No.15.
We are about to begin some very difficult chapters, and as with Daniel 11, our study will be brief with certain parts, but will concentrate on those sections that relate to the overall study of Daniel and Revelation.
The first point to understand is that these chapters can have more than one application. This is not a new feature, as we have already seen that the seven churches have three applications, however, the seven trumpets can be both historic as well as prophetic, meaning they are still in the future. We will look at both views. The application we will consider first is the historic one.
“And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.” Revelation 8:2.
Trumpets were used in Israel for various reasons, such as the beginning and end of the Sabbath, in temple worship for the commencement and conclusion of a feast. They were also used as an alarm when danger threatened, or the signal for war. It is in this last sense that they are used in these chapters.
But before the trumpets sound, there is another scene. “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censor; 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. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censor, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightning, and an earthquake.” Revelation 8:3-5.
The angel is in the holy place of the sanctuary, at the golden altar of incense, but he also has the golden censor that the high priest takes into the most holy place on the Day of Atonement.
The angel fills the censor with fire and casts it into the earth, signifying that God would answer the prayers of the saints by bringing destruction upon their enemies.
“And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” Revelation 8:6.
First Four Trumpets
“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.” Revelation 8:7.
When we studied the seven seals in a previous chapter, we saw a historic picture of the attitude of the corrupt church through the centuries, and the cry for God to do something. The trumpets begin at the end of the 4th century, after Constantine has moved the capital of Rome to Constantinople, thus dividing the territory into Western and Eastern Roman Empire. They are God’s response in allowing war to come upon the whole of the Roman Empire, at times to protect His people, and sometimes to punish their enemies.
I will not list all the wording of the first four trumpets, but give certain portions to show the type of language used -- hail, fire, blood, death, burning, smitten, burnt up, destroyed. The first four trumpets depict the destruction of Italy, Africa and the Western Roman Empire.
It is interesting that Edward Gibbon, a sceptical philosopher, recorded these events with uncanny similarity to the prophecy of the trumpets. For example:
“The Gothic nation was in arms at the first sound of the trumpet, and in the uncommon severity of the winter, they rolled their ponderous wagons over the broad and icy back of the river. The fertile fields of Phocis and Boeotia were crowded with a deluge of barbarians; the mules were massacred; the females and cattle of the flaming villages were driven away. The deep and bloody traces of the march of the Goths could easily be discovered after several years. The whole territory of Africa was blasted by the baneful presence of Alaric. The most fortunate of the inhabitants of Corinth, Argos and Sparta were saved by death from beholding the conflagration of their cities.” Gibbons History, quoted by Mr Keith in Signs of the Times Vol 1 p221-223. Daniel and Revelation p470.
Of another invasion Gibbon states, “In a season of such extreme heat that the beds of the rivers were dry, Alaric invaded the dominion of the West. A secluded ‘old man of Verona’, the poet Claudian, pathetically lamented the fact of his contemporary trees, which must blaze in the conflagration of the whole country; and the emperor of the Romans fled before the king of the Goths.” Ibid. Daniel and Revelation p479.
Alaric possessed a powerful conviction that he was divinely led to destroy Rome. Three times he invaded Italy. “Alaric’s course was to Italy, as he told an Italian monk. He felt a secret and preternational impulse which directed and even impelled his march to the gates of Rome…..
Thrice, in fulfilment of his destiny, he descended from the Alps onto the Italian plains, marking his course at each stop as the awe-struck historians of the times tell us, in country and in town with ravage, conflagration and blood, till the gates of Rome itself were opened to the conqueror and the Gothic fires blazed around the capital.” Horae Apocalypticae. E.B. Elliott. Vol 1.p351-353.
The second trumpet refers to a naval battle, with the sea turning to blood. It speaks of the Vandals under Genseric, and the first naval battle on the Mediterranean. This king also believed himself to be an agent of divine wrath.
