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“And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven
trumpets.”
REVELATION – CHAPTERS 8-9
THE 7 TRUMPETS
The 7 Trumpets – unfolding of “last days” – a focused look at the generation of the
“End Times”
The 7 TRUMPETS are NOT “JUDGMENTS” or a part of the outpouring of God’s
wrath AFTER the Christians are raptured…
They are a “WARNING SOUND” to the earth, but ESPECIALLY to God’s PEOPLE
in the last days…
The 7 Bowls are the outpouring of God’s Wrath after the rapture. They FOLLOW
the 7 Trumpets.
Let me PROVE that to you from the scripture…Let the BIBLE interpret the BIBLE.
Rev 10:5-7
7
But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the MYSTERY of God will be
accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Corinthians 15:51-52
51
Listen, I tell you a MYSTERY: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-52
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be
raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1Thes 4:15-18
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For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18
Therefore encourage each other with these words.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matt 24:30-31
29
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days…the sun will be darkened…”
30
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will
mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
31
And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens to the other.” - JESUS SPOKE THESE WORDS!
Important to remember:
1. The word TRUMPET – appears only 6 times in the N.T. outside of Revelation.
FOUR of these times – the trumpet refers to the LAST TRUMPET – When the
RAPTURE OCCURS!
2. AND…The ONLY place in the New Testament where a “series” of Trumpets is
mentioned that would include a “LAST TRUMPET” is in Revelation!
3. The ONLY other place in the Bible where 7 TRUMPETS are mentioned is in Joshua
– when at the blowing of the 7th trumpet – God’s people took and defeated JERICHO
(the world) and ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND…Canaan! (Heaven)
And so…at the blowing of the LAST TRUMPET of Revelation…the world is left behind for the
outpouring of God’s WRATH and the children of GOD are RAPTURED!
REVELATION – CHAPTERS 8-9
In the Bible, trumpets are used as warnings or
announcements TO and FOR - GOD’S PEOPLE. They
are NEVER used as a sound of “judgment” or “wrath”
(remember the list from last week?)
Chapters 8-9 - the “7” (perfect, complete) Trumpets (sounds of warning, announcing
a coming battle and THE coming King…Jesus!) These trumpets mark the “end time
generations”
THE FIRST 6 TRUMPETS are not meant to be a recounting of every bad or startling
or monumental event in world history. Rather, they are given as “mile markers” or
“signs” to the world and alarms of warning along the “way” of world history.
From the end time generation until the rapture – and through the 7 Bowls of God’s
Wrath, this time period is divided into “THREE WOES” – At the end of the first
FIVE Trumpets it is announced that the first Woe or “Time of Sorrow” is “passed”.
READ TODAY’S TEXT – REVELATION 8: 12 – 9:12
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER –
1. Revelation is written in apocalyptic, symbolic imagery…
2. John was shown things He had never seen nor could imagine!
3. Revelation MUST be interpreted from the Middle East and Europe, NOT the U.S.!
4. This style writing was given by the Holy Spirit…because it serves ALL
GENERATIONS and has its ULTIMATE fulfillment when it occurs in the End
Generation.
5. 1/3 – a symbolic number (perhaps literal in some cases) indicating a significant
amount but NOT ALL, not even MOST… (as opposed to the Bowls of God’s
Wrath – 2/3 = not all, but MOST!) Also consider that these things may happen
PRIMARILY in the MIDDLE EAST and EUROPE …since this is where most
Bible activity and prophecy centers!
And…don’t forget that the 1/3 of the “earth” may refer to the “earth” and
“people” who are directly experiencing that trumpet fulfillment rather than the
entire GLOBE. Also…remember – the word “sea” does not always refer to the
literal “waters” in the New Testament, but sometimes refers to a “vast expanse”.
(as in Revelation 4:6)
6. To give a dogmatic, literal interpretation of these scriptures may in fact cause us to
make the same mistake the Pharisees made interpreting the prophecies of the
coming Christ. When He came, they missed Him! Rather, these “strange”
words may speak “symbolically” to something MUCH more literal IN OUR
DAY!
Last week, we considered the possibility of these interpretations of
the first 3 trumpets.
Trumpets One and Two – Speak of the devastation of WWII.
Trumpet One speaks directly to:
Hitler’s “Scorched Earth Policy” and the general devastation left by the war on all fronts.- A huge
amount of the earth, grass and trees were “burned up”.
This happened from “hail and fire, mixed with blood being hurled down upon the earth.” (bombs,
rockets, flame throwers, missiles, bullets, cannons, ship wars, etc.)
Trumpet number TWO “Something
1/3 of the
“creatures” in
the “sea”
died.
1/3 of the
ships in the
“sea” were
destroyed.
LIKE a huge mountain, ALL ABLAZE was thrown into the “sea.”
* 140 million of 400,000 people of Hiroshima died! Right at 1/3 of the entire population!
* Some 200 million soldiers fought in WWII from all the countries involved. There were 61 million
casualties – again…right at 1/3 of all who fought!
* 105,000 ships were used in WWII and over 36,000 of those ships were
destroyed in battle - almost EXACTLY 1/3 of the ships!!
1/3 of the creatures in the “sea” died and 1/3 of the ships were destroyed.
COINCIDENCE?
TRUMPET NUMBER THREE…
“A great star – blazing like a torch fell from the sky…its name was
wormwood.” –
Something called “wormwood” causes large amounts of water to turn
“bitter” and many people die from “drinking the water”!
Wormwood – in the literal world is a bitter and
sometimes poisonous herb.
Wormwood – translated to RUSSIAN = Chernobyl
*The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 6th edition –
*The Dictionary of the Russian Language by S. Ozhegov
* Hans Blix testimony – Oct 23, 1990
* “The Chernobyl Disaster”, a secular book by Soviet-born Viktor Haynes
Remember the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant meltdown in Russia? The plant
exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe
TRUMPETS 1-3
1. Something like a huge mountain ALL ABLAZE (Nuclear Bomb?)
2. 1/3 of the “creatures in the sea” (WWII soldiers?) destroyed
3. 1/3 of the “creatures in the sea” (Population of Hiroshima?)
4. 1/3 of the ships destroyed… (Exactly the number in WWII
destroyed.)
5. 1/3 of grass, trees and earth – BURNED UP (Results of WWII?)
6. Hail and fire mixed with blood coming from above (Bombs,
rockets, mortars, bullets, air wars, ship wars, cannon fire, etc.?)
7. Wormwood (Chernobyl) – (if you were reading a RUSSIAN BIBLE
it would read –”and the name of the star was CHERNOBYL…”) The
waters turned bitter (poisoned) and 1/3 of the people in the area
DIED.
Coincidence… or EXACTING PROPHECY?
TRUMPETS FOUR AND FIVE –
I BELIEVE They speak to another WORLD WIDE EVENT – a “history marker”
Consider these main elements:
1.
A large part of the day and night - black and dark – thick smoke. It looked like the
“Abyss” or “hell” itself!
2.
Out of this “smoke” came “locusts”
3.
They “stung” like scorpions – ( in other words…quick, hot and deadly)
4.
They had “hair” like a woman, “face” of a man and “teeth” like a lion and “crowns.”
5.
“Breastplates” like iron, their “wings” roared like chariots or thundering horses.
6.
The leader’s name was “Destroyer” (remember this very important name!)
7.
Don’t harm the grass or trees – (Don’t hurt the land…)
8.
Only the people (we want to TAKE the land!) (the people were “not God’s People”)
9.
They could not “KILL” (destroy, conquer) the people (They were NOT
victorious)…They only “tormented” them for FIVE MONTHS (remember this very
important time period!)
10. Men would seek “death” but could not “find it”.
LET’S EXAMINE THE POSSIBILITY FOR EACH ONE – FOR THE BIG PICTURE
A large part of the day and night were darkened.(Not ALL, not even MOST, but a lot!)
In 1991 when Saddam Hussein realized that he had no choice but to withdraw from Kuwait,
after his massive, but failed, armored military invasion, he gave the devastating order to set
the lucrative oil fields of Kuwait ablaze. The result was “unprecedented in the history
of the world.” Over half of the oil wells of this oil-rich nation, almost 700 in all, were set
on fire. By the end of the war, 6 million barrels of oil were going up in smoke each day.
“The skies of Kuwait were so blackened by the smoke that in some areas it
was as dark as midnight at 12 noon.” It was eight months before the last fire was
finally extinguished. One American oil-field engineer, viewing the inferno, said, "You half
expect to see little guys with pitchforks and tails coming out of the ground." (People Weekly,
December 30, 1991)
OUT OF THE SMOKE CAME
“LOCUSTS”
THEY HAD A “FACE” LIKE A MAN
THEY HAD TAILS, with STINGS to TORMENT.
THEY HAD HAIR LIKE A WOMAN AND TEETH LIKE A
LION AND SOMETHING LIKE A CROWN ON THEIR
HEADS.
THEY STUNG LIKE SCORPIONS - BREASTPLATES
LIKE IRON – and THEIR WINGS SOUNDED LIKE
THUNDERING HORSES OR CHARIOTS PREPARED
FOR WAR!
THEIR LEADER’S NAME WAS
“DESTROYER”…
Their LEADER’S name was “DESTROYER”
SADDAM is NOT a first-name…It is a TITLE or NICKNAME that precedes his FAMILY NAME
SADDAM – in Arabic has 3 common and well documented translations:
1. “one who CONFRONTS” (like…Kuwait, Israel, The USA, the U.N. and the WORLD!) …OR
2. “issuing forth (from a central place). “ http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_18-1-004_pg3_6
- “and I saw the locusts coming up out of the Abyss, and they had as a king over them one who’s name was –
DESTROYER”
AND… 3.“ THE DESTROYER!”
"When Saddam Hussein's mother encountered difficulties in her pregnancy and doctors recommended an
abortion, she traveled to Baghdad for medical care and stayed with friends in the Jewish community.
