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Revelation
Chapter 8:
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Overview to the
Seven Trumpets: In the Seven Trumpets Jesus has metaphorically
condensed the Spiritual history of the past 2000 years into two
chapters. The description of events initiated by the Seventh and last
trumpet continue through Revelation, however. Click
here to view the Revelation Timeline Chart.
The trumpets tell
the triumphant story of God's Plan of Salvation - the founding of the
Seven Churches through the Holy Spirit (symbolically represented by
the Seven Spirits before God's throne) from the seeds of the Kingdom
of Heaven planted worldwide. These chapters also relate man's efforts
to find the Knowledge of Jesus Christ after Lucifer had cast a flood
of false doctrine mixed with true doctrine at the early Christian church.
Each verse
describing the effect of a trumpet is related as a riddle.
Each trumpet riddle ties into the corresponding last plague riddle
that believers of a particular religion will undergo in the last days.
Christian
Religions have born the brunt of carrying God's Truth down through
history. The false doctrine each fell into was inevitable. Yet Jesus
has allowed false doctrines and used them as a 'security fence'
through the ages to protect the Gospel in its Purity.
The way it has
worked, these church doctrines, built around the truth of the Gospel,
fooled Lucifer into believing he had corrupted each new religion soon
after it was born. What Lucifer didn't understand was that Jesus'
sacrifice on the cross had already saved the entire world anyway, and
all that was necessary was for us to realize that as we gain the
Knowledge of God, and turn back to Him today. |
The
Seventh Seal:
See Also: Seventh
Church | Seventh Trumpet
| Seventh Plague
"And
when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven
about the space of half an hour." (Revelation
8:1)
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There
was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour: Chapter
Eight begins with "silence in heaven about the space of half an
hour". See the
Prophetic Time Chart for more information on prophetic time periods.
Prophetic days are
normally one year long (360 days prophetically), so a prophetic hour
is about 15 days (360 / 24 hours = 15). About half an hour would be
about 7 days, or 7 prophetic years. This is the amount of time Daniel
was shown that Messiah would confirm the covenant of promise with Israel:
"And
he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in
the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation
to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it
desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be
poured upon the desolate." (Daniel
9:27 KJV)
John has told us
earlier of how the four beasts before the throne never stop praising God:
"...They
rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which was, and is, and is to come." (Revelation
4:8 KJV)
If the four beasts
in John's symbolic heaven fell silent, it was because God was
absent from His throne. Since Jesus was crucified in the midst of
the seven years, "about the space of half an hour" refers
to the quarter of a prophetic hour (3 1/2 years) when Jesus
was completing His ministry on earth after His baptism.
Thus a time frame
for the beginning of the Seven Trumpets is set.
"And
I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were
given seven trumpets."
(Revelation 8:1-2 KJV)
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I
saw the seven angels which stood before God: These
seven angels are the angels of the Seven Churches,
represented in Chapter One as the seven stars in Jesus' right hand.
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And
to them were given seven trumpets: These symbolic
'trumpets' in the angels' hands are to sequentially announce the
bestowal of each of the Seven Spirits of God, which Spirits represent
the Holy Spirit's inspiration of each of the Seven Churches down
through history.
Each trumpet
announces the bestowal of the corresponding Spirit:
John associates
trumpets with the Spirit in two other places 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 KJV)
"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. And immediately I was in the spirit:
and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." (Revelation
4:1-2 KJV)
"And
another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer;
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 censer, and filled it with fire of the altar,
and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and
thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven
angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." (Revelation
8:3-6 KJV)
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The
angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and
cast it into the earth:
"And
when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there
they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and
the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for
they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." (Luke
23:33-34 KJV)
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Voices,
and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake: As
with other earthquakes, voices, and lightnings elsewhere in
Revelation, the events here indicate that a major spiritual event has
taken place, along with the action of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus
appeared to the Apostles soon after His resurrection, He
'breathed' the Holy Spirit upon them. This particular bestowal took
place prior to the Apostles receiving the "former rain",
which takes place at the end of Revelation
Chapter Eleven.
