Judgment and the Sound of the Trumpet
Who Will Hearken?
In even a brief perusal of the 7 Trumpets, one quickly recognizes that they involve calamity, affliction and suffering on massive scales. The descriptions are full of unpleasant conditions and destructive forces like fire, violence, darkness and torment. These types of descriptions are not new in Revelation, but are found throughout the Bible, portraying the disasters that result when nations turn away from God's protective ways.An example is found in Ezekiel 30, which contains a prophecy outlining the calamities Egypt would experience. The calamities are described as judgments of God (v. 14, 19) that occur at the hands of the king of Babylon (v. 10-11). Words like fire and darkness are used to describe the hardship and destruction they would experience through captivity (v. 18), scattering the people among other nations (v. 26), death (v. 5) and the desolation of cities (v. 7). The judgments also resulted in the rulers of Egypt losing power (v. 6, 18, 22, 25).
Bible writers use the trumpet to portray the sounding of a message or a warning of judgment. "Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law" (Hosea 8:1). A voice with a message is also likened to the sound of a trumpet elsewhere in Revelation. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet" (Revelation 1:10). "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter" (Rev. 4:1).
Another example of divine judgment is provided in Jeremiah chapters 6 and 7. This passage provides excellent insight into how God's judgments relate to the sounding of a trumpet. When God sent Jeremiah to warn Judah that Babylon would overtake them, He likened His warning to a trumpet. "O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction" (Jeremiah 6:1).
Jeremiah goes on to give the warning, describing that hardships were already occurring and that worse calamity would ultimately befall them. He points out that these hardships and pending destruction were happening because of their own actions (see also Jer. 4:17-18). Their wickedness and rebellion were causing God to depart from them, along with His protection and guidance, resulting in suffering at the hands of their enemies. "As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited" (Jeremiah 6:7-8).
The Trumpet warning spoke to two groups. The first group was God's faithful people who were told to "gather yourselves to flee" (Jer. 6:1). Jeremiah also stated this previously in more detail. "Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction" (Jeremiah 4:5-6). The second group was God's unfaithful people. He does not yet abandon the rebellious. He says to "be thou instructed," or reproved and corrected. "Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken" (Jeremiah 6:16-17). Jeremiah's writings make it clear that if they would turn away from doing harmful things to themselves and others, they could yet escape the disaster: "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them" (Jeremiah 18:7-10).
The people would not change their ways. They would not listen to the trumpet. Because they rejected the trumpet warning and continued to break God's law, even their offerings and sacrifices became useless. "To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me" (Jeremiah 6:20). Their law-breaking and cruelty developed to such a point that prayers offered on their behalf would be of no avail. "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee" (Jeremiah 7:16). There is a point beyond which, judgment cannot be averted.
This story gives us insight into how God's judgments work. A nation experiences a moral fall by persistently rejecting God and His laws. The judgment begins as this rejection of God causes Him to withdraw His protection in response to their choices, which allows forces to be put in motion that bring afflictions and disaster. Through it all, God sends warning messages to call individuals to repent and provide the faithful with instructions to escape the disasters. Eventually, after all have heard the warning, the nation more fully experiences the results of its choices. God has given mercy bountifully and endured long, but now the entity's moral fall is completely matured and exposed. There are culminating calamities, such as captivity, violent destruction and loss of knowledge. Ultimately, the ruling entity can lose its privileges and the land be given over to another ruling power (Ezekiel 30:6,18-25. Amos 1:15, 2:2-3, 3:11). Thus, the judgment ends. (More details on How the Process of God's Trumpets Work.)
With these Old Testament examples in mind, we can apply the same pattern to the 7 Trumpets of Revelation. Since the Trumpets portray judgments, there must be specific nations or entities that rebel against God, reject His repeated warnings, and receive the judgments. In addition, because nations bring judgments upon themselves when they reject God, and afflictions occur as a result of their own sins (see Hosea 5:8-15, Hosea 8, Jer. 30:15), there will be evidence that the very nations experiencing the Trumpet disasters play a part in causing them. In other words, the ruling entities, by their own action (or inaction), are responsible for the affliction and disasters in the Trumpets.
When a judgment causes the ruling power of a nation/entity to lose its power to rule, and leaves God's people to a new power, it follows that each Trumpet time period is associated with an identifiable ruling power. God's judgments are not random, but specific and just, falling upon a known entity. Thus, we could expect to find time periods in history that are not only characterized by the description in the Trumpet, but also by the length of time a ruling entity has power where the conditions of the Trumpet are manifest. We can also expect a shift in ruling power as each Trumpet transitions, and accordingly, we find this exact correlation in history. The rule of these powerful political entities and power shifts are carefully examined in this study.
To summarize, the relationship between nations rejecting God and the resulting judgment is not vague or distant, but an intimate connection of guaranteed cause and effect. Because of this inseparable relation in the Bible between nations or powers experiencing a moral fall and the accompanying warning and judgment, this approach links the 7 Heads on the scarlet beast of Revelation 17 (the 7 consecutive ruling entities of the Roman realm) and the 7 Trumpets of Revelation 8-11 (the 7 consecutive judgments on the Roman realm). The details of the thinking behind this approach is detailed as part of the study of Revelation 17 (see "Linking the 7 Trumpets to the 7 Heads"). Each trumpets' symbolism will be examined, letting the Bible be its own interpreter. We will also study history closely to identify the corresponding dominant political influence and its rise and fall from power.
It is comforting that God always sends warnings that inform people of what is about to happen and how to avoid trouble. Trumpet messages are prophetic, signaling what is about to take place. God also gives each individual and nation plenty of time to hear and adhere to the warning. Even though so many earthly powers are allowed to perpetrate a multitude of evils in the land, God is in control, and His followers can have peace and knowledge of the bigger picture and eternal issues at stake. "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? 7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:6-7).
This assurance of a clear warning and ample time accompanying a Trumpet blast make it clear that God is reluctant to withdraw His protective power and send judgments upon any nation (Jeremiah 4:19-22). Those repentant souls who plead with God in prayer for those still in rebellion, those who understand the solemnity of just one lost soul, and those who "do unto others as they would have others do unto them", gladly take up the role as watchman and help to sound the Trumpet as loudly as possible (Ezekiel 33:1-11).
As we study the Trumpet warnings and judgments of God as foretold in prophecy by the apostle John, let us always keep in mind our relationship to the sounding of the Trumpet. Are we (a) helping to sound it, (b) hearing it and repenting, or (c) hearing it and rejecting it?
The 7th Trumpet, being the last, is of special interest to people living today. It heralds the last warning to the inhabitants of earth, the final phase of Christ's intercession, the ultimate destructive encounter and the ushering in of an everlasting ruling entity. Revelation reveals many specifics of this final warning message, which goes out to His faithful and rebelling people. As the pages of history unfold, and Trumpet after Trumpet sounds, we are all wondering when the last warning will end. When will the loud blasts of the 7th Trumpet end as the warning message receives its last rejection, affliction destroys its last friend, and power transitions to its last and everlasting ruler? We will have to wait for the answer to this question, but each of us can answer a most important question...
Will I hearken to the sound of the trumpet?
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