Posted by Author Unknown on 10/4/2001, 2:02 pm

Posted by Author Unknown on 8/31/2001, 3:11 pm Chapter 9 TRUMPETS—SOUNDING OF JUDGMENT “When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets” (Revelation 8:1-2, NIV). Earlier in John’s apocalyptic vision, he was found gut-wrenched and weeping when he was told the mystery of a scroll that no one could open. An elder spoke to John saying, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5, NIV). John was told that a mighty Lion with stellar ancestry has triumphed! So John probably expected to see some powerful figure take hold of the scroll and open it. This would not be the case. What John saw next was a lamb looking as if it had been slain clutching an antique scroll as old as the earth itself with ancient writings upon it within and without and seven wax seals holding it closed—this feeble lamb tore open the final seal. Why would the powerful Lion of Judah now have the appearance of a slain sacrificial lamb? Because God has taken the frail things of this world and made them strong; through death that lamb became more powerful than any lion. Jesus, taking on the role of a sacrificial lamb “purchased men.” When he tore loose the last wax seal, everyone stood silently in awe—you could hear a pin drop in heaven as the crowd is awaiting the opening of Revelation’s mortgage scroll. The Lamb Is About To Unleash His Wrath “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand” (Joel 2:1, NIV). This warning from Zion [the church] will be delivered: repent, for the day of the Lamb’s wrath is close at hand! This alarm is also signal for Israel [God’s people] to move on in the direction and manner in which the Lord commands. The Hebrew trumpet in this passage is called a “shophar;” it was traditionally made from ram’s horn and was used in ancient Israel during war as a rallying cry. In the Book of Revelation seven of these trumpets are given to seven angels. When Revelation’s seals are loosed, all seven trumpets shall sound—each in its own order. These trumpet judgments have significant meaning. They also have a definite purpose—to drive Antichrist from the throne. And The Wall Came Down Understanding that Revelation was written in symbols, let’s look to Scripture for a physical example of trumpets being blown and then put together a model of what the trumpets in our study might signify. In the Old Testament book of Joshua, there’s a written record of Israel’s conquest of Jericho; the LORD spoke to Joshua telling him to lay siege on that city, saying “Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse…” (Joshua 6:4-6, NIV). The long blast according to Jewish tradition is called “the great blast,” or “last trump.” The Israelites did as the LORD commanded and the wall of Jericho fell. No earthly weapon was used to bring down that wall; the battle was won through a work in the Spirit. The LORD promised Israel the city if Israel fought the battle according to his statutes. Israel did just as the LORD commanded, and he was faithful in giving them the victory. In the last days, Christians will be facing impenetrable walls also, yet it is recorded that once more God’s people will be faithful. Then as Revelation’s final trumpet begins to sound, the victory in the Spirit will be ours. As in time memorial, the LORD will give his people the city. The Chronology of the Apocalypse These trumpet judgments spell the end of Antichrist’s regime with the seventh trumpet containing the final bowls of wrath. Having said that, it is certain that much of the 3 and 1/2 years that Antichrist was given to rule the earth has passed before this time of trumpets begins. In Revelation, events escalate on a successive scale: to build a model of Revelation’s time frame, we need to make the reasonable assumption that the same amount of time will expire between the loosing of every wax seal the scroll contains. We should expect the time duration of each seal to be consistent. Let’s consider a seven-year time frame with each seal lasting one year. If this is the case, and there is ample support for it in Scripture, the breakdown of the main events in Revelation follows this pattern: the first six seals take up six years which is six-sevenths of Revelation’s total timeframe. This means the trumpet judgments, which are contained in the seventh seal, will occur during the seventh and final year. Within the seventh trumpet plague there are seven bowls of wrath therefore, all seven bowls will have the same duration as one of the trumpet plagues, meaning the seven bowls will last approximately seven weeks. What this means is things are going to really get smoking as we get closer to Armageddon, at that time the judgments will follow each other in rapid succession with each plague being more severe than the preceding plague. How long did the rain fall in Noah’s day—40 days? However, please keep in mind that Noah went into that ark one week before the rain fell. Why would the flood model in Genesis be of a different duration than the coming deluge? The ark of Noah and the flood is a model of the Rapture of the church and the Great Tribulation. Even as it was in Noah’s day, God’s faithful who ascend riding the ark of God’s provision through the bowls of his wrath and the Battle of Armageddon will be taken from this planet right before his wrath is poured out. We will ride, returning with the Captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ, seven weeks later, just like our former Captain Noah did with the faithful ones in his generation.