Trumpet and Vial Judgments

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From: Joe Chancellor <browser@wt.net>
To: higher-fire@prairienet.org
Subject: Re: Chronology of Revelation

 JC> Some would say that Revelations is in order...and others would
 JC> say it is not.   I believe that the book of Revelations is not in
 JC> chronological order. It seems like each of the vials falls in a
 JC> basic chronological order as do each of the seals and each of the
 JC> trumpets.  Each is a retelling of the same period of time the
 JC> other had just told.  For instance, the vials and the trumpets
 JC> may not be EXACTLY the same sequences of events but they cover
 JC> the same time span and all end up on the same day; the Great and
 JC> Notable Day of the Lord.

 JC> The Seventh Seal, Vial, and Trumpet all end up at the same event!

 JC> Trumpet and Vials seem to be  nearly identical.

     One aspect of the judgment program is that it is revealed through the
blowing of the seven trumpets (Revelation 8:2-11:15). Concerning the use of
trumpets, Newell writes:

     The trumpets are appointed in Israel by God for calling of the
     princes, and the congregation, and for the journeying of the
     camps, as an alarm, or public notification (Numbers 10:1-6).

     The trumpets were to be blown also in the days of Israel's
     "gladness," "set feasts," and over their sacrifice in the
     beginning of their months--"for a memorial before your God."
     Jehovah also loved them (Numbers 10:10).

     But we find an especial use of the trumpet, in arousing to war
     the hosts of Jehovah against their enemies (Numbers 10:9).
     Compare Ezekiel 33:1-7, where the watchman's trumpet blown
     faithfully could deliver all who would "take warning."...

     So with the seven angels. They blow the very trumpets of heaven
     against an earth become "as it was in the days of Noah...as the
     days of Sodom," as Joshua and Israel blew the trumpets against
     Jericho [William R. Newell, THE REVELATION, p. 119].

     There is a wide divergence of opinion among the commentators concerning
the interpretation of these trumpet judgments. Some interpret them with
strict literalness, while others interpret them symbolically and the range
in symbolical interpretation is wide indeed. It will be observed that the
first four are separated from the last three judgments, in that these last
three are specifically called "woe" judgments. The first trumpet (8:7)
presents a judgment that falls upon the earth, in which a third of the
inhabitants are slain. The second trumpet (*:8-9 presents a judgment that
falls upon the sea and ,again, a third part of the inhabitants are slain. It
is suggested that the earth here may represent the land of Palestine, as it
often does in this book, and the sea represents the nations. Thus these two
depict judgments from God of unimaginable extent upon all the inhabitants of
the earth. The third trumpet (8:10-11) presents a judgment that falls upon
the rivers and fountains of waters. Such are used in Scripture as the source
of life, even spiritual life, and this may depict judgment upon those from
whom living water is taken away because they believed the lie (II
Thessalonians 2:11). The fourth trumpet (8:12-13) is a judgment coming on
the sun, moon, and stars. These represent governmental powers and may
present the judgment of God upon world rulers. The fifth trumpet judgment,
which is the first woe (9:1-12), pictures an individual energized by hell
who can let torment of unprecedented dimension loose on the earth. It is
generally accepted that these are not literal locusts in that they do not
feed on that which is natural to the locus. The sixth trumpet judgment,
which is the second woe (9:13-19), is seen to be a great army turned loose
to march with destructive force across the face of the earth. Concerning
these two woe judgments Kelly writes:

     First of all a tormenting Woe falls on the land, but not on those
sealed out of the twelve tribes of Israel. Next the Euphratean horsemen are
let loose on the western powers, overwhelming all Christendom, and in
particular that west as the special object of the judgment of God. The
former is emphatically torment from Satan on the reprobate Jews; as the
latter is a most scathing infliction of man's aggressive energy, though not
this only, from the east on the corrupt and idolatrous western world. The
killing of the third of men represents, not the merely physical end, but the
destruction even of all confession of relationship with  the only true God
[William Kelly, THE REVELATION EXPOUNDED, pp. 123-24].

     This suggests that the two woes will be great marching armies, one
against Israel and one against Gentiles, which will destroy a third of the
earth's population. Since Satan's weapon against Israel is the northern
confederacy, it may be depicted by the fifth trumpet and Gentile warfare
depicted by the sixth. The seventh trumpet and the third woe judgment
(11:15) brings about the return of Christ to the earth and the subsequent
destruction of all hostile power at the conclusion of the Armageddon program.

     It would seem as though there might be a parallelism in the seven
trumpet judgments and the program of the seventieth week as outlined
previously. The middle of the week begins with the rise of great military
powers that are aligning themselves. Such would correspond to the first
trumpet. Former kingdoms are overthrown, which brings death, as in the
second trumpet. A great leader will rise, the Beast, in the third trumpet.
His rise will bring about the overthrow of governments and authorities as in
the fourth trumpet. There will be great military movement in the period. The
armies of the northern confederacy will invade the land, as in the fifth
trumpet, and Gentile powers will jockey for position, which causes great
destruction, as in the sixth. These will all be climaxed by the second
advent of Christ, as seen in the seventh trumpet.

                        THE VIALS OR BOWLS

     The third series of judgments, which complete the outpouring of divine
wrath, are the vials (Revelation 16:1-21). Although four of these vials are
poured out on the same areas as the trumpets, they do not seem to be the
same judgments. The trumpets begin in the middle of the tribulation and
depict events during the entire second half of the week. The vials seem to
cover a very brief period at the end of the tribulation just prior to the
second advent of Christ. These bowls seem to have particular reference to
unbelievers, as they undergo the special wrath of God (16:9, 11), and have
special reference to the Beast and his followers (16:2).

     The first bowl (16:2) is poured out upon the earth, as in the first
trumpet. In this judgment God is pouring out wrath on all Beast-worshipers.
The second bowl (16:3), as in the second trumpet, is poured out upon the
sea. The result of this judgment is spiritual death. The sea here is seen to
become lifeless, "as the blood of a dead man." the third bowl (16:4-7), like
the third trumpet is poured out upon the rivers and fountains of waters and
they lose their power to nourish and satisfy or sustain life. It seems to
have reference to removing the possibility of finding life from those who
followed the Beast. The fourth bowl (16:8-9), like the fourth trumpet, falls
upon the sun. That an individual is envisioned is seen in that the sun is
referred to as "him." This may have reference to the judgment of God that
imposes blindness upon the Beast's followers. The fifth bowl (16:10-11) has
to do with the imposition of darkness on the center of the Beast's power,
anticipating the destruction of the empire that claims to be the kingdom of
the Messiah. The sixth bowl (16:12) prepares the way for an invasion of
kings from the east, that they, with the Beast's armies, might come to
judgment at Armageddon. The seventh bowl (16:17-21) has to do with the great
convulsion that completely overthrows the ordered affairs of men as they
experience the "fierceness of his wrath" (16:19).

Walter Copes
The joy of the Lord is my strength
(wcopes@communique.net)
Walter L Copes