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!
13. an angel ] Read, an eagle: or more literally one eagle. But apparently there was a tendency in late Hebrew for the numeral to sink, as in modern languages, into a mere indefinite article; and here, and perhaps in one or two other places, we seem to have it so used in the N. T.: e.g. Mat 8:19; Mat 26:69, and probably Rev 9:18.
through the midst of heaven ] Rather, in mid-heaven: it is a single compound word. It occurs again in Rev 14:6, Rev 19:17, and nowhere else in the N. T.: but in the later classical Greek it is not uncommon for the position of the sun at noonday. Yet the last of the places cited from this book, where all natural birds are said to fly “in mid-heaven,” seems rather as if St John used it of the air, the space between earth and sky.
Woe, woe, woe ] We see by Rev 9:12, Rev 11:14 that three distinct woes are meant, one for each of the three trumpets.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I beheld – My attention was attracted by a new vision.
And heard an angel flying, … – I heard the voice of an angel making this proclamation.
Woe, woe, woe – That is, there will be great woe. The repetition of the word is intensive, and the idea is, that the sounding of the three remaining trumpets would indicate great and fearful calamities. These three are grouped together as if they pertained to a similar series of events, as the first four had been. The two classes are separated from each other by this interval and by this proclamation – implying that the first series had been completed, and that there would be some interval, either of space or time, before the other series would come upon the world. All that is fairly implied here would be fulfilled by the supposition that the former referred to the West, and that the latter pertained to the East, and were to follow when those should have been completed.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. I – heard an angel flying] Instead of , an angel flying, almost every MS. and version of note has , an eagle flying. The eagle was the symbol of the Romans, and was always on their ensigns. The three woes which are here expressed were probably to be executed by this people, and upon the Jews and their commonwealth. Taken in this sense the symbols appear consistent and appropriate; and the reading eagle instead of angel is undoubtedly genuine, and Griesbach has received it into the text.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This verse is but an introduction to the other three angels sounding, declaring that the times which were to follow would be much more full of miseries and woes
to the inhabitants of the earth; by which I understand all those countries which lately were subject to the Roman empire. Others understand the more earthy, unsound, hypocritical part of the church. The
woe is thrice repeated, either to show the greatness of the calamities, or rather correspondently to the number of the angels yet to sound.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. an angelA, B, Vulgate,Syriac, and Coptic read for “angel,” which issupported by none of the oldest manuscripts, “an eagle”:the symbol of judgment descending fatally from on high; the king ofbirds pouncing on the prey. Compare this fourth trumpet and theflying eagle with the fourth seal introduced by the fourthliving creature, “like a flying eagle,” Rev 4:7;Rev 6:7; Rev 6:8:the aspect of Jesus as presented by the fourth Evangelist. Johnis compared in the cherubim (according to the primitiveinterpretation) to a flying eagle: Christ’s divine majesty inthis similitude is set forth in the Gospel according to John, Hisjudicial visitations in the Revelation of John. Contrast”another angel,” or messenger, with “theeverlasting Gospel,” Re 14:6.
through the midst ofheavenGreek, “in the mid-heaven,” that is, inthe part of the sky where the sun reaches the meridian: insuch a position as that the eagle is an object conspicuous to all.
the inhabiters of theearththe ungodly, the “men of the world,” whose”portion is in this life,” upon whom the martyrs had prayedthat their blood might be avenged (Re6:10). Not that they sought personal revenge, but their zeal wasfor the honor of God against the foes of God and His Church.
the otherGreek,“the remaining voices.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven,…. The Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, instead of “an angel”, read “an eagle”; and to “fly” agrees with either of them, and the sense is the same let it be read either way; and this angel may design either Christ, or a created angel, or a minister of the Gospel, as in Re 14:6; did the next trumpet introduce Popery, as some have supposed, Gregory bishop of Rome might be thought, as he is by some, to be the angel here intended, since he gave notice and warning of antichrist being at hand:
saying with a loud voice; that all might hear, and as having something of importance to say, and delivering it with great fervour and affection:
woe, woe, woe; three times, answerable to the three trumpets yet to be blown; and which are therefore called the woe trumpets: and these woes are denounced
to the inhabiters of the earth; the Roman empire, particularly the eastern part of it, which the fifth and sixth trumpets relate unto; and even the whole world, with which the seventh trumpet is concerned:
by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound! the design of this loud cry of the angel is to show, that though the distresses and ruin which the barbarous nations had brought upon the western empire were very great; yet those which would come upon the eastern empire by the Saracens and Turks, under the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets, would be much more grievous; and especially the judgments which the seventh trumpet would bring upon the whole world, when all the nations of the earth will be judged. From the sounding of the fourth trumpet, to the sounding of the fifth, was a space of a hundred and thirty five years, that is, from the deposition of Augustulus, A. D. 476, to the public preaching of Mahomet, A. D. 612.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
An eagle ( ). “One eagle,” perhaps () used as an indefinite article (Rev 9:13; Rev 18:21; Rev 19:17). See 4:7 also for the flying eagle, the strongest of birds, sometimes a symbol of vengeance (Deut 28:49; Hos 8:1; Hab 1:8).
Flying in mid-heaven ( ). Like the angel in 14:6 and the birds in 19:17. (from to be in mid-heaven) is a late word (Plutarch, papyri) for the sun at noon, in N.T. only these three examples. This eagle is flying where all can see, and crying so that all can hear.
Woe, woe, woe (, , ). Triple because three trumpets yet to come. In Rev 18:10; Rev 18:16; Rev 18:19 the double is merely for emphasis.
For them that dwell on the earth ( ). Accusative of the articular present active participle of , is unusual (Aleph Q here and also in 12:12) as in Mt 11:21. There is even a nominative in 18:10.
By reason of the other voices ( ). “As a result of () the rest of the voices.” There is more and worse to come, “of the three angels who are yet to sound” ( ).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
An angel [ ] . For angel read ajetou eagle. Lit., one eagle. The eagle is a symbol of vengeance in Deu 28:49; Hos 8:1; Hab 1:8.
Mid heaven [] . Only in Revelation, here, Rev 14:6; Rev 19:17. It means, properly, the meridian, the highest point in the heavens which the sun occupies at noon; not the space between heaven and earth.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
“And I beheld,” (kai eidon) “And I (John) saw,” perceived or witnessed with my eyes in the revelation of future judgments upon the earth, as revealed at the fourth trumpet sounding.
2) “And I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven,” (kai ekousa henos aetou petomenou en mesouranemati) “And I heard one eagle (angel-like) flying in (the) midheaven area; Not an angel of normal appearance, in flight, bearing a woeful sound and message of doom, swift and certain in swooping down upon its prey.
3) “Saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe,”(Iegontos phone megale ouai, ouai, ouai) “Saying with a megaphone-like voice, woe, woe, woe; This is the beginning of seven woes, occurring under sounding of the fourth trumpet, by the fourth of the seven sounding trumpeting angels, Rev 8:2.
4) “To the inhabiters of the earth,” (tous katoikountas epi tes ges) “To those dwelling upon the earth; Rev 9:12; Rev 11:14-15. These woes come upon earth’s people who have wilfully rejected Jesus Christ, done despite to his grace and mercy, Dan 12:1; Mat 24:21-22.
5) “By reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,” (ek ton loipon phonon tes salpingos-ton trion angelon) “From (out of) the remaining voices of the three angels,” the three of the seven that are yet to sound announcing intense judgment woes.
