March 21, 2022

Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Revelation 8:8-9

Mountains are often used to symbolize empires or kingdoms. Here, a “great mountain” tells us that a very large and powerful empire is to be judged. Jeremiah employs the terms “mountain” and “Babylon” which have come to symbolize man-made religion on a world-wide scale:

“And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight,” says the LORD. “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth,” says the LORD. “And I will stretch out My hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain.” Jeremiah 51:24-25

In John’s day, the term “Babylon” was used to represent the Roman Empire because Rome, like the original Babylon, had destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and was immersed in idolatrous worship. As Peter wrote to encourage the scattered and persecuted Jewish Believers in his first letter, he also employed a somewhat cryptic use of the word “Babylon” in reference to the body of true believers in Rome:

She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you. 1 Peter 5:13a

The term “sea” in a prophetic context refers to multitudes of people or heavily populated areas who are in opposition to God (see Revelation 17:15, Isaiah 17:12-13, Isaiah 57:20, Jeremiah 51:42, Daniel 7:2-3). Ships being destroyed is a reference to God’s subjugation of human pride, too often the biggest element of economic trade, with blatant disregard to other humans (see Ezekiel 27:29-32, Revelation 18:12-13,17-21).

There is an enormous amount of symbolic imagery in the prophetic writings. In John’s day, this helped to ensure the safety of the written message he was sending to the persecuted church. Familiarity with symbolic terms increases comprehension and adds protection from the ever-increasing production of flawed interpretations regarding prophecy. It is best to allow the Bible to interpret itself.

To summarize the first two trumpets: the first trumpet heralded a judgement against God’s apostate people using Old Testament terms. The “hail and fire mixed with blood” aptly marks the demise of the Jewish nation in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70. Note the generous thirty-six year grace period since the nation of Israel collectively “stopped their ears” (see Acts 7:57) to the final plea from God to them as a nation. This plea was beautifully delivered by Stephen in AD34. The second trumpet announced the fall of the pagan Roman empire. So we see that the two nations involved in putting Jesus to death and persecuting the early church are addressed in the first two trumpets. Satan was behind both sides in his attempt to prevent the gospel plan of salvation from spreading to the world. Daniel’s end-time prophecy speaks to a similar situation that is yet before us as Satan will lead opposing sides to come together for a deceptive “peace”:

Both of these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time. Daniel 11:27