"Then
said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent
me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them,
and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever
sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye
retain, they are retained." (John
20:21-23 KJV)
The
First Trumpet:
See Also: First
Church | First Seal | First
Plague | First
Beast of Daniel Seven
"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 KJV)
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Hail
and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: Hail
of the Holy Spirit, fire
of sanctification, and the blood of the righteousness of Jesus are
cast to earth on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples received
the Holy Spirit of the 'former rain':
"But
ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
(Acts 1:8 KJV)
"And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were
sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,
and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
(Acts 2:1-4 KJV)
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The
third part of trees was burnt up: A
third of the trees,
indicating the people of Judaism (which, as there was no
separate 'Christian' religion as yet, included both those who
followed Jesus and those who did not) being saved by the blood of
Christ and brought under the Covenant of Promise. The first Spirit
before God's throne, the Church of Ephesus, is founded.
This event was
prophesied by John the Baptist:
"And
even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree
therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast
into the fire. I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance: but
he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not
worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire"
(Mat 3:10-11 ASV)
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All
green grass was burnt up: - All green grass,
all people of the earth, was burnt
up. All were sanctified by Jesus' sacrifice, all were/are saved
by Jesus' blood, His White Robe of Righteousness:
"Therefore
as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all
men unto justification of life."
(Romans 5:18 KJV)
"And
he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole world."
(1 John 2:2 KJV)
"For
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who
will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of
the truth."
(1 Timothy 2:3-4 KJV)
"For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
(1 Corinthians 15:22 KJV)
"For
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be
testified in due time."
(1 Timothy 2:5-6 KJV)
"For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 KJV)
"The
next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
(John 1:29 KJV)
The
Second Trumpet:
See Also: Second
Church | Second Seal | Second
Plague | Second
Beast of Daniel Seven
"And
the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning
with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became
blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and
had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." (Revelation
8:8-9 KJV)
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A
mountain burning with fire cast into the sea: Prophetic mountains
are major belief systems, Mount Zion being that closest to God.
The only other great mountain, related as burning with fire,
from the Bible is Mount Sinai, on which Moses received the Ten
Commandments. The unnamed mountain in Revelation is cast into the sea,
which means among all peoples who have no organized belief in God.
God promised
Abraham's first born son, Ishmael, through his mother Hagar, that He
would make of him a great nation:
"And
as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and
will make him fruitful, and will
multiply him exceedingly; twelve
princes shall he beget, and
I will make him a great nation." (Genesis
17:20)
The Apostle Paul,
in the book of Galatians, reports that Ishmael's seed has indeed
survived to the time of Christ when he compares the covenant Ishmael
had with God to the covenant of the Promise that God made with
Abraham's second son, Isaac:
"Tell
me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For
it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a
bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the
one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is
Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children." (Galatians
4:21-25)
The 'bondage' Paul
refers to is the bondage of living under the Law of the Ten
Commandments without the grace of the Promise of the Messiah.
This "mountain
burning with fire", metaphor for the Law that Moses received on
Mount Sinai, represents Islam, founded by the Prophet Mohammed
(pbuh) in the 6th century in order to bring justice and morality to
an Arabia governed by idolatrous and apostate tribal rulers.
Like Judaism,
Islam also regards the first five books of the Bible, including much
of Moses' law and the Ten Commandments, as holy. Thus today
some versions of Islamic Fundamentalism, like the former Taliban,
resemble Palestine during Jesus' ministry at the time that Judaism
was an apostate, legalistic religion of oppression.
Like Moses, the
Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) was a righteous man inspired to ask God for
authority to save his people from corruption and oppression, and care
for them.
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And
the third part of the sea became blood: This is the blood
of Jesus by whom all of us are saved since His crucifixion - including
Muslims. Though Muslims do not believe Jesus was God's Son, He
is considered a great Prophet and is mentioned throughout the Quran.
