Rev 8:12-13 – Part 1- The Fourth Trumpet
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Rev 8:12-13 – Part 1, The Fourth Trumpet
[Study Aired July 26, 2024]
Rev 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
Introduction
The symbols of this fourth trumpet are 1) the third part, 2) the sun, 3) the moon, 4) the stars, 5) the day, and finally 6) the night. If any one of these six items are not symbols, then there is no way in the world for us to “keep the things which are written therein”, simply because we cannot “keep” the literal sun, moon and stars. On the other hand, if the sun and the moon were both somehow “kept” and experienced on the day of Pentecost, then maybe we, too, will now be able to “live by these words proceeding out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4).
So let’s look at the darkening of the sun and moon at that time, and see how Peter and those present at that time kept those words.
Act 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all [ye] that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Act 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is [but] the third hour of the day.
Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
According to the apostle Peter, the “Sun had been turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before” this day of Pentecost had arrived. If Christ is “the light of the world” and the “Sun of righteousness” and if he had been killed, then the ‘Sun’ had certainly been “turned into darkness” as he lay in the grave:
Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
If the ‘moon’ really is the “lesser light” which of itself “has no glory at all”, then all of those who rejected our Lord and wanted to maintain the fading light of Moses’s face and had killed and denied their own Messiah, as we all have, then “the moon [had] been turned into blood” just before “that great and notable day of the Lord” which began on the day of Pentecost when Peter stood up and announced that “the last days had begun… and judgment was now on the house of God.”
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.
2Co 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away:
2Co 3:8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
2Co 3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory [Wonders in heaven above].
2Co 3:10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
“Blood, fire, and vapor of smoke” [Act 2:19] signify the Word of God in the mouths of the Lord’s elect:
Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Psa 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
Psa 18:7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
Psa 18:8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
Psa 18:9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
Psa 18:10 And he rode upon a cherub [His elect (Rev 5:8-10)], and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
Psa 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
Psa 18:12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
Psa 18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
As we will be seeing throughout this revelation of Jesus Christ the “fire and blood” are both mentioned in the first trumpet.
Rev 8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
The prophet, Joel, and the apostle, Peter, are both giving us part of the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is in this book of Revelation, given to us by Christ himself where Joel 2, Matthew 24, Acts 2, and all the prophecies of the Old Testament and the New Testament, are brought together into one cohesive “revelation of Jesus Christ” and revealing how He is being formed within each of us. It is the things written in this prophecy which show us clearly that all these symbols signify an inward work, and are to be read, heard and kept all within (Rev 1:3).
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
The emphasis at both the beginning and the end of this prophecy is on the fact that the time to keep the things written therein is right now. That was also stated in Matthew 24, but it is being drummed into us with a warning here in this prophecy.
Mat 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh:
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
No other prophecy makes clear the present application of the things written therein is right now as clearly as does this “revelation of Jesus Christ.” It opens and it closes with that clear instruction… “for the time is at hand.” It also closes with a warning which makes it super clear that we must never think that there is any part of this revelation that is not for each of us to read, hear, and keep.
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass [NOT 2,000 years down the road]; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Since Christ is the Word, the oft repeated phrases, “It is near, even at the door… the time is at hand… the time is come… Behold I come quickly… Surely I come quickly” all must therefore refer to the fulfillment and keeping of the words of this prophecy in the lives of those who are looking for the revelation of Jesus Christ in their lives as being “at hand… near, even at the door.”
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Christ’s second coming, like the resurrection itself, is a present truth in “earnest” for those who are given to understand that we are to “fill up what is behind of His afflictions, be crucified with Him, be resurrected with Him and walk in newness of life with Him” because “the time is at hand” to do so.
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
It is with the desire to “fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ, that we approach the words of this prophecy, knowing “the time is at hand” to “keep the things written therein.”
Let’s take these symbols one by one and see what the scriptures say they represent in our lives.
What is the third part?
1) The third part. This first symbol is one we have covered in each and every one of our discussions of the first three trumpets.
The third part is mentioned in the first trumpet in verse seven.
Rev 8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
The third part is mentioned again in the second trumpet is in verses eight and nine.
Rev 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
Rev 8:9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
It is mentioned again in the third trumpet in verses 10 and 11.
Rev 8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
Rev 8:11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
In each of these trumpets we saw that “the third part” symbolizes the “little by little” process of the work of judgment that is being accomplish by the Word of God in these seven trumpets.
Exo 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Deu 7:22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Peter informed us in Acts 2 that this is the last days for those who are “the house of God.”
Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:1Pe 4:17 For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?
In the first trumpet, the third part of our trees is burned up by God’s fiery Word. In the second trumpet, the third part of the seas become blood, killing a third part of the creatures in the sea, and destroying a third part of the ships in the sea, when the fiery word of God is cast into the fleshly seas of our lives. In the third trumpet the third part of our own rivers and fountains of water are made bitter by the word of God “burning as a lamp,” just as they are made bitter in our stomach in these verses.
Rev 10:9 And 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.
Rev 10:10 And 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.