“Once, when the fleet had weighed anchor and was sailing forth from the broad harbour of Carthage, the helmsman turned to the king and asked for what port he should steer. Genseric said, ‘for the men with whom God is angry’, and left the winds and the waters to settle the question who were the proper objects of the wrath of heaven.” Dynasty of Theodosius. Thomas Hodgkin p219.220.
Genseric landed in Africa in the year AD420, and in the following year spread desolation along its coast, throughout the long-extended territory of Rome, which was finally separated from the empire.
The loss of Africa to the Roman Empire was a great calamity, as it was the main source of Rome’s food supply. However, under Justinian, the Vandals were defeated, and Africa was restored to Rome.
“It is reckoned that during the reign of Justinian (the emperor of Eastern Rome) Africa lost three million inhabitants; thus Arianism was extinguished in that region, not by any enforcement of conformity but by the extermination of the men which had introduced and professed it.” History of the Christian Church. J.C. Robinson Vol 1. p521. (This was the uprooting of one of the three horns as shown in Daniel 7:20.24) If you want to read more on this subject, go to www.nicaeaandtheworld.com
The historian describes a later scene, this time by Attila the Hun, “The whole breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the Adriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated, by the myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field.” Quoted in Daniel and Revelation p487.
When Attila the Hun was retreating from Orleans, a Christian hermit is reported to have approached the king and said to him, “Thou art the scourge of God for the chastisement of the Christians.” (He is not referring to the faithful Christians who were in hiding)
The Scourge of God. “Attila instantly assumed this new title of terror which henceforth became the appellation by which he was widely and most fearfully known.” He claimed that the grass refused to grow where the feet of his horse had trod, for he was the “scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world”. Decisive Battles of the World. Sir Edward Creasy p148.
Descriptive language is used of the rapidity and splendour of those who invaded these territories, such as a “great mountain burning with fire”, a “great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp” and so forth. Revelation 8:8.10 “And the name of the star is called Wormwood.” Revelation 8:11. Wormwood is a bitter herb, denoting the bitter consequences of the invasions.
There is also reference to the “third part of the sun” being smitten, as well as the moon and stars. Revelation 8:12. These are symbolic of the glory of the Western Roman Empire in its gradual extinguishing light.
Gibbon makes another statement that briefly comments on events taking place in the religious world before the Papacy came to full power. “The public devotion of the age was impatient to exalt the saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church on the altars of Diana and Hercules. The union of the Roman Empire was dissolved; its genius humbled in the dust, and armies of unknown barbarians, issuing from the frozen regions of the North, had established their victorious reign over the fairest provinces of Europe.” Gibbon’s History. 33rd chapter. Quoted in Daniel and Revelation p480.
“The power and glory of Rome, as bearing rule over any nation, became extinct. The name alone remained to the queen of nations. Every token of royalty disappeared from the imperial city, like a second Babylon, and there was no throne where the Caesars had reigned. The last act of obedience to a Roman prince, which that once august assembly performed, was the acceptance of the resignation of the last emperor of the West, and the abolition of the imperial succession in Italy. The sun of Rome was smitten.” The Seven Trumpets. James White p18.
Of course, there is more to the fall of Rome. The emperorship and consuls were finally extinguished by Justinian, and the fate of the senate was sealed by the eunuch Narses, the successor of Belisarius. (The end of the Roman Empire was in AD476)
By “conferring on the pope all authority over the churches, Justinian laid a helping hand to the promotion of the papal supremacy, which afterwards assumed the power of creating monarchs.” Ibid p20.
(In AD800, the pope conferred upon Charlemagne the title of emperor of the Romans. That title was again transferred from the king of France to the emperor of Germany, however the latter formally renounced it. In our own day, the Iron crown of Italy was on the head of another ‘emperor’)
The fearful ravages of the barbarian wars of the first four trumpets are vividly portrayed in the following lines:
"And then a deluge of wrath it came,
And the nations shook with dread;
And it swept the earth, till its fields were flame,
And piled with the mingled dead.
Kings were rolled in the wasteful flood,
With the low and crouching slave,
And together lay in a shroud of blood,
The coward and the brave.”
At this point, after the first four angels have sounded their trumpets, another angel flies through the midst of heaven shouting with a loud voice,
“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.” Revelation 8:13. (This is the end of the 8th chapter)
Fifth Trumpet – First Woe
“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.” Revelation 9:1.
Most commentators agree that the fifth and sixth trumpets arethe Saracens and the Turks, representing the religion of Islam.
(Remember, Islam is the religion of the descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham by Sarah’s Egyptian maid Hagar. She was promised that her son would be fruitful with twelve sons, and they would become a great nation. Genesis 17:20. Ishmael lived in the wilderness and became an archer. Genesis 21:20.
For many centuries the descendants of Ishmael believed the same as their father Abraham, however, the religion eventually blended with pagan beliefs and a multitude of gods. Mohammed chose Allah (the moon god) to be the one god to worship. The crescent moon became its symbol. Sabbath was changed to Friday, to distance Islam from Judaism and Christianity. There is much in Islam that is still Scriptural, such as a creator, a final judgment, a healthy diet with no unclean meat or alcohol. Certainly most Moslems are dedicated to their god Allah and are willing to die for him, some not in righteousness.
The Q’uran has much of the Bible within its pages. It recognises the Bible as the Holy Book. It acknowledge Jesus (who they call Isa), but not as God’s Son. This fact is emphasised, for in their worship, the words ‘Allah has no son’ are repeated by all. Jesus is seen as a holy man who will return one day. (Many Moslems are learning that God does have a Son – Jesus Christ -- but it usually means the loss of family and often life itself)
We have now come to the advancing fate of Constantinople, and whether in the form of a trumpet or a woe, we now view the judgments that fell on apostate Christendom, and finally led to the subversion of the Eastern Empire.
Crosroes, the Persian monarch had besieged Constantinople after the fall of Western Rome, and while he contemplated the wonders of his art and power, he received an official letter from an obscure citizen of Mecca, inviting him to acknowledge Mohammed as the apostle of God. He rejected the invitation and tore up the letter. The Arabian prophet exclaimed, “It is thus that God will tear the kingdom, and reject the supplication of Crosroes…” And it was so, for the Persian king passed into oblivion.
The crescent moon began to rise.
In AD 628, while the king of the East lay dead, the apostles of Mohammed emerged from the desert, and the following year, the first war of Islam took place against the Eastern Roman Empire.
The sudden rise of Islam, spreading widely over the land is pictured by the prophet as “smoke of a great furnace” arising out of “the pit”, a “bottomless pit”, with the sun being darkened because of the smoke. Revelation 9:2.
It is interesting that the Bible pictures the Arabs as “grasshoppers” or locusts. See Judges 6:5. 7:12. (The Ishmaelites are the descendants of Ishmael, who became the Arabs) The armies of the Ottoman Empire have been called “swarms of hungry locusts”. The Ottoman Empire Vol 1 p40. One famous traveller of the past said, “The swarms of locusts darken the air and appear at a distance like clouds of smoke.” Niebuhr. Travels. Vol 1 p337.
The prophecy says that the Arab army came “out of the smoke like locusts upon the earth; and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” Revelation 9:3.
It is interesting how God often draws from the natural surroundings to give His prophetic messages and codes.
“And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” Revelation 9:4.
This is the third time we have come across things green, grass or trees. These can mean the literal vegetation, but they can also mean God’s faithful people.
In Revelation 7, where the “four winds” are not to blow “on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree”, refers to three aspects: the earth itself, the inhabitants of the earth, and God’s people.