The placement of
Jesus' words regarding the time the end, a time that was yet future
when He predicts the that Satan's house will be divided, is very significant:
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First, Jesus
predicts how the end will come. Satan's lies will be exposed, his
house divided, and he will thus end. Satan's lies are exposed today
because God's people of Christianity are once again, as they
did during the Crusades, driving the fear and hatred behind
the current War on Islamic Fundamentalists:
"And
if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And
if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but
hath an end. No man can enter into
a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind
the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
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Next Jesus
specifically lets us know that blasphemy will be forgiven the
sons of men - except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The
Quran respectfully notes that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit
during his ministry as a Prophet of Islam, so no blasphemy there. But
the blasphemy against Jesus being God's Son was forgiven in advance:
"Verily
I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men,
and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he
that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness,
but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an
unclean spirit.
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Finally in this
sequence, Jesus embraces everyone in the world who will do the will
of God. Does the Quran contain the will of God? Since there
are no laws to be found in the Quran that do not also appear in the
Holy Bible, the answer - until Jesus comes to tell us differently
- must be yes.
"There
came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent
unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said
unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
"And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold
my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God,
the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." (Mark
3:25-35)
By so saying,
Jesus identifies the people of Islam as being as much a part of His
family on earth those within Christianity or Judaism are.
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Third
part: Islam is one of the three thirds
of spiritual earth.
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The
third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died: See
the definition of sea
in the Dictionary of Prophetic Metaphor. Those believers in the
covenant of Ishmael who were righteous in Arabia (creatures that had
life) before Islam, were converted by force as Islam spread
throughout the nation.
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And
the third part of the ships were destroyed: Prophetic
ships
are people searching for God, people who have been in and out of
religion without finding Him. Psalm 107:23-34 explains their fate
wonderfully. When Islam was accepted throughout Arabia, the searching stopped. |
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The
Third Trumpet:
See Also: Third
Church | Third Seal | Third
Plague | Third Beast
of Daniel Seven
"And
the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven,
burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part
of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of
the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters
became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they
were made bitter." (Revelation
8:10-11 KJV)
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There
fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp:
"Burning as a lamp" indicates that this star provided
Light where there was darkness.
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It
fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters:
Water in prophecy represents knowledge. For example, Jesus
leads us to "fountains of living waters", which are the
Knowledge of God.
When this star of
Light fell upon the waters, the knowledge that had been understood previously
became bitter, because it was revealed as darkness.
Shortly after
Jesus' was born he was visited by "wise men from the east"
who had followed a star to find His birthplace. The following is
recorded in the Lotus Sutra, Chapter Seven, The Parable of the
Phantom City:
Our
palaces display a brilliance
never
known before.
Is
it because of the birth of some heavenly being of great virtue,
or
because the Buddha has appeared in the world?
We
have never seen such a sign
and
with a single mind we seek the reason.
Though
we must travel a thousand, ten thousand a million lands,
together
we will search out the cause of this light.
Likely
it is because a Buddha has appeared in the world
to
save living beings in their suffering.
In the first
century AD the Mahayana branch of Buddhism split from the
earlier Buddhism of the "Lesser Vehicle". By the 3rd
century, Mahayana doctrine had introduced a spiritual element to
Buddhism through the scripture of the Lotus
Sutra of the Wonderful Law. This new doctrine offered salvation
to anyone who read even one line from the Lotus
Sutra.
Mahayana Buddhism teaches
evangelism
and principles for changing one's character to one of compassion and
spirituality. For the first time it made 'salvation' available to
everyone, not just monks, but also laymen and laywomen.
The Lotus Sutra is
full of parables and similes, it is also a manual
for developing the type of character that will enable true
brotherhood among men. The Lotus
Sutra preaches the "Greater Vehicle" for salvation, as
opposed to the "Lesser Vehicle" originally laid out by
Buddha. I have no doubt that the teachings of the Lotus Sutra were
inspired by Jesus Christ, to bring light to a dark third of the world.
