Audio Download

Rev 8:12-13 – Part 2, The Fourth Trumpet

[Study Aired July 28, 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!

Again we want to notice that the seven trumpets are all signifying the beginning of the seven last plagues. The judgment of this fourth trump signifies the beginning of God’s judgment upon our ‘sun’, our source of light and knowledge, and the plagues “fill up the wrath of God” on this ‘sun” part of our lives. This fourth trumpet begins to reveal just how ignorant of Christ we are, how ‘in the dark’ as we live in the light of our ‘sun.’ It begins to reveal how ‘in the dark’ we are while thinking our ignorance and ‘darkness’ is ‘light’ and understanding. Christ has already made us aware of this fourth trump with these words:

Mat 6:22  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light [our ‘sun’] that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

The fourth vial is not limited to “a third part”. Therefore it is only when the Lord’s wrath against the kingdom of our old man is “filled up” in our lives that we are made to see and understand just how complete our apostasy from the doctrines of Christ is:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev 16:8  And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Rev 16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

The symbolism of blaspheming God for being scorched with the Sun is just another way of telling us that the Truth of Christ is beginning to show us just how great the darkness we are in is (Mat 6:23).

What is the moon that is smitten with darkness?

3) What is the ‘moon,’ and why is it “smitten with darkness?”

We have already shown that the moon is called “the lesser light,” and it was placed in the heavens “to rule the night.”

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.

The moon has no light in itself. All the moon can do is reflect some of the light of the sun and “rule the night” with its much “lesser light.” This ‘lesser light’ is displayed in the honor which thieves have for each other and the pride they take in their thievery, and the pride that a stumbling alcoholic takes in his drunkenness and the pride homosexuals loudly proclaim in their perverseness.

At times the earth comes between the sun and the moon, and there is no light at all from the moon. It is then that we realize that the light of the moon is of itself nothing more than darkness. The only ‘light’ the moon has is what it reflects from the Sun.

Once again it is Babylon’s doctrines in us which give us “the lesser light that rules the night” by reflecting a little of the light of the Sun. So the moon signifies our “bondwoman” mother, before we are, by the mercy of God, transformed into “the son of the freewoman.”  Once again, If our light is darkness, Christ is not yet ruling over His throne within us, and we are what very few have ever even heard of. We are “yet carnal… babes in Christ”:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

We have all been in “darkness and the shadow of death,” and at “our wits’ end.” That is an essential part of this revelation which is these seven trumpets.

Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Joh 5:33  Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
Joh 5:34  But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
Joh 5:35  He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
Joh 5:36  But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

Isa 13:10  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Isa 24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Isa 60:19  The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

The sun and the moon are both heavenly bodies. It is obvious that they are being used to signify our thoughts and our consciences while living in Babylon and living under the law. The literal moon has no mind to ‘confound’, and the literal sun has no conscience with which to experience ‘shame.’ Yet this is what Joel was quoting when warning Israel what the Lord would do to them for their stubborn rebellion against Him and His laws and His commandments:

What are “the moon and stars [that are] darkened [by] a third part?”

Like Joseph’s brothers, we think we are honorable men who would never steal a silver cup (Gen 44:8-9), and at the same time it is we who refuse to repent of selling our own brother into Egypt as a slave. That whole story of Joseph signifies us putting Christ on the cross. Like Job, we all think of ourselves as very good men who are “eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and a champion to the widows” (Job 29:13-15). Like all of Christ’s apostles, we all think that we would never, ever deny our Lord (Mat 26:35). Until our moon is smitten and shines not for a third part of it, we are never made aware that it was our sins that killed our Lord, and that we have denied Him with an oath. This is the sun being turned into darkness and the moon into blood before we become the house of God to begin our continuing judgment.

Joe 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Eze 32:6  I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, [even] to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Eze 32:8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.

“Man[kind] shall… live… by every [one of these] words (Mat 4:4). Which of “the things written therein”; which “words of the book of this prophecy [will we dare to] take away?” Even the apostles of the Lord kept the things written in His Word. Peter denied Christ right in front of the Lord as the Lord “looked upon Peter” (Luk 22:61). Peter was brought “to his wits’ end” (Psa 107:27) and “went out and wept bitterly” (Mat 26:75, Luk 22:62):

Luk 22:60  And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.
Luk 22:61  And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luk 22:62  And Peter went out, and wept bitterly [“At (his) wits’ end” (Psa 107:27)].

“All hope of being saved was taken away” from the apostle Paul and Luke when the sun and stars were darkened while they and all those with them were at the mercy of the sea for three weeks:

Act 27:20  And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away [“At their wits’ end” (Psa 107:27)].

We dare not add to nor take away from the Lord’s words which chronicle the ‘experience of evil [which] the Lord has given [us] to humble [us]”:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

The Lord gives us a solemn warning against adding to or taking anything from His Word:

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 [“the resurrection of life” (Joh 5:29)], and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.

