A Journey through Revelation: The Triumph of God s People Lesson 10: The Seven Trumpets.

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1 A Journey through Revelation: The Triumph of God s People Lesson 10: The Seven Trumpets. Revelation 8:2&3-2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 1. In the life of ancient Israel the blowing of trumpets usually signaled one of four things. a. A summons to. b. An announcement of a coronation of a. c. A call to the people. d. A of approaching danger. i. Numbers 10: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. 3 When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 4 But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you. 5 When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey. 6 When you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall begin their journey; they shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys. 7 And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance. 8 The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations. 9 When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall 1

2 sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. 10 Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God. 1. The blowing of trumpets was a key part of liturgy and wars. 2. In the Old Testament trumpet blowing also has end-time implications. a. Isaiah 27:13 - So it shall be in that day: the great will be ; they will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. b. Joel 2:1 - the in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand: c. Zephaniah 1:14,15&16 - The great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. 3. The New Testament continues on with this idea. a. Matthew 24: Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son 2

3 of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. b. 1 st Corinthians 15:51&52 - Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last. For the will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. c. 1 st Thessalonians 4:16 - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. i. When the trumpet sounds the of God is about to take place as a response to the of His people. 4. Where else in scripture is the use of seven trumpets employed? a. When Joshua and Israel fought the battle of. i. Joshua 6:1-5 - Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua: See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will 3

4 fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him. 1. There are seven trumpeters in this story that herald the of God against the city of Jericho. 5. Here are four similarities between the battle of Jericho and the trumpets of Revelation. a. trumpets are employed at Jericho and here in Revelation. b. Seven sounded the trumpets at Jericho and seven proceed from the temple to blow the trumpets in Revelation. c. At Jericho the trumpeters were to march of the ark of the testimony and in Revelation 11:19 the same ark is revealed the angels have blown the trumpets. i. Revelation 11:19 - Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. d. was the result of the blowing of the trumpets at Jericho and will result as the trumpets are blown in Revelation. 6. There are three specific eschatological themes that trumpets sounding signal. a. The sounding of the trumpets announce the. b. The sounding of the trumpets announce. c. The sounding of the trumpets are a call to. 7. The sounding of the trumpets announce judgment. a. In the Old Testament on the Day of Atonement trumpets were sounded for prior to announce it s arrival. The trumpets sounding carried a clear and serious message:. 4

5 b. The sanctuary imagery used during the vision of the trumpets is very similar to the Day of Atonement thus we should understand that is one of the themes to this vision. 8. The sounding of the trumpets announce action. a. Particularly action is represented as we survey the seven trumpets of Revelation. i. Under the second trumpet are destroyed. Revelation 8:9 ii. Under the fifth trumpet are prepared for battle and horses running to battle. Revelation 9:7&9 iii. Under the sixth trumpet there is the number of the of horsemen. Revelation 9:16 iv. Under the seventh trumpet we re told that the are angry and that God will destroy them that destroy the earth. - Revelation 11:18 1. The trumpets are to be viewed as God s against the ungodly, however they should not be viewed as punishment. 9. The sounding of the trumpets are a call to repentance. a. Although the trumpet judgments are intended to bring forth repentance in the land, sadly those who suffer under the trumpets repent. i. Revelation 9:20&21 - But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. 1. The text indicates that even though catastrophic in nature, the trumpets are not natural calamities 5

6 and disasters. They are rather a manifestation of the presence and reality of Almighty God at this point in the history of the world. 10. What s the difference between the seven seals and the seven trumpets? a. The events triggered by the opening of the seven seals affect those who profess to be God s people but are found and. John makes it clear that the events of the seven trumpets are directed specifically against those who are not. i. Revelation 9:4 - They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who have the of God on their foreheads. 11. There are three positive purposes that are accomplished by allowing the world to experience the devastating effects of their rejection of the Holy Spirit and the departure from His law. a. Sinners are given an to realize the terrible nature of their sin. b. The unfallen universe and all honest humans may witness the character of sin and become in their loyalty to principles of truth and righteousness. c. God will be viewed as when He finally destroys all sin and unrepentant sinners along with Satan. i. Revelation 16:5,6&7 - And I heard the angel of the waters saying: You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due. 7 And I heard another from[e] the altar saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments. 6