These Precious Hands
Revelation 8-11 is many times thought of as the beginning of the end in a countdown to Earth's last days. But there is another way to look at all the imagery that is used in the vision of the seven trumpets. If one keeps in perspective the purpose of John's writing the Revelation in the first place, the vision shows a picture of reassurance for the Christians who were being slandered by Jews and pagans alike. Rome had not understood the Christian movement at all. Any attempt to liken it to the Jewish religion received immediate backlash from the Jewish communities around the empire. So, they attempted to marginalize Christians by ostracism or to stamp them out by killing them at the first hint of trouble in a community. So, first and foremost, John needed to reassure those Christian communities that God saw their suffering and would soon free them from it. The vision of seven seals preceding the trumpets had been all about Christians receiving a reward for their endurance. The vision of the seven trumpets were all about a signal of power from God that the Romans weren't invincible, and Christians' lives were not being lived in vain.
The structure of the vision of the trumpets is the same as the structure for the vision of the seals. The first four objects are speaking on the same subject. The fifth and sixth objects change the direction of the vision somewhat. Then, there is an interruption to the action, something of an interlude, an event happening between the 6th and 7th objects. Finally, the 7th object depicts a tribute to God, the seals through silent reverence for God, the trumpets through enormous praise for God.
It is through this structure that a person makes sense of the vision and the imagery used to accomplish John's purpose. Below, the two passages are put alongside each other for easier comparison of the structure used.
Chapters 5-8 Chapters 8-11
Introduction - A scene in Heaven: The lamb Introduction - A scene in Heaven: alone is worthy to open the seals 7 angels are given trumpets, an 8th angel stands by an altar
and throws the altar's fire onto the Earth
Four seals - Matching the horses of Zechariah, Four trumpets - Using imagery
the horsemen report the status of the Earth matching the central event
to God of the Old Testament, the Exodus, angels announce
God's intentions
Two seals - A plea to God is made for him to Two trumpets - two woes represent
act on his people's suffering two armies released upon
on those causing his people's suffering
Interlude - God's seals his people and gives Interlude - God gives hope to his
them white robes people through giving his words
and raising two witnesses to inspire them
Final seal - There is reverent awe in Heaven Final trumpet - Loud voices in
Heaven praised God for
his people justice for their
suffering
The place to start in any understanding of the Jewish faith is the Exodus and all its surrounding events. It was the seminal event for several reasons. God dueled with Pharaoh to show his supernatural power in order to free his people. He illustrated to his people that he could and would deliver his people from Egypt and establish a Law with them at Mt. Sinai. He sustained his people in a desert wilderness wandering. And, through 40 years of wandering he taught his people to depend on him to get them the promised land. So, when John wanted to reassure Christians that God was more powerful than Rome, it was very natural to turn to the Exodus event.
Verse 7
Καὶ ὁ πρῶτος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ ἐγένετο χάλαζα καὶ πῦρ μεμιγμένα ἐν αἵματι καὶ ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῆς γῆς κατεκάη καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν δένδρων κατεκάη καὶ πᾶς χόρτος χλωρὸς κατεκάη
(The first angel sounded his trumpet and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, which was thrown to the Earth burning a third of it including a third of the trees and green pastures.)
The mighty Pharaoh who controlled every step the Israelites took was not convinced by this God of Moses to free them. He needed them to complete all of his buildings and statues honoring him. He was considered deity in this part of the world. He wouldn't tolerate a rival. So, God sent a storm, the likes of which Egypt had never seen in its history. The thunder and lightning were ferocious, covering the entire sky. Hail was embedded in the storm and crashed into everything. Trees were broken, plants were pummeled to shreds. Even people were injured if they went out in it. The ferocity of the storm was continuous and unrelenting. This storm is recorded in Exodus 9.22-25. It was a storm to remember - for centuries - from the time it occurred until the time it was remembered in this first trumpet, almost a 1400-year span of time. To show the Christians reading John's visions that God was announcing travesty for the Earth, he started with the central event of God's show of power to Pharaoh. In John's time, the same power was going to be demonstrated for God's people the Christians. The Egyptians had lived through their worst storm. So would the enemies of the Christians because only a third of the earth was affected. But, there would be suffering and a very natural demonstration of supernatural power. A very, very extreme storm was about to be released against the enemies of his son. That was just the first trumpet.
