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When the 7th seal is opened, the apostle John sees seven angels with seven "trumpets." The Hebrew word for
trumpet is usually "shofar", a sonorous wind instrument crafted from a ram's horn. Although trumpets could be made of
metal Numbers 10:2, most of the time they were made out of an animal's horn (shofar).
Therefore, what the apostle John probably saw were angels sounding the shofar.
What follows is the destruction of the earth heralded by the 7 trumpet blasts.
Revelation 8:2
And I saw the seven angels who stand
before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
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Revelation 8:6
And the seven angels who
had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.
The first 4 trumpet sounds bring
destruction upon the inhabited earth.
The last 3 are called woes.
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The First Trumpet 
| Re 8:7 The 1st sounded, and there
came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third
of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. |
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The Second Trumpet
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Re 8:8 The 2nd angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning
with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea
and had souls, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. |
The Third Trumpet
Re 8:9 The 3rd angel sounded, and a great star
fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. 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.
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The Fourth Trumpet
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Re 8:10 The
4th angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third
of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the
night in the same way.
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The next 3 trumpet sounds are called "woes"
Re 8:13 Then
I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth,
because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"
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The Fifth Trumpet
Re 9:1 Then the 5th angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the
earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him.
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Re 9:2-4 He opened the bottomless pit, and
smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the
pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the
seal of God on their foreheads. |
Re 9:5 And they were
not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it
stings a man.
Re 9:6 And in those days men will
seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.
Re 9:7 The appearance of the
locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns
like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.
Re 9:8 They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.
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Re 9:9 They had breastplates like breastplates
of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle.
Re 9:10 They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their
power to hurt men for five months. |
Re 9:11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name
in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Re 9:12 The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.
The Sixth Trumpet
Re 9:13 Then the 6th angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the
golden altar which is before God,
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River Euphrates |
Re 9:14 one saying to the sixth angel
who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."
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Re 9:15 And the four angels, who had been prepared for
the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.
Re 9:16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I
heard the number of them.
Revelation 9:17
And this is how I saw
in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone;
and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. |
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Re 9:18 A third of mankind was killed by
these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths.
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Re 9:19 For the power of the
horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.
Re 9:20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not
repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone
and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;
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Re 9:21 and they did not repent of their
murders, nor of their drugs, nor of their immorality, nor of their thefts.  |
In the days of the 6th trumpet blast, God uses the two witnesses to prophesy on this earth.
Re 11:3
And I will
give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Re 11:4
These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
See Two Witnesses.
The Seventh Trumpet
Re 11:15 Then the 7th angel sounded;
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 will reign forever and ever."
Re 11:16
And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
Re 11:17 saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and
who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.
Re 11:18 "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and
the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and
to destroy those who destroy the earth."
After the 7th trumpet, there are 7 bowls of wrath. The 7 bowls
are the consummation of the Wrath of God. God curses the unrepentant people with plagues. Notice that after the 7th
trumpet there is no mention of repentance of the people, no matter how bad things get on earth.
When the 7th bowl of wrath is poured, Satan influences the one world government leader and his armies, along with some minor government armies to gather at Megiddo for
the Battle of Armageddon to fight Christ and his saints Re 19:19. Of course, the devil is no match for Christ and
his armies. The one world government leader and his "false prophet" are thrown in "the lake of fire"
Re 19:20 Satan is chained for a thousand years; the first resurrection occurs Re 20:5 and
the millennium begins.
There is a series of stories interjected among the scope of the book of Revelation in order to give more information to
the readers. Some of these stories are in reference to:
- The message to the angels of the 7 Churches (congregations) Re 2:1.
- The 144,000 sealed from the tribes of Israel, Re 7:4.
- The big company in front of God's throne, Rapture Re 7:9.
- The Two Witnesses Re 11:3.
- The nation of Israel and Christ's followers through time, Woman with 12 Stars Re 12:1.
- The one world government Mark of the Beast Re 13:1.
- The city is referred to as a "woman sitting upon the beast" or "Babylon the Great" Re 17:1
If you want to know at what point we are in history, see Timeline
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