October 3, 2021

“And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:10

The warnings of judgement given in Scripture are redemptive in purpose, but only if they are heeded. Because God’s professed people were deeply entrenched in apostasy, harsh words were “trumpeted” to them as a warning of their need to repent in language they understood well. John the Baptist did not mince words. The above statement was a certain attention-getter for the Jewish leaders. They understood that the trees metaphor was a reference to themselves.

The first angel sounded [his trumpet]: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. Revelation 8:7

Well established in the Old Testament was the use of hail mixed with fire—ushering in bloodshed—as the means of judgement against enemies of God’s people. Trees and grass were often used as symbols for God’s people. Thus, the first trumpet was a shocking combination of the Old Testament judgements against God’s enemies but applied directly to those who considered themselves His people. Here, judgement was pronounced against apostate believers who confirmed their own apostate status through their illicit union with Rome. In joining the ranks of God’s opponents, they became His enemies! Not only did they collude with the Romans in putting Jesus to death, but with their own mouths declared publicly, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15)

As He was being led to the cross, Jesus referred to Himself as a green tree and to the Jews of His day as dