THE SEVEN TRUMPETS

Revelation 8:1 - ‘And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence
in heaven about the space of half an hour.’

Silence in Heaven – Silence in heaven, what caused this silence? We can

form an opininion based on the sixth seal. So we will look at the sixth seal.

Revelation 6:12-17 - ‘And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and,
lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of
hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the
earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a
mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings
of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and
the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in
the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and
rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and
who shall be able to stand?’

The sixth seal brings us to a great earthquake, the sun becoming black, moon
red, the stars falling and the coming of the Lord.

If you read the 7th chapter, you will realize that while the sixth seal was
happening, something happened that paused the flow of events.

Revelation 7:1-3 - ‘And after these things I saw four angels standing on the
four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind
should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw
another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and
he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the
earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till
we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.’
So while the sixth seal was happening, as things were getting out of control,
the sealing started, and this sealing slowed things down.

The beginning of the 7th seal brings us to a point when sealing has ended.

What of the silence?

Uriah Smith comments:

‘Silence in Heaven. — Concerning the cause of this silence, only conjecture

can be offered, — a conjecture, however, which is supported by the events of
the sixth seal. That seal does not bring us to the second advent, although it
embraces events that transpire in close connection therewith. It introduces the
fearful commotions of the elements, described as the rolling of the heavens
together as a scroll, caused by the voice of God, the breaking up of the
surface of the earth, and the confession on the part of the wicked that the
great day of God’s wrath is come. They are doubtless in momentary
expectation of seeing the King appear in, to them, unendurable glory. But the
seal stops just short of that event. The personal appearing of Christ must
therefore be allotted to the next seal. But when the Lord appears, he comes
with all the holy angels with him. Matthew 25:31. And when all the heavenly
harpers leave the courts above to come down with their divine Lord, as he
descends to gather the fruit of his redeeming work, will there not be silence
in heaven?
The length of this period of silence, if we consider it prophetic time,
would be about seven days.’ DAR 453.1

Revelation 8:2-5 - ‘And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and
to them were given seven trumpets.’

‘This verse introduces a new and distinct series of events. In the seals we
have had the history of the church during what is called the gospel
dispensation. In the seven trumpets, now introduced, we have the
principal political and warlike events which were to transpire during the
same time.’ DAR 453.3
‘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. And
the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended
up before God out of the angel's hand. 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.’

An angel comes and stands at the altar. He has a golden censer that has much
incense. This is a proof that there is a heavenly sanctuary. The incense, mixed
with the prayer of saints, is offered to God.

The work of mediation for the people of God is here brought to view. In fact,
we are brought to the end of the mediation service for the angel throws the
censer down.

Thus no more prayers are to be offered mixed with incense. This a symbolic
act signifying that the ministration of Christ in the sanctuary in behalf of man
is forever ended.

Concerning this Uriah Smith comments:

‘But why are these verses thus thrown in here? — Answer: As a message of
hope and comfort for the church. The seven angels with their warlike
trumpets had been introduced; terrible scenes were to transpire under their
sounding; but before they commence, the people of God are pointed to
the work of mediation in their behalf above, and their source of help and
strength during this time. Though they should be tossed like feathers
upon the tumultuous waves of strife and war, they were to know that
their great High Priest still ministered for them in the sanctuary in
heaven, and that thither they could direct their prayers, and have them
offered, with incense, to their Father in heaven. Thus could they gain
strength and support in all their calamities.’ DAR 454.1

Revelation 8:6,7 - ‘And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets
prepared themselves to sound. 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.’

• Hail and fire mingled with blood

• 1/3rd part of the trees were burnt up, and all green green grass was
burnt up.