Our waters are made bitter by the words of this prophecy, as its words begin to destroy and kill our old man within us. We saw the verses in Ezekiel 31 that likened the king of Tyre to Pharaoh whose “root was by great waters.”
Eze 31:7 Thus was he fair in his [Pharaoh’s] greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
The king of Tyre and Pharaoh are both planted by God Himself. They are both types of us prospering by God’s own decree, in our own “great waters” even as we live our lives contrary to the words and laws of our God.
Jer 12:2 Thou [Lord] hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
Where are the heavens and the earth which are mentioned in all these trumpets?
Psa 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
God’s people are in both the heavens and the earth. It is there that He is judging His people. That judgment is taking place within the heavens and the earth which are both within us, where our God dwells.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Isa 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 13:13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
God is not judging or addressing His “rebellious children” in the physical bodies of the physical heavens. That is not the heavens in which He or His children dwell. He dwells in the heavenly realm within His people.
Eph 2:5 he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us!
Eph 2:6 Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
God “puts His words in our mouths” for the purpose of “planting the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth in His people.” That is what is being done as we read His words concerning His works in the heavens and in the earth in these seven trumpets.
What is the sun?
2) What is the sun and what does “a third part of the sun was smitten” mean?
A darkened sun is signifies “another Jesus and another gospel” with which we replace the True Christ and the true gospel.
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
As is always true with every word of God, the sun, the moon and the stars all have a negative application when they are worshiped as Gods in their physical form, instead of being seen as spiritual types of spiritual realities. We do that today when we worship this planet, and believe that the life of this planet comes from the physical sun. Believing that life on earth depends upon the sun is like believing that the milk and eggs comes from a store. They do not originate at a store. The store is just the channel for getting the milk and eggs to the public. Milk comes from cows, and eggs come from chickens, and the sun and stars come from God (Gen 1).
Jer 8:2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
Eze 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, [were] about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east.
It is the inclination of the natural man to worship the lesser light that rules the night. Yes, they think they are worshiping the Sun who is the greater light, but the sun they worship is in reality the light of “the lesser light.” Until this very day many churches in the Atlanta, Georgia area congregate on top of Stone Mountain, a seven hundred feet high rock east of Atlanta, to observe an “Easter Sunrise Service” thinking they are serving Christ while doing the exact opposite of what He tells us to do:
Deu 12:29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Christ “broke the sabbath” and did not go up to the feast at the appointed time:
Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Joh 7:8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.
Joh 7:9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
Besides all of the very clear commandments and examples we have these words of the apostle Paul to the Galatians:
Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
If we observe an Easter Sunrise service, or any other “day, month, time or year” Paul concludes that all his labors on our behalf are “in vain”, and we are willingly demonstrating that we fear men, families, friends, and the society in which we live, more than we fear the Lord:
Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
What is the positive spiritual reality of the sun? Here it is again:
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Christ is God’s “Sun of Righteousness who arises on, and gives light to the just and the unjust.” We must realize that He does send His sun to rise on the evil and the good before we can understand the meaning of “a third part of the sun was smitten.” We first have to understand that the light that shines on us as carnal babes is the same sun, the same word, but with only the light and understanding that is given to Babylon. It is the beginning of the darkening of even that light which is “the third part of [our] sun [which] is smitten.” The three trumpets yet to sound will gradually blot out the light of our Sun completely and we will “gnaw [our] tongues for pain”:
Rev 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
In the third trumpet, a third of our ships were destroyed. The great evangelical spiritual leaders we looked up to begin to be revealed as being more afraid of men than they are of God. As we see our ‘ships of the sea’ being destroyed and these great men being unmasked, we begin to realize that we ourselves have been in darkness as we are slowly but surely “brought to our wits’ end.” It all leads to our salvation, but we must first “keep the things which are written therein”.
Psa 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
There is no way to short cut this revelation of Jesus Christ in our lives. Each of us must read, hear, and keep the seven seals, seven trumpets, and the seven last plagues of the Lord’s wrath upon the kingdom of our old man. It is not a pleasant experience. It is rather “an experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13, CLV). If we are given to remain faithful to the end, the reward will be much more than worth all the pain:
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Our salvation at the first resurrection will be “the manifestation of the sons of God” who will rule this earth for a thousand years with our Lord, and then we will be honored to become “saviors upon Mount Zion to judge the house of Esau in the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death.
Other related posts
- Until All These Things Be Fulfilled (July 6, 2006)
- The Meaning Of The Moon (July 16, 2010)
- The Book of Joshua - Part 11, Joshua 10:1-15 'I know that You hear Me always…' (May 6, 2023)
- The Book of Joel - Chapter 3:7-16 (October 12, 2024)
- Revelation 8:12-13 (February 12, 2010)
- Revelation 1:16 - Part 2 (November 15, 2008)
- Revelation 1:16 - Part 1 (January 22, 2009)
- Revelation 16:4-9 (October 22, 2010)
- Rev 8:12-13 - Part 1- The Fourth Trumpet (July 26, 2024)
- Is There A Rapture? Who Is Taken And Who Is Left? (October 20, 2008)
- Did the Sun Stand Still? (March 18, 2012)
- Did God Turn Back Time? (June 14, 2014)