What are the stars that are smitten with darkness?

4) What are the stars? We saw in the last verse of chapter one that stars are angels. The angels of these trumpets are God’s elect who “stand before God” and “keep the sayings of this prophecy.”

Rev 8:1  And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

Zec 4:11  Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
Zec 4:12  And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden [oil] out of themselves?
Zec 4:13  And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these [be]? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:14  Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel]. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am [I signify] thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard [them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

We are the ones who “keep the sayings of this book,” and it is we whose stars are smitten with darkness so that they shine not for a third of them. When our stars [the Lord sends us evil lying spirits] are darkened they work against us as we fight against God.

Jdg 5:20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

“The stars obviously signify how the Lord used spirits to direct the events of that war just as he does in every war that has ever been fought.

Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

When we are not in the Lord’s presence it is because He has “put [us] out.” That is when:

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.

When the Lord casts us out, there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”:

Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Whether our stars are darkened or not, it is the working of our Lord.

Psa 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

Jer 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

What is “the day?”

5) What is “the day”, and why is it dark for a third of the day?

“The day” all through scripture typifies the time we are in the light. The sun shines, and gives us light by which we see, in the ‘day’:

Joh 11:9  Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
Joh 11:10  But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

 The ‘day’ is “the light of knowledge”:

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The day being darkened by a third signifies the process of judgment against the darkness of that ‘day’ which our old man considers ‘light.’ That is the symbolism of “one third of the day is darkened.” What we are being told is that this day of God’s judgment upon our old man is beginning, and it is getting dark, as these trumpets of judgment are being blown. It is only through judgment that we learn righteousness” and become “children of the day.”

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, [Your seven seals being opened, seven trumpets being blown, and seven vials being poured out] the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

There it is! The product of the Lord’s judgments, whether in this age on the next is always: “when thy judgments are in the earth, [Your seven seals being opened, seven trumpets being blown, and seven vials being poured out] the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15  That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16  A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17  And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Zep 1:18  Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Our God is “calling light out of darkness.” We will live by these words first. We will be darkened before we become children of the day.

Job 12:22  He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1Pe 2:9  But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

What is night?

6) What is night and why is the night darkened?

“Night,” we must remember, is called “the lesser light.”

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.

The fact that the sun, moon and stars are all darkened, and the day and the night shine not for a third part of each, respectively, is a symbol which signifies how thorough this process of judging the darkness out of which we are being called is. Job 12:22, 2 Corinthians 4:6 and 1 Peter 2:9, all quoted above, are speaking of coming from darkness into light, and they are speaking of coming out of night into day. Night, throughout scripture typifies lack of knowledge, being deceived, living in darkness, ignorance and rebellion against the doctrines of Christ.

Joh 11:10  But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

Christ comes to us and begins His fiery work in us while we are yet in the darkness of deception and rebellion. He comes to us “in the night.” Christ does not come to us after we have decided to repent of our sins, as we have all been taught. It is He who comes to us “as a thief in the night” and then He “leads us [and drags us] to repentance.”

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: helkuo, ‘drag’] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Rom 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth [Greek: ‘ago,’ brings, or drags] thee to repentance?

How is that accomplished?

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Summary

We have seen that the symbols of this fourth trumpet are:

1) the third part, which we have before demonstrated to be the symbol of the process of judgment into which this revelation takes us.

We have seen that:

2) the sun is the symbol of the greater light that rules our day and is the symbol of “the light of the knowledge of… God… in Christ.”

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We have seen that:

3) the moon has no light in and of itself, and is the “lesser light that rules the night,” out of which we are called.

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.

We have seen that:

4) the stars are angels, and we saw that the angels that blow these trumpets, “stand before God,” just like the two candlesticks of Zechariah 4 and Revelation 11. We also saw again the verses in Revelation 19:10 and 22:9 which reveal that these angels are us, if indeed we are those who “keep the sayings of this book.”

We saw that:

5) the day is ruled by the sun and symbolizes the time of understanding and knowledge, which is being darkened by the falsehoods and heresies into which we are all predestined to fall.

Finally we saw that:

6) the night is the time of our walk which is ruled by the lesser light of the moon, and that it is out of this time of our walk that we are being called through the agency of this revelation of Jesus Christ.

Next week we will, Lord willing, begin our study of the last three trumpets of which we are warned:

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!

Here is what we are told of the first of these three trumpets after our sun, moon, and stars are “smitten with darkness so that the third part of them is darkened.” This first ‘woe’ is actually the 5th trumpet.

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment [was] as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts [were] like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads [were] as it were crowns like gold, and their faces [were] as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [ the teeth] of lions.
Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings [was] as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power [was] to hurt men five months.
Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon.