemen that were 200 million. So you got these four general demons with a 200 million man army. Now some have said, is it a human army like, say, the kings of the East, or is it a demonic army? I think because they’re released, it’s another demonic army. But to think that there’s 200 million demons along with all these locust-looking demons, these generals, all being held in captivity, waiting for that day when God will release them to inflict horror upon the world.

You know, every zombie movie, every apocalypse movie, every alien invasion movie will actually be a reality during that time.

Tim Moore: A reality during that time. And frankly, even if this is a demonic army, do they act in their spiritual form or do they possess 200 million men? Again, we are not being declarative of what will happen in terms of how that is manifest, but I agree with you. These are 200 million demons released, and you think, “Good heavens, how many demons are there?”

Well, we know that there’s a whole angelic realm. And a third, speaking of a third, sided with Satan when he decided to rebel against the Lord in his great pride and were cast, we say out of Heaven. Really, we know they still have access in some mysterious way, Satan especially. But they were relegated to not be a part of God’s angelic host who are worshiping Him because of their rebellion.

And Nathan, I think it’s also instructive to realize that if you say a third of mankind, well, using today’s population, we’ve got about 8 billion people in the world. So, when the quarter is killed, that would equate to 2 billion people. When another third is killed, well, a third of 6 billion remaining would be another 2 billion. Half the world’s population. Four billion people killed, and we haven’t even gotten halfway through the Tribulation.

Nathan Jones: Oh my goodness. I mean this army that’s going to follow these four generals incinerate humanity with fire and smoke and brimstone that comes out of their mouths. Almost like they’ve got built-in flame throwers. Humanity is being hunted through that time. And that kind of begs the question, Tim, are those who are the Tribulation Saints, those who are saved, are they going to be left; not be attacked by these armies? And I believe it seems there’s a few of the judgments here where those who are saved are protected by God. And they will not be incinerated by these demons or stung by these demons.

Tim Moore: And Jesus even said one time when His apostles asked Him whether they should call out, and He said, “No, let the tares grow up among the wheat because we don’t want the wheat to be harmed,” but there is a time when both the tares and the wheat suffer the judgment of God.
The motivation behind God pouring out judgment on the world, yes, is His righteous indignation. But as we’ve already said, it’s an effort to drive unbelieving humanity to the end of itself, individuals to the end of themselves, so that they will confess their sin and turn to God. Repent. And you think, in the midst of all this, what rational person would not flee from all this wrath into the loving arms of Jesus?

And yet we know that instead of repenting and turning back from judgment, so much of the unrepentant world will take the advice of Job’s wife who said, “Curse God and die.” They would rather curse God and die in their suffering than to repent and turn to Him. You know what? Even with all this befalling the world, there are going to be many, I would say, most, who still refuse to yield in belief of Christ.

Nathan Jones: Well, thank goodness when we get to chapter 10 because the Lord has a break for us in the narrative with this supersized colossal angel.

Tim Moore: Yeah, supersized angel. So we’ve talked about how the Lord provides hope even for those who are suffering during the Tribulation. We believe this interlude before the seventh trumpet is another demonstration that God is offering hope to those who are left on the Earth and some being martyred clearly, but others trying to endure.

So, Nathan, you’ve done a full study and a book on The Mighty Angels of Revelation. Who do you think this strong angel is?

Nathan Jones: Well, if you read Revelation 1, the description of Jesus Christ, then you read Revelation 10, and it talks about, “he was clothed with the cloud, there’s a rainbow upon his head, his face was like the sun, his feet like the pillars, and he’s holding this little scroll or this little book,” you think, “Well, that’s got to be Jesus Christ.”

But you get down to verse six, and he swears to Him, the Lord who lives forever and ever, who created Heaven. Not he created Heaven, he swears to the One Who created the Heavens and Earth. So, this is an angel. I like to think of it as a colossus angel because it’s so big that the Bible says it steps across the ocean. And here’s John in his tiny little form. So, you’re picturing something massive, and he’s reaching down to John and he’s giving him this tiny little book, and he tells him to do something really weird with it.

Tim Moore: Yeah, he tells him to eat the book.

Nathan Jones: Eat the book.

Tim Moore: And you think, “Okay, well, eat the book?” And so John eats the book. He finds that the book is sweet to the taste, but once it gets to his stomach and begins to digest, it’s very bitter in his stomach. And so why is this particular book so sweet to the taste but bitter in the stomach?

Nathan Jones: Because it’s a prophecy about the coming judgments ahead. It’s sweet to the taste because justice is coming, but it’s bitter to the stomach because, you know, we just read how horrific the Trumpet Judgments were, and they were even worse than the Seal Judgments. But the Bowl Judgments coming up, the last judgments of God, are earth-shattering. They’re at the level of cataclysm.

And so He’s kind of preparing the reader for that, and that’s what brings us then chapter 11 because God doesn’t want us to lose hope here. Like, you’ve been saying again and again, He’s giving opportunities for people to get saved. And in chapter 11, He releases two witnesses in Jerusalem who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, like the prophets of old… Do you think they’re the prophets of old?

Tim Moore: All the description seems to harken back to a prophet of old.

Nathan Jones: So, Enoch and Elijah.

Tim Moore: Enoch and Elijah.

Nathan Jones: Some say Moses, but we know Moses died because Satan fought over his body.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Nathan Jones: The Bible prophesies Elijah will return before the coming of the Lord. And what’s interesting though is that they have supernatural powers to bring fire down, to call people out. And the Antichrist hates these guys. He wants them dead, but he cannot kill him. And for three and a half years they’re in Jerusalem, they’re proclaiming the Gospel, they’re shutting the rain off. The world hates them.