Some examples:
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The
third part of the waters became wormwood: The
third part of the rivers
that the star fell on, in this case, were the scriptures (water
= knowledge) of all Eastern Religions collectively, not just
Buddhism. The teachings of the Lotus
Sutra are universal in their religious appeal and have had the
effect of bring the concept of salvation to most Eastern religions.
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Many
men died of the waters, because they were made bitter: The
effect of the star named "Wormwood" represents the effect
of the Lotus Sutra
on "Lesser Vehicle" Buddhism. Suddenly the old doctrines of
Buddhism (water
in prophecy represents knowledge) became bitter, because it was
clearly impossible to obtain perfection by one's own efforts.
Preferring the
"expedient means" preached by the Lotus
Sutra, many traditional Lesser Vehicle Buddhists "died"
when they switched to the wonderful spirituality of Mahayana
Buddhism. The Lotus Sutra
has been absorbed into Hinduism, as well as other religions of the East.
The
Fourth Trumpet:
See Also: Fourth
Church | Fourth Seal | Fourth
Plague
"And
the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten,
and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars;
so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day
shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." (Revelation
8:12)
The third
part the stars, and third part of day, spoken of in this verse
refer to the third part of the Spiritual Earth that is Judeo-Christianity.
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The
day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise: The
Roman Emperor Constantine I was the first emperor of the Roman
Empire to endorse Christianity. As a result of Constantine's support,
Christianity, which already had a sizable following, became extremely
popular in the Empire. Since the Roman Empire still officially
worshiped pagan deities, in 321 AD Constantine also declared that
"On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people
residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed." This
declaration of Sunday as a day of rest was in honor of the cult of
the "Invincible Sun" created by Emperor Aurelian in 274 AD.
Says one historian:
"What
began, however, as a pagan ordinance, ended as a Christian
regulation; and a long series of imperial decrees, during the fourth,
fifth, and sixth centuries, enjoined with increasing stringency
abstinence from labour on Sunday." - Hutton Webster, Rest
Days, p. 270, 1916.
The third
part of the 'day' that is darkened in Revelation refers to the change
from the Jewish Saturday Sabbath, which is God's Memorial
Covenant of Creation, to Sunday:
"Wherefore
the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath,
to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a
perpetual covenant." (Exodus
31:16)
An Apostate
Christianity (at the time the Roman Catholic Church) consisting of
government mixed with Jesus' teachings (two unmixable ways of
thinking) changed the Saturday Sabbath to be kept on a festival day
that was actually pagan in origin: Sunday.
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The
third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon,
and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened: Once
Christianity had changed one commandment, the Church felt it
had the authority to change any commandment to its liking. Thus this
change from Saturday to Sunday was only the beginning of a long
list of changes Christianity felt it had the authority to make to
the Commandments of God and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Another important
change in Biblical truth was Christianity's view at the time
regarding the state of the dead (who are said to 'sleep' in
the Bible, but whom the Church claimed actually went immediately to
heaven, or purgatory, or to a fictional hell of eternal fiery torment).
Through extreme
pharisaism, Apostate Christian religions
have continuously usurped God's authority by the imaginative
creation of many such "doctrines". Doctrines which have no
basis in scripture. Thus were God's Ten Commandments disregarded
and over-ruled by Apostate Christians.
The results were
manifested at their worst with the oppressions at home and abroad
that were necessary to expedite the Crusades
over a period of hundreds of years, the relentless persecution and
massacres of Jews and Muslims, the Inquisition, and every other
terrible event of our history leading up to today.
Most of these
changes to doctrines and teaching were, and are still,
justified in the name of Christianity - especially the continued
oppression of God's poor and indigent through church-sanctioned greed
and selfishness.
The sun, moon,
and stars described as being darkened by the actions of
Christian government in nullifying many of God's commandments are an
indicator of the Spiritual darkness that was Christianity
before the Renaissance - rivaling the Spiritual darkness predicted to
exist prior to the second coming of Jesus, which will be the end of time.
"For
the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give
their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the
moon shall not cause her light to shine." (Isaiah
13:10 - See also Ezekiel 32:7, Joel 2:10, and Isaiah Chapter 24)
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