29. The Seven Trumpets and Bowls of Wrath
Rev 8:1-7, Rev 9:1-12, Rev 11:14-19, Rev 16:1-11
In Revelation 8 and 16, John saw visions of seven trumpets and seven bowls of wrath.
When we put these side by side, we can easily see that they are related.
The seven trumpets describe the purification of the Kingdom of Heaven. The bowls of wrath describe the attack on the kingdom of the beast, which represents the lawless in the Kingdom of Heaven.
In each of the first four trumpets, one third of the lawless are removed from those who remain, just as one third of the angels were cast out of heaven in Chapter 12.
The first three trumpets and bowls of wrath all result in blood — the spiritual death of the lawless. The first three trumpets and bowls of wrath are plagues on the earth, sea, and springs of water, as listed in Rev 14:7: “Fear God and give Him glory, worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and springs of water.”
And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.
Revelation 8:6
The first trumpet is hail and fire mixed with blood, thrown to the Earth. This causes sores on those who worship the image of the beast and receive his mark in the first bowl of wrath.
The second trumpet and bowl of wrath are plagues on the sea. The sea represents baptism and salvation.
The third trumpet and bowl of wrath are plagues on the rivers and springs. The rivers and springs represent the spirit received by those in the kingdom of the beast.
The fourth trumpet is the final darkening of the lawless in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the fourth bowl of wrath, “the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.”Matt 13:43 Those in the kingdom of the beast are scorched by the great heat of the sun. In the fifth bowl of wrath, the kingdom of the beast is completely darkened.
The fifth trumpet describes the release of Satan after he was bound for 1,000 years.
The last two trumpets and bowls of wrath describe the Battle of Armageddon and the day of God’s judgment.
30. The First Trumpet
Isa 40:6, Matt 7:18, Rev 8:7, Rev 16:2
Before the first bowl of wrath was poured out, a loud voice was heard from the temple. This loud voice was the Spirit of Christ, who called out from the temple of the Sanctified Church.
The angel with the first bowl of wrath poured out “sores on those who receive the mark of the beast and worship his image.”Rev 16:2 Where do these sores come from? From the “hail and fire mixed with blood”Rev 8:7 in the first trumpet.
Hail was mixed with fire in the seventh plague in Egypt. It struck the Egyptians and their livestock, but it did not affect the people of God.
Like the plagues in Egypt, these plagues of the seven trumpets do not affect the righteous.
Now, hail and fire are mixed with blood. This blood represents the spiritual death of the lawless.
sores on those who receive the mark of the beast and worship his image.
Revelation 16:2
John said, “A third of the trees were burned up.”Rev 8:7 Jesus compared those in the Kingdom of God to trees, saying, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit.”Matt 7:18 The third of the trees that are burned up represent those who tolerate the image and mark of the beast.
John also said, “All the green grass was burned up.”Rev 8:7 For Isaiah said, “All flesh is as grass.”1 Pet 1:24 Isa 40:6 All the grass is burned up because all men were harmed by the truth of the mark of beast. John told us that the false prophet caused “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or forehead.”Rev 13:16
The meaning of the trees and grass as “men” is clear in Rev 9:4, where the locusts are told not to harm the grass or any tree but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
31. The Second Trumpet
Isa 2:2, Ezek 47:8, Rev 8:8-9, Rev 18:19
Isaiah said that in the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house would be established above all the mountains, and “all the nations shall flow to it.”Isa 2:2
This is the end-time Sanctified Church that appeared in the second trumpet. A great mountain burning with fire — the fire of the Holy Spirit — was thrown into the sea, and a third of the creatures in the sea died, representing the lawless in the Kingdom of Heaven. When the second bowl of wrath was poured out on the kingdom of the beast, “every living thing in the sea died.”Rev 16:4 The second trumpet and the second bowl of wrath describe the spiritual death of the lawless when the end-time Church appears.
The second trumpet sounded and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea
Revelation 8:8
The great mountain burning with fire that entered the sea was first described by the prophet Ezekiel. He described the end-time Church from the East as water that enters the sea: “These waters are going forth unto the east circuit, and have gone down unto the desert, and have entered the sea; unto the sea they are brought forth, and the waters have been healed.”Ezek 47:8
When the water of the holy spirit completes its course in the East, it will enter the Dead Sea, the previous ground of Christianity. Ezekiel said the waters of the Dead Sea “will be healed”Ezek 47:8 and “made fresh,” but “the swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.”Ezek 47:11 Not everyone will be revived. The swamps in Ezekiel are represented by the third of the creatures in the sea who die in the second trumpet.
John also said that “a third of the ships sank.”Rev 8:9 Ships are the “arks” of salvation — different denominations. In Revelation 18, we are told about those who make their living by the sea,Rev 18:17 selling salvation, but the preaching of the end-time Sanctified Church causes all these lawless ships to sink.
32. After Two Days He Will Revive Us
Ezek 37:1-25, Ezek 47:8, Hos 6:1-3, Rev 8:8
The most famous prophecy of end-time revival came from Hosea, who said, “After two days, He will revive us. On the third day, He will raise us up…. He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”Hos 6:1-3
The former rain is the rain that falls at the end of the year. After two days, 2,000 years, the holy spirit will be poured out again. In the third day, the third thousand years, we will all be resurrected.
The holy spirit was first poured out in A.D. 31. After two days, after 2031, the Holy Spirit will bring revival to the previous ground of Christianity, the Dead Sea. Ezekiel said, “When this water completes the Eastern circuit it will enter the sea.”Ezek 47:8 This is the meaning of the great mountain burning with fire that enters the sea in the second trumpet.
After two days, He will revive us. On the third day, He will raise us up that we may live in His sight.
Hosea 6:2
We can also forecast the end-time revival of the West from the seven trumpets. We know that the first four trumpets span about 600 years, from 1917 to 2497, when the Sanctuary is cleansed. That gives us about 150 years for each trumpet. The fifth trumpet is said to be five months, 150 days, or years. The revival of the second trumpet may not begin until 2067 — 150 years after the year 1917.
This revival was described by Ezekiel in his prophecy to the dead bones: “Prophecy to the breath, prophesy, Son of Man, and say to the breath ‘Come from the four winds.’ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet and became an exceedingly great army.”Ezek 37:9-10
33. The Third Trumpet
In the second trumpet, a great mountain burning with fire is thrown into the sea. This is the mountain of the Lord’s house that Isaiah said would appear in the last days. The fire represents the holy spirit.
As the Sanctified Church becomes firmly established, other churches will envy the gift of the holy spirit, but they will not receive the holy spirit when they pray; they will receive a bitter spirit. This is the message of the third trumpet. A star from heaven called Wormwood falls on the rivers and springs. Stars in the Bible represent spirits or angels. Wormwood is a bitter spirit that falls on the rivers and springs of false churches.
Rivers and springs signify the holy spirit throughout the Bible. In John 7:38-39, we read, “’He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’’’ The holy spirit as a river is also found in Rev 16:4 and Rev 22:1. In John 4:14, Jesus described spirit as a spring when He said, “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water springing up to eternal life.” The holy spirit as a spring is also found in Rev 14:7, Rev 16:4, and Rev 21:6.
The name of the star is called Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters because they were made bitter.
Revelation 8:11
The third bowl of wrath tells us that the rivers and springs became blood. Those who drink the rivers and springs of the kingdom of the beast do not receive life but spiritual death. They drink a bitter spirit. The cleansing of the Kingdom of Heaven intensifies as we approach the 2,300 days prophesied by Daniel.
The fourth trumpet will complete the cleansing of the Kingdom of Heaven, when the grapes of the Earth are ripe and ready for the harvest.
