Revelation Now :
Daily Devotional Bible Studies in Revelation
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Seven Trumpets Sound in Heaven : Day 34 
"Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed." (Revelation 8:5-9)
God's Involvement
"The same angel took the censer", fills it with coals from the altar and dashes it on the ground. This is the prelude to the thunder and the earthquake which are the introduction to more terrors. The picture comes from the vision of Ezekiel, in which the man in the linen cloth takes coals from between the cherubim and scatters them over the city (1); and it is like the vision of Isaiah in which his lips are touched with a live coal from the altar (2).
The coals from the censer introduce new woes. "The prayers of the saints return to the earth in wrath" (3). The idea in John's mind is that the prayers of the saints avail to bring vengeance upon those who had mistreated them.
The Seven Angels with Trumpets
"The seven angels", known as "the angels of the presence", were the same as the archangels. Their names were in tradition known as Uriel, Raphael, Raquel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel (4) That they were called "the angels" of the presence means that they enjoyed a special honor. In an oriental court it was only the most favored courtiers who had the right at all times to the presence of the king. To be a courtier of the presence was a special honor. Although to be in the presence of the king meant special honor, even more it meant immediate readiness to be dispatched on service.
The Trumpet Blast
The seven angels had seven trumpets. In the visions of the Old and the New Testament the trumpet is always the symbol of the intervention of God in history. All these pictures, and there are many of them, go back to the scene at Mount Sinai, when the law was given to the people. There were on the mountain thunders and lightning and thick cloud, and a very loud trumpet blast (5). This trumpet blast became an unchanging part of the apparatus of the Day of the Lord. In that day the great trumpet will be blown and it will summon back the exiles from every land (6). On the Day of the Lord the trumpet will be blown in Zion and the alarm sounded in the holy mountain (7).
This picture passed into the New Testament visions of the last day. Paul speaks of the day when the trumpet shall sound and the corruptible will put on incorruption (8). He speaks of "the trumpet of God", which is to sound when Christ comes again (9). Matthew speaks of the great sound of a trumpet when the elect are gathered in (10).
"A trumpet blast" can sound the alarm. It can waken from sleep or warn of danger; and God is always sounding his warnings in human ears. It can be the fanfare which announces the arrival of royalty. It is fitting symbol to express the invasion of time by the King of eternity. It can be the summons to battle. God is always summoning us to take the side of truth and to become soldiers of the King of kings.
"The trumpets" mark God's active involvement in punishing evil in the world. The trump of God is intended to produce repentance and faith. Here we have a picture of the elemental forces of nature hurled in judgment against the world. At each blast on the trumpet a different part of the world is attacked; the destruction that follows is not total for this is only the prelude to the end. The blast of destruction falls on the earth, then it fall upon the sea, then it falls upon the fresh water rivers and springs, then it falls on the heavenly bodies. The tide of destruction is unleashed on every part of the created universe.
Rain of Blood
As we have so often seen, John is so steeped in the Old Testament that its visions come to him as the natural background of all that he has to say. In this case it is by no means impossible that John is taking at least a part of his picture from actual events which he had seen or of which he had heard. A rain which looks like "a rain of blood" has more than once been reported from the Mediterranean countries.
There is, for instance, a record of such a rain in Italy and all over south-east Europe in 1901. The reason for it is that fine red sand from the Sahara Desert is caught up into the upper air; and then when the rain comes it seems to be raining blood, as the rain and the fine red particles of sand fall together upon the earth. It may well be that John had seen something like this or had heard of it before.
Meditation
Have you ever experienced a natural phenomenon like an earthquake or lightning that frightened you intensely?
Prayer
"Wind, Wind, blow on me. Wind, Wind, set me free. Wind, Wind, the Father sent the blessed Holy Spirit" (11)
Notes
(1) Ezekiel 10:2 (2) Isaiah 6:6 (3) H. B. Swete (4) The Apocryphal Book of Tobit 12:15 (5) Exodus 19:16, 19 (6) Isaiah 27:13 (7) Joel 2:1 (8) 1 Corinthians 15:52, 53 (9) 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (10) Matthew 24:31(11)
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."
