Copyright © 2024 Michael A. Brown
The
transition from the seals into the trumpets
As I described
briefly at the end of the previous chapter, the seventh and final seal is
opened after the rapture of the bride of Christ. The narrative shows how this then leads on
immediately into the seven trumpet judgements after an initial period of
silence in heaven (Rev. 8:1-6f). This is
summed up in Table 17.1 below:
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The transition from the seals into the trumpets |
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Rev.
8:1-5 |
There is a silence of anticipation in
heaven after the opening of the seventh seal. THIS LEADS INTO THE SEVEN TRUMPETS The seven angels are given seven trumpets. An angel offers incense of the prayers of
believers on the golden altar. He then
throws fire down onto the earth, signifying coming judgement, leading into
the sounding of the seven trumpets (8:6f) |
Table 17.1 The transition from the
seals into the trumpets
After the seven
angels are given seven trumpets, and after the offering of incense and prayers
on the golden altar, the angel at the altar hurls fire onto the earth. This indicates that the time of God’s
end-time judgements is imminent (cf. Rev. 6:17, 8:5). He is giving the world over to the rise
of Antichrist and to the pouring out of his wrath. This period begins with the seven
trumpets and reaches its climax later on with the seven bowls of wrath
(Rev. ch.16).
The hurling of fire onto the earth
is a prophetic allusion to the vision of Ezekiel in which he saw fire being
hurled onto the city of Jerusalem, a prophetic sign of the judgement that was
soon to come through the Babylonians. At
that time, when fire was scattered over Jerusalem, the glory of the Lord
departed from the temple, which was a picture of God forsaking his city and
giving it over to coming judgement:
‘The LORD said to the man clothed
in linen, “Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among
the cherubim and scatter them over the city.”’
(Ezek. 10:2)
‘Then the glory of the LORD
departed from over the threshold of the temple…’
(Ezek. 10:18)
‘Then the angel took the censer,
filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came
peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.’
(Rev. 8:5)
The prophetic parallel in this is
clear: in the same way that God judged ancient Jerusalem for her wilful sin, so
too will he judge the world in the end-times for her own wilful sin. God’s dealings with ancient Israel and
Jerusalem are the paradigm for understanding his dealings with the world. In the same way that God dealt with Israel,
he will also deal with the world. In
terms of each of blessing, judgement and restoration, God’s prophetic words to
Israel are a type of how he will deal with the world. Therefore, they are fulfilled
eschatologically in God’s dealings with the world, in terms of both judgement
and restoration.
Therefore,
what follows on after fire is hurled on the earth, through both the seven
trumpets and the seven bowls of wrath, is the judgement of God on the world
because of unrepentant sin. However,
this period of judgement on the world will eventually be superseded by divine
restoration on a worldwide scale, subsequent to the Second Advent of Christ.
The
relation between the seals, trumpets and bowls
It
seems to me to be clear from the way that this transition from the seven seals
into the seven trumpets is described in Revelation ch.8 that it is
sequential, i.e. the trumpet judgements follow on chronologically in
time from the seven seals. They happen after
the seals, and, in particular, it is the seventh seal which opens the way into
the trumpet judgements.
This is one of the keys to
understanding and interpreting the book of Revelation. Among Bible commentators, much of the debate
about how to interpret Revelation is rooted in different ideas over how the
seals, trumpets and bowls relate to each other.
Therefore, understanding the way these relate to each other is crucial
if we are to understand and interpret this book aright, because the seals,
trumpets and bowls (and their associated events) make up the bulk of the book.
A common viewpoint is to see the seals, trumpets and bowls happening concurrently and therefore in parallel with each other, each describing the same set of judgements on the world from different perspectives, and each leading up to the Second Advent of Christ. This viewpoint is illustrated in Figure 17.1 below:
Figure
17.1 The seals, trumpets and bowls seen as happening concurrently, in parallel
with each other
However, personally I do not agree
with this viewpoint. I believe
that the seals, trumpets and bowls are chronologically sequential in the way
that they play out in the end-times, i.e. they happen after each
other. There are several reasons why I
believe this, as below:
· As
we saw in the previous chapter, the seals describe several macro-factors in the
general scenario of human life and relationships in history after the ascension
and up until the rapture.