6) “Which are yet to sound,” (ton mellonton salpizein) “Of those (being) about to trumpet,” to sound forth the three woes or judgments yet to be poured out on the earth, under sounding of the fifth, sixth, and seventh angels trumpets, Rev 9:1; Rev 9:14; Rev 11:14-19.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Strauss Comments
SECTION 29
Text Rev. 8:13
13 And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound.
Initial Questions Rev. 8:13
1.
What does woe mean Rev. 8:13?
2.
In view of our present involvement in a hymanistic, naturalistic, and rationalistic effort to provide a perfect society upon the earth quite distinct from Gods power and purpose, what can we make of the declaration that there is more and worse to come?
Rev. 8:13
There is an innovation between the fourth and fifth trumpet. John has a vision of one flying eagle. What message does the eagle bring? Why the symbol of an eagle? It is an O.T. image for vengeance or wrath in general (see Deu. 28:49; Hos. 8:1; Hab. 1:8). The eagle was also a bird of prey. What is the message of this bird of prey? The one eagle was flying in mid-heaven (mesouranmati this means the meridian or the place the sun occupies at noon.) SAYING WITH A LOUD voice, Woe, Woe, Woe to the ones dwelling (katoikountas present participle the one now dwelling or dwelling at present) on the earth. This vision demands both seeing and hearing (contrast some of Johns visions were seen some heard). The next phrase tells us why the eagle was crying Woe, Woe, Woe. By reason of (literally ek tn loipn from or out of the remaining) the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels being about (mellontn about to) to trumpet. The triple woes stand for the three remaining trumpets. Things have been bad, but they will get worse. Johns message of the progressing forces of destruction is in harmony with Pauls teaching (2Ti. 3:12). There will be more destruction and it affects will be worse than the last.
Review Questions for Entire Chapter 8
Much of the material in this chapter is self-explanatory within its context.
1.
What effect did the great persecution have on the spiritual and general prayer life of the saints Rev. 8:3?
2.
What is the major source of the imagery in Rev. 8:7?
3.
What was destroyed and how extensive were the destructions Rev. 8:8, etc.?
4.
How vital was shipping for the Palestine of Johns day Rev. 8:9?
5.
What does the symbol of Wormwood signify Rev. 8:11? Discuss the appropriateness of the symbol.
6.
How important, chemically speaking, is the light of the sun for the existence and continuity of life (animal, plant, and man Rev. 8:12?
7.
Why was the image of the eagle used in Rev. 8:13?
8.
What was the message of the eagle Rev. 8:13?
9.
Compare and discuss the teaching of Christ (Matthew 24), Paul (especially I and II Thess.) and John in this passage regarding their doctrine of the last things.
Special Study on the word Psuk
(From Verse Nine the Form is Psukas)
This term translated soul has a long history. It is a very important term in the vocabulary of the Christian view of the nature of man. It is completely distorted and misunderstood by many, especially the rapidly growing cult of the Jehovahs Witnesses.
Psuk, throughout the history of its use in extant Greek writers is dominantly a vital term, i.e., a word carrying with it the idea of life, and until Aristotle, who applies the term to plants, life involving some measure of consciousness, or possibility of consciousness.
The term means life, loss of which is death, sometimes of lower animals, but usually of men. This meaning is common from Homer to Xenophon.
Psuk means by metonymy, the joy of life. Euripides uses it in this sense in The Medea (Loeb Classic Library, Harvard University Press, Euripides). The term also means a shade, the soul of man existing after death, or departing from the body in death. Homer uses it with this significance. (See Homer, Illiad, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press.) This use clearly implies that the psuk exists in the body; since otherwise it could not depart from the body, and exist separately.
The term psuk also has the significance of a natural metonymy. The conscious element in man standing for the man himself Sophocles uses it in this sense (Sophocles, extant play Oedipus at Colonus, Loeb Classical Library, op cit.
A new meaning of this term appears in Aristotle. Psuk, here denotes the principle of life in lower animals, plants, and the universe. (Aristotle, volume I, Loeb Classical Lib. op cit.) Platos conception of the psuk is influenced by his doctrine of eidos (ideas or forms). Plato ascribes psuk to the sun and stars, and the universe as well as to man (see Plato, Meno, Phaedo, Republic, etc., Loeb Classical Library, op cit.)
Aristotle devotes three books of his De Anima to a discussion of psuk. It has no existence apart from the body. His rejection of Platonic dualism is inseparably related to his use of this term.
Heraclitus said that the origin of all things is soul (psuk), and with this agrees Diogenes Laertius. According to them, all things are full of souls and demons, and that no one can possibly find out the limits of the psuk.
Polybius uses the term psuk as synonymous with life, loss of which is death. (See his Histories Loeb Classical Library)
It would be no serious problem to show the term in its historical development, but our purpose here is to give a brief sketch and provide bibliography for further study.
It is most important to point out that the N.T. authors use psuk, and that they follow Hebrew usage. The O.T. or Hebrew concept is not the concept that appeared in Judaism after the coming of Hellenism. We can not here even briefly consider the Hebrew psychological vocabulary, but we will provide information for study in our annotated bibliography.
See C. Ryder Smith, The Bible Doctrine of Man; H. W. Robinson, The Christian Doctrine of Man; the Classic Franz Delitzsch, A System of Biblical Psychology, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1867. Unsurpassed by anything today, with one exception, Pedersens Israel.
For the N.T. usage of psuk and its various forms see Moulton and Geden, Concordance to The Greek Testament, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, reprinted 1953, pp. 10221023.
For preSocratic usage see Hermann Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 6th edition by W. Kranz, three volumes, 195152 printing, originally Berlin, 1912.
Psuk often means the self and this follows the common Hebrew (nephesh) manner of expressing the individual ego or self. In contexts where the word means self it would be wrong to translate pseuk (or nephesh) as soul. Jas. 1:21 is one of many places where a soul is the possession of a self. (Literally Wherefore putting away all filthiness and superfluity of evil in meekness receive ye the implanted word being able to save your (humn of you-showing possession) souls (psukas). (See also 1Pe. 2:11; 1Pe. 2:25; Jas. 5:20.)
In the O.T. vocabulary nephesh is used 756 times and ruach 378. (See S. Mandelkern, Veteris Testamenti Concordantiae. Full information in following bibliography.)
We cannot here consider the thesis that Pauls psychological vocabulary was that of Hellenism. For now, we only make this pontification Pauls psychological vocabulary was not that of Hellenism! Pauls and Johns usage is in absolute harmony with the O.T. data. For those so inclined to study this problem see the following bibliography for the tools of research.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lexicons: Greek
Arndt, W. F. and Ginrich, F. W., A Greek-English Lexicon of The New Testament and Other Greek Literature from Inscriptions and Papyri. University of Chicago Press and the Syndics of The Cambridge University Press, second impression (Chicago, 1957).
Jones, H. S. and Mckenzie, R., et al., editors. Liddell and Scott Greek English Lexicon. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, London: 1953, new edition reprinted.
Preusohen, E. Griechisch deutsches Taschenworterbuch zum Neuen Testament, 1948. Must use this with care.
Sophocles, E. A. Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Greek Periods (From B.C. 146 to A.D. 1100) Cambridge 1887, reprinted New York, 1957.
Hebrew Lexicons
Brown, F., Driver, S. R., and Briggs, C. S. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of The Old Testament with an Appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic Based on Lexicon of Wm. Gesenius as translated by E. Robinson. Oxford University Press, London: 1907, reprinted 1959.