Verse 8
Καὶ ὁ δεύτερος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ ὡς ὄρος μέγα πυρὶ καιόμενον ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἐγένετο τὸ τρίτον τῆς θαλάσσης αἷμα
(The second angel sounded his trumpet. A tall mountain on fire was thrown into the sea and a third of it changed to blood.)
Verse 9
καὶ ἀπέθανεν τὸ τρίτον τῶν κτισμάτων τῶν ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ τὰ ἔχοντα ψυχὰς καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν πλοίων διεφθάρησαν
(A third of all sea life died and a third of all ships carrying food were destroyed at sea.)
A mountain on fire? That sounds a lot like the original Mt. Sinai event. Exodus 19.18 speaks of the mountain on fire. God met Moses while the whole of Israel was watching. God knew how to draw a crowd and get people's attention. The blood in water was the first of the plagues that God visited on the people of Egypt. Blood killed the staple item in the Egyptians' diets, the fish, with blood in the Nile and all of its tributaries. All of their water in their water jars was blood. Everything containing water, contained blood. People suffered. The plague is written about in Exodus 7.14-25. For John's audience, they saw a burning mountain splash into the sea. Immediately the water turned to blood. The staple item of the Roman empire, the ships that brought all of Rome's products, the luxurious items for the rich and the everyday food for the regular people, sank in the sea, the waves were so tumultuous. Once again, the destruction was partial. The Roman Empire would not be totally affected, but it would notice that the one true God, the God of the Christians being persecuted, blamed, and slandered was putting them on notice that he was about to come against them with raging anger.
The Second Trumpet
Howard David Johnson
Verse 10
Καὶ ὁ τρίτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀστὴρ μέγας καιόμενος ὡς λαμπὰς καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν ποταμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων
(The third angel sounded his trumpet. A large star burning like a torch fell from the skies into a third of the rivers and their tributaries.)
Verse 11
καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ ἀστέρος λέγεται ὁ Ἄψινθος, καὶ ἐγένετο τὸ τρίτον τῶν ὑδάτων εἰς ἄψινθον καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπέθανον ἐκ τῶν ὑδάτων ὅτι ἐπικράνθησαν
(The star's name is Bitter Taste [of absinthe]. A third of the water turned bitter in taste, and many people died from its toxicity.)
Rome was powerful. Its reach went around the Mediterranean. It was the brightest star in the sky because it controlled two previous great empires in Greece and Egypt. But even Rome would fall before the Lord of the skies. He could make Rome drop like a star from its place in its sky and be made submissive. They had failed their character test with God unlike the Israelites who had faced the test of bitter water at Marah. The story is told in Exodus 15.22-27. They had been 3 days without water after coming through the Reed Sea. Moses sought God's help about the problem and he was told to throw a particular piece of wood into the water to make it sweet enough for the people to drink. The bitter water had been a test for the people to turn to the Lord for healing. Those who were persecuting and provoking the Christians in John's time were facing the same test. But as the vision indicated Rome was failing the test. They were dying and not turning to the Lord, the healer.
Verse 12
Καὶ ὁ τέταρτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ ἐπλήγη τὸ τρίτον τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῆς σελήνης καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀστέρων, ἵνα σκοτισθῇ τὸ τρίτον αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ ἡμέρα μὴ φάνῃ τὸ τρίτον αὐτῆς καὶ ἡ νὺξ ὁμοίως
(The fourth angel sounded his trumpet and a third of the sun, moon, and stars were darkened so that the day and night were affected by one-third.)
There was one plague that broke the stalemate between Pharaoh and Moses. It was the death of the first born son of every Egyptian family. The whole reason for all of the plagues was to show God's superiority to the king of the most powerful country on Earth. So, by the death of the first born, Pharaoh acquiesced and acknowledged God's superiority. The plague that helped pave the way for the pharaoh's response to the last plague was the 9th plague of darkness that covered the whole land for three solid days (Exodus 10.21-22). Funny - after no lights in the sky for three days, Pharaoh hardened his heart for the last time. It had symbolic value for him. Because of his darkness, the next plague gutted his soul and the souls of many, many families in his realm. So, when the fourth trumpet blew and the lights in the sky above Earth went out, there was darkness. And it was no wonder that the very next verse mentioned that the darkness was a precursor to something very ominous. "The most painful and agonizing sound, 'Ay-y-y-y,'" was the terrible, horrific cry that begin the announcement for the next 3 trumpets. What agony was being saved for those opposing God's people during this time.
