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The 7 TrumpetsGod’s Last Warnings to a Sinful
Planet
Trumpets in Bible• OT use of trumpets
– War, warning, coronation, gathering a people
– Num. 10: 8-10 Temple services and holy wars•Used by Priests – a reminder of God
• NT Trumpets– End time events– Matt 24 God gather’s the elect– 1 Cor. 15 Resurrection to eternal life
– 1 Thess. 4 Second coming of Christ
7 Trumpets
• An angel before the altar of God sends thunder, lightning and earthquakes upon the earth (apparently) in answer to the prayer of the saints – then the angels can sound the 7 trumpets
The Law of God
• Thunder, lightning, earthquakes
• Ex. 20:18
The Tamid
–Tamid is the daily service•Altar of incense-prayers of the people
•Priest pours hot coals from the censer onto the altar of incense
•7 priests blow trumpets
Day of Atonement
– Feast of Trumpets•For 10 days before Yom Kippur
•Each day the trumpets are blown calling for prayers of forgiveness and repentance
– Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement, Day of Judgment•Priest took coals from altar of sacrifice & put them into the censer
•Threw the spade with remaining coals to the ground
•Priest took incense into the Most Holy Place
When are the Trumpets
• Begin with the cross and end at the Second Coming
• 8:1 – 11:15
Judgment in the Bible
• Who does judgment start with in the Bible?
• Ezekiel 9:6 – “Begin at my sanctuary”• Jeremiah 25:17-26 – Jerusalem was top of the list for cities to be punished
• 1 Peter 4:17 – God’s people will be judged first
• Luke 12:48 – To him who is given much… much is expected
• Rev. 3:19 – God disciplines those whom He loves
Old Testament Model
• OT model– Isa 14-23 Judgment against the nations• Same nations God used to reform Israel• Nations did not fear God
– Isa 25 Judgment on the world– Jer. 46-51 Judgment on the nations
• They have gone too far and despised God
• God gave the nations ample time to learn about Him– Isa 56: 6, 7 God’s intent for salvation of all people
Who will God warn in the 7 Trumpets?• With this
principle – we will look for warnings in the remnant of the Jewish religion and in the newly formed Christian community
• Example: God sending judgments on Japan
Relations of the “7”s• 7 Churches = history of the Christian church until the second coming – description of spiritual condition
• 7 Seals = different description of the history of the church; result of spiritual condition
• 7 Trumpets = Judgment?• We would have to guess, that it will be another description of about the same thing as the 7 churches and seals
First Trumpet
• Hail and fire mixed with blood is thrown upon the earth
• 1/3 earth = burned up
• 1/3 trees = burned up
• Green grass was burned up
First Trumpet
• Hail, fire = battles• With blood = warfare• Green grass = people flourishing in righteousness (Isaiah 44:3,4)
• Trees = People of God (Ps. 1:3, 52:8, 92:12)
• Jeremiah 11:16,17 – Said Babylon would burn Jerusalem as branches on a tree
• Jesus compared the Jewish nation to a barren fig tree (Matt. 21:18,19)
First Trumpet
• 70 AD – Jerusalem was so destroyed by Rome that Josephus said that future visitors to the city would never “know that the city had been inhabited.”
First Trumpet
• Matthew 23:38 – Jesus said with tears in His eyes that Jerusalem, your house is “left to you desolate.”
Second Trumpet
• Great mountain, burning, is thrown into the sea
• 1/3 sea became blood• 1/3 living creatures died• 1/3 ships were destroyed
Second Trumpet
• Mountain: Jeremiah 51:24,25 – Babylon is described as a “destroying mountain”
• Daniel 2:35,44,45 – Christ’s future kingdom with all of its nations is described as a mountain
• Mountain = kingdom
Second Trumpet
• Sea = peoples, nations, languages
• Rev. 17:15• Living creatures, ships = people and their material possessions
Second Trumpet
• Judgment on next group of God’s people: Roman Empire (313 AD became Christian)
• 378 – Visigoths completely destroyed Roman army and emperor Valens
• 410 – Visigoths invaded Rome (first time in 800 years somebody came into Rome)
• 455 – Vandals invaded Rome a 2nd time and took the golden lampstand that Rome had taken from Jerusalem in 70 AD
Second Trumpet
• C.D. Gordon – observed that, “the standards of public conduct certainly had not improved with the Christianizing of the empire.”