Davidson, B. The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon. Samuel Bagster and Sons, London, n.d.
Khler, L. and Baumgartner, W., Hebrew Lexicon to The Old Testament English German Hebrew and Aramaic. Wm. B. Eerdman Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Mandelkern, S. Veteris Testamenti Concordantiae Hebraica Atque Chaldaicae. 2 volumes, Gregory Lounz, New York This is the standard Hebrew Concordance. Nothing else like it in existence in any language.
Secondary Materials
Peake, A. S. editor. H. W. Robinson Essay, (The Psychology of The Hebrew in The People and The Book. Clarendon Press, 1925.
Pedersen, J. Israel: Its Life and Culture, 4 volumes (Vol. I volumes 1 & 2; Vol. II volumes 3 & 4). Blackwells, 1947. He is the internationally recognized scholar on the Psychology of The Hebrews. His discussions are indispensable.
Onians, Richard B. The Origins of European Thought, Cambridge University Press, 1954 all editions; also Rhodes, Psyche. These very scholarly works are anti-Christian in intent and both commit the genetic fallacy. They think that when one shows the origin of a concept that one has also shown the mutational aspects of that particular concept. Both authors think they have shown that the Christian view of soul, body, mind, etc., can be explained via Greek and Roman concepts.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
INTRODUCTION TO THE LAST THREE, OR WOE, TRUMPETS. AN EAGLE UTTERS THE THREEFOLD WOE.
(13) And I beheld . . .Better, And I saw, and I heard a single eagle (not angel, as in English version) flying in mid-heaven, saying with a mighty voice, Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell upon the earth by reason of the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound! The best MS. authority is against the reading angel, and in favour of eagle. It is, then, an eagle, a solitary eagle, that moves across the heaven, and utters the warning Woe! It flies through the meridian sky, and is thus visible to the very horizon. It was an appropriate emblem: high-soaring as the spirit of the seer, the eagle-glance scanned the borders of the earth, and caught sight of the coming troubles, and gave warning; swift and strong as the judgments of God, its very form gave emphasis to the warnings of its voice (Deu. 28:49; Hos. 8:1; and Mat. 24:28). And yet the emblem must bring to the minds of Gods children the care of Him who led Israel, instructed him, and kept him as the apple of His eye, and cherished him as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, and beareth them on her wings (Deu. 32:11). Is it not also a precursor of those eagle-like judgments which fall upon the carcase of dead nations or a dead society?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Annunciation of the three woe trumpets The four creational are succeeded by the three spiritual trumpets.
An angel The reading now adopted by all scholars is an eagle. Alford rejects Ewald’s idea that the eagle is a bird of ill-omen, as also Hengstenberg’s idea that it is the contrast to the dove, (Joh 1:32😉 and holds it to be “the symbol of judgment rushing to its prey, as in Deu 28:49; Hos 8:1; Hab 1:8. We see not why all these Scripture uses do not blend together to characterize the eagle as a symbol. He is here certainly a bird of evil omen, the reverse of the dove, and an announcer of judgment; yet all this does not impute to the present announcer an evil or demoniac character, for a good messenger, a prophet, may be the divine announcer of woe. Hence we venture to suggest that an eagle messenger is not here a strange thing, as the fourth living being (Rev 4:7) was like a flying eagle, the very phrase here used; and as this living being represents not, like an angel, the celestial, but the earthly, so he announces that even the three spiritual trumpets are to bring woes to the inhabitants of the earth.
Midst of heaven A single Greek compound for which the English compound mid-heaven is an exact equivalent. To an English reader the natural idea suggested by the word would be mid-air, the space conceptually half way between sky and earth. But Wetstein shows by copious examples that it means in classic Greek the middle or highest point of the sun’s course in the sky, the zenith. But the same word in Rev 19:17, clearly means the heavens where all the birds fly. The angel in that passage stands in the zenith, and the birds fly in the mid-air below. And in Rev 14:6, it is the region where an angel flies so low as to be supposed to be heard from the earth. It is in these three places alone of the Greek Testament that the word occurs, and we hold it to be unquestionable that St. John uses it in a sense of his own, and not the classic, meaning the mid-space between earth and the apparent sky.
Inhabiters of the earth An adverse descriptive phrase. The earthy announcer utters a menace against earthy men. The woes are for the evil and profane, “who have not the seal of God,” Rev 9:4. The third woe trumpet will be terrible to such, but ultimately glorious for the sealed. The three woes are, 1. The infernal locust demons of Rev 9:1-11; Revelation 2. The war-horse demons of Rev 9:12-21; Revelation , 3. The antichristic dragon of Rev 12:1-12; entailing as consequences the war between Christ and antichrist, resulting in the eternal triumph of the former.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And I saw and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe for those who dwell on the earth, by reason of the other blasts (Gk: voices) of the trumpets which are yet to sound.’
The eagle flying in Heaven presumably refers to the living creature who was in the form of a flying eagle (Rev 4:7). (When a flying eagle is specifically described earlier in the book it is surely unnecessary to look elsewhere). Just as the living creatures were the ones who sent out the four horsemen, so it is one of them who declare the earth’s woes. The last three trumpets are being prepared for, and an indication is given of the awfulness that will result, beside which what has happened before will be as nothing. The woes are upon the ‘earth-dwellers’, a term regularly used in Revelation of non-Christians. The Christians are sealed against them. Eagles are often connected with judgment (Hos 8:1. See also Deu 28:49; Jer 4:13; Hab 1:8). which makes the use of the eagle type ‘living creature’ especially relevant.
The fact that the last three trumpets are described as ‘woes’ in contrast with the remainder stresses their awfulness and the fact that supernatural agencies are more fully involved. It is saying that what has been previously described is as nothing compared with what is now about to be described. Here we have an intensification of all that has been described before, but taking the form of direct spiritual attack.
The Fifth Trumpet Sounds – The First Woe.
The Announcement of the Last Three Trumpets An angel shouts in the midst of heaven to tell John that the last three plagues would be of greater severity than the first four.
Rev 8:13 “Woe, woe, woe” Comments – There are to be three woes, each of which will be associated with the last three trumpets.
Rev 8:13 Comments – The angel’s statement in Rev 8:13 implies that the last three trumpets will be more intense than the previous.
Rev 8:13. I beheld, and heard an angel flying through, &c. Notice is here proclaimed by an angel, that the three other trumpets will sound to still greater and more terrible plagues, and are therefore distinguished from the former by the name of woes. They are not woes of a light or common nature, but such in the extreme; for the Hebrews having no superlative degree, in the manner of other languages, express their superlative by repeating the positive three times, as in this place. The design of this messenger is to raise our attention to the following trumpets; and the following we shall find to be more strongly marked than the foregoing. The foregoing relate chiefly to the downfal of the Western empire; the following relate chiefly to the downfal of the Eastern empire. The foregoing are described more succinctly, and contain a less compass of time; the following are set forth with more particular circumstances, and are of longer duration, as well as of larger description. Mr. Burton observes, “The seven trumpets fall next under our consideration; which, I conclude, are governed by the above-mentioned apocalyptical number, seven, four of which seem to me to have already sounded; but the three remaining ones, called the woe trumpets, I look upon as yet to be sounded; though we seem hastening towards them. For, however the imaginations of men, warmed with apious zeal for solving all scriptural difficulties, may have induced them to believe any past events to have answered to the apocalyptical descriptions; the imagery appears to me too strong for any one event that has yet happened, properly to be applied to. I am therefore inclined to think, that the fifth, sixth, and seventh are yet to sound. What induces me to think so, is, that in the vision of the prophet Habakkuk, a similar description seems to be given to this dreadful one now under our consideration; which has an apparent reference to those events that are to take place in the very last days.Hab_1:6 . For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs. Rev 8:7. They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Rev 8:8. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. Rev 8:9. They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. Rev 8:10. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold, for they shall heap dust, and take it. This description must awaken our attention, and seems to answer to the tremendous warriors of this chapter. But, bad as the bulk of the giddy multitude may at this time appear, the bottomless pit, I hope, is not yet opened upon us; since, most probably, that will be a time dreadful beyond the power of imagination to conceive, and may be that very hour of temptation, which our Saviour has declared shall one day come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth, and from which Christ has most graciously promised to those who have kept the word of his patience, that he will keep them, Rev 3:10 . Whereas, although, through the great prevalency of sin, the multitude of the wicked already, at times, seem to ride triumphant; yet, God be thanked, there are not wanting many individuals, who are ready to stand forth in defence of religion, and many, who, in their words and works, set forth all its praise.” See the Appendix to the Revelation, for other views of this subject.
