Verse 6 reads,
“Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.”
The sounding of the trumpet or the Shofar is a call to come together, to gather before God, to repent, to be atoned and begin anew. God used the trumpet to call the Israelites to Himself. Exodus 19:16-19 reads,
“On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.”
On The Day of Atonement, the High Priest made sacrifices for himself and Israel and entered the Most Holy place and burned incense there just once each year. But every 49 years the Day of Atonement was more special. It was the beginning of the 50th year, the Year of Jubilee. Leviticus 25:8-12 describes it.
“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.”
The trumpet sound warns of God’s judgement also with a call to repent before it is too late. Joshua chapter 6 records the story of the fall of the city of Jericho. Joshua and his men were ordered by The Lord to march around Jericho, led by seven priests carrying trumpets and on the seventh day, they sounded the trumpets and the impenetrable walls of the city fell.
Each trumpet that sounds in Heaven is a call to the people of earth to come to God, to repent of sins, be atoned, and avoid His great and terrible Judgement. They are warnings that will have to be heeded. They are events that cannot be ignored by anyone. They will affect everyone. Verse 7 reads,
“The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.”
Consider the implications of one third of the greenery on earth burned and gone. It will mean less food for horses, cows, and other livestock, which will in turn mean less food for people, so much less that not a single person will go untouched. Think about the ramifications of a third of the trees gone. Less shade leads to less water. Reduced photosynthesis which means less oxygen and more carbon dioxide, and fewer places for birds and bugs to make homes all lead to less food and more toxicity. That is what my average brain comes up with, I am sure it doesn’t compare to the earth shattering results of the first trumpet.
Verses 8-9 read,
“The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
This will basically destroy the ocean’s ecological system. I cannot even fathom the catastrophic effects that will have.
Verses 10-11 say,
“The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.”
One third of the fresh water on earth will be poisoned. Not only will we not have free access to drinkable water, but eventually the rain will be poison as well. That poison rain will poison the rest of the water. People will die from drinking it, people will die from being rained on, and people will die of thirst. This doesn’t even mention how animals, livestock, crops, and the atmosphere will suffer. It will be devastating to people, to the economy, and the environment.
Verse 12 says,
“The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.”
The sun, moon, and stars will be darkened by a third. Maybe you can’t see how bad that might be. Perhaps you think so it’ll be a little darker outside. Not only will that put stress on energy resources such as oil, but think of how we depend on the sun’s warmth and energy. Already photosynthesis will be decreased, how much more so when the sun is only shining at 2/3 capacity? How cold do you imagine it might get?
Each of these trumpets sounds horrific enough but verse 13 reads,
“Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
The next three trumpets will be even worse than the first four. The world will be in a cataclysmic state. People will suffer and be terrified. They will be looking for somewhere to turn. The next three trumpets will only make it worse. But will they recognize the call to come to God, repent, and be forgiven? Woe means anguish, calamity, and affliction. Throughout the Bible it is used to begin a warning of judgement to people who God knows will not heed the call, but to whom He offers the chance anyway.