Verse 13
Καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἤκουσα ἑνὸς ἀετοῦ πετομένου ἐν μεσουρανήματι λέγοντος φωνῇ μεγάλῃ· οὐαὶ οὐαὶ οὐαὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκ τῶν λοιπῶν φωνῶν τῆς σάλπιγγος τῶν τριῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν μελλόντων σαλπίζειν
(I looked and heard the cry of an eagle flying in mid-sky, making the most painful and agonizing sound, "Ay-y-y-y-y!" because those still living on the Earth have yet to hear the doom that will be announced by the trumpets of the three angels left.)
The Exodus event stands above all other events in God's covenant with the Hebrews. They saw God's raw power in their deliverance from Egypt and in their witness of God's giving the law on Mt. Sinai. The Psalms reflect God's power in this event over and over. And interestingly, the oracles of the prophets about how God would deal with people who disobey him contain the imagery of the plagues and/or the Mt. Sinai experience as well. In a number of versions of the Bible, the verses of the trumpets indicate the prophets' oracles in footnotes or cross references as being the sources for the trumpets' images, but since the oracles were rooted in the Exodus event, it seems to me that it is more logical to refer to the seminal occurrence than the secondary occurrences more indirectly related. The Exodus is a match between God and a powerful empire for release of a suffering people. The Day of the Lord in the prophets is more about disobedience and idolatry of not only other nations, but Israel as well. The verses here in Revelation seem more connected to the match between God and the Egyptian dynasty because God was about to free his people the Christians from their suffering at the hands of the Romans. In addition, trumpets are used in the seminal event to announce God's meeting with Moses to give him the Law whereas the oracles use a person to express God's opinion for him.
One of the tasty morsels in this passage is the use of the fraction one-third. The parallel in the Exodus event is that God would end the plague before it affected everyone to the extent they died. The plague was to make a point. Thus, the plague had a mitigated, or partial, effect. The death of the first born was not mitigated, so it had a full effect. In Revelation the first four trumpets revealed damage on the Earth to a partial extent, one-third. God was trying to make a point - he is more powerful. He didn't need to kill everyone. But apparently it was not enough, as nine of the plagues were not because people had the hard heart of Pharaoh. Thus, the last three trumpets announced a painful and agonizing outcome represented by a dreadful cry rather than with words.
Generally speaking, the American experience of Christianity doesn't reflect the same conditions that existed in John's time. However, in the world at large, many suffer and die for their faith. That dark specter of death and persecution could come to America. At the time it does, the familiar words of John here in Revelation will be in the forefront of our minds. Some say that even now there is persecution in certain aspects of American life. Higher education, for example, pursues the scientific study of a discipline without regard to what the Bible might have pertaining to it. Being published or attaining tenure is sometimes connected to one's stated beliefs in faculty offices or in works published. Great financial gain is often linked to a lack of faith rather than to whether a person has a moral a moral conscience. If faith is not expressed, then the dollars roll in. If faith is expressed, dollars are withheld or withdrawn. Other areas in American life are included too.
I know that right now there is not this great empire that I as a Christian suffer under. But should the time come, I know that although the state will shine as the brightest star in the sky, their day to meet God will come. They will be made to drink the Bitter Taste. The absinthe's toxins will kill them. Justice will come. I will be listening for that trumpet blast to sound.
[The Greek text used is the Nestle-Aland 28th edition.]
[Songs used are Giants Fall by Francesca Battisteli and Hidden by Will Reagan and United Pursuit.]
[Introductory photograph These Precious Hands, retrieved from
http://www.fulcrumgallery.com/These-Precious-Hands_663811.htm, after Revelation 8.9, The Second Trumpet by Howard David Johnson, retrieved from http://www.howarddavidjohnson.com/The_SECOND_TRUMPET.jpg.]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]
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