REVELATION 8 - PART 2 OF 2
(Verses 6 - 13)
photo courtesy of sothl.com
6) And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
7) 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.
8) 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;
9) 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.
10) 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;
11) 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.
12) 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.
13) And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
COMMENTARY
The first angel sounded: Understand that in the Holy Bible, trees and grass symbolize man. Reference Exodus 9: 13 - 26. God has sent a severe hail storm before, but this is even worse: it is hail with fire mingled with blood. Dr. Henry Morris speculates that this could be the results of volcanoes erupting and the fallout rising up, condensing in the updraft and the lava mixing with it would explain the fire. The blood of people and animals would be caught up in the eruptions; or it may just appear as blood and in reality be contamination of dust and gasses. Again, if you have not read The Revelation Record by Dr Henry M. Morris, I highly recommend it. Notice also that this is "green grass", not brown, dry grass from a drought.
The second angel sounded: symbolically, this is probably judgment on the world-wide church. Reference Jeremiah 51:25. The great mountain burning with fire is the symbol of Babylon; so this is "spiritual Babylon" if not actual Babylon according to Dr. H. A. Ironside. He says the false church will be utterly destroyed by the very people it tyrannized. However, Dr. Morris states that (physically) this great mountain is probably a meteorite, asteroid, or satellite, surrounded by combustible gases as it enters earth's atmosphere. When it splashes down, it takes out a third of the sea creatures, ships, and a third of the sea turns to blood.
Keep in mind, that God's two "witnesses" (who we will meet when the scene switches back to earthly) predicted the world-wide drought that came upon the earth, and they prayed for and forecast the bloody waters. Do you think they may have gotten the attention of those left here?
The third angel sounds, and a great star fell from heaven. Symbolically, a "great star" is someone of great importance in the religious world. A third of the people will have a bitter taste in their mouths when they discover what he is really like.
In the physical world, however, this great star is composed of liquid material; not like the "mountain", which was solid matter. This star falls apart and dumps chunks of it all over the world as it enters the atmosphere. Now, not only the sea is contaminated by the "mountain", but also the rivers and springs are poisoned by this "star".
Then the fourth angel sounds the trumpet. Keep in mind that all these events are one right after another. Here, the output of light put out by the sun is reduced by one-third, which, in turn, reduces the output of the reflecting light from the moon and stars. It is like walking into a room which uses multiple light bulbs for lighting and one-third of them go out. Politicians are scrambling to explain to the public what is going on. The way they spin stories today, I'm sure they will come up with some story.
Then, the Apostle John beheld and heard an angel flying through the heaven, saying. "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabiters of the earth! If you liked the first four trumpets, just wait for the last three! Those on earth HAVE to KNOW that these events were sent especially to them by the Most High God; and He isn't finished!
Dear friend, now is a good time to accept the priceless gift of salvation! Please click this link to go to our "Pathway to Salvation" page: http://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html
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