Salt & Light Blog

Revelation 11:15-19 The Seventh Trumpet: The Mystery of God Fulfilled

12/24/2015

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30

Revelation 11:15-19 the Seventh Trumpet is Sounded
Verse 15 reads,
“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
The seventh shofar is the last trumpet and the last woe. Have you wondered with hopeful expectation what it could be? Have you dreaded what the last woe could be? This is the last warning, the last call, and the last chance for the people of the earth to respond and repent. There are no more chances after this. The time is now. While that is awesome and joyful for believers, it is awful and terrible for the lost, and they do not even know it. Verses 16-17 read,
“And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
    who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
    and begun to reign.”
The twenty four angels give thanks to the LORD and look at the name they use for Him, “Lord God Almighty, who is and who was.” They praise Him for his strength which has brought the long-awaited to day to be. They praise Him for his constancy and they use a name reminiscent of the name God has used for Himself. Revelation 1:7-8 says,
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
In Isaiah the LORD calls Himself the First and the Last as well, Isaiah 41:4 reads,
“Who has performed and done this,
    calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first,
    and with the last; I am he.”
This name describes the Lord as one who carries out His will, His plan. It says He makes promises and keeps them. That His word is as good as done, because it is done, whether we have seen it manifested or not. The moment God speaks, we can be sure that what He said is already accomplished, even if the manifestation takes ten years or 10,000 years. What has God promised you? Stop waiting for it and start thanking Him for it. Stop wishing it would be and start expecting it to manifest at the perfect time. He is the first and the last.
The words the elders use are reminiscent of Revelation 1:8 but not exactly the same. The Lord said, “who is and who was and who is to come,” but the elders not only change the order, they leave out who is to come. They say, “who is and who was.” Why? Because He IS and He always has been and because the seventh trumpet fulfilled it all, He came. At that point He will no longer be “to come.” The promise of His coming will have been fulfilled. The seventh trumpet ushers in everything else that happens from the moment it is sounded until every part of what is written in Revelation, Daniel, Isaiah, and every other word of scripture is manifested. The day has arrived! The promise we have been waiting for, the mystery of God fulfilled just as he announced to all the prophets, per His oath in Revelation 10:7.
The elders continue their worship in verse 18.
“The nations raged,
    but your wrath came,
    and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
    and those who fear your name,
    both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
There is one plan; and we could have faith in it from the moment God announced it. Isaiah 53-5-6 is one part of that beautiful promise,
“But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.”
When Jesus gave himself up for us on the Cross, as they pierced Him for our transgressions and brought us peace with God, and as He healed us from the death we carried Jesus said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30). He wasn’t talking about His life, He knew He would resurrect on the third day and live eternally. He was talking about the plan for our salvation, our peace with God. When Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6-7, it was not merely a hopeful dream, it was already carried out.
“For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
When the angel said, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,” (Luke 2:11) to the shepherds, they called Him Savior, even though He had not yet saved us. And when Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 in Luke 4:18-19 saying,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor”
it was already done, even though He had not yet died or resurrected. God’s promises are as good as achieved. They are a ‘sure thing.’ It is finished. With the completion of the elder’s song to the Lord, our great hope is fulfilled and the last woe happens. Verse 19 says,
“Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.”
The ark is not lost and it is not in a government warehouse waiting to be catalogued. It is not in an Ethiopian Church somewhere or hidden in the mountains of the East. It is in God’s temple in Heaven. The ark is not a magical relic. It is the place where God’s presence and mercy rested in order to fellowship with Israel. When Jesus came, He embodied God’s presence and mercy. When He ascended to Heaven, He gave us His Holy Spirit and allowed us to be in his presence always. When He returns again and judges the dead and rewards the saints we will be in His physical presence eternally.
As believers we read this passage and think of how amazing and jubilant the revelation of the mystery of God is, was, and will be. We celebrate, we shout for joy, we sing with exuberance at the thought. But the same plan that brings us reward and eternal life brings the lost death and eternal punishment. God’s deep love is also great wrath.
The reason the last shofar is a woe is because it is the closing of the door, the end of the invitation. God will not call them anymore, if they choose to come now it will not be because He said, “come up here.” That truly is more horrible than the all the trumpets before this one.
The picture I envision is one between a teenager and her Dad. The dad is angry with me for some disobedience. I see my Dad at my bedroom door, angrily telling me why what I did hurt him and telling me the damaging consequences of my actions. Throughout this confrontation, I could respond, I could apologize, I could acknowledge my defiance and reconcile with my Dad, but instead I sit silently while he speaks and metes out my punishment. I am probably not even listening to him as I stew in my pride. Then quite suddenly, he stops speaking, and disappointedly closes the door and walks away. That moment is worse than any punishment he gave me. That moment means he has given up on me. That is why this last trumpet is so awful for the unbeliever. God wanted to be their Father, but they wouldn’t humble themselves to listen and he finally had to say, “It’s finished. My children have been waiting.”

