Of the Book of Revelation
I thought I would set about to explain MY understanding of the Trumpet, and Vial events of the Book of Revelation. I will focus specifically on the EVENTS for now, and point out some very obvious observations as we go through these catastrophic disasters which will come upon the earth.
First; I would like to point out that THESE trumpet, and vial events follow the opening of the SEVENTH SEAL---------therefore; they CANNOT transpire concurrently with the opening of the SEALS of Chapter Six, and Seven of the Revelation. Some expositors make ludicrous attempts to do so, in order to support a pre-conceived doctrinal point-------however------the Lord has robbed such persons leverage, in the DISCRIPT MANNER in which he describes the SEVENTH SEAL. Fearing that their PERSONAL ESCHATOLOGY will collapse under the weight of this scriptural evidence; they begin a hopeless SHELL GAME to find a WAY to explain a “CONCURRENCE” of the “SEALS” with the Trumpets, and Vials. It is a MADDENING effort.
Rev 8:1-10:1
Revelation 8
8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Note in verse one; that the SEVENTH SEAL has been opened. This will become an absolutely CRITICAL observation as we move along.
2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
The angels have been GIVE TRUMPETS----------AFTER-----the opening of the Seventh Seal. This evidence ALONE should dispel the notion that the Seals/Trumpets/ and Vials run concurrently. One must logically ask; “how would Trumpet # 1 run concurrent with Seal #1 if the TRUMPETS of this passage are not even given to the angels until SEAL # 7 has been opened?? This is NONE LESS than elementary school arithmetic--------and yet; to soothe their need for supporting their OWN position, those who teach the afore-mentioned doctrine un-ashamedly cling to their folley.
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
So we have these events so far----- the Seventh Seal has been opened; Seven Trumpets have been distributed to seven angels------and NOW they prepare to sound.
FIRST TRUMPET
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
a. hail and fire mingled with blood
b. a third part of earth’s trees and grass are burned up
SECOND TRUMPET
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
a. a great burning mountain cast into the sea
b. a third part of the sea became blood.
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
c. a third part of the creatures in the sea are killed
d. a third part of the ships were destroyed
I must stop here and address this matter of the destruction of Mystery Babylon. To those pundits of the post-tribulation destruction of Commercial Mystery Babylon [Rev.18], I must ask; how is it possible for the merchants of the earth, who trade by sea----to lament their loss of trade into Babylon [Rev.18]-----when FULLY ONE THIRD of all the ships in the sea have been destroyed under this Trumpet ? DON”T YOU NEED THOSE SHIPS TO TRADE BY SEA ??
THIRD TRUMPET
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
a. a burning, cosmic body falls upon the rivers, and fountains [springs]
b. a third part of the waters were poisoned of “wormwood”
c. many men died because of the poisoned water
FOURTH TRUMPET
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
a. a third part of the sun/moon/stars “are smitten
b. heavenly light is reduced by 33%
c. the inhabitants of the earth are warned about the three remaining Trumpet
judgements.
FIFTH TRUMPET
Revelation 9
9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
a. a “star” falls from heaven-------a heavenly entity-----“he” [a personal pronoun}
b. “he” opens a bottomless pit which releases heat, and smoke, and the environment is
darkened by it.
c. creatures that resemble “scorpions” are released with the smoke.
d. allowed to harm “only those men who do not have the SEAL OF GOD----“
e. the creature cannot kill, but have power to TORTURE
f men shall seek to die, but cannot
g they are authorized to torment for FIVE MONTHS
h. one woe is past
------and I am to believe that “Commercial Babylon” is perking right along through these horrific events and proclaiming ----“I sit as a Queen and shall see no harm”---and BUSSINESS AS USUAL“ ???
SIXTH TRUMPET
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
a. four “bound” angels of the
b. will slay a THIRD PART OF MEN for eighteen months, one day, and one hour
[this in addition to the millions who have already died of WORMWOOD]
c. surviving men still do not repent
To those pre-tribulationists who RUSH to cite the “days of Noah, when they were marrying, and given in marriage” in order to present a picture of a relatively peaceful world “prior to the rapture”----please note; In all of this miserable chaos--------MEN REPENTED NOT OF THEIR LUSTS!!!. This should serve as a clear warning to the DENIAL that lives in the hearts of men. In the days of Noah there was VIOLENCE in the earth, which triggered the awesome hand of God.
We will skip over the parenthetical events of this passage, and move on to the SEVENTH TRUMPET, since it is the “Trumpets, and Vials” that we are concerned with.