Inferences and REFLECTIONS.While we prepare ourselves, with silent admiration, to attend the discoveries here opening upon us, let us rejoice in the symbolical representation of the intercession of Jesus, our great High-Priest, shadowed forth, in so beautiful and expressive a manner, by the angel standing at the altar with the golden censer, and much incense. Behold, how the prayers of all the saints ascend before God with acceptance! See the method we are to take, if we desire that ours should be acceptable to him; and, encouraged by such a view, let us offer them up, not only with humility, but with cheerful confidence, though we are conscious of their great unworthiness.
To what wretchedness are they exposed, who oppress and injure those, that, through their great Representative, have such an interest in the court of Heaven! The hail and the fire shall, at the divine command, powerfully plead their cause; the mountains shall be torn from their bases, and cast into the middle of the sea; the sun, the noon, and the stars shall be darkened in their orbs, and all nature be thrown into convulsive agonies, ere God will suffer his faithful saints to be overborne; or fail to punish, with becoming severity, those who continue to persecute or evil entreat them.
Let such awful representatives as these remind us of the sovereign almighty power of God, whom all the hosts of heaven worship with reverence; and at whose awful word, when he gives forth his voice, hailstones and coals of fire descend (Psa 18:13 .); at whose rebuke the pillars of heaven tremble, and the foundations of the earth are shaken; who speaks to the sun, and it shineth not; who darkeneth the moon, and sealeth up the stars. Who would not fear thee, O thou King of nations, so terrible in the judgments which thou executest on the earth? Deliver us, we entreat thee, from the multiplied and accumulated miseries of those who continue obstinately to oppose thee; and conduct us at length to thy heavenly presence; though it should be through days of darkness, and waters of bitterness, and seas of blood! Amen.
Rev 8:13 . An eagle flying in the zenith proclaims, by a threefold annunciation of woe, the three trumpets still remaining. [2506]
. Cf. Rev 5:11 , Rev 6:1 .
. Concerning the indefinite meaning of the , [2507] cf. “Winer, p. 111. An eagle is mentioned, not an angel in the form of an eagle. [2508] That it is an eagle which appears as the harbinger of the still impending woe, has its foundation, not in the “prophecy” of Christ, Mat 24:28 , for that passage contains no prophecy at all, but a proverbial assertion of the moral law upon which the threatening prophecies of the Lord depend, nor is it to be regarded as an antithesis to the dove, Joh 1:32 ; [2509] nor does the eagle come into consideration as a bird of omen, [2510] for, apart even from the unchristian character of the idea, the evil omen does not lie in the eagle as such. But it is in the same way appropriate that the far-sounding, menacing cry of the mighty, dreadful eagle be raised, in which the irruption of devastating enemies is compared with the flight of the eagle to its plunder. [2511]
-g0- -g0- -g0- . Cf. Rev 14:6 , Rev 19:17 . designates the sun’s position in its meridian altitude; hence is first of all the astronomical relation which is occasioned by the sun’s standing in the zenith. [2512] According to this, the expression may designate the [2513] as the place for the of the sun, but not the space between the vault of heaven and the earth. [2514] The eagle flies to the meridian altitude of heaven, because the idea is thus given, that it can be seen and heard of all to whom its message pertains.
, as Rev 6:10 .
. . . The , for the same reason as Rev 8:11 . [2515]
. The sing, is not distributive, [2516] but by its close connection with shows itself to be one conception.
[2506] Cf. Rev 9:12 , Rev 11:14 .
[2507] Rev 19:17 .
[2508] Eich., Ew., Stern, De Wette, Bleek, etc. Cf. Critical Notes.
[2509] Hengstenb.: “The eagle is sent to those who do not want the dove to descend upon them.”
[2510] Ewald.
[2511] Deu 28:29 ; Hos 8:1 ; Hab 1:8 . Cf. Hengstenb.
[2512] Eustathius, on Il ., ix. 68:
. In Wetst.
[2513] De Wette.
[2514] Ew. i.
[2515] Cf. Mat 18:7 : .
[2516] Beng.
Who or what the eagle properly is, cannot be properly decided here, as in Mat 24:28 . Yet even here allegorical explanations are found. Beda: “The voice of this eagle daily penetrates the Church through the mouths of eminent teachers.” C. a Lap.: [2517] “Some prophet or other to be expected at the end of the world.” According to Joachim, the eagle is Gregory the Great; according to N. de Lyra, John himself; according to Zeger, the Apostle Paul. Herder, etc, also Bhmer and Volkm., propose the eagle of the Roman legions.
[2517] Cf. Rib.
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!
What is said in this verse hath no connexion with the former, neither doth it form a part of the trumpet proclamations. It is not one of the seven Angels who had the seven trumpets, but another angel which John beheld flying through the midst of heaven, that as through the midst of the church. And the design of his embassy seems to have been to call up the more awakened attention of the Apostle to what was coming on under the remaining dispensations, which were to take place when the other three angels should sound their trumpets The Angel intimates this, by thrice repeating woe to the inhabitants of the earth, when these awful times came on, which should take place, as they sounded their trumpets. And awful indeed they have been, still are, and must be until the whole predictions contained in them are accomplished! We, who stand upon the hill of time which hath been trodden over by the generations since then, and before us, in ascending the rising ground of observation, and now look back, and behold in those already accomplished, in the correspondence between the prediction and the event, can and do see enough to lament; and much more to deplore in what yet remains to be fulfilled. And the generation now which looks on, if taught by grace, in viewing the whole that is past, compared with the prophecies here recorded by divine inspiration, may be well assured that every tittle must and will be accomplished.
It doth not fall within the compass of this chapter to enter upon the subject. This would be to anticipate it; and it will more properly meet our attention, as we prosecute the history of the trumpets, in their due time and place. But, before we finish the present chapter, I would take occasion, from what the angel here said (whom John beheld flying through the midst of heaven,) to observe, that as the times of the three last trumpets, evidently take in, not only the whole period of centuries, which have already run out, from the moment the fifth trumpet was sounded, to the present hour, but to the very end of time (for the seventh is not yet sounded, neither will, until it ushers in the kingdom of Christ, as is related, Rev 11:14-15 .) it will be our wisdom to consider the subject, with an eye to the Lord, more especially from the great interest in which the Church is included, in the events coming on, as well as our own personal concern. There cannot remain the shadow of a doubt but that we are now under the sixth trumpet. It hath been a long sounding trumpet of woe indeed in the Church. Many hundreds of years have passed since it opened, and no man can ascertain how much longer it will continue. It is blessed to consider, that, when ended, all the powers of antichrist will end with it: and that blessed period will come on when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign forever and ever. In the mean time it will be our mercy to watch a gracious God, as a gracious God is everlastingly watching over his people for good. I know the thoughts I think towards you, said the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end, Jer 29:11 . Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, Isa 3:10 .
But, Reader with these things in view, and in the fullest assurance a faith, knowing that they must be so, allow me to say one word in closing up this chapter. We behold here an Angel pronouncing, woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other voices of, the trumpet of the three Angels which were then remaining to be sounded. Most evidently the last of these trumpets hath not yet sounded. The two great powers which oppose Christ’s kingdom, both in the East, and in the West, are still in their plenitude. The latter did indeed lately seem to be somewhat tottering; but is now more than recovered from his halting. And indeed great changes are to be expected according to scripture prophecy before the total fall. The death of the witnesses which is to take place before that event plainly shows that his termination is not yet, Rev 11:8-9 . But what I would in this place beg to remark is that after the second woe trumpet is said to be past, the third woe (not the seventh trumpet) is said to come quickly. And this is said, before the seventh Angel is said to sound. See Rev 11:14 .
From hence it should seem abundantly clear and evident, that under the sixth trumpet, or at the close of it, there is to be the third woe. And whoever considers the subject attentively, must conclude that so it will be. I am not, in the very nature of things, (unless the judgments indeed are now at the door,) likely to live to see it going fast as I now am the way of all the earth. But without a spirit of prophecy (for there can need none more than is before us) great commotions, such as the third woe intimates, may be supposed likely to take place before those two Anti-Christian powers of Mahometanism and Popery are destroyed. And however some men may please themselves with the hope that the world is evangelizing, the Holy Ghost speaketh expressly, and speaketh to the reverse: in the latter time there will be great departures from the faith, 1Ti 4:1 . The Lord prepare his people for what he is preparing for them! Who that considers the real state of vital godliness in the present day but must be concerned for the eventual consequence. If there was ever a period more suited for that solemn question of our Lord’s one than another, the present is eminently so: when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith in the earth, Luk 18:8 .
REFLECTIONS
MY Soul! behold the grace of thy God, when at opening of the seventh seal, and silence took place in the Church, before the new circumstances of sorrow began, Jesus will be seen at the Altar, in his High Priestly Office, with his golden Censer! Was it not to teach the Church, both then, and now, yea, in all ages, that under every seal opened, every trumpet sounded, every vial poured out, He is unceasingly engaged, for all his redeemed ones, and not a moment intermits his care, but is forever carrying on the whole purposes of his unchangeable priesthood? Oh! what a blessed view was here opened, for the everlasting consolation of the Church. Ye redeemed of the Lord! Ye Priests of my God! Ye Ministers of the sanctuary! never cease to shew the Church Jesus in this endearing office, as always engaged for his people. And do ye follow up petition after petition, neither keep silence, nor give him rest, until he hath made his Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Oh! the preciousness, from this blessed view of our God, that Jesus it is, at the Altar, which offers up in his incense, the prayers of his saints; and both the persons and offerings of his people ascend before God out of this Almighty Angel of the Covenant’s hands!
Lord! thy Church finds cause to bless thee to this day, that amidst the destructions which have followed those trumpets, Jesus hath yet a seed to serve him, which are counted to the Lord for a generation, And, though heresies still abound, yea, are in various instances, increasing in the earth; yet the Lord knoweth them that are his. Oh! for grace, to be found faithful, and to live above the reproach of men, by living upon the faithfulness of God in Christ. And then, while all the woe trumpets have been, or now are sounding, and our God shall show wonders above, and signs in the earth, beneath, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke, Jesus will own them whom he hath sealed; and the world shall know whose they are, and to whom they belong, when that great and notable day of the Lord shall come!
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!
Ver. 13. And I beheld and heard an angel ] , or, an eagle, as some copies read it. See Trapp on “ Rev 8:12 “ Gregory the Great seems to be pointed at, who is said to be the worst of all the popes that went before him, and the best of those that came after him. Hence he is brought in flying between heaven and earth. And that he cried with a loud voice; pointing at and painting out that to be Antichrist that should challenge to himself the title of universal bishop, and had a host of priests ready to follow him. Hic prope est, et in foribus, said he, and he said right; for his immediate successor, Boniface III, fulfilled the same that he had foretold.
13 .] Introduction of the three remaining trumpets by three woes . And I saw and heard (the construction is zeugmatic) an ( indefinite, as in reff.: see Winer, edn. 6, 18. 9. Or it may carry meaning a single or solitary eagle, as might also be the case in one of the reff., ch. Rev 18:21 , see there) eagle (hardly to be identified with the eagles of Mat 24:28 ; for 1) that saying is more proverbial than prophetic: and 2) any application of that saying would be far more aptly reserved for our ch. Rev 19:17 . Nor again is the eagle a bird of ill omen, as Ewald: nor a contrast to the dove in Joh 1:32 , as Hengstb.: but far more probably the symbol of judgment and vengeance rushing to its prey, as in Deu 28:49 ; Hos 8:1 ; Hab 1:8 . Nor again is it to be understood as an angel in eagle’s shape: but a veritable eagle in the vision. Thus we have the altar speaking, ch. Rev 16:7 ) flying in mid-heaven (i. e. in the south or noon-day sky where the sun reaches the meridian, for which is the word. Wetst. cites from Eustath. on Il. . 68, , . See his many other examples. So that the word does not signify the space intermediate between heaven and earth, but as above. And the eagle flies there, to be seen and heard of all. I may also notice that the whole expression favours the true reading as against the substituted ) saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell (the government of an accus. after is also found in ch. Rev 12:12 ) upon the earth (the objects of the vengeance invoked in the prayers of the martyrs, ch. Rev 6:10 ; the ungodly world, as distinguished from the church) by reason of (so E. V., well: denoting, as in Rev 8:11 , the source whence the woe springs) the remaining voices of the trumpet (the sing, is used generically: the three voices all having this common to them, that they are the sound of a trumpet) of the three angels who are about to blow .
Rev 8:13 . An ominous introduction to the last three trumpets. An eagle, here as in Apoc. Bar. lxxvii. 17 22, lxxxvii. 1 ( cf. Rest of Words of Bar. 7.) a messenger and herald of catastrophe (its associations are punitive and bodeful, Deu 28:49 , Hos 8:1 , Hab 1:8 , Eurip. Rhes. 528 536) flies in the zenith, i.e. , swooping exactly over the heads of men. For the eagle (Simurgh in Zoroastrianism) as the servant of Deity in ancient (Syrian) mythology, see E. Bi. “Cherub,” 8, and Acts of Thomas (Hymn of Soul, 51). “Woe for the rest of the trumpet voices.” The first woe finishes at Rev 9:12 , the second (after the interlude of Rev 10:1 to Rev 11:13 ) at Rev 11:14 , the third apparently at Rev 12:12 though as usual one series of phenomena melts irregularly at the close into another.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 8:13
13Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
Rev 8:13 “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying” The KJV has “angel” instead of “eagle,” but this comes from a late ninth-century Greek manuscript. Both Sinaiticus () and Alexandrinus (A) have “eagle.” This can refer to: a vulture (or eagle), which often was a symbol of slaughter (cf. Eze 17:3; Hab 1:8; Mat 24:28; Luk 17:37)
1. an allusion to the judgment scene in Eze 39:17-20; Hos 8:1
2. an allusion to the intertestamental apocalyptic book of II Baruch 77:21-22, in which a vulture sends a message to God’s hurting people
3. the Roman army standards which were topped by eagles
The “flying in midheaven” is probably another allusion to birds of prey soaring above the earth (cf. Rev 14:6; Rev 19:17).
