There are three sections of judgment described in Revelation: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. We believe these judgments are three separate instances of judgment, not retelling the same judgment three times.

The progression that we will see is the first of the trumpet judgments are directed towards creation and the last of the trumpet judgments are directed towards man.

These judgments take place during the Tribulation, this seven-year period of time between the rapture of the church and the return of Christ to establish his 1000-year kingdom, and the judgments get progressively worse.

We have seen that in the throne room, there’s a scroll with seven seals that symbolize the redemption of the world and the only one worthy to open the scroll is Jesus, the Lamb.

“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.”
(Revelation 8:1-2)

Trumpets are given to seven angels, and another angel has a censer which is a container for coals and incense. This angel takes fire from the altar before God’s throne, puts it in the censer, and throws it upon the earth causing thunder, lightning, and earthquakes.

This picture of taking fire from the altar and throwing it upon the earth is reminiscent of the vision that the prophet Ezekiel received.

This description that John sees of this angel pouring out fire from the altar of God in Revelation is meant to be understood as the judgment of God being poured out upon the earth.

We all desire God’s justice, and in the judgments of Revelation, we see his perfect and absolute justice against evil.

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
(Revelation 9:20-21)

What we are talking about here is a world that has completely rejected God. Even in the face of seeing His ultimate power on display, they still choose to worship false gods and worthless things of the world, they still choose to give in to their depravity, and even demonic worship.

There will be some that come to faith in Christ during the tribulation and they will be given a measure of protection during this time as we will see, but by and large, this is the state of the world at the time of the trumpet judgments, complete rejection of God. The fullness of mankind’s evil is revealed and judged.

“Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.”
(Revelation 8:6)

What will follow is each angel blowing their trumpet initiating a specific action. There are seven trumpets and the first four are directed at creation.

“The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.”
(Revelation 8:7-12)

What’s happening, in these first four trumpet judgments, is creation is beginning to be undone. This is a sad thing. God’s beautiful creation is being undone.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
(Genesis 1:1-2)

There was joy and freshness and newness of life in creation as God was building His universe. What a delight it must have been for God in the work of creating. And in Revelation 8 we see the sorrow of the dismantling of what he has made.

This is the cost of sin. Where there is sin there is death and even creation is not immune from its poisonous effects. The story of scripture tells us why we go from this beautiful created world that was very good, to a world that is being broken apart piece by piece. The story is man’s rejection of God.

This is what the results of rejecting God are: destruction and agony.

“Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!””
(Revelation 8:13)

The first four trumpets bring unbelievable misery upon the earth, but the next trumpets take the suffering literally to an otherworldly level as the judgments are directed now at man himself.

The clear main point is that things are getting progressively worse through the Tribulation.

“And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.”
(Revelation 9:1-2)

This star that falls is likely an angel, probably Satan himself, and he’s given a key to the bottomless pit, this is the Greek word for Abyss the home of the demons and it’s where Satan will be imprisoned for a thousand years during the millennial reign of Christ.

“Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.”
(Revelation 9:3-6)

The next several verses go on to describe what these demonic locusts look like, what they sound like, and that they follow Satan the angel of the bottomless pit who is called the Destroyer.

This torment will be horrible and it will go on for five months, inflicting pain upon the world but not allowing anyone to die. People will wish for death but will not find it.

Again we have Old Testament, Exodus imagery as one of the plagues was swarms of locusts that destroyed the Egyptian crops.

“The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come. Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind.”
(Revelation 9:12-15)

When this sixth trumpet is blown a third of mankind will be destroyed. When you combine this with the fourth of mankind that was killed in chapter 6 under the fourth seal, we now have half of the population of the earth destroyed. Absolute devastation.

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, not the Son, but the Father only.”
(Matthew 24:36)

Then in Revelation 9:15, there are four angels, demons most likely, that have been bound and prepared for this hour, this day, this month, and this year. As Jesus said, the Father knows the hour all of this will occur. All of this is under His authority and control.

“The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.”
(Revelation 9:16-19)

This is a massive, demonic army that is unleashed upon the earth to destroy a third of mankind through plagues. You see the progression through these trumpets, the first four were directed at the environment which would make life more difficult, and the fifth trumpet was directed at man but to torment, not to kill. Now with this sixth trumpet demons are released to kill a third of the population.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.”
(Matthew 24:21)

This is hell on earth. For those remaining on the earth during this time, it will be hell on earth. And this isn’t even the worst of the Tribulation, there’s more to come. We believe that as followers of Christ, we will be spared this suffering. That when the church is raptured up we will be gone when all this occurs. But if the rapture happens today we all would have loved ones that would experience this.

Here’s the real scary thing, we’re just talking about the Tribulation. There’s a limit to how long and how bad it will get. God is still a part of creation during the Tribulation. But there is a final destiny for those who reject God that is much worse. A final destiny that is completely apart from God, where His presence isn’t restraining evil and the torment is overwhelming and eternal.

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
(Revelation 9:20-21)

This is how absolute man’s sin is during this time, even in the face of everything the Tribulation will bring they will still harden their hearts and reject God and worship money, power, selfishness, and even demons. This is what it looks like to reject God.

What we see in the judgment of Revelation is the true, wicked, and gross nature of sin. We may be able to fool ourselves that our sin isn’t hurting anything but the truth is that our sin is so vile that it will require the complete destruction of all creation.

If we can understand that, and feel that truth, then we start to get a glimpse of what Jesus was willing to face to save us from that destruction. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The solution to God’s wrath is God’s mercy.

The book of Revelation should motivate us not to be right about dates and timing of events, but to be right with the God of the universe.