(God’s faithful ones are at times seen in the Bible as trees. “Blessed is the man that trusted in the Lord… for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green…” Jeremiah 17:8. It is also in Psalms 1:3. Notice the word ‘green’. It is a sign of health, faith and trust in the Lord)
In Revelation 8, the “third part of the trees was burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up”. Revelation 8:7.
Again, this can mean the vegetation. Some of the barbarians that razed cities and overcame nations were careless about the vegetation. They destroyed everything.
But the ‘trees’ and ‘green grass’ can also mean God’s faithful people who were killed in the battles. The quotation below gives a picture of both understandings.
At one time, Gaul enjoyed a state of quiet and prosperity, secured by the Franks and the neutrality of the Alemanni, who were the subjects of Rome. But suddenly “the peace and plenty was changed into a desert, and the prospect of the smoking ruins could alone distinguish the solitude of nature from the desolation of man. The flourishing city of Mentz was surprised and destroyed, and many thousand Christians were inhumanly massacred in the church.” The Seven Trumpets. James White p5.
On page 3, the quotation that speaks of the poet Claudian, refers to his “contemporary trees”, which could refer to his peers at the time of the invasion, or it could mean the trees. We don’t know. This has no connection to the prophecy, although it is interesting.
In the verse under discussion of the fifth trumpet, it says that the invaders were not permitted to hurt the grass, anything green or any tree, but “only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” Revelation 9:4.
This wording shows clearly that the grass, the green vegetation and the trees refer to God’s people with the seal of God in their foreheads. They have allowed their Creator to form His character in their minds, as revealed in His holy Law, showing Him to be the Creator and Re-Creator. (In this instance, it is not the final seal, but the working of God’s Spirit in the life. Those who do not have the seal are void of anything spiritual in their lives)
At this time of the prophecy, Christians were hiding in the wilderness from the persecutions of Rome. Many Sabbath-keepers, such as the Waldensians, lived in the Italian Alps, and although they suffered much from Rome, they were to be protected from the onslaught of Islam.
(Martin Luther also had some reprieve by the threats of Islam, for while the Papacy was attempting to extinguish the light of God’s Word through Luther’s writings and ministry, at the same time, Islam was making its voice heard. In dealing with this threat, Luther gained time for the promulgation of truth)
The prophecy said that those who did not have the seal of God were to be killed. This trumpet has two aspects – some are to be killed; others are not to be, just tormented.
Abubeler, the man who succeeded Mohammed II in AD 632, wrote a letter to the Arabian tribes with instructions for the battle. He told them not to cut down trees, especially fruit trees and palm trees, fields of corn, and not to touch the cattle.
(This in interesting with a literal understanding of the prophecy. Although the Goths deliberately destroyed vegetation, resulting in many places becoming desert areas, the policy of the Arabs was the opposite. The Q’uran (Koran) says the trees and vegetation should not be destroyed)
The sultan gave instructions that those who had “shaven crowns” were to be given “no quarters till they either turn Mohammedan or pay tribute.” (Or worse, as it also said “cleave their skulls”.)
There is much that could be said about various points in the prophecy -- the Turkish turbans, their long hair, their breastplates, but we will leave these. However, let us consider the Arabian horse. It takes the lead through the world, and the skill of horsemanship is the art and science of Arabia. The sixth trumpet speaks of “two hundred thousand thousand” horses. No one is sure of this figure, but it is a lot of horses with skilful riders. Revelation 9:16.
(I have a friend who purchased a horse that was being groomed for Arabia and sold for $25,000, one of many being sent to that country, but it was rejected because the x-ray found one tiny bone imperfect. It is a beautiful horse and very powerful. My friend rides him up the mountain a couple of times a week to keep him fit, and other times he is left in the paddock to graze. I assume they did not pay that high price)
Now back to the prophecy.
In the first verse of the fifth trumpet, it says that the “star that fell from heaven” was given “the key to the bottomless pit”.
The Islamic holy book speaks of the “key of God which opened to them the gates of the world and of religion.” It also states that Mohammed could “with the key” open to those whom he had chosen. Peyron’s Esseis Ser l’Espagne p189.
Some years back, a Moslem convert to the Greek religion had to state publicly his rejection of Mohammed’s “pretended key of heaven”. Commentary on Revelation. Prof. E.B. Elliott p44-46. Cambridge University.
Back to history.
A man by the name of Othman founded a government that became known as the Ottoman Empire. The empire grew until it extended over all the principal Islamic tribes, consolidating them into one grand monarchy. The sultan became its ruler and its high priest, the Supreme Caliph, the highest spiritual dignitary with supreme secular authority.
(As I think back of the old movies, many featured grand and powerful sultans, handsome men on fast horses, and lots of beautiful women in harems. In our innocence, it all seemed so exciting)
“They had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.” Revelation 9:11.
These words, in both Hebrew and Greek mean ‘the destroyer”, one that exterminates, and such has been the character of the Ottomon Empire.
“And their power was to hurt men five months.” Revelation 9:10.
The prophecy says they were not to kill men, but hurt them for five months. This must be seen in the context of the prophecy, for the armies of Islam killed hundreds of thousand of people during their invasions. However, they were only permitted to “torment” certain men.
The Arabs planned to overrun the Eastern Roman Empire, and their dream was to form a Moslem lake of the Mediterranean. Western Rome had succeeded in achieving this, but the Arabs could not. Although they engaged in almost perpetual warfare with the Greek Empire, they never succeeded in conquering it.
Mohammed instructed his followers to “preach and fight, and the union of these opposite qualities, while it enhanced his merit and contributed to his success, the operation of force and persuasion, of enthusiasm, and fear, continually acted on each other, till every barrier yielded to their irresistible power.” The Seven Trumpets p25.
One conflict has been described as “conflagrations, ruin, the shrieks of violated chastity and the groans of the dying”, rendering it “more like the work of a demon than of a man”. Historian’s History of the World. Vol 8. p198.199.
But in spite of their power and skill, every battle was lost.
Thus it was that the Arab invaders were permitted to torment the peoples of the Eastern Roman Empire, but not conquer them. One can imagine the continual fear of being overcome with each attack, only to remain sovereign in the end.
“Men were weary of life, when life was spared only for a renewal of woe, and when all that they accounted sacred was violated, and all that they held dear constantly endangered, and when the savage Saracens domineered over them, or left them only to a momentary repose, ever liable to be suddenly or violently interrupted, as if to the sting of a scorpion.” The Seven Trumpets p29.
Death would have been a welcome relief, but the prophecy said men shall, “seek death, and shall not find it.” Revelation 9:6.
It must have been frustrating for the Arab army to be close to victory, but each time lose the battle.
“This shattering of the Arab dream is spoken of by historians as ‘remarkable’ and ‘perplexing’, something they find very difficult to understand because from a human viewpoint, the Arabs should have succeeded, but when success would have dealt a deathblow to the empire, they themselves were broken.” Tormented by Locusts. Austin Cooke p23.
Edward Gibbon wrote, “The calm historian of the present hour, who strives to follow the rapid course of the Saracens, must study to explain by what means the church and state were saved from this impending, and, as it should seem, from this inevitable danger.” Gibbon. Vol VI. 1-2.
Why did God not allow the demise of the Empire and the destruction of the corrupt church?
Our heavenly Father was protecting the remnants of His faithful people, both in the apostate church, and in the wildernesses of Northern Italy, Bohemia, Germany, France and elsewhere.
“And the providence of God was so remarkable in delivering these people from the plague of the Saracens, that when in AD 726, they attempted the southern parts of France, they were so terribly destroyed, and with so little slaughter on the other side, that history can scarce afford a parallel.” Essays on the Revelation of St John. Prof William Whiston. p194. London. 1744. Cambridge.