Eventually, a healthy boy was delivered, whom she named Saddam, or "destroyer"," for the pain the
pregnancy had caused." Jerusalem Post, December 13, 1997
When Hussein finally withdrew his troops from Kuwait in the spring of 1991, The German Tribune, (March 10,
1991), was reporting the horrible devastation wrought by Saddam"s armies. The Tribune at that time
called Saddam "the destroyer."
“So why is it that so many Iraqis, even those who suffered most seriously at his hands, remain so ambivalent
about the process against Saddam, whom they nicknamed The Destroyer?” Sunday July 4, 2004 - The
Observer http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1253522,00.html
“There is no enemy of Iraq but Saddam the destroyer and his cronies, whom we denounce until judgment day
and they are in immortal hell.”—Iraqi Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, softening his anti-American tone,
1. THEY HAD POWER TO “TORMENT” FOR 5 MONTHS – Saddam’s occupation of Kuwait lasted
EXACTLY 5 MONTHS! (September of 1990 to February of 1991
2. NOT ALLOWED TO “KILL” THEM…only TORMENT – He did NOT take or defeat (Kill) Kuwait…he
only “tormented” them for 5 months!
3. DO NOT HARM THE GRASS OR THE TREES – He wanted to take the land and the oil wells. NOT
devastate it. He claimed it was HIS! He wanted the country and its resources intact!
4. But ONLY the people WITHOUT the “seal” – (in other words…NOT GOD’S PEOPLE) KUWAIT is
99% MUSLIM! (Certainly…NOT sealed with the “seal” –Holy Spirit – of God!)
5. “In those days…Men will seek death…but it will elude them.” YOUNG’S LITERAL GREEK TRANSLATION –Rev. 9:6 “and in those days shall men seek the death, and
they shall not find it, and they shall desire (the death) to die, and the death shall flee from them.
(For 10 years we have hunted and tried to kill or arrange for Saddam’s DEATH (HE is the destroyer or THE
DEATH!)
The GULF WAR was STARTED with the U.S. lobbing a bunker-buster missile into one of Saddam’s bunkers
thinking he was there. HE was not…He eluded them…time and time again FOR 10 YEARS…until just a
couple of month’s ago!
WE STILL DO NOT KNOW IF SADDAM WILL DIE FOR HIS DEEDS
FOR 10 YEARS THE FOCUS OF THE WORLD, the USA and the United Nations, HAS BEEN ON SADDAM
HUSSEIN and the POLITICS the situation has generated! THE ENTIRE LAST DECADE! (U.N.
resolutions ignored, Oil for Food scandals, 9-11 and Bin-Ladin, suspected nuclear buildup, mass graves of 100’s
of thousands of people…torture, rape, brutalization of his people… and NOW “Operation Iraqi Freedom”
(Even that story is not over yet!)
Consider:
1. Saddam = DESTROYER –
2. Arabic Bible would say “and they had as King over them, one named Saddam.”
3. He occupied Kuwait for 5 months, He could not destroy them…only “torment” them.
4. He set 700 oil wells on fire that blackened the day and night sky for 8 months! UNPRECEDENTED!
5. Helicopters and tanks were the CENTERPIECE of the war armament during the Gulf war. (Locusts)
6.We sought to kill THE DESTROYER (the death) for TEN YEARS - but he kept eluding us!
Rev 9:12 - THE FIRST “WOE” IS PASSED…
( woe = expression of sorrow or grief)
THE FIRST WOE? - (3 elements)
1.
Began with WWII - THE WHOLE WORLD WAS INVOLVED! THE FIRST NUCLEAR
WEAPON USED! THE LARGEST WAR! THE MOST PEOPLE KILLED! 1945
2.
Then came CHERNOBYL – 1986 – World’s FIRST nuclear disaster -A WORLD EVENT AND
CONCERN! Still CONCERNED! The LARGEST nuclear DISASTER in HISTORY spraying the
MOST amount of nuclear waste into the atmosphere in history!
(10x that of Hiroshima!)
3.
Then Kuwait and the GULF WAR…1991 -The WHOLE WORLD WATCHED it LIVE! (FIRST
time in history of the world!) For 10 years the effect is still with the WORLD! The LARGEST,
MOST COSTLY and MOST FRUSTRATING man-hunt in history…plus - (nuclear buildup –
Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, Syria, China, Russia… terrorism, Middle East unrest, Middle East
nations jockeying for power and position…and ALL of them hate the USA and ISRAEL!
THE FIRST FIVE TRUMPETS OF REVELATION HAVE BLOWN – IN OUR LIFETIME –
“OUR GENERATION!”
THE “FIRST WOE” – “Generation of Sorrow” - OF REVELATION HAS PASSED – IN OUR LIFETIME!
THERE ARE ONLY TWO MORE TRUMPTES LEFT TO BLOW:
NUMBER SIX! - We will look at next week!

NUMBER SEVEN! - GOD’S PEOPLE ARE RAPTURED OUT!

IF THESE TWO HAPPEN IN OUR LIFETIME…
WILL YOU BE GOING?
THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY… THROUGH THE NAME AND BLOOD OF
JESUS! YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!
IF IT IS EXACTING PROPHECY…THEN…
WE ARE IN THE TRUMPET DAYS!