When the first angel blows into his trumpet in verse 7 of chapter eight, there will be a hailstorm that’s certain to make headlines. This storm will be like none other: it will have blood and fire mixed within it. The verses tell us that exactly one third of the trees and all of the grass on the earth will burn up. Since we need trees to breathe, the amount of oxygen will drop by one third.
When the second angel blows his trumpet, a gigantic hunk of burning rock will be cast into the sea. This won’t be just any regular meteor or comet. Not by a long shot! This one in particular will take everyone by surprise because it will come out of nowhere. It says that after it hits the earth, a third of the creatures in the sea will die and a third of the ships will be destroyed.
Yuck! If you can’t imagine the overpowering smell that this judgment will create, just go to the nearest dead animal and take a good, long whiff. That should give you a tiny hint of the stench that will cover the earth at that time.
When the third angel blows into his instrument, seeing massive amounts of dead people lying around certain bodies of water should be a pretty good indication of which bodies of water to avoid. Another ginormous, burning hunk of rock will come from nowhere and will break apart as it hits our atmosphere and land in a third of the water causing the water, even the rivers and the fountains to become poisonous. This one will be Wormwood.
By the way, this judgment will be a stinky one too. I imagine that people will be so into themselves they won’t be bothered during this time to bury their dead.
The fourth trumpet judgment in verse 12 will be interesting, to say the least. It says in the Bible that a third part of the moon, a third part of the sun, and a third part of the stars will be stricken from the sky. I can’t even begin to imagine the noise from all of that happening, but it will probably look like giant, invisible beings are playing a game of pool using the sun, moon and the stars as pool balls. Naturally, some of these loose chunks of rock will strike the earth and when that happens, I’ll be glad not to be here.
One third of the days and nights will be dark. So instead of having 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness, there will be eight hours of daylight followed by four hours of utter darkness. The nights will be the same. Vegetation, animals, and mankind will suffer. Rickets, which is a disease that strikes when one is lacking in vitamin D, which our bodies naturally make when exposed to the sun will be on the rise.
Sometime after that, an angel will fly overhead to pronounce the next three judgments, which are so bad that they are called woes. Three judgments are confirmed when he says “Woe, woe, woe.” I believe that everyone will hear this angel and his proclamation. Indeed, the following three judgments will be even uglier than all the judgments before.
When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet in the beginning of chapter nine, an angel with the keys to the bottomless pit falls from heaven. A parallel can be seen in Luke 10:18 where Jesus told his disciples: “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” In verse 11 of Revelation chapter nine, the angel is referred to as Apollyon, which means destroyer. The destroyer is Satan.
Upon opening the pit, there will be so much smoke that whatever’s left of the sunlight will be darkened. Seemingly out of nowhere, scorpion-type creatures will appear and torment mankind. Because it says that the creatures aren’t permitted to harm those who have God’s seal on their foreheads, Christians will be sealed by God just before this judgment begins.
This judgment will be so bad that once stung by these things from the pit of hell, victims—or unbelievers—will be tormented for five straight months. They’ll seek death, but it will elude them. Many will try to kill themselves to end the pain, but they won’t succeed.
The noise that these creatures will make will be tremendous. Not only will these things be shaped like horses, but their wings will sound like horses hooves. Imagine hearing billions upon billions of horses running around your head. That’s what they’ll sound like. These critters will be wearing crowns of gold, signifying power, their faces will be like men, they’ll have long hair and their teeth will be razor sharp. To top it all off, they’ll have breastplates of iron and tales like scorpions. I imagine that each victim will be stung several times and since there’s no telling where they’ll be stung, people will be running around with swollen lips, eyes, bottoms, cheeks, ears and more! What a lovely picture that will be!
Two more woes are coming John tells us in verse 12.
Once the command comes from on high to loose the four angels who are bound in the Euphrates River, one-third of mankind will be killed by two hundred million men on horseback. These aren’t just ordinary men or horses we’re talking about here; these horses will have blue, red and yellow breastplates and heads like lions. They’ll breathe fire and brimstone and smoke from their mouths, and their tails will consist of poisonous snakes. As the snakes are spitting poison in every direction, the mouth of these horses will either vaporize their victim immediately or choke him or her to death with smoke.
Undoubtedly, these things are very real and they’re led by four real-life angels.
Unbelievably, when this judgment ends, those whose names aren’t in the Book of Life won’t repent. They’ll still go about their everyday business of murdering, stealing, worshipping false gods… you name it, they will not stop sinning against the Lord.
Chapter ten describes a mighty angel coming down from heaven. “He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.” (NIV) When this angel shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke; however, when John begins to write what was said, he is told not to write it down. I can’t begin to imagine what will be said, but this prophecy promises to be exciting.
The powerful angel announces that the mystery of God will be accomplished now and then John is ordered to take the scroll and eat it. The angel warns him that though it will taste as sweet as honey, it will be bitter in his stomach. Following after Jesus can be that way too. We take in His Words with gladness, but when it’s time to walk the walk, we tend to become a tad bit bitter.
John is told that he must prophecy about many people, nations, languages, and kings next. Moreover, it’s up to him to ensure that the book of Revelation is given to everyone.
Chapter eleven tells us about the two witnesses who will speak the Word of God for half of the tribulation, 3 ½ years. Because we’re told that they’re in a place “which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” they will be in Jerusalem. My advice: be nice to these guys because they’ll have the power to curse mankind any way they wish, to cause drought, and to turn bodies of water into blood. If anyone tries to harm them, fire will shoot out of their mouths and devour their enemies. I believe that these two men will appear in the beginning of the tribulation and remain where they are until the halfway point.
Because it says in Genesis 5:24 that God raptured Enoch, and the apostle Paul confirms this fact in Hebrews 11:5 and then in 2 Kings 2:11, we can read the exciting account of how the Lord raptured Elijah, some people try to say that they’ll be Enoch and Elijah. However, your guess is as good as mine as to the identity of these two. Since it doesn’t say who these two men will be, I don’t care to speculate.
At the midpoint of the tribulation, God will allow Satan to destroy them. Revelation 11 says that because the world will hate the two witnesses, they’ll leave the two men lying where they dropped dead for three and a half days, all the while, unbelievers the world over will have a gigantic, gift exchanging party. Sort of like a sinister Christmas. At the end of three days, the men will be resurrected and the entire world will be terrified of the men. Following that, a voice will call from heaven: “Come up hither.” And, in front of the entire world, they’ll float up to heaven on a cloud just like Christ Jesus did when He ascended into heaven.
Immediately after that, another earthquake strikes, except this one will only affect the city of Jerusalem. It says in verse 13 that seven thousand people will perish and a tenth part of the city will fall during this earthquake. One good thing that will come of this: the survivors of that city will be so terrified that they’ll give glory to God.
Two woes have passed and another is on the way.
When the seventh seal is opened, John proclaims that there were voices in heaven saying: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (KJV) The elders begin to worship and the temple of God is opened.
I would love to say that the entire world will see and hear what will happen, but I can’t. Verse 19 tells us that another terrible storm will strike.