Rev 10:6-8
6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
KJV
a. “time is no more”
[the more correct translation of this phrase is---“this sequence is ended”; in
other words------there is nothing to follow]
b. the mystery of God is finished
The question following this statement should be; “if the Mystery of God is ended, then why is there yet SEVEN VIALS to be poured out?” this is the central effort of this apologetic.
THE VIALS
Rev 15:5-16:18
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
These “seven angels” are clothed in WHITE because the judgments they are about to dispense are RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENTS. The earth is about to receive her JUST DUES.
7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Revelation 16
16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
FIRST VIAL
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Note that the men of this verse have .GRIEVOUS SORES. Let’s return to the FIRST TRUMPET and take a look at the description of THAT event. Hail and fire are cast upon the earth, and plant life is scorched. There is no significant correlation between the Trumpet, and Vial events at this point, unless it is the “hail, and fire” that have caused the sores.
SECOND VIAL
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
In the events of the SECOND TRUMPET we see that FIRE is cast into the sea, and a THIRD PART of the sea became as blood. Do you see the similarities between the SECOND TRUMPET, and the SECOND VIAL ?
THIRD VIAL
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
In the events of the THIRD TRUMPET we see that a star called WORMWOOD falls into the earth and pollutes a THIRD of the rivers, and fountains of water. Do you see the STARK SIMILARITIES between the THIRD TRUMPET, and the THIRD VIAL ?
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments
FOURTH VIAL.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Under the FOURTH TRUMPET we see the Sun/Moon/Stars are also STRICKEN.
FIFTH VIAL
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Under the FIFTH TRUMPET we see that creatures resembling scorpions are released into the earth along with smoke, and heat, and men are tortured by these beings. Note that men under the FIFTH TRUMPET are not allowed to die, but must endure their suffering. These men of the FIFTH VIAL, also do not die. We know this because in spite of all their suffering--------THEY REPENT NOT !
SIXTH VIAL
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Under the SIXTH TRUMPET-----four demonic angels are loosed AT THE RIVER
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
SEVENTH VIAL
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Note the words of the SEVENTH VIAL-----“IT IS DONE”. Now note the words of the angel of God at the sounding of the SEVENTH TRUMPET----- “THE MYSTERY OF GOD IS FINISHED” ! May I honestly ask; Are the judgments of God so impotent that he must REPEAT his judgments in order to make some COSMIC POINT ? Does he cause pain and suffering TWICE ? Does he destroy the sea, and the ships of the sea---TWICE.? Does he deal with this matter of THE
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great
GREAT BABYLON ?
This is the logic---------to the notion that THIS post-tribulation event involving “GREAT BABYLON”, is synonymous to that destruction of Mystery Babylon of Rev. 17, and 18. Because “GREAT BABYLON” ----------CAME IN REMEMBRANCE before God------to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath”; we are to believe that this “REMEMBRANCE” is synonymous to the destruction of Mystery Babylon that the Lord says will come at the hands of “TEN KINGS, who will BURN HER WITH FIRE, and EAT HER FLESH and give their power unto the Beast”. How in the NAME OF REASON, and SOUND BIBLE EXOGESIS, can we possibly come to the conclusion, that these two Babylonian events are the same ??. In REV.17-----SHE IS “BURNED WITH FIRE, AND HER FLESH IS EATEN”-----------In Rev.16:9 she is DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS, as God simply REMEMEMBERS [the gravity of] HER SINS, and her previous punishment. That is ALL that Revelation 16 has to say about
How is it that the Kings of the earth, and Merchants of the earth [Rev.18:9-11] lament the INITIAL destruction of Commercial Babylon---------if the NATIONS OF THE EARTH HAVE FALLEN-------and EVERY
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
These people of Rev.16, ARE NOT lamenting their financial losses at the destruction of Commercial Babylon as in Rev.18----------they are CURSING GOD because of the plague of hail ! If one is to believe that the destruction of Babylon Rev. 18, and Babylon Rev.16:9 are the same event------------how do the TEN KINGS [Rev.17] now give their power unto the Beast ? This is LUDSICROUS—because at this point in Rev. 16, we have arrived at ------ARMAGHEDON--------which is at the VERY END of the Forty-two months!
LISTEN FOLKS
Listen folks, we are poised at the very point in time when God will bring judgment to Babylon/America at the hands of the TEN KINGS. Current events in the
Ezek 38:10-13
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
Danny McDowell
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