The First Four Trumpets of Revelation

⁶ Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.

¹⁰ 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.

¹² 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.

¹³ 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 trumpets that follow the seals in Revelation show the judgment on unbelievers because of their hardened hearts. These judgments show God’s sovereignty and glory over the affairs of humanity and the world. The judgments primary purpose is not to cause repentance among the “earth dwellers,” although that will happen to a small extent, but punish because of the people’s irreversible hardened and unrepentant hearts. Revelation 8:3-5 serves as a link from the seals, particularly the prayer in Revelation 6:10, to the punishment of the world in the trumpets. The trumpets start a new cycle of judgments, with six trumpets that lead up the seventh trumpet of final judgment. In this way, the trumpets recapitulate what the seals portrayed.

Verse 7 is patterned after the Exodus plague of hail and fire in Egypt. The language is very similar: “There was hail and fire flashing…” (Exodus 9:24); “hail and fire” (Revelation 8:7). In Exodus 9 and Revelation 8 the hail is sent against three parts of earth: land/earth, field/grass, and trees. The first trumpet is different from Exodus in that only a third of all the land and trees are harmed. The punishment is limited, but it is applied across the world. In Revelation the fire does the damage, while in Exodus it is the hail that struck down. The blood mixed with the hail and fire reminds us of the plague of blood in the Nile.

If we recall Revelation 1:1, the visions “signify” or show what is to take place. Signify in this sense means to show by signs, symbols, which figuratively represent the reality of what is and will happen. Because of this symbolic nature of the images, the first trumpet may indicate famines. In Exodus the famine caused by the hail and fire was not total. The wheat was spared (Exodus 9:32). Ezekiel 5 also tells of a famine that is divided into thirds. Fire in Ezekiel 5 is a metaphor for famine.

Verses 8-9 show the second trumpet. It continues the theme of the first trumpet. A great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. The mountain can be a metaphor for a kingdom. Revelation 14:1, 19:9, and 21:10 illustrate this. Fire in Revelation is symbolic of judgment. This symbolizes the judgment of an evil kingdom. We see the symbolism elsewhere in Revelation 18:20-21. There a mighty stone was thrown into the sea and that stone is identified as Babylon. Jeremiah 51:25 says it is against Babylon and describes it as a “destroying mountain.” God will make Babylon a “burnt mountain.” Thus the burning mountain is not a volcano, nuclear missile, asteroid, or meteorite. It refers to a wicked kingdom, which is identified as “Babylon” in Revelation, the “great city.” Babylon sets the world order in the evil world. The disasters in Revelation have the backdrop of Old Testament imagery, which contain figurative descriptions.

The judgment is inflicted on the sea. Only a third of the see is harmed, showing again the limited nature of the judgment. The sea turning to blood once again looks back to the plagues of Egypt with the Nile turning to blood. Once again this refers to famine conditions, where a third of the sea life was destroyed. Sea faring commerce is harmed too. This anticipates the complete destruction of Babylon, which is the source of maritime business.


Verses 10-11, the third trumpet continues the famine judgment with bitter, undrinkable water. Again, this alludes to Exodus 7:20-25. There is a a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch. Previously in Revelation, stars represented angelic beings. These angels act as representatives of kingdoms and people of the world. First represents judgment. Also, the plague on the waters in Egypt can be thought of as a judgment on heavenly beings, such as the gods of Egypt, which includes the Nile god. The star also can represent the angel of Babylon, as seen in Isaiah 14:12-15. In that passage, the king and nation of Babylon is judged because Babylon’s guardian angel, “Day Star, son of Dawn,” has fallen from heaven. The earthly power of Babylon is behind these passages in Revelation 8:8, and 10.

The star is called wormwood. Wormwood is bitter herb. Wormwood in water becomes poisonous when consumed over a long period of time. Jeremiah 9:15 and 23:15 is an Old Testament passage to which Revelation alludes. There the false prophets pollute the nation of Israel with false gods, so God pollutes the waters of Israel with wormwood. Babylon of Revelation is great city that pollutes the world with its lures and pleasures and God judges the world as a result by polluting the waters and springs of the earth.

Verse 12, the forth trumpet afflicts the sun, moon, and stars. This is not a full and final judgment because only a third of the sun, moon, and stars are affected. But this judgment anticipates the final judgment. This judgment is alludes to Exodus 10:21, where God caused darkness in Egypt. This Exodus judgment of darkness was an apologetic against the sun god of Ra, of which Pharaoh was viewed as an incarnation. This judgment therefore can be viewed as a punishment of idolaters (in both revelation and Exodus). In fact, early Jewish tradition viewed the plague of darkness as having symbolic significance. They viewed the darkness as a punishment on the Egyptians for their idolatry.

Also, the sun, moon, and stars are Old Testament symbols for Israel. Joseph dreamed where the sun, moon, and stars bowed to him, which stood for his family. Further, the imagery of the sun, moon, and stars has a New Covenant aspect to them where stars represent angels and Christ. The dragon in Revelation 12 sweeps away a third of the stars, which could refer to Satan’s deception of the angels and the “earth dwellers.” This judgment then is directed at the idolaters inside and outside the church.