In 1838, Josiah Litch, one of the Millerites, published a book in which he wrote that the “five months” spoken of in the fifth trumpet, “began from the first attack of the tormentors, rather than the founding of the empire”, as others were saying. Christ’s Second Coming. J. Litch.
“…they should be tormented five months…” Revelation 9:5.
He said that “five months” is prophetic time, and therefore must be worked out according to a ‘day for a year’. The five months, in a thirty-day month, equals one hundred and fifty days, translating to 150 years.
He wrote that the attack began in 1299, and would conclude in 1449. In this year, a change did come, which brings us to the sixth trumpet.
This is the end of the first woe.
Sixth Trumpet – Second Woe
“And the sixth angel sounded,
and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, ‘Loose the four angels which are bound in the great River Euphrates.
And the four angels were loosed which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.” Revelation 9:13-15.
The following verses are again descriptive of destruction, one of which says, “and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.” Revelation 9:17. These words denote a change in the type of warfare used by the Arabs.
You may remember that Ishmael lived in the wilderness and became an “archer”. Exodus 20:21. Obviously he trained his twelve sons, and the Arab race became skilful in this type of weaponry. They also used lances.
But now, in the sixth trumpet, they are using muskets, or hand-guns, like a rifle. It used liquid fire and gunpowder. John says that fire and smoke came from the horses’ mouths. Clearly this is a description of the firing of the guns close to the mouth of the horse. It also says, the “power (or sting) was in their tails”, which shows the agility of the horseman firing from behind as well as from the front. Revelation 9:10.19.
Let us look at the text, ‘Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.” Revelation 9:14. The Ottoman Empire was located in this region, being fed by the waters of the Euphrates.
In 1449, the Greek emperor died, leaving no heir. His brother Constantine XIII took the throne, but before he would sit in rulership, he asked for the consent of the Turkish sultan. This was an acknowledgment of the authority of the Turkish power.
After the sultan died, Mohammed II took the throne, and he set his heart on securing Constantinople as the seat of his empire. He prepared his army and in the battle, Constantine XIII died.
On May 16, 1451, Mohammed II began his reign in Constantinople. Thus the eastern city of the Caesars became the seat of the Ottoman Empire.
The prophecy said the Ottoman Empire would have power “an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year”. Josiah Litch believed this prophecy predicted the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and in 1838, he wrote in his book that the supremacy of the sultans would last 391 years and fifteen days. (With ‘a day for a year’, a 30-day month, and a 360-day year, he calculated the time to be 391 years. 360 + 30 + 1 = 391. One hour is 1/24th of a prophetic day, which equals literally 15 days, bringing it to 391 years and fifteen days)
He worked out that the Empire would end on August 11, 1840.
On that day, the Ottoman Empire ended; its independence was gone.
When this prophecy was fulfilled, thousands of men and women began to listen more attentively to the message of William Miller and other Advent leaders. Surely there must be something in the message of Christ’s soon return?
As you have already studied, God had a very important message for the people. Although it was not the return of Jesus in 1844, this ‘judgment-hour’ message provided the impetus for understanding the real message of the “cleansing of the sanctuary”, that Christ would begin the investigative judgment of those who have their sins upon Christ Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.
In our study of the seven trumpets, we have come to the end of the 9th chapter, however the sixth trumpet is not finished. In fact, we have a similar situation as in the seals. Before the sixth is finished, there is an interlude, or as we said last time, a chapter that could be in brackets. The reason it is placed here is because it takes place at this point in the sixth trumpet.
You have probably realised this already.
SIXTH TRUMPET
Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11
!_________________________________!________________!
1840 1844
We will continue with Chapter 11 as it contains more of the sixth trumpet, leaving Chapter 10 for another time. Chapter 11 also gives details of the seventh trumpet, but before we look at that, we must go back to Chapter 10, as it is first introduced there. It has been a little difficult to know how to arrange these to make them clear, but I think this will work.
At this point of the study, we are in the midst of the sixth woe, but the end is not yet.
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