“Woe, woe, woe” This possibly corresponds to the last three trumpets which are to come (cf. Rev 9:12; Rev 11:14; Rev 12:12); it may also be a symbol of intensity (like “holy, holy, holy” of Rev 4:8). In Hebrew a three-fold repetition is a superlative (cf. Holy, holy, holy of Isa 6:3). In the OT “woe” marks a certain poetic lament related to death and judgment.
“to those who dwell on the earth” This phrase refers to the unredeemed (cf. Rev 3:10; Rev 6:10; Rev 11:10; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:2).
Revelation 9
beheld = saw, as Rev 8:2.
an = one.
angel. The texts read “eagle”. Greek. aetos. Elsewhere, Rev 4:7; Rev 12:14. Mat 24:28. Luk 17:37. Compare Deu 28:49. 2Sa 1:23. Isa 40:31. Hos 8:1. Hab 1:8.
through = in. Greek. en. App-104.
the. . . heaven. Greek. mesouranema. Elsewhere, Rev 14:6; Rev 19:17.
loud = great.
to . . . earth = to them dwelling (see Act 2:6) on (App-104) earth.
by reason of. Greek. ek. App-104.
other. App-124.
yet = about.
13.] Introduction of the three remaining trumpets by three woes. And I saw and heard (the construction is zeugmatic) an ( indefinite, as in reff.: see Winer, edn. 6, 18. 9. Or it may carry meaning-a single or solitary eagle,-as might also be the case in one of the reff., ch. Rev 18:21, see there) eagle (hardly to be identified with the eagles of Mat 24:28; for 1) that saying is more proverbial than prophetic: and 2) any application of that saying would be far more aptly reserved for our ch. Rev 19:17. Nor again is the eagle a bird of ill omen, as Ewald: nor a contrast to the dove in Joh 1:32, as Hengstb.: but far more probably the symbol of judgment and vengeance rushing to its prey, as in Deu 28:49; Hos 8:1; Hab 1:8. Nor again is it to be understood as an angel in eagles shape: but a veritable eagle in the vision. Thus we have the altar speaking, ch. Rev 16:7) flying in mid-heaven (i. e. in the south or noon-day sky where the sun reaches the meridian, for which is the word. Wetst. cites from Eustath. on Il. . 68, , . See his many other examples. So that the word does not signify the space intermediate between heaven and earth, but as above. And the eagle flies there, to be seen and heard of all. I may also notice that the whole expression favours the true reading as against the substituted ) saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell (the government of an accus. after is also found in ch. Rev 12:12) upon the earth (the objects of the vengeance invoked in the prayers of the martyrs, ch. Rev 6:10; the ungodly world, as distinguished from the church) by reason of (so E. V., well: denoting, as in Rev 8:11, the source whence the woe springs) the remaining voices of the trumpet (the sing, is used generically: the three voices all having this common to them, that they are the sound of a trumpet) of the three angels who are about to blow.
Rev 8:13. ) Others, .[94] But see App. Crit. Ed. ii. on this passage. The Italian Version, and other most ancient authorities, widely apart from each other in age and clime, and in very great numbers, clearly vindicate the reading from all suspicion of a gloss. Another angel flying in the midst of heaven, ch. Rev 14:6, altogether refers to the present passage: but the reading does not destroy this reference. The very appellation, an eagle, and not an angel, in this former passage, shows that it is not an angel, in the proper sense of the expression, who is meant; and the reference in the other passage to this former one teaches, that by the word another angel is denoted, an illustrious herald belonging to the human race, as distinguished interpreters acknowledge.-) is a verbal, derived from the verb , which is said respecting a star which has risen three signs of the zodiac before the sun, and thus possesses the meridian, as Tzetzes demonstrates in his Exegesis of Hesiod, on the passage,
[94] AB Vulg. Memph. Syr. support . Rec. Text, without good authority, .-E.
:
. 607, 608.- , woe, woe, woe) About the end of the fifth century there were not wanting presages of future calamities. The second woe is more disastrous than the first; the third than the second.- , upon the earth) D. Lange says: Bengel not only refers to past times the three woes, which refer to the vengeance yet to come upon the beast and the whore, but he also recalls the beginning of the papacy itself to the third woe, and so declares that the third woe has come a thousand years ago, and more than this. But when it is said of the second woe, Rev 11:14, The second woe is past; behold the third woe cometh quickly: and immediately after the seventh trumpet follows, which refers to the completion of the judgments, and the enlargement of the kingdom of Christ, it can easily be imagined that the third woe cannot be thrown back so far.-Epicr. p. 406. I reply: The three woes have reference to the inhabiters of the earth; and I have shown that they have come long ago, and that the third woe has come, not indeed a thousand years ago, but yet almost eight hundred. The trumpet of the seventh angel, after the second woe is past, first sets forth things which are most desirable: then it describes the third woe; and when that is exhausted, a completion of the judgments is made and an enlargement of the kingdom of Christ. The interpretation of the Divine of Halle changes this order; and, without any cause, restricts the three woes denounced against the inhabiters of earth to the last times of the enemies; and accounts as the second woe the rage of the beast, which is really in the third woe. By which method the well-arranged order of the text is violently disjointed.- , of the trumpet) The singular number, put distributively for the plural, of the trumpets.
Rev 8:13
SECTION FIVE
SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH
AND SIXTH TRUMPETS
Rev 8:13 to Rev 9:21
1. THE WOE TRUMPETS ANNOUNCED
Rev 8:13
13 And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice,–The King James Version has “angel” instead of “eagle.” This is a question of textual criticism which it is unnecessary to give here. The true facts may be derived from either one. Angels have been the usual agents through whom announcements have been made in the visions; but an eagle in the symbol may be the appropriate emblem to proclaim the coming woes. Its cry may have been especially significant for the purpose. The word “woe” sets the last three trumpets off in a separate class from the four preceding.
Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound.–Doubtless the “earth” as John understood it was the Roman Empire. The woes promised then would affect those who dwelt in some part of that empire. Of course all classes, saints and sinners, would be affected more or less. The general results can be seen, though we may not always be able to find definitely what particular thing may be designated by every feature of the vision. Of course the preceding trumpets signified “woes” too, but these three indicated some that were distinctly different.
Sermon on Rev 8:1-13
The Seven Thunders
Brent Kercheville
The Seventh Seal (Rev 8:1-5)
Revelation 8 begins with the seventh seal opening. When the seventh seal was opened by the Lamb, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. What does this silence represent? In the prophets there is a call for silence because God is acting in judgment. Notice Zec 2:13 – Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. In Habakkuk 2 judgment is pronounced and the images of judgment conclude with a call for silence. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him (Hab 2:20). God is acting. Sit silently and watch.