• 476 AD – the ten tribes of Daniel 2 and 7 finally ended the almost 650-year reign of the Roman Empire
Third Trumpet
• Star fell from Heaven, blazing like a torch (Wormwood)
• 1/3 of the water and fountains became bitter
• Many men died• Rev. 8:10,11
Third Trumpet
• Wormwood – bitter plant that makes poisonous juice
• Stars = angels (Job 38:7)
• Luke 10:18 – Jesus spoke of Satan as having fallen from Heaven
• Revelation 12:7-9 = Satan was kicked out of Heaven
Third Trumpet
• Fountains, springs of water: source of “drinking water” for spiritually thirsty people (Isaiah 12:3, Prov. 13:14, John 7:37)
• Satan made the church become “bitter” after Rome fell
Fourth Trumpet
• 1/3 of sun and• 1/3 of the stars and
• 1/3 of their light• Were struck with darkness
• 1/3 of the day and night were kept from shining
• A DARK trumpet
Fourth Trumpet
• Sun of righteousness = Jesus (Malachi 4:2, John 8:12,9:5)
• Church is the light of the world (Matt. 5:14)
• Because of Satan’s entrance into the church – the light of Christ’s ministry was darkened on the earth
Fourth Trumpet
• From 500 – 800 AD – the only serious place of education and learning was located in Ireland
• 1054 AD – Catholic church excommunicated Orthodox church because, among other matters, they observed Sabbath on Saturday as Bible commands-by 1500 Catholic church had made 150 non-biblical “sabbath days”
Fourth Trumpet
• Many men died of the water and the darkness
• Only eternity will tell how many people got turned away from Christ during the Dark Ages
Relation of the Trumpets
• 1st and 2nd trumpets: destruction of Jewish “kingdom” by Rome, destruction of Rome by invading tribes
• 3rd and 4th trumpets: Satan pollutes the church on earth, Satan obscures Christ’s work in Heaven
• 5th and 6th trumpets: also a pair that concern the Eastern Orthodox church and the religion of Islam
Fifth trumpet
• Revelation 8:13 – Angel cries out, “Woe, woe, woe, to those who dwell on the earth” when these last 3 trumpets will be sounded
• As if the first four trumpets weren’t bad enough, these last three are going to be very bad
Fifth trumpet
• Angel, who has fallen, receives a key to the shaft of the Abyss
• Smoke arose from the Abyss when opened – sun and sky darkened
• Locusts came rushing upon the earth with power of scorpions to sting
• Harm only the people that don’t have the seal of God
• Tortured them for “five months” – these people will want to die
Fifth trumpet
• Locusts look like horses prepared for battle
• On their heads = crowns of gold; faces = human faces; hair = like women’s hair; teeth = lion’s teeth
• Breastplates of iron, loud wings, fast
• Tails that stung• Their king = Angel of the Abyss – Abaddon (Hebrew), Apollyon (Greek) = Destroyer
Sixth Trumpet
• 200,000,000 horseman – were bound at great river “Euphrates”
• Ruled for “hour, day, month, year”• Breastplates – “fire, sapphire, sulfur”
• Lion’s heads • Fire, smoke, sulfur came out of mouth• Power in mouth and tails – like serpents
• Kill mankind
Fifth and Sixth trumpets
• Martin Luther, Joseph Mede, Isaac Newton, among others = believed that this trumpet signified the rise of Islam
• It is a serious accusation – one that we have not met in Daniel or Revelation, so we need to document why our church would think so.
