Rev 8:8-9 Part 1, The Second Trumpet a Burning Mountain Cast into the Sea

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Rev 8:8-9 Part 1, The Second Trumpet a Burning Mountain Cast into the Sea

[Study Aired July 12, 2024]

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.

Compare these two verses describing the second trumpet judgment upon the kingdom of our old man, to this verse concerning the second vial which is poured out on the kingdom of our old man:

Rev 16:3  And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

Both the trumpet and the vial turn the sea to blood. The trumpet judgment kills a third of those in the sea. “Every living soul died in the sea” when the second vial is poured out on the kingdom of our old man. It is for our admonition that the holy spirit has used the seven vials to complement and fill up the judgment of the seven trumpets, demonstrating that both are the revelation of the great day of His wrath upon the kingdom of our old man.

Introduction

This second trumpet has within it six more symbols of the things we are to read, hear and keep (Rev 1:3): 1) A great mountain. 2) This ‘mountain’ is burning with ‘fire.’ 3) This ‘mountain’ burning with ‘fire’ is cast into the ‘sea.’ 4) This causes the ‘sea’ to “become as blood.” 5) When the ‘sea’ “becomes as blood” this causes a third part of the creatures which were living in the sea to die, and finally 6) The third part of the ships that were in the sea were destroyed when this mountain burning with fire is cast into the sea.

What is this “great mountain?”

This “great mountain burning with fire” is the kingdom of God within those in whom it dwells.

Mic 4:1  But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

That is the fourth chapter of Micah. Micah four is concerned only with “the last days.” Before “the last days” we are a mountain of a different type. Jeremiah quotes Micah, and Micah repeats what Jeremiah quoted from an earlier chapter of Micah.

Jer 26:18  Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

Here is this same verse in Micah:

Mic 3:12  Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

The plowing and the burning of that great mountain are one and the same thing. We must be broken up and crushed to powder, and our works must be “burned up” before we can bring forth the fruit of the spirit.

As is always the case when dealing with words which we are told are “a two edged sword” (Heb 4:12, Rev 1:6), this “great mountain” has within us a “two-edged” meaning, which is demonstrated by the way the holy spirit uses the phrase “a great mountain” in scripture.

Dan 2:31  Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
Dan 2:32  This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
Dan 2:33  His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

This  Babylonian image has a Babylonian “head of gold” which even today, ‘rides upon’ and heads up all the kingdoms of men (Rev 17:1-5). However, “a stone… cut out without hands” hits the image on its feet and destroys the image, and the stone “becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth.”

Dan 2:35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Control of this world is the ultimate and primary meaning of “a great mountain.” At this time Babylon the Great, holds the reins of the hearts and minds of mankind. In the end of this prophecy, “all in Adam” will become part of a “great mountain”, which is nothing less than “the kingdom of God [which] is within you.”

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Just as “the stone cut out without hands” had to destroy the entire image before it could “become a great mountain and fill the whole earth”, so also is the image itself a type of an evil “great mountain” which is being replaced by the stone that was cut out without hands. Here is the negative application of “a great mountain.”

Zec 4:7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

This brings us to the next symbol in this prophecy:

What is a great mountain burning with fire?

Here are a few verses which give us the spiritual significance  of this “great mountain burning with fire. When we know what this “great mountain” signifies, then we can understand what we must “read, hear and keep” of this great mountain and of its burning.

Exo 3:1  Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
Exo 3:2  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

Here it is just the burning bush. Just a few months later this same mountain itself is “burning with fire.”

Deu 4:11  And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

The mountain of God will burn with fire all that will burn up within it. Anything that can be devoured by its flames will be destroyed.

Jer 34:2  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

Here is this same thought in New Testament words:

Mat 13:40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world [G165: aion].
Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Remember what  Micah and Jeremiah said about “the end of this world?”

Mic 4:1  But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

When at long last “the mountain of the house of the Lord [begins to be] established” within our hearts and minds, that is when our fiery trials will begin.

Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

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?

These seven trumpets signal and signify “the beginning of sorrows”. We were told in Revelation 6 that these trumpets culminate in “the great day of His wrath”, and the holy spirit poses the question… “Who shall be able to stand?”

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?

That is when all men will begin to hate us and to separate us from their company and cast out our name as evil. That is when “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom [“within you”] all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” We just read Matthew 24:6-8, and now we will read the following verses:

Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Mat 24:10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

“This gospel of the kingdom” of God is the “mountain of fire” which cast into our earth preceding “the great day of His wrath”. “The mountain of the house of the Lord” is His words and His doctrines reigning supreme upon our hearts and in our minds. That is what is signified by “a great mountain burning with fire [which] was cast into the sea” of our deceived and rebellious carnal mind, burning out all the false doctrines of Babylon’s harlot daughters. It is truly “an experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13), but it is working a good work within the kingdom of God within us because Christ tells us:

Luk 6:22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you [from their company], and shall reproach [you], and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

Peter also warns us:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the [great mountain burning with] fiery trial[s] which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

This ‘fiery mountain’ is within each of us, and we will be covering this very same event again when we get to chapter 16.

Rev 16:3  And the second angel poured out his vial [“a great mountain burning with fire was cast”] upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

The seven vials “fill up” and finish the process which the seven trumpets begin. The second trumpet kills only “a third” of what lives in our ‘sea.’ The second trumpet kills “all that is in the sea”:

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.

The number three or the fraction “the third part” signifies that a process in taking place. In scripture that process is usually the process of judgment:

Numbers in Scripture – Three, the Process

The second trumpet and the second vial both turn the ‘sea’ into blood and kill those in the ‘sea’.

Christ had already foretold of this plague within us in these words:

Mat 8:12  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Yes, most in this age will not be in that kingdom, but those who are will have lived by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, including having been cast into outer darkness and having wept bitterly and experienced the gnashing of teeth. The story of Peter signifies how this experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13) is first lived in us just as it was first lived in Christ when He Himself sweat great drops of blood.

Luk 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

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.

We have no idea how weak we are without our Lord’s strength being supernaturally given to us at the very moment we need it. Our Lord Himself was strengthened by an angel.

Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Peter had no idea that he was still in Babylon. He thought he had “come out of Babylon” three and a half years earlier. Babylon must be “utterly broken… and burned with fire,” and completely destroyed from within each of us. That is “a great mountain burning with fire.”

Jer 51:58  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

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.

The meaning of the word ‘fire’ does not change from chapter to chapter or from book to book. The ‘fire’ is always “My words…” (Jer 5:14). Those words are a “two-edged sword”, and as such they will always have both a positive and a negative application. What that means is that “a great mountain burning with fire” is a mountain that is burning up the kingdom and the ‘mountain’ of our old man and replacing it. Let’s go back to Daniel 2 and notice that the fiery Word of God destroys the image of the beast and his kingdom while the kingdom of God is being built up in “the whole earth”.

Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

The “stone cut out without hands” which becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth and the “mountain burning with fire” which signifies Christ and His Word and His kingdom, are one and the same. The “mountain burning with fire” is God’s Word, Christ in us, burning up everything that will burn, and as it does so, it is establishing and manifesting that “great mountain of the house of God” which cannot be burned up, and that which is being purified by the fiery words of our Lord. Here are the words of the King of that “great mountain [which will] fill the whole earth.

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Being saved is being purified, and “he himself shall be saved… by fire.” We all endure the fire, gnash our teeth, have sweat as great drops of blood, weep bitterly, and gnaw our tongues for pain. We all “keep the things written therein, and “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” but we do not all do so at the same time. There are two resurrections: “the resurrection to life”, having “judgment [now] on the house of God” and “the resurrection of judgment”, having missed out on the “blessed and holy… first resurrection and being consigned to the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death”:

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920: ‘Krisis’, judgment].

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Our next logical question is

Why is a great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea?

What is “the sea” in scripture? “The sea” is Bible-speak for all flesh of all men before the spirit of God even begins to work within us.

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

This is where all the false doctrines of Babylon flourish. They are sold to those who are in ‘the sea’ which is our very unstable and vulnerable flesh. “The sea” signifies the rebellious, carnal flesh of all men of all time. ‘The sea signifies the place where the beast within us originates:

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Here are two great Biblical types of the organizations of men which keep mankind deceived while thinking they are serving God. The first is Babylon, and this is what we read about Babylon:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

The “many waters” on which the whore sits are the “waters” of “the sea”.

Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Rev 18:19  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

“All who have ships in the sea” and “As many as trade by sea” are all the denominational ministers, who use their denominations and organizations to sell their smooth things and their lies to the masses that make up the sea of mankind. The words of Christ mean nothing when they are compared to the doctrines of men. What sells is all that matters to them, and Christ’s true words have never done anything less than making those who are faithful to His Words to be “hated of all men.”

The second of the two great Biblical types of the organizations of men which do business with their ships in the ‘sea’ of humanity to keep mankind deceived while thinking they are serving God is Tyre. Both Tyre and Babylon are described as being situated on the waters:

Jer 51:12  Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
Jer 51:13  O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

Eze 27:3  And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the seawhich art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.

We will pause at this point and begin our next study with an examination of how Tyre also signifies the universal influence of religion upon the ‘sea’ which signifies all of mankind.

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