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Revelation 11:1-14: The Two Witnesses

12/23/2015

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Revelation 11:1-14
At the conclusion of chapter 10, John was given the commandment, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” (Revelation 10:11). Revelation 11 begins with a prophetic act. Verses 1-2 read,
“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.”
Measuring the temple of God, the altar, and the people who worship there is akin to counting and judging or discerning the people of God. Who are His people and are they faithful and spirit-filled? Are they worshipping in Spirit and in Truth? John was told not to include the court because it is overtaken and trodden by the nations who rejected Christ. It is not time for them to be counted. For 3 ½ years they will disregard and blaspheme the Lord. They will treat Jerusalem as theirs and it will be terrible. But they won’t walk on the Temple of God, we are His temple and the enemy cannot have us. They will run roughshod over the City of God, but we are the City of God and they will not defeat us. For the same 3 ½ years that the nations blasphemously trample over the courts and Jerusalem, The Lord’s two witnesses will prophesy with His authority. Verse 3 reads,
“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
The two witnesses will be dressed in sackcloth indicating that they suffer and mourn. They mourn because the world isn’t listening to the trumpet warnings. They suffer because everyone will suffer through that great tribulation. But they do not let that stop them from obeying God and prophesying, both in action and in word. We are given God’s authority and power for a reason. We are not meant to keep Him gagged inside us while we hide from the troubles and woes of life. God’s word must be expressed, He must be glorified. Paul described it this way in 1 Corinthians 9:16-17,
“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.”
Who are the two witnesses? Over the years people have guessed and assigned them various identities. They have been called Moses and Elijah by some, Peter and John by others. Cults such as the Muggletonians[i] and the Shakers[ii] have been created by naming the witnesses. The Muggletonians named the two witnesses John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton. The Shakers said that the first witness was the male aspect of God in Jesus Christ and the second was the female aspect of God in Ann Lee, who founded the movement and called herself Mother Ann Lee.
Identifying the two witnesses as individuals is not the wisest choice. Let’s look at who scripture says they are. Verse 5 reads,
“These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth”
They are the two olive trees. The Hebrew word for olive tree is es shemen and it means to shine brightly like the sun. It means richness, anointing, fat, fruitful, oil, and ointment. The olive tree symbolizes the fruitful strong righteous man in the Bible and its oil represents The Holy Spirit. Psalm 52:8 reads,
“But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.”
They are the two lampstands. The lampstands are symbols of the church (Revelation 1:20). The light they produce by the power of the olive oil is the Light of Christ. (John 8:12). And having Christ in us, makes us lights to the world as well (Matthew 5:14). We must glorify Christ. If He is in us we have to shine as brightly as the Son.
There are two witnesses, but two olive trees and two lampstands. They are both an olive tree and a lampstand. The two witnesses are representatives of Christ and preach His grace. They are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and exercise His authority. Zechariah 4:1-7 describes the olive trees and lampstands this way,
“And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
You and I are God’s witnesses. We are the olive trees and the lampstands. We are ambassadors for Christ, filled with His Holy Spirit. Although we may be clothed in sackcloth, we are not powerless. Look at what the two witnesses will do while the trumpets call people to repentance. Verses 5-7 read,
“And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.”
Those who do not worship in the temple and trample the courts will try to hurt those who do. They will hate God’s witnesses. But by God’s power and by His might, we can call down God’s holy fire and consume our adversaries. We have the power to stop the rain from falling and turn water to blood. We have the power to strike people with plagues and diseases. These prophetic acts bring to mind the first four trumpets (Revelation 8:6-13). We do not currently call curses down on our enemies. We bless those who persecute us. But in the Great Tribulation our enemies will not be coming to Christ because of our love and blessings. They will fight by Satan’s side and reject Christ. We along with Jesus will have control of the first four trumpets and use them to warn people to repent and come to Christ. But our rivals will not come to Christ and the enemy will hate us all the more. He will make war on us and it will even appear he wins. Verses 7-10 describe his apparent victory.
“And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.”
The celebration over this supposed conquest will be immense. It will be like a worldwide Christmas people will make merry and exchange gifts they will be so happy. We will no longer be there to say they are suffering because they rejected Christ or remind them of the sins they commit. They will be free to make Jerusalem as evil as Sodom and despicable and slave-filled as Pharaoh’s Egypt. But their revelry won’t last. Verses 11-13 read,
“But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
God will bring His witnesses back to life, we will be resurrected and He will call us to come to Him. We will go up to heaven in a cloud of witnesses and all those previously partying people will see it. The sixth trumpet and the second woe will close with an earthquake that kills 7,000 people and destroys a tenth of the city. Verse 14 reads,
“The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.”
Will they listen to the seventh trumpet? They didn’t heed the first six and they will be without the Holy Spirit or the light of Christ. But we are here now. We can warn them now! We can prophesy now. We are God’s witnesses and so we must testify! We have the power and might of Almighty God within us. If we tell a mountain to move it will (Mark 11:23). If we tell a storm to stop raining it will. If we ask anything as Jesus’ witnesses, He will do it (John 14:14).