• 1300 years Islam existed – deserves a place in Bible prophecy
Similarities of Fifth and Sixth Trumpets
• 5th trumpet 6th Trumpet• Horselike Horses• Locusts Locustlike• Tail like scorpion Tail like serpent
• Time – 5 monthsTime – 391 days• Torture Kill• Seems to be same group – with a few different features
Fifth trumpet
• Smoke that came from the bottomless pit (Abyss) –
• Abyss – Greek word – boundless -Gen. 1:2 – ocean-Ps. 71:20 - grave
• Smoke – the strength and density of the armies that came from Arabia
• Teachings that came from the “boundless” desert of Arabia
Fifth Trumpet
• “fallen star” – God’s messenger (Rev. 20:1)
• “crowns” – turbans• “women’s hair” – long hair of Muslim conquerors
• “wings” – speed of conquest• “Forbidden…to harm green grass or people with seal of God” – Islam granted Jews and Christians freedom to worship in their kingdom
Fifth Trumpet
• “Five months” – “torture” – 5 months x 30 days = 150 days = 150 years
• Early Adventists saw this as being the time from the first battle with Byzantines by the Ottoman Turks on July 27,1299
• 1299-1449
Sixth Trumpet
• The Turks became the most energetic of all the Muslim nations – and also the most aggressive
• They divided around popular leaders (possibly “four angels”) and headed out for Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), the heart of the Eastern Empire; but were held in check by the Byzantine guards in the Pontic and Taurus mountains (“River Euphrates”)
Sixth Trumpet
• Rev. 9:15 – “kill a third of mankind” with “fire, smoke and sulfur”
• Entity: Constantinople and the Byzantine empire
• Turks had designed firearms – and especially used cannons – “tails”
• “Sulfur” is a main ingredient of gunpowder – which is caused by “fire” and causes “smoke”
Sixth Trumpet
• Turks used cannons especially in destroying cities
• May 29, 1453 AD – overcame Constantinople and made it an Islamic city (Istanbul)
• Mohammed (Mehmet) II, was only 23 at the time, but before his death at age 50 he established the powerful and wealthy Ottoman empire
Sixth Trumpet
• Muslims help the Protestant Reformation
• During the critical time for the Reformation (1520-1560) – the Ottoman policy was to support the Protestants against the Roman Catholics and Charles V
Sixth Trumpet
• “Hour, day, month, year” – 9:15• Different interpretations of this time
• 391 years – most agree (1+30+360)• If we add 391 years to 1453 we come to the year of 1844 (Daniel 8) – close of 2300 days judgment
• By the year 1844 – the Ottoman empire was significantly weaker
Combination of 5th and 6th Trumpets
• Swiss reformer, Heinrich Bullinger, was first to see the Turks in the 6th trumpet (1575 AD)
• William Miller (1832) was the first person to put the two time periods together from the fifth and sixth trumpet – 5 months and 391 years
William Miller’s Interpretation
• 5 months = 150 days = years• Hour, day, month, year = 15 days + 1 + 30 + 360 = 391 years, 15 days
• 150 years + 391 years, 15 days =• 541 years and 15 days• 1298 AD + 541 years, 15 days = 1839• 5th trumpet = rise of the Turks• 6th trumpet = dominance of the Turks
Josiah Litch’s Interpretation
• In 1838 he revised the dates to July 27,1299 – battle of Barpheum – first attack of the Turks on the Byzantine empire
• Adding 541 years, 15 days = August 11, 1840 – he declared that the Turkish empire would be broken
August 11, 1840
• 1839 – Egypt rebelled from Turkish empire – conquered their navy
• Leaders of Egypt and Turkey proposed a settlement to the problem
• Britain, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia intervened – didn’t like the agreement – signed the Treaty of London on July 15, 1840
• Litch said that the Tukish power would fall on August 11,1840
August 11, 1840
• On August 11, 1840 the Turkish representative arrived in Alexandria where all the countries involved signed the Treaty of London
• Sultan sent a communication on that very day to the four main powers inquiring what provisions had been made in the treaty
• Litch believed this showed that Turkey had lost its independent empire
Lesson of the Six Trumpets
• Rev. 9:20,21 – the people that weren’t destroyed by these trumpets didn’t learn their lesson. They still didn’t worship God and still didn’t repent of their murders.
• God gave warnings about the awfulness of sin – but people rejected them.
First Six Trumpets - Review
• First: Fall of Jewish nation• Second: Fall of Roman Empire• Third: Fall of Christian Church
• Fourth: Fall of Christ’s ministry in Heaven
• Fifth: Attacking of Byzantine Empire by Turks
• Sixth: Fall of Byzantine (Eastern) Empire
Fifth trumpet
• By 651 AD – Islam had conquered Egypt, Iraq, Mesopotamia, Iran, and Syria – “sound of their wings” – very fast
• By 711 AD – controlled from the borders of India to the Atlantic Ocean and in North Africa
• 732 AD Battle of Tours – defeat by Charles Martel in France
Sixth Trumpet
• After conquests of the Muslims from 674-823 AD – the Muslims broke up into several different nations and the Eastern Empire left to itself had its own problems to deal with
• 1000 AD – the Seljuk Turks came south from the plains of Russia, invaded Iran, and accepted the Muslim religion
Sixth Trumpet
• 1071 AD – Battle of Manzikert (near the headwaters of the Euphrates River) – Turkish forces defeated the Eastern Empire forces
• Their forces “flew” into Asia minor and quickly conquered it – and even gave it the name by which we know it today – Turkey
• Othman took control – and the empire became known as the Ottoman empire