The scene then reveals seven angels who stand before God. We have not read about these seven angels before. Jewish apocalyptic writings declare that there were seven angels before the throne and even name these angels (1 Enoch 20:2-8). Each of the angels are given a trumpet and these trumpets will bring judgment on the earth. Verses 3-5 depict a beautiful picture. Another angel takes incense and puts it in his censer. The smoke of the incense rises up to God. The prayers of all the people of God are shown rising before God. The incense is a symbol showing that their prayers are acceptable to God. Then the angel takes the censer, fills it with fire from the altar, and throws it on the earth. God is responding to the prayers of all the saints. God in action are often depicted as thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and earthquakes (see Mount Sinai; Exo 19:16-19). Therefore, these judgments are in response to the prayers of the holy people of God.
The First Trumpet (Rev 8:6-7)
The first angel blows his trumpet and hail and fire mixed with blood are thrown upon the earth. The imagery is similar to the Egyptian plague of hail and fire (Exo 9:22-25). Hail and fire are common symbols of Gods judgment. With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him; and I will pour down torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur, upon him and his troops and the many peoples that are with him. (Eze 38:22 NRSV) Sodom and Gomorrah along with the cities of the plains were destroyed by raining fire and sulfur.
Notice the destruction that occurs when this first trumpet sounds. Only one-third of the earth is burned up. Only a third of the trees and green grass are burned up. Saying that a third is destroyed is Gods way of saying that a portion are destroyed. Notice another place in prophecy where God speaks of thirds in judgment.
In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, They are my people; and they will say, The LORD is my God.’ (Zec 13:8-9 ESV)
These are images of partial judgments. In each of the first four trumpets we will read that only one-third are destroyed. These partial judgments were predicted in the first four seals of Revelation 6. Now those partial judgments are occurring.
The Second Trumpet (Rev 8:8-9)
The second angel blows his trumpet and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. Then a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died and a third of the ships were destroyed. This image of judgment is also patterned after the Egyptian plague when the Nile was turned to blood (Exo 7:20-21). A great mountain is symbolic for the overthrow of a kingdom. In speaking about Babylons coming judgment, Jeremiah prophesied:
Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares the LORD, which destroys the whole earth; I will stretch out my hand against you, and roll you down from the crags, and make you a burnt mountain. (Jer 51:25 ESV)
Remember also the first prophecy of Daniel with the large statue of different metals. The stone that strikes the image becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth (Dan 2:35) which represents the kingdom of God (Dan 2:44). This image is not symbolizing a burning volcano or anything like that. A nation is being judged. This trumpet also affects a third, continuing to show that partial judgments are unfolding against this nation.
The Third Trumpet (Rev 8:10-11)
When the third trumpet sounds, a great star falls from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. The name of the great star that fell is Wormwood. Wormwood was a plant with a bitter taste found in Palestine. This bitter plant is used a few times by the prophets. In speaking about Jerusalem, Jeremiah declared these messages.
Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink. (Jer 9:15 HCSB)
Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: I am about to feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land. (Jer 23:15 HCSB)
Jeremiah used the picture of wormwood to show that the punishment fit the crime. The suffering will be bitter because their bitter wickedness. Jeremiah spoke of the prophets polluting Israel with idolatry. Therefore God was polluting them with bad water, that is, with the bitterness of suffering. The springs of water is an important judgment and is commonly used in the Old Testament because most of Judahs water came from natural springs. Therefore, bitter suffering is coming upon earth. Rev 8:11 reveals that many people would die from these judgments.
The Fourth Trumpet (Rev 8:12)
The fourth trumpet sounds and a third of sun, moon, and stars are struck so that a third of their light is darkened. We learned in Rev 6:12-14 that the sun no longer shine, the moon becoming like blood, and the stars falling from the sky are symbols of final judgment on a nation. In Rev 8:12 we again see only a third of these celestial bodies struck. Therefore, this is not yet the final judgment but only a partial judgment, the great tribulation, affecting part of the earth. The point of the first four trumpets shows devastation coming on part of the earth. This is the great tribulation, but not the final judgment, as a nation receiving Gods wrath for its sins.
An Eagle (Rev 8:13)
Then John hears an eagle flying overhead and crying out with a loud voice three more woes are to come. If you thought the first four trumpets were full of terrible judgments, the final three trumpets are worse. Woe to those who live on the earth because the rest of the trumpets are about to sound.
The eagle is an image used by God as a harbinger of doom. The Old Testament uses the eagle as a picture of destruction.
The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. (Deu 28:49-50 ESV)
In Ezekiel 17 we read a parable of two eagles. The message of the parable was that Babylon was the eagle destroying Jerusalem. Ezekiels prophecy rests on Gods promise made at the inauguration of the nation of Israel. God promised curses on Israel if they disobeyed. One of the images of this curse is in Deu 28:49 that a foreign nation would destroy them, swooping down like an eagle. John in Revelation 8 sees an eagle flying overhead declaring woes upon the nation as the rest of the judgments are about to be executed.
LESSON 14
SOUNDING THE TRUMPETS
Read Rev 8:1 to Rev 9:21
1. What followed the opening of the seventh seal? Ans. Rev 8:1.
2. How many angels stood before God and what was given to them? Ans. Rev 8:2.
3. Where did another angel stand and what did he do? Ans. Rev 8:3.
4. What ascended before God from the angel’s hand? Ans. Rev 8:4.
5. What do the bowls of incense represent? Ans. Rev 5:8.
6. What followed when the angel cast fire on the earth? Ans. Rev 8:5.
7. Then what did the seven angels prepare to do? Ans. Rev 8:6.
8. Tell how the earth was affected by the sounding of the first angel. Ans. Rev 8:7.
9. What happened to the sea, to the creatures in the sea, and to the ships when the second angel sounded? Ans. Rev 8:8-9.
10. What was affected by the sounding of the third angel? Ans. Rev 8:10.
11. What was the name of this star? Ans. Rev 8:11.
12. What was smitten when the fourth angel sounded? Ans. Rev 8:12.
13. The sounding of the other three trumpets was prefaced by what announcement? Ans. Rev 8:13.
14. What fell from heaven when the fifth angel sounded? Ans. Rev 9:1.
15. What did this fallen star do? Ans. Rev 9:2.
16. What came out of the smoke from the abyss? Ans. Rev 9:3.
17. What were the locusts forbidden to harm? Ans. Rev 9:4.
18. How were they to punish those who “have not the seal of God on their forehead?” Ans. Rev 9:5-6.
19. Describe the locusts. Ans. Rev 9:7-10.
20. Who was the king of these locusts? Ans. Rev 9:11.
21. How many woes were then past and how many were to follow? Ans. Rev 9:12.
22. Tell of the death and destruction that followed the sounding of the sixth angel. Ans. Rev 9:13-19.
23. What of those who were not killed with these plagues? Ans. Rev 9:20-21
E.M. Zerr
Questions on Revelation
Revelation Chapter Eight
1. What seal was opened next?
2. State what followed.
3. For how long did it continue?
4. What did John see then?
5. Tell what was given to them.
6. Where did the other angel stand?
7. What did he have?
8. Tell what was given unto him.
9. With what was he to offer it?
10. On what was he to offer it?
11. Where was this located?
12. Tell what became of the smoke.
13. With what was the censer then filled?
14. What was done with it then?
15. State what resulted in this.
16. What did seven angels have?
17. Tell what they prepared to do.
18. What followed sound of the first angel ?
19. Upon what place were they cast?
20. With what results?
21. What appeared after 2nd angel’s sound?
22. Into what was it cast?
23. State the result.
24. What part of the creatures died?
25. Tell what was destroyed.
26. What fen at sound of the third angel?
27. From where did it fan?
28. What was its appearance?
29. Upon what did it fan?
30. State the name of this star.
31. Ten what it turned into its own likeness.
32. What resulted to men?
33. How were the waters made to become?
34. What bodies smitten at sound of 4th angel?
35. Ten what portion of them was smitten.
36. What part of them was darkened?
37. For how long did the day not shine?
38. And what part of the night?
39. What did John see?
40. Did he hear anything?
41. Where was the angel seen?
42. How was he traveling?
43. What kind of voice was he using?
44. Ten what he pronounced thrice.
45. Upon whom were these to come?
46. Where did these creatures inhabit?
47. Was anything yet to come?
48. By what means were they to sound?
49. Through what beings was this to be done?
50. How many angels were there to sound yet?
Revelation Chapter Eight
Ralph Starling
When the 7th Seal was opened there was found,
7 angels and seven trumpets for them to sound.
