Revelation Chapter 8
In our previous posts we had taken a look at the first Church and its corresponding first seal we should now like to consider also the first trumpet in this series.
The First Trumpet
An IMPORTANT note before we proceed: It should be understood that the translators did the best they knew when they divided the chapters as we have them in the text today, the original text having been written without interruption, viz. paragraphs, punctuation and etc. These are all of more modern invention; unfortunately at times they allowed their own personal bias to influence the narrative.
Translators being heavily influenced by the teachings of the professed church, which naturally has its own ideas as to the sequence of events which unfold in the book of Revelation insert these little italicized paragraph intro’s or subject headings, which at times may have their benefits, but at other times may lead the reader to the wrong conclusion, these headings ARE NOT a part of the Bible. Take for example the intro to the Eight Chapter of Revelation as found in the NKJV:
“Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets”
This intro gives the student the false impression that the Seven Trumpets FOLLOW the opening of the Seventh Seal.
However biblical evidence proves otherwise, that the Churches, Seals, and Trumpets are contemporaneous one with another. The introductions to the seven churches, seals and trumpets lend much credence to this position. Each introduction clearly contains elements placing the beginning of each series at the beginning of the age (with the possible exception of the seals which although contemporaneous with their perspective church period appear to be opened at the end of the time period rather than at the beginning, we will attempt to explain this a little later).
“John’s remark in Verse 2 of this chapter that he “saw the seven angels which stood before God” indicates a previous familiarity with them. Indeed they were none other than the messengers to the seven churches already encountered in the second and third chapters of Revelation. In harmony with the interpretation of their prior activities, and in the absence of a statement to the contrary, the assumption is that the seven angels standing before God were each given a trumpet one at a time, and that the messages about to be blown are separate and distinct, as well as successive, in fulfillment.
The messages to the seven churches represent the concerns and teachings of each of the appointed “angels,” while the trumpets show the effects of these messages on surrounding society during that time period. (There is however another opinion as to what the trumpets represent, which we will look at shortly).
The importance of studying the Introductions to the Seven, Churches, Seals and Trumpets, before jumping to the subjects themselves cannot be understated. Our Lord placed those introductions there for a purpose, they’re not just there for filler, not to be ignored, remember “ALL scripture is profitable to the man (or woman) of God”.
Many have been led into all manner of confusion simply because in their haste to get to the part of the subject they were most curious they either skipped right over the Lord’s opening statements altogether or considering them of little importance merely glanced at them and in so doing missed out on the important lessons which the Lord deemed necessary to the correct interpretation of the subject.
In the Gospel accounts the Apostles (following Pentecost) with the aid of the holy spirit recorded the words and events of our Lord as nearly as they each recounted them. Although each may differ somewhat as each was written from a different viewpoint they nevertheless still agree with one another.
The epistles which were written prior to the Gospels consists of the comments and teachings of the apostles based upon the teachings of our Lord, the Old Testament writings and Old Testament prophecies, in these epistles the writers with the aid of the holy spirit explain things as they had come to understand them.
Now the book of Revelation is unique in its own right, in this book John is specifically told to write down the things which he saw and heard, NO MORE, NO LESS, the Lord placing specially emphasis on this when in Chapter 22 Verse 18 and 19 he warns against anyone adding to or taking from the words of this book. If this be so then it implies that every single word recorded in this book was especially chosen by the spirit of the Lord, the holy spirit to explain the things which are and which are to come.
As “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”(Matt 4:4)
In our next post we will take a look at how the Trumpets are viewed from the perspective given in the Southern Wisconsin study.
