God's People Avenged! The Trumpet Judgments of the Tribulation
Study of Revelation Part 4 of 7

We don't think that God has anything to do with world events. We think that He just sits on a throne in heaven doing -I don't know -God stuff. Nothing is farther from the truth.

The truth is that God participates, influences, controls, and presides over history. Just look at Creation, The Flood, The Tower of Babel, Jesus Christ... Evidence that God partakes in history -- not just observes it from afar. In Revelation we read about the near future -- a time when God is taking part in world events.

Summary

Jesus has taken (Raptured) His believers to heaven to be with Him. He then allows the world to do whatever it wants to. The results are nuclear war, famine, and sickness (which we read about in the Seal Judgments). Despite the judgment, the Lord makes sure that He has people to represent Him and tell the world how to escape the judgments (the 144,000). We now pick up in Revelation chapter 8 and continue through until the end of chapter 10.

A SILENCE IN HEAVEN" (Rev. 8:1-6)
"Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord" -- Romans 12:19

You can't imagine what's about to happen.

Back in Revelation 6:9-11 we read as Tribulation Christians pray to God to avenge them. They are being killed because of their faith in Christ. God tells them to wait until all the Tribulation Christians were killed. Once all were killed, God would avenge them.

That time has come.

In Revelation 8:1-6 we read that the judgments are about to be executed on the earth. They take form in Trumpets. When a trumpet is blown, a new judgment in unleashed The judgments are so incredible that there is silence in heaven. Everyone sits in awe at the terrible time that is ahead for the enemies of God.

The Trumpet Judgments are different from the Seal Judgments we read of in chapter 6 in that the Seals were judgments that man brought on himself whereas the Trumpet Judgments come directly from God.

THE TRUMPET JUDGMENTS (Rev. 8:7 - 9:19)
"Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth..." Revelation 8:13

THE FIRST TRUMPET: An angel sounds the first trumpet and hail, fire -- mixed with blood -- reign down to the earth. This results in one third of all the trees and grass being burned. This will have a unbelievable impact on the ecosystem.

THE SECOND TRUMPET: The second trumpet sends a "something like a great mountain burning with fire" towards the earth. This is most likely a giant asteroid. It crashes into the ocean killing one third on the sea life as well as destroying one third of the ships. The ships are probably destroyed by a title wave caused by the massive impact.

THE THIRD TRUMPET: Real life "Deep Impact"! The earth is then hit by another object from space. John describes this one as a "great star" and it is "burning like a torch". This is a comet. It will be named "Wormwood" because when it crashes it causes a third of the fresh water to become wormwood. Wormwood is a condition that first causes anyone who drinks it to become drunk then they die. It is interesting to see asteroids and comets crashing into the earth because that is now a major concern of scientist today. Probably a coincidence, right? :)

THE FOURTH TRUMPET: Perhaps as a result of these object crashing into the earth, the light given from the sun, moons, and stars is reduced by one third. This could happen by the massive amount of debris being thrown into the atmosphere -- blocking the light. Meanwhile, an angel tells the world that the worst is yet to come.

THE FIFTH TRUMPET: This is bad. The fifth trumpet sounds and a "star" which seems to be Satan unleashes a pit. Out of the pit come demons who torment the unbelievers for five months. During this time God will not allow anyone on earth to die. Anyone who tries to kill himself will fail. You cannot escape God's judgment unless you have accepted Jesus as your Savior. If you have, you will be in heaven with Him before all this begins (it begins in chapter 6). The people on the earth now haven't. And they are paying the price.

THE SIXTH TRUMPET: The sixth trumpet sees four fallen angels being released. It seems that these four were so dangerous that God kept them locked up to protect the earth. But now the world has said that they don't want God or His protection. The result: These fallen angels kill one third of the world's population. If there are five billion people on the earth when the tribulation starts, the death toll would now be up to around 2.5 billion dead. That's 2,500,000,000 dead.

THE WORLD'S RESPONDS TO GOD'S OFFER OF FORGIVNESS (Rev. 9:20-21)
"But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent" -- Revelation 9:20

During all this, God still extends forgiveness to all. So how does the world respond? They continue with their evil ways. They love money and themselves more than God. Murder, sexual immorality increase. Verse 21 hints that people will turn to psychics for help. All the while all they have to do is ask forgiveness but instead harden their hearts against God.

HEAVEN'S RESPONCE TO THE WORLDS REBELLION (Rev. 10:1-11)
"Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth." --Revelation 10:9

John is handed a little book (the book is the judgments that are to come on the earth). He is told to eat the book. It will taste like honey but then make his stomach bitter. This is what is happening to everyone in heaven as they see God punishment. God is judging the wicked and justice is being served and everyone is happy about that (sweet as honey). But as they see how justice is being served -- all the suffering the unbelievers are going through -- it upsets them (making the stomach bitter). We will all be in heaven watching this and saying, "All they had to do was ask Jesus to forgive them." But they wouldn't so the Tribulation rages on.

NEXT: THE ANTICHRIST! Read Part 5