“And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.”

REVELATION – CHAPTERS 8-9

THE 7 TRUMPETS

The 7 Trumpets – unfolding of “last days” – a focused look at the generation of the “End Times”

They are a “WARNING SOUND” to the earth, but ESPECIALLY to God’s PEOPLE in the last days…

The 7 Bowls are the outpouring of God’s Wrath after the rapture.

They FOLLOW the 7 Trumpets.

AT THE 7th TRUMPET, GOD’S PEOPLE ARE RAPTURED OUT!

THE scripture is CLEAR on this matter…Let the BIBLE interpret the BIBLE…

Rev 10:5-7

7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the MYSTERY of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."

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1 Corinthians 15:51-52

51 Listen, I tell you a MYSTERY: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--

52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

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REVELATION – CHAPTERS 8-9 THE 7 TRUMPET WARNINGS OF REVELATION

THE FIRST 6 TRUMPETS are not meant to be a recounting of every bad or startling or monumental event in world history. Rather, they are given as “mile markers” or “signs” to the world and alarms of warning along the “way” of world history. BUT ESPECIALLY for those “end time generations”.

READ TODAY’S TEXT – REVELATION 9:13 - 21

IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER –

1. Revelation is written in apocalyptic, symbolic imagery…

2. John was shown things He had never seen nor could imagine!

3. Revelation MUST be interpreted from the Middle East and Europe, NOT the U.S.!

4. 1/3 – a symbolic number (perhaps literal in some cases) indicating a significant amount but NOT ALL, not even MOST…

1/3 of the “earth” may refer to the “earth” and “people” who are directly experiencing that trumpet fulfillment rather than the entire GLOBE.

Also, the word “sea” does not always refer to the literal “waters” in the New Testament, but sometimes refers to a “vast expanse”.

(as in Revelation 4:6)

5. To give a dogmatic, literal interpretation of these scriptures may in fact cause us to make the same mistake the Pharisees made interpreting the prophecies of the coming Christ. When He came, they missed Him!

Rather, these “strange” words may speak “symbolically” to something MUCH more literal IN OUR DAY!

In the last two weeks, we considered the possibility of these interpretations of the first 5 trumpets.

Trumpets One and Two – Speak of the devastation of WWII.Trumpet One speaks directly to: WWII – The Largest, Most Killed, First use of Nuclear Weapon.

The devastation left by WWII on all fronts.- A huge amount of the earth, grass and trees were “burned up”.

This happened from “hail and fire, mixed with blood being hurled down upon the earth.” (bombs, rockets, flame throwers, missiles, bullets, cannons, ship wars, etc.)

Trumpet number TWO -

“Something LIKE a huge mountain, ALL ABLAZE was thrown into the “sea.”

1/3 of the “creatures” in the “sea” died.

1/3 of the ships in the “sea” were destroyed.

* 140 million of 400,000 people of Hiroshima died! Right at 1/3 of the entire population!

* Some 150 -200 million soldiers fought in WWII from all the countries involved. There were 61 million casualties – again…right at 1/3 of all who fought!

* 105,000 ships were used in WWII and over 36,000 of those ships were destroyed in battle - almost EXACTLY 1/3 of the ships!!

1/3 of the creatures in the “sea” died and 1/3 of the ships were destroyed.

COINCIDENCE?

TRUMPET NUMBER THREE…

“A great star – blazing like a torch fell from the sky…its name was wormwood.” –

Something called “wormwood” causes large amounts of water to turn “bitter” and many people die from “drinking the water”!

Wormwood – in the literal world is a bitter and sometimes poisonous herb.

Wormwood – translated to RUSSIAN = Chernobyl

*The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 6th edition –

*The Dictionary of the Russian Language by S. Ozhegov

* Hans Blix testimony – Oct 23, 1990* “The Chernobyl Disaster”, a secular book by Soviet-born Viktor Haynes

Chernobyl Nuclear Plant meltdown in Russia - The plant exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe – RENDERING THE LARGE SEAPORT CITY and the SURROUNDING area a GHOST-TOWN and killing hundreds of thousands and poisoning millions more.

It was the FIRST and the WORST nuclear disaster/accident in human history. It released 10X the radiation into the waters, soil and atmosphere as the bomb dropped at Hiroshima!