[i] http://www.exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/muggleton.html

[ii] http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/cities/shakers.html

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Revelation 9: The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets: Will Anyone Listen?

12/21/2015

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And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8

Revelation 9: The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets: The First Two Woes
As I mentioned yesterday, the trumpet or shofar is a call to come to God, repent, and atone for sin. Yesterday, we read about the first four trumpets. Today we will read about the next two. The first four trumpets affected the earth and water and made life dangerous, precious, and difficult but the fifth and sixth trumpet affect humans directly. Verses 1-6 read,
“And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.”
These locust like creatures are not heavenly beings, they are locked in the bottomless pit, where the beast is until he makes war on, conquers, and kills the two witnesses (Revelation 11:7-8). It I also the place where Satan will be locked for 1,000 years. (Revelation 20:1-3). These locust-like beings like everything else in the bit are sanctioned by Satan, but bound and released by God. Satan may think they are meeting his purposes, but God will restrict them and use them for His purposes.
God allows them only to harm the lost, those who have not been sealed by Him. They cannot harm the grass or trees only people. The torment and suffering they cause does not kill. Instead the tormented suffer for five months and long to die rather than continue. God is giving them a chance to repent, to ask why the sealed are untouched, recognize their sin, and turn to Jesus. Whatever these creatures are, they sound horrific. Verses 7-11 describe them.
“In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.”
When I was a teenager, a pastor said he believed them to be helicopters with some sort of terrible weapon being shot from them. I can see where he would think that. But I disagree with him. Helicopters do not shoot from their tails. They would not be kept in the bottomless pit, and demons would not need to use helicopters to spread their torturous plague. But I do not like to guess, because my assumption could be wrong and mislead people.
Verse 12 reads,
“The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.”
I believe the sealed will recognize what is happening and so have the chance to tell the lost. They (or we) will recognize the trumpets and be able to alert people, “This is it, your chance to repent and escape the wrath of the lamb!” I think it will be our responsibility to warn them as prophets warned people for thousands of years. John the Baptist called out in the wilderness. “Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.” (Matthew 3:3). We will call out to the nations, “Jesus is returning! The time to repent is now!”
Malachi 3:1-5 describes John the Baptist’s prophetic ministry before Jesus began His redemptive ministry culminating in His crucifixion and resurrection. But I believe it also describes the church and our prophetic ministry to warn people that Jesus is returning and this time it will culminate in The Day of the LORD, eternal life or eternal death. It reads,
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”
God is calling! Are you listening? Can the lost hear? Whether they heed is not our problem, but making sure they hear is. Ezekiel 3:16-19 says it this way,
“And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.”
If we do not warn them, they will have no choice but to die in their sin. God doesn’t want that for them (2 Peter 3:9), neither do we.
Verses 13-19 illustrate the sixth trumpet.
“Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.”
The angels bound until this time are fallen angels bent on the singular cause of leading the demonic army. Again the Lord uses Satan’s minions for His purpose. The Euphrates is one of four rivers formed by the river coming out of Eden. (Genesis 2:10-14). The Euphrates formed a border for the Land God promised Abraham’s descendants. (Genesis 15:18). And it is from border that the demonic army will rise to kill a third of the already dwindling and weak mankind. Do the math on the number of troops in that terrifying army and you will get 2,000,000,000,000. That is two trillion. That is 285 demonic soldiers for every man woman and child on earth right now. The horses have the power to kill and wound in their mouths. They will kill by the fire, smoke, and sulfur which comes from their mouths (Spoiler alert: They will be destroyed by the sword coming from Jesus mouth! Revelation 19:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:8).
Believer, You and I have an obligation of love to warn people about what is coming. We have a duty to tell people about Jesus. We have the power in our mouths to give them a chance at salvation.We have to give them a chance to repent. Blow the trumpet! Sound the alarm! Call them to Jesus. Their response is their choice, but we should give them the choice. Will they listen now, before it’s too late? Maybe. Will they listen when trumpet after trumpet is blown? Verses 20-21 read,
“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
They will be so hardened, deaf, and blind to God’s love they will not listen or repent, but God will call none the less. Because God will not give up them, neither should we.

