Revelation Chapter 8

The First Trumpet

The following briefly reflects the first interpretive viewpoint, which interprets the trumpets as showing the effects of the church messages (truth) on surrounding society

VERSE 7 “The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.”

The series of Trumpets seems to show the effects of the messages of the angels on the false church and, frequently, on the world. It is clear from Church history that the angels were not acknowledged by any except the true Church. If they were heard at all by others, they were misunderstood, misinterpreted, and condemned. Nevertheless, their messages DID have effects which are recorded under the symbols of these sounding Trumpets.

The FIRST (angel or messenger) is the apostle Paul. Much of Paul’s message had the effect of destroying the wisdom of the Jewish leaders. This was not Paul’s AIM. He wanted to preach the truth and to show how Jesus’ teachings FULFILLED the Law. But the effect on the unbeliever was to DESTROY the Law. Hence Paul was less than popular among the Jewish leaders.

HAIL = hard, distressing truths.

FIRE = righteous destructive judgments and the fear of the fast-spreading tendencies.

MINGLED (MIXED) WITH BLOOD symbolizes that the truths and judgments took life (Life is in the blood). JUDAISM was to lose its vitality —actually its life in all but an insignificant way. It would no longer offer even TYPICAL justification to its adherents.

THROWN TO THE EARTH: These new Christian truths were dumped on the existing Jewish society (earth) at a time when it was already very weak from Roman occupation.

THIRD OF THE EARTH: Society at the time of the early Church was divided into three major religious components:

1) The Jews

 2) The Pagan Romans, and

 3) The new Christians.

This was well symbolized by the three languages which Pilate had placed on the cross: Latin (the language of Rome), Hebrew (the language of Judaism), and Greek (the language of the emerging Church.) The new truths BUILT Christianity; they did not destroy it. For the time being, they had little effect on the Roman Empire. But for Judaism they were fatal. This third of the earth was BURNED UP. Judaism became a functionless religion; the Jewish polity was destroyed; the Jewish people were dispersed over all of Europe.

THIRD OF THE TREES: The trees are the stalwarts of the society —the teachers and the authorities. The Jewish stalwarts had no answers. Their positions vanished. They were BURNED UP.

All of the GREENGRASS: The key word here is GREEN. Isaiah tells us that all flesh is as the grass. But GREEN implies life -justification. The typical justification of the Law was now invalid. The Jewish people lost their greenness (their typical justification under the Law). ALL of the grass was not burned up, but all of the GREEN grass was burned up —Jewish justification.

SUMMARY: The result of the activities of the trumpeting of the first period of the Church was the destruction of Israel and Judaism. When we open the first seal and look back, we see Jewish devastation.” (New Albany Notes on Revelation)

In our next post we will take a look at the alternative viewpoint, which interprets the trumpets as showing how the false church was corrupting the truth.