It is STILL (as we sit here this morning ) polluting the waters of Europe and MILLIONS are being contaminated by its nuclear radiation poising.

TRUMPETS FOUR AND FIVE –

Another WORLD WIDE EVENT – a “history marker”

Consider these main elements:

1. A large part of the day and night - black and dark – thick smoke. It looked like the “Abyss” or “hell” itself!

2. Out of this “smoke” came “locusts”

3. They “stung” like scorpions – ( in other words…quick, hot and deadly)

4. They had “hair” like a woman, “face” of a man and “teeth” like a lion and “crowns.”

5. “Breastplates” like iron, their “wings” roared like chariots or thundering horses.

6. The leader’s name was “Destroyer” (remember this very important name!)

7. Don’t harm the grass or trees – (Don’t hurt the land…)

8. Only the people (we want to TAKE the land!) (the people were “not God’s People”)

9. They could not “KILL” (destroy, conquer) the people (They were NOT victorious)…They only “tormented” them for FIVE MONTHS (remember this very important time period!)

10. Men would seek “death” but could not “find it”.

A large part of the day and night were darkened.(Not ALL, not even MOST, but a lot!)

In 1991 when Saddam Hussein withdrew from Kuwait – He set 700 oil wells on fire around

Kuwait City. The result was “unprecedented in the history of the world.”

By the end of the war, 6 million barrels of oil were going up in smoke each day.

“The skies of Kuwait were so blackened by the smoke that in some areas it was as dark as midnight at 12 noon.” It was eight months before the last fire was finally extinguished.

One American oil-field engineer, viewing the inferno, said, "You half expect to see little guys with pitchforks and tails coming out of the ground." (People Weekly, December 30, 1991)

OUT OF THE SMOKE CAME

“LOCUSTS”

THEY HAD A “FACE” LIKE A MAN

They had “tails”, “hair”, “teeth” and breastplates of iron.

They sounded like chariots or thundering horses racing into battle.

THEIR LEADER’S NAME WAS “DESTROYER”…

Their LEADER’S name was “DESTROYER”

SADDAM is NOT a first-name…It is a TITLE or NICKNAME that precedes his FAMILY NAME

SADDAM – in Arabic translates to “DESTROYER”

“and I saw the locusts coming up out of the Abyss, and they had as a king over them one who’s name was – DESTROYER”

Jerusalem Post, December 13, 1997

The German Tribune, (March 10, 1991)

The Observer (UK), Sunday July 4, 2004

“There is no enemy of Iraq but Saddam the destroyer and his cronies, whom we denounce until judgment day and they are in immortal hell.”—Iraqi Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Associated Press, Nov. 10 http://www.afa.org/magazine/jan2004/0104verb.asp

AN ARABIC BIBLE WOULD READ…”…and they had as a king over them one who’s name was Saddam”.

1. THEY HAD POWER TO “TORMENT” FOR 5 MONTHS – Saddam’s occupation of Kuwait lasted EXACTLY 5 MONTHS! (September of 1990 to February of 1991

2. NOT ALLOWED TO “KILL” THEM…only TORMENT – He was not allowed to crush and defeat Kuwait. He only “tormented” them for 5 months.

3. DO NOT HARM THE GRASS OR THE TREES – He wanted to take the land and the oil wells. NOT devastate it. He claimed it was HIS! He wanted the country and its resources intact!

4. But ONLY the people WITHOUT the “seal” – (in other words…NOT GOD’S PEOPLE) KUWAIT is 99% MUSLIM! (Certainly…NOT sealed with the “seal” –Holy Spirit – of God!)

5. “In those days…Men will seek death…but it will elude them.” -

YOUNG’S LITERAL GREEK TRANSLATION –Rev. 9:6 “and in those days shall men seek the death, and they shall not find it, and they shall desire (the death) to die, and the death shall flee from them.

(For 10 years we have hunted and tried to kill or arrange for Saddam’s DEATH (HE is the destroyer or THE DEATH!)

The GULF WAR was STARTED with the U.S. lobbing a bunker-buster missile into one of Saddam’s bunkers thinking he was there. HE was not…He eluded them…time and time again FOR 10 YEARS…until just a couple of month’s ago! WE STILL DO NOT KNOW IF SADDAM WILL DIE FOR HIS DEEDS

AND THIS STORY IS CONTINUING AND WE ARE STILL IN IRAQ AS OF

THIS VERY MORNING!

