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1st trumpet.
Fire.
Third part of the earth and the trees.
2nd trumpet.
Fire.
Third part of the sea.
Third part of the creatures in the sea.
Third part of the ships destroyed.
3rd trumpet.
Burning Lamp.
Third part of rivers and fountains of waters.
Third part of waters becomes wormwood.
4th trumpet.
. . .
Third part of sun, moon and stars darkened.
Third part of the day and night affected.
There is mercy in this judgment, and it is more clearly seen when we turn to the seven
vials. There mercy is withdrawn. The sea, not a third part, becomes as blood, and every
living soul died in the sea. The rivers and fountains of waters become blood, not a third
part. The close parallel between the trumpets and vials we shall see later.
Before we conclude we would draw attention to the equally close parallel between
these judgments and the plagues sent through Moses upon Egypt.
The first plague in Egypt turned the river into blood and the fish died.
The second filled the land with frogs.
The third afflicts man with lice.
The fourth corrupted the land with swarms of flies.
The fifth afflicted the cattle with a grievous murrain.
The sixth afflicted the Egyptians with boils.
The seventh kills the cattle with hail.
The eighth, by means of locusts, devours every herb and fruit.
The ninth plunged Egypt into awful darkness.
The tenth smote every firstborn.
The trumpet and vial judgments of the Revelation are repetitions or parallels upon a
vaster and grander scale, but they are as literal. We wish to hurt no one's feelings when
we speak of the interpretation of these judgments set forth by such men as Elliot,
Wordsworth, and others of the same school, but with Exodus before us we refuse to
believe that the first trumpet means the wars of the Goths and the Vandals, or that "trees"
mean princes, and "grass" their power and glory. God Himself has said that in the day of
the Lord He will show wonders in the heavens, and signs on the earth, blood and fire and
pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood. The
literal plagues of Egypt prepare us for the literal judgments of the Revelation. We do not
rest however upon analogy, we have definite Scripture for our belief. Israel's future is
connected by a parallel with Exodus.
"According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him
marvellous things" (Micah 7: 15; Isa. 11: 15, 16).
The redemption of Israel from Egypt will be repeated on a grand scale (Jer. 23: 7, 8).
Indeed God makes a covenant that He will do marvels such as have not been done in all
the earth, nor in any nation (Ex. 34: 10). As every prophecy that has been fulfilled has
been fulfilled literally, we prefer to take our stand with those who believe that the sea, the
trees, the rivers, and the ships of these trumpet judgments are to be understood literally.