And finally, it’s interesting that when, about the same time that Abbadon is released upon the Earth, Satan, through the Antichrist, kills the two witnesses. And you would think that the world would be shocked. They don’t even bother to bury them. They just let them rot in the streets. And the world not only celebrates, but they give presents to each other. They party over it.

Tim Moore: And we’ve talked about how it is modern technology that will allow the whole world to look upon those bodies as they lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three days. Nathan, our great grandparents would’ve read that passage and scratched their head, wondering, “How could that possibly happen?” So modern technology explains how this will take place, but it also demonstrates once again the authority of God. For three and a half years, the Antichrist, even as he’s raging, doesn’t have the authority to kill these two “troublers.”

We call ourselves troublers. They are going to be troubling to the Antichrist and all the unbelieving world. But at three and a half years, God gives the Antichrist the authority to kill His witnesses? Yes, because in God’s great plan, that is part of His plan that these two now will die, but they will be resurrected.
Well, that brings us now, Nathan, to woe number three, as the eagle had cried out, which is the seventh trumpet. So let’s talk about that for a moment.

Nathan Jones: All right, you pick up in 11:15 the seventh angel sounds. And he declares, he says, “The kingdom of the world has become a kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” Flash forward to the ultimate victory that Jesus will have. Just like we saw with the seventh seal, there’s a scene from Heaven where in the Earth, there’s terrible judgment, in Heaven there’s rejoicing and celebrating. But with that judgment comes natural disasters again. And it also kicks off, which will be the next seven judgments, the Bowl Judgments.

Tim Moore: Right. Here again, as we move toward Revelation 12, we see yet another flash back with sort of a spiritual overview of God’s plan of redemption through the nation of Israel shall be personified as a woman, giving birth to a child. And then in a very short series of verses, it has an overview of how Christ came, how He, again, provided the means of our salvation, and how He ascended to the right hand of God the Father, and is coming again to reign. But we know there’s a coming war that we call the culminating war in Heaven.

Nathan Jones: Absolutely. Well, folks, if you look at the timeline here, we are now halfway through the Tribulation. We’ve gone through the seven Seals and the seven Trumpets. But while this Earthly timeline is going on, there’s a Heavenly timeline going on.

And last week, when we were talking about how there’s been a war between Satan and God since the beginning of Creation. Well, it’s going to culminate in chapter 12, where we read about the great sign of Revelation 12. It involves a woman, a child, and a dragon. Some people say the woman is the Church, but clearly, it’s Israel there. The child, obviously, is the Messiah. And she gives birth to the Messiah, and what happens? The Red Dragon, Satan, tries to kill Jesus. He tried it through Herod in Bethlehem by killing the babies. He tried it on the cross, but Jesus beat death and come back from the dead.

So that’s the past tense of the story. But when we get to the future tense, verse seven, we see that there is a war erupting in Heaven. As Satan tried to overthrow God and he took a third of the angels with them, they were cast down to the Earth. Satan has always had access to the Throne of God, to accuse the saints. And it looks like he goes through that door one more time, his demons come pouring out behind him. Maybe these very locust demons we’re talking about and the 200-million-man army.

Again, Satan always thinks if he can get enough on his side, he could overthrow God. There’s another final epic battle in Heaven. Archangel Michael pushes them back. Satan’s cast down to the Earth. He no longer will have access to Heaven anymore, and Satan knows he only has three and a half years left for his defeat. So the Bible says he returns like a raging lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Tim Moore: Exactly right. Nathan, let’s end right there and return to our Prophecy Chart to wrap up our discussion of the Trumpet Judgments and the war in Heaven.

Closing

Tim Moore: As you can see, we have three more major events to go, but much more related to End Time Events.

Nathan Jones: Our focus today was on the Trumpet Judgments, and Tim and I will never hear those trumpets with unglorified ears or experience the wrath that they unleash. Instead, we’re eager to hear the trumpet of God described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 that will accompany a voice of the archangel and a shout from Jesus Christ Himself.

We hope we hear those wonderful sounds with our mortal ears because they will be heard the instant of the Rapture.

Tim Moore: We hope you are also eager to hear the sounds of the Rapture. Jesus may say, “Come up here,” like He did to John in Revelation 4. Regardless of the words, all those who are His will join Him in the air. And whether we experience the Rapture or are called home individually, we long to be with the Lord.

Our consistent appeal is that if you have not believed in Jesus Christ as the sole means of your salvation, meaning the forgiver of your sin and provider of eternal life, you will humble your heart and call on Him right now. Please do not delay. You are not promised another day or hour in this life. Satan is accusing you right now, but Christ will not call you His brother or sister until you have trusted in Him.

Nathan Jones: Well, next week, we’re going to move to the glorious Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and then tackle the Great Tribulation, that last half of the Tribulation that Scripture calls, “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” At the end of that three-and-a-half-year period, Paul says that the Jewish people who remain on the Earth will come to an end of themselves and recognize Jesus Yeshua as their Messiah.

Tim Moore: We rejoice when any Jew or Gentile calls on the Messiah to save them. And as followers of Christ, we are eternally grateful that He is already reigning in our hearts. Anticipating the worship described in Revelation 11:17, we can say right now, “We give thanks Oh Lord God, the Almighty, who are, and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” Make that your song of worship today! Godspeed!

End of Program