The first heavy judgment that happened in Western Rome was the war with
the Goths under Alaric, in 395 A.D

Third part - “Twice, at least, before the Roman empire became divided
permanently into the two parts, the Eastern and the Western, there was a
tripartite division of the empire. The first occurred A. D. 311, when it was
divided between Constantine, Licinius, and Maximin; the other, A. D. 337, on
the death of Constantine, when it was divided between his three sons,
Constantine, Constans, and Constantius.” DAR 457.5

In the days of Constantine the empire was divided, Rome being the western
capital, and Constantinople the eastern. At the death of Constantine, three
divisions were made in order to seat each one of his three sons on a throne;
this triple division is recognized throughout the trumpet history. Of these
divisions, Italy, or the Western Roman Empire, was known as one third.
While the three divisions are referred to, the first division into an eastern and
western empire, is also preserved, until the capture of Constantinople by the
Turks. SSP 149.1

“Hail and fire, mingled with blood,” were cast upon the earth. The terrible
effects of this Gothic invasion are represented as “hail,” from the fact of the
northern origin of the invaders; “fire,” from the destruction by flame of
both city and country; and “blood,” from the terrible slaughter of the
citizens of the empire by the bold and intrepid warriors. DAR 455.6
“Large extracts show how amply and well Gibbon has expounded his text in
the history of the first trumpet, the first storm that pervaded the Roman earth,
and the first fall of Rome. To use his words in more direct comment, we read
thus the sum of the matter: The Gothic nation was in arms at the first sound
of the trumpet, and in the uncommon severity of the winter, they rolled their
ponderous wagons over the broad and icy back of the river. The fertile fields
of Phocis and Boeotia were crowded with a deluge of barbarians; the males
were massacred; the females and cattle of the flaming villages were driven
away. The deep and bloody traces of the march of the Goths could easily be
discovered after several years. The whole territory of Attica was blasted by
the baneful presence of Alaric. The most fortunate of the inhabitants of
Corinth, Argos, and Sparta, were saved by death from beholding the
conflagration of their cities. In a season of such extreme heat that the beds of
the rivers were dry, Alaric invaded the dominion of the West. A secluded ‘old
man of Verona,’ the poet Claudian, pathetically lamented the fate of his
contemporary trees, which must blaze in the conflagration of the whole
country [note the words of the prophecy, — ‘The third part of trees was
burned up’]; and the emperor of the Romans fled before the king of the
Goths. DAR 456.1

‘The pastures of Gaul, in which flocks and herds grazed, and the banks of the
Rhine, which were covered with elegant houses and well-cultivated farms,
formed a scene of peace and plenty, which was suddenly changed into a
desert, distinguished from the solitude of nature only by smoking ruins.
Many cities were cruelly oppressed, or destroyed. Many thousands were
inhumanly massacred; and the consuming flames of war spread over the
greater part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul.’ DAR 456.2

Romans 8:8,9 - ‘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; 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.’

‘Nothing but a fierce maritime warfare would fulfill the prediction.’ DAR
458.1
The next great invasion was that of the terrible Genseric, at the head of the
Vandals.

The headquarters of the Vandals was in Africa.

Gibbon states:

“The discovery and conquest of the black nations [in Africa], that might
dwell beneath the torrid zone, could not tempt the rational ambition of
Genseric; but he cast his eyes toward the sea; he resolved to create a naval
power, and his bold resolution was executed with steady and active
perseverance.” DAR 458.1

‘From the port of Carthage he repeatedly made piratical sallies, and preyed
on the Roman commerce, and waged war with that empire. To cope with this
sea monarch, the Roman emperor, Majorian, made extensive naval
preparations. Three hundred long galleys, with an adequate proportion of
transports and smaller vessels, were collected in the secure and capacious
harbor of Cartagena, in Spain. But Genseric was saved from impending and
inevitable ruin by the treachery of some powerful subjects, envious or
apprehensive of their master’s success. Guided by their secret intelligence, he
surprised the unguarded fleet in the bay of Cartagena; many of the ships were
sunk, taken, or burned, and the preparations of three years were destroyed in
a single day.’ DAR 458.1

‘The Vandals repeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany,

Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus,
Greece, and Sicily.’ DAR 459.2

The last attempt to dispossess Genseric of the sovereignty of the seas was
made in 468 A.D.

