Act III · Milestone 4 of 9
Revelation 8–11 — The Seven Trumpets
Seven alarms sound across the fall of Rome and the rise of the little horn's long reign — and in the middle, an angel hands John a little book that tastes like honey and sits like a stone.
Revelation 8:2–11:19 · about 20 minutes
2And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
3And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
5And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
6And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
8And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
9And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
10And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
15And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
19And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Watch the scene first
Seven angels receive seven trumpets — but first, another angel stands at the altar with a golden censer, and incense rises 'with the prayers of all saints.' The censer is then filled with fire and thrown to the earth: trumpets are answered prayers. The first four trumpets strike land, sea, rivers, and lights — thirds of everything, the Western Roman Empire coming apart in waves. The fifth and sixth are 'woes': locust-like armies out of the pit, then cavalry loosed from the Euphrates. Between the sixth and seventh, a mighty angel plants one foot on sea and one on land and swears 'that there should be time no longer.'
Thirds on purpose
Why does everything get struck in thirds? Because the trumpets are judgments on a third — the Western third of the Roman world, the part that fell to the barbarian invasions. Goths, Vandals, Huns, Heruli: the classic historicist reading of trumpets one through four is Rome's western collapse, banner by banner. The pattern is Daniel's again — Rome does not vanish at the end of the statue; it fragments, and out of its ruins the little horn rises. The trumpets are the sound of the iron legs becoming the feet.
The little book in the middle
Chapter 10 is the emotional center of the trumpets: an angel like a sunset hands John an open book. 'Take it, and eat it up; it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.' This is Daniel's sealed book (Daniel 12:4, 9) finally opened — and it tastes exactly like the great prophetic awakening of the 1840s: the sweetness of expecting Christ at the end of the 2300 days, the bitterness of the disappointment, and the commission that follows: 'Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.' Sweet, then bitter, then a worldwide message.
Two witnesses and an opened temple
Chapter 11 measures the temple and then shows two witnesses — the Old and New Testaments — prophesying 1,260 days 'clothed in sackcloth': Scripture preaching through the long medieval night in the language of mourning. They are killed in 'the great city' (revolutionary France's brief war on the Bible), lie unburied three and a half days, and then stand up and ascend in a cloud — the Bible societies of the nineteenth century lifting the Word higher than ever. The seventh trumpet sounds and the verdict arrives: 'The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord.' And the temple of God opens in heaven — and there is 'the ark of his testament,' the sanctuary of Daniel 8:14, now in view for everyone.
Check what you saw
Two questions on this scene. Answers show an explanation either way.
What immediately precedes the trumpets?
What happens in the interlude of chapters 10–11?
Talk it through
- —How do trumpets function in Israel's story — and why use them here?
- —What does a bittersweet scroll say about honest study?
Good prompts for a study group, or for the reflection journal on the Today page.