Consider: TRUMPETS 1-5 THE FIRST WOE? - (3 elements)

I BELIEVE…

1. Began with WWII - 1945

2. Then came CHERNOBYL – 1986

3. Then Kuwait and the GULF WAR - 1991 - and it continues today with OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM.

TRUMPET NUMBER SIX…

I believe is still in the future…it has not been fulfilled yet. Therefore we do not have the advantage of tying all the pieces together like we did with the first 5 trumpets. Therefore…any attempt at a literal interpretation would be pure speculation at this point.

WHAT WE DO KNOW about the elements of REVELATION 6

1. Centered around the Euphrates River. (Eden, Angels posted, first sin – murder – war – dictatorship – and world rebellion against God (tower of Babel) – Babylon is located there.

2. Angels are “released” (By God Himself) – They have been posted there from (when?) until this very day and hour. In other words…many things that happen in the affairs of the world…have a “spiritual” counterpart to them. A “binding” and “loosing”. AND…GOD IS IN CONTROL – throughout!

3. 1/3 of ‘mankind” will be killed – again, the Greek word simply means “man” – It could refer to those directly involved in this battle rather than the entire planet. As in the first 5 trumpets.

4. 200 million troops - The Greek word here is literally - dismurias –” an indefinite number. An incalculable immensity.” The ONLY time used in the BIBLE! 200 million may not be literal, however, JOHN did hear their number!

5. The horses and riders looked like - breastplates, heads like lions, mouths and tails shot out

smoke, fire and sulfur. The tails had “heads” on them. I WONDER…

The horses and riders looked like - breastplates, heads like lions, mouths and tails shot out - smoke, fire and sulfur. The tails had “heads” on them.

I WONDER IF JOHN SAW THIS?

CONSIDER THIS -

Chairman Mao of CHINA - boasted in the 1960s that he could field an army of 200 million soldiers. No other nation on earth could do that. The Associated Press has reported on several occasions that one out of five Chinese are training for the Chinese military. Since their population is about 1.2 BILLION, that would mean that well over 200 million Chinese are now preparing for war.

ALSO - don't forget:

China intends to reunite Taiwan with the mainland in the near future by force, if necessary. The United States says we will go to war in order to protect Taiwan.

An excerpt from…

THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE - website – ( note the emphasis on CHINA)

"The history of the Gulf War (TRUMPET FIVE!) has a multitude of components - including internal decision making as well as diplomatic, economic, and conventional military activities. This briefing book primarily focuses on the intelligence, space operations, and Scud-hunting aspects of the war. It also includes a report describing how Desert Storm affected China's view of future warfare, a document that raises questions as to what lessons other nations have drawn from U.S. military engagements in the Middle East and the Balkans." http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB39/

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

ONLY SPECULATION –

Perhaps – a coming future Middle East War – over oil, territory, border disputes or terrorism concerns? - Involving many countries of the World – maybe China, maybe Israel? With massive loses of troops as in WWII? Perhaps a “true” WWIII?

WE DON’T KNOW – It is in God’s timing, God’s ultimate plan,

God’s ultimate purpose. The question is…not…”WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THE WORLD…That has already been decided! That battle was won on the OLD RUGGED CROSS!

I DO BELIEVE THE FIRST 5 TRUMPETS HAVE BLOWN!

The prophecies of them were written 2000 years ago! There IS a God, This IS His Word, and HE IS ON HIS THRONE!

BUT NOTE THESE SAD WORDS AT THE END OF THE FIRST 6 TRUMPETS…

Rev 9:20-21

20 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood-- idols that cannot see or hear or walk.

21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

(NIV)

THE TRUMPET PROPHECIES are GIVEN so that MAN WILL KNOW THAT GOD IS ON HIS THRONE! THEY ARE MEANT TO BE CLEAR AND OBVIOUS ONCE THEY OCCUR! Some will see, understand and be saved. Many will continue in sin and blindness.

The REAL question is this…

What does the future hold for YOU…Do you belong to Jesus?

If you do…YOU ARE ON THE WINNING SIDE!

And for the Child of God…

What does YOUR LIFE hold for the FUTURE? YOU ARE ON THE WINNING SIDE!

You are living in these times for a purpose. Is your life making a difference for Jesus and His Kingdom?

WE ARE IN THE TRUMPET DAYS!