Gibbon states:

“The whole expense of the African campaign amounted to the sum of one
hundred and thirty thousand pounds of gold, — about five million two
hundred thousand pounds sterling.... The fleet that sailed from
Constantinople to Carthage consisted of eleven hundred and thirteen ships,
and the number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one hundred thousand
men.... The army of Heraclius and the fleet of Marcellinus either joined or
seconded the imperial lieutenant.... The wind became favorable to the designs
of Genseric. He manned his largest ships of war with the bravest of the
Moors and Vandals, and they towed after them many large barks filled with
combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, these destructive vessels
were impelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting fleet of the Romans,
who were awakened by a sense of their instant danger. Their close and
crowded order assisted the progress of the fire, which was communicated
with rapid and irresistible violence; and the noise of the wind, the crackling
of the flames, the dissonant cries of the soldiers and mariners, who could
neither command nor obey, increased the horror of the nocturnal tumult.
While they labored to extricate themselves from the fire-ships, and to save at
least a part of the navy, the galleys of Genseric assaulted them with temperate
and disciplined valor; and many of the Romans who escaped the fury of the
flames, were destroyed or taken by the victorious Vandals.... After the failure
of this great expedition, Genseric again became the tyrant of the sea; the
coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia were again exposed to his revenge and
avarice; Tripoli and Sardinia returned to his obedience; he added Sicily to the
number of his provinces; and before he died, in the fulness of years and of
glory, he beheld the final extinction of the empire of the West.” — Gibbon,
Vol. III, pp. 495-498. DAR 459.5

Revelation 8:10 - ‘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; 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 great burning star called Wormwood fell upon the third part of the
rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.
• 3rd part of the waters became wormwood & many died of the waters.
•
Albert Banes, a commentator stated:
“That there should be some chieftain or warrior who might he compared to a
blazing meteor; whose course would be singularly brilliant; who would
appear suddenly like a blazing star, and then disappear like a star whose light
was quenched in the waters. That the desolating course of this meteor would
be mainly on those portions of the world which abounded with springs of
water and running streams. That an effect would be produced as if those
streams and fountains were made bitter; that is, that many persons would
perish, and that wide desolations would be caused in the vicinity of those
rivers and streams, as if a bitter and baleful star should fall into the waters,
and death should spread over lands adjacent to them, and watered by them.”
— Notes on Revelation 8. DAR 461.2

It is premised that this trumpet signifies the desolating wars of Attila against
the Romans.

Banes comments:

“In the manner of his appearance, he strongly resembled a brilliant meteor

flashing in the sky. He came from the East gathering his Huns, and poured
them down, as we shall see, with the rapidity of a flashing meteor, suddenly
on the empire. He regarded himself also as devoted to Mars, the god of war,
and was accustomed to array himself in a peculiarly brilliant manner, so that
his appearance, in the language of his flatterers, was such as to dazzle the
eyes of beholders.” DAR 461.4

‘the principal operations of Attila were on the regions of the Alps, and on the
portions of the empire whence the rivers flow down into Italy. The invasion
of Attila is described by Mr. Gibbon in this general language: ‘The whole
breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to
the Adriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated, by the
myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field.’” DAR 461.6

“It was the boast of Attila that the grass never grew on the spot which his
horse had trod. The Western emperor with the senate and people of Rome,
humbly and fearfully deprecated the wrath of Attila. And the concluding
paragraph of the chapters which record his history, is entitled, ‘Symptoms of
the Decay and Ruin of the Roman Government.’ ‘The name of the star is
called Wormwood.’” — Keith. DAR 462.4

Revelation 8:12 - ‘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.’

• 3rd part of the sun and moon and stars were smitten and they became
dark.
• The day shone not for a third part of it, and the night also.