· The
144,000 who are sealed after the opening of the sixth seal are quite clearly
sealed to protect them from coming judgements which begin to happen afterwards,
in the time of the seven trumpets (Rev. 7:2-3).
Those who hide from God in the time of the sixth seal do so because they
realise that the time of the pouring out of his wrath is imminent (Rev. 6:17). Therefore, the sixth (and seventh) seals must
be opened chronologically before the trumpet judgements.
· Because
the rapture takes place in the time of the sixth seal, the trumpets and their
associated events therefore happen after the rapture.
· As
we will see in chapter 19, Antichrist arises on the world scene during the time
of the fifth trumpet. According to the
apostle Paul, this happens after the rapture, and therefore after the
time of the sixth seal (2 Thess. 2:3,6-8 and see chapter 5). So, again, the events associated with the
trumpets take place after the seals.
· The
trumpet judgements are themselves sequential, i.e. they happen after one
another. Although the events associated
with the first four trumpets may be closely related to each other, yet the
final three trumpets (the ‘three woes’) happen sequentially. This is clear from the literary markers in
the narrative (see chapter 19).
· The
first of the bowls of wrath is poured out upon those who have received the mark
of the Beast (Rev. 16:2). Therefore,
because the mark is not introduced until after Antichrist comes to power, then
the bowls of wrath can only be poured out after this time, i.e. during
the time of the Great Tribulation which begins after the blowing of the seventh
trumpet. In fact, just as the seventh
seal opens up the way into the seven trumpet judgements, the seventh trumpet
opens up the way for the seven bowls of wrath to be poured out. So the bowls happen after the trumpets
and are chronologically subsequent to them.
The purpose of the bowls of wrath is to completely break the power of
the worldwide Antichrist Beast system, and this purpose is therefore different
to that of the trumpets (see chapter 22).
These are just several simple reasons why I believe that the seals, trumpets and bowls in the book of Revelation, as they play out in history in the end-times, are chronologically sequential to each other. They play out in time after one another, in their biblical order. Whatever symbolic or figurative interpretation people may have given to the seals, trumpets and bowls historically, yet, in the way that these events play out eschatologically in the end-times, they are chronologically sequential to each other. This is illustrated in Figure 17.2 below:
Figure
17.2 Chronological relation of the seals, trumpets and bowls
So
it is clear from the above that I do not believe that the seals, trumpets and
bowls happen concurrently (i.e. at the same time). I do not believe that they each describe the
same set of end-time events from different perspectives, and that each
therefore lead up to the Second Advent.
I believe that the seals, trumpets and bowls happen consecutively, i.e.
they happen after one another as they play out in the end-times. They are each the fulfilment of different
prophetic allusions from the Old Testament, and therefore they fulfil different
end-time purposes. The seals
describe several macro-factors of human life between Christ’s ascension and the
rapture of the bride of Christ; the trumpets are partial judgements which take
place after the rapture, and which warn the world to repent in view of the rise
of Antichrist and the coming time of the Great Tribulation; and, the bowls of
wrath are poured out towards the end of the 3½-year Great Tribulation, in order
to destroy the grip of Antichrist’s end-times system on this world. This is a Moderate Futurist
interpretation of the book of Revelation.
Holding to the belief that the
seals represent macro-factors in human life (as described in the previous
chapter), Ladd supports such a moderate futurist interpretation, and states
that ‘The events beginning with chapter 7 lie in the future and will attend the
final disposition of the divine will for human history.’[1] He suggests that everything that follows in
the book of Revelation after the breaking of the seventh seal, constitute the
contents of the scroll in Christ’s hand, and he emphasises that it is therefore
after the seventh seal that the end-period of this age begins:
‘...the
fact that the seventh seal is given no specific content suggests that all that
follows, beginning with the seven trumpets, constitutes the contents of the
scroll. Here then begins the actual
unfolding of the judicial and redemptive events that constitute the
consummation.’[2]
So in Figure 17.3 below I have summed up diagrammatically how the trumpets and bowls relate to the sunteleia, the end-period of this age. The end-period of this age begins after the rapture which occurs during the time of the sixth seal; the seven trumpets are then blown after the seventh seal, and their associated events occur chronologically after one another; and the bowls of wrath are poured out sometime after the blowing of the seventh trumpet and in the latter part of the 3½ years of the Great Tribulation:
Figure 17.3 How the trumpets and
bowls relate to the end-period of this age
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