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Revelation 8:6-13 The First Four Trumpets, A Call to Repent.

12/20/2015

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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.

Revelation 8:6-13 the first four trumpets.
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.

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Joel 2 The Day of the LORD

11/14/2015

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How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:14-15

Joel 2
The Day of the LORD is coming. Most believers know it, but the lost don’t really understand. They have a skewed understanding of “The End.” They deserve to know the truth, but how can they know it if no one cares enough to tell them. The Day of The LORD is terrible for the lost. Terrible as in immense, terrifying intense, and causing great alarm. Verses 1-11 describe the army of The LORD on that Day.
“Blow a trumpet in Zion;
    sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
    a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    a great and powerful people;
their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.
3 Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them,
    but behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
5 As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish;
    all faces grow pale.
7 Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;
    each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
9 They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
they climb up into the houses,
    they enter through the windows like a thief.
10 The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
11 The Lord utters his voice
    before his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    he who executes his word is powerful.
For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;
    who can endure it?”
The army will be bigger than we can even imagine, so big and powerful that its movement will be enough to destroy. No weapons will be useful against them. They will move to Jesus’ command and nothing can stop them. Even the earth itself will react.
When that trumpet, that shofar sounds it will be a call to repent. But the call has been out there for so long. The people have had so many chances that by the time that trumpet sounds, they won’t, and there will be no more opportunities. But there are chances now. It is not too late. Today is the day to call on God and be saved. The Lord is waiting for you to come to Him, but He will not wait forever. (2 Peter 3:9). He’s calling to the lost and He’s calling to believers to obey His great commission. (Matthew 28:16-20). Verses 12-14 read,
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13     and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    and he relents over disaster.
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?”
Our obedience to Him, our proper worship of Him, and our praise and thanksgiving to Him are a living sacrifice and a testimony to the lost. (Romans 12:1-2). Philippians 1:27-30 reads,
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”
But we also have to tell them! In Mark 5:19 Jesus said, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
We need to take The Day of The LORD seriously. Jesus is coming. That is terrible for the lost and wonderful for us. But we love the lost. We can’t just party like it’s 1999 and not care that they are dying. Let’s earnestly pray, let’s seriously obey and minister to The Lord. Verses 15-17 read,
“Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16     gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.
17 Between the vestibule and the altar
    let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”
Do you realize how much God loves us? Do you know that He has compassion for us and so He gives us what we need to be in this temporary home, called Earth? He has given us the tools to obey Him. He protects us from the thieving lying enemy. Verses 18-23 say,
“Then the Lord became jealous for his land
    and had pity on his people.
19 The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, I am sending to you
    grain, wine, and oil,
    and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
    a reproach among the nations.
20 “I will remove the northerner far from you,
    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard into the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard into the western sea;
the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
    for he has done great things.
21 “Fear not, O land;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for the Lord has done great things!
22 Fear not, you beasts of the field,
    for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
23 “Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    the early and the latter rain, as before.”
All that was taken by the enemy, will be restored to us. All that we sacrificed and lost for Jesus’ sake will be ours again. New Jerusalem, God’s own city on New Earth will be perfect and we will never want or cry or need. Verses 24-27 read,
“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 I will restore to you the years
    that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
    my great army, which I sent among you.
26 “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
    and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.”
And now in the meantime, we have still have God with us. Jesus, our Redeemer came. He gave us the Holy Spirit. God is with us! That is a big deal. Consider that magnitude of The LORD God Almighty being with you, in you, and around you. Reflect on the implications of the Creator of the entire universe working through you to accomplish His purposes! Verses 28-32 read,
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.”
God speaks though us. He speaks through His Word. He speaks through signs and wonders. Everyone who calls on Jesus’ name will be saved, but how can they call on Him if they’ve never heard? God uses all of us who let Him.

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Joel 2 The Day of the LORD

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Revelation 11:15-19 The Seventh Trumpet: The Mystery of God Fulfilled

Revelation 11:1-14: The Two Witnesses

​Revelation 9: The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets: Will Anyone Listen?

Revelation 8:6-13 The First Four Trumpets, A Call to Repent.

Joel 2 The Day of the LORD

Donna Campbell

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Revelation 9: The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets: Will Anyone Listen?