But the sound of their trumpets could not begin
Until the prayers of the saints could ascend.
Then the 1st angel with his trumpet began to sound.
There was hail, fire, and destruction all around.
The 2nd trumpet brought destruction upon the sea,
And one third of the creatures and ships ceased to be.
The 3rd angel sounded, pollutin the waters and the rivers.
And many men died because the waters were bitter.
The 4th angel sounded, darkening the sky.
The sun, moon and stars could give no light.
Still another angel appeared but not of the seven.
Announcing 3 woes were yet to be given.
angel
(See Scofield “Heb 1:4”).
flying: Rev 14:3, Rev 14:6, Rev 19:17, Psa 103:20, Heb 1:14
Woe: Rev 9:1, Rev 9:12, Rev 11:14, Eze 2:10
Reciprocal: Isa 6:2 – did fly Jer 13:27 – Woe Eze 16:23 – woe Hos 7:13 – Woe Mat 2:18 – lamentation 1Co 15:52 – last 1Th 4:16 – with the trump Rev 10:1 – another Rev 12:12 – Woe Rev 15:1 – last
Rev 8:13. The first four trumpets are over, and we might have expected to pass, as in the case of the seals, directly and without interruption, to the fifth. But we are dealing with a higher potency of judgment than that which met us under the seals; and at this point therefore, when a transition is to be made from the earthly to the spiritual world, our attention is specially called to the judgments that are to follow.
And I saw, and I heard one eagle flying in mid-heaven. The reading of the Authorised Version angel instead of eagle is undoubtedly a mistake of copyists, and the word one ought to be given effect to, as at chaps. Rev 9:13 and Rev 19:17. Nor can there be much hesitation in determining why the eagle is thus fixed on as the bird of all others to proclaim woe. Most commentators indeed allow without hesitation that here at least, as so frequently in the Old Testament, the eagle is thought of as the bird of rapine and prey (Deu 28:49; Jer 48:40; Jer 49:22; Eze 17:3; Hos 8:1; Hab 1:8; Mat 24:28; comp. also note on Rev 4:7). That this eagle flew in mid-heaven is easily explained. It was there that he could best be seen, and thence that his voice could most easily be heard by men.
His cry is Woe, woe, woe to them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound. By them that dwell on the earth are to be understood the ungodly alone (comp. on chap. Rev 3:10). The solemn warning has been given, and all is ready for the sounding of the fifth trumpet.
It would be better to have the word eagle here instead of angel. The eagle is a swift bird of prey with keen eyesight. Hosea warned Israel using the eagle as a symbol of the Lord’s coming. ( Hos 8:1 ) When God planned to use the Chaldeans in judgment against his people, Habakkuk described their horsemen as hungry eagles. ( Hab 1:6-8 ) This eagle warns that the previous trumpets are not as terrible as the three which are coming, designated also as three woes.
Rev 8:13. And I beheld an angel flying through the midst of heaven Between the trumpets of the fourth and fifth angels; saying with a loud voice That is, proclaiming for the information of all, Wo, wo, wo, to the inhabitants of the earth All, without exception: heavy calamities were coming on all; by reason of the other voices of the trumpet, &c. As if he had said, Though the judgments signified by the four trumpets which have already sounded are very great and dreadful, yet greater judgments still remain to be inflicted on the earth, in the events that are to follow upon sounding the three remaining trumpets. Several interpreters suppose this part of the vision to be a representation of some faithful witnesses against the superstition, idolatry, and growing corruptions of those times; and that the dreadfulness of the woes of the three remaining trumpets is proclaimed to the corrupt members of the church, because as they were endued, by the divine revelation, with more knowledge than before, being all Christians by name, they therefore deserved to suffer more for their crimes than plain heathen, such as were chiefly concerned in the former judgments. Be this as it may, whether this angel was designed to represent any such faithful witnesses against these corruptions, and to signify that such should arise, or not, it must at least be allowed, as Bishop Newton observes, that the design of this messenger, in conformity with the design of the angels that sounded the preceding trumpets, was to raise mens attention especially to the three following trumpets, predicting events of a more calamitous nature, or more terrible plagues, than any of the preceding, and therefore distinguished from them by the name of woes. And they are not woes of a light or common nature, but such in the extreme; for the Hebrews, having no superlative degree, in the manner of other languages, express their superlative by repeating the positive three times, as in this place. The foregoing calamities relate chiefly to the downfall of the western empire, the two following to the downfall of the eastern empire. The foregoing are described more succinctly, and contain a less compass of time; the following are set forth with more particular circumstances, and are of longer duration, as well as larger description.
Verse 13
Woe, woe, woe, &c.; implying that the trumpets of the three remaining angels portended still heavier calamities than those which had been announced. There is great difference of opinion in regard to the interpretation which is to be put upon the visions of the four first trumpets,–some commentators applying each specifically to some particular calamity recorded in history, while others regard them as intended to express only the general idea of disaster and suffering, by different images and varied forms of expression.
8:13 {10} 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!
(10) A lamentable prediction or foretelling of those parts of the divine execution which yet are behind: which also is a passage to the argument of the next chapter. Of all these things in a manner Christ himself expressly foretold in Lu 21:24 and they are common plagues generally denounced, without particular note of time.
The warning concerning the final three trumpets 8:13
"And I looked" (Gr. kai eidon) signals a new scene in John’s vision. John next saw, on earth, an eagle interrupting the angels by flying through the sky and warning those living on the earth to beware of the last three trumpet judgments. This could be a literal eagle (Gr. aetou, also translated "vulture," Luk 17:37). God has given animals the ability to communicate with people in the past (cf. Gen 3:1-5; Num 22:28-30). Eagles (or vultures) are birds of prey that approach rapidly and are a sign of disaster (Mat 24:28). Thus this eagle is a fitting herald of God’s judgments to come. Another possibility is that this eagle is an angel (cf. Rev 12:14). Mid-heaven is the position of the sun at noon, where everyone can see this bird. [Note: Morris, p. 125.] Obviously John was describing things from his vantage point. Its loud voice further guarantees that everyone on the earth will hear its message. The eagle announces the last three trumpet judgments, which are also "woes" (Rev 9:12; Rev 10:14). They are especially bad because they have people rather than the objects of nature as their targets. There are several examples of double woes in Scripture (Rev 18:10; Rev 18:16; Rev 18:19; Eze 16:23), but a triple woe announces an even worse calamity. The objects of these judgments are earth-dwellers, and their judgment is partially in response to the prayers of the Tribulation martyrs (cf. Rev 6:10).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)