Chapter 11 of Revelation Revealed.
Trumpets have three-fold purpose in Scripture: they are used for both performing music, sounding an alarm warning of battle or judgment (Num 10:1-10), and to signify the coming of God’s supernatural Presence.
Trumpets are used to sound alarm of impending judgment. Joel 2 begins by saying “sound the alarm on My Holy Mountain.” Verses 2-11 document the impending danger. Verses 12-15 explain the reason that the alarm was sounded: seeking reconciliation with God.
Trumpets warn of impending invasion of God’s presence. Seven Trumpets were used to tear down the walls of Jericho ( see Joshua 6, esp verse 13). The trumpeters led the charge. They circled Jericho once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they circled seven times and then blew the trumpets and the people shouted, God answered the trumpets and the shout by collapsing the wall of Jericho.
Not long after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea to begin their journey to the Promised Land, God commanded Moses to prepare Israel for a day of consecration. The coming of the presence of God was timed in connection with trumpets.
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Exo 19:13-20 |
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“There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives… |
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Exo 19:13-20 |
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“…And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly… |
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Exo 19:13-20 |
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“…And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. |
There are three things of significance that are associated with the trumpets: The offering up of prayers as incense, the placing of a seal of protection to the faithful remnant, and the dispensation of hot coals of judgment.
The placing of a seal of protection to the faithful remnant is described in Rev 7. The 144,000 are sealed with God’s mark of protection. The fact that it is 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes* indicates that faithful Israel – true Israel – is the subject of this protection. There are various interpretations as to the significance of the 144,000. Some would say this is literally 144,000 Jewish males. Other would say that the number is a figurative representation of the people of God. In either case, God is protecting the faithful so that the judgments do not come near them rather than physically removing them in order for the3 judgment to proceed.
Ezekiel 9 describes a similar marking scenario. There are seven angels. One of them had a “writers’ ink-horn.” He was tasked with putting a mark of protection upon the faithful remnant. God commanded him to “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof(vs 4).” The other six were warriors who were commanded to execute judgment upon the wicked. “And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him[that is, the “man with the writer’s ink-horn”]through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark;and begin at my sanctuary (v5-6).” The sealing was to protect the faithful in the midst of judgment that must begin in the house of God.
The sealing of the faithful remnant is also accompanied by the offering up of prayers with incense as a wall of protection. The offering up of prayers as incense has its precedent in Leviticus. During the Day of Atonement, the very first act of the High Priest upon approaching the Holy Place and just before entering the Most Holy Place was to offer incense. This incense went up to provide a hedge of protection from suffering the wrath from the pure, undefiled glory of God.
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Leviticus 16:12-13 |
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“. And he shall take a censer full of burning coalof fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring itwithin the vail:And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that isupon the testimony, that he die not: |
The offering of this incense inaugurated the work of atonement. As the Day of atonement was about cleansing the people and the land of Israel during the force of the Mosaic Covenant, the trumpet judgments are about cleansing of the people and the land of earth. As the incense protected High Priest from God’s wrath during the Day of Atonement work, the offering of prayers of the saints by the High Priest in Heaven perform a similar function in Revelation 8. It is written that these prayers are offered up with incense.
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Revelation 8:3-4 |
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“.And 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. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. |
The offering up of prayers of the saints with incense is performed as a hedge of protection against end-times judgments that will begin with the trumpets. While the text describes the offerer as an angel, this was no ordinary angel. He was performing the office of High Priest and He is interceding for us. This is attributed to Christ, who lives forever as High Priest of the New Covenant (Romans 8:26;Hebrews 7:22-28) and intercedes for us continually.
Our great intercessor completes his mission of offering up of prayers of the saints to intercede for them. He will then proceed to fully answer them. These judgments, called the trumpets, will begin in earnest as the ultimate answers to prayers that have been offered throughout all of the ages of humanity since the fall of Adam. Prayers that yearn for justice to prevail in the earth – prayers by the righteous who grieve at the colossal amount of injustice in the earth – prayers by those who are victims of injustice who have lost out on their life or their childhood through injustice – prayers by those who have property, dignity, and liberty and gained no justice from the corrupt systems of man. In answer to these prayers offered by the congregation of the saints before the throne, God answers with a dispensation of of judgment in the form of hot coals.
These hot coals that are flung upon the earth represent the inauguration of judgment. God is about to put stop to injustice.
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Revelation 8:5-6 |
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And 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. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. |
Hot coals of judgment are also seen in Ezekiel 10:2. God commands the angel to scatter hot coals over the city. Hot coals are used of judgments that are cleansing in nature. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah has an encounter with the Lord. He knows he’s ruined because he is a sinful man who has seen the pure, un-defiled glory of God. God instruct an angels to take a coal from off this same altar to cleanse Isaiah.
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Revelation 8:5-6 |
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And 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. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. |
The trumpet judgments, then, represent God’s last attempt to reclaim people to Him. In the generation that will see Christ’s return and during the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan 9:25-27), cataclysmic events will take place that will have a polarizing effect. It will force people off the fence; some will draw near to God, and others will pull far, far away from God. It is because of this that the faithful people of God are sealed with a mark of protection instead of being removed. The removal of the people of God would defeat the purpose of the trumpets. The next installment will examine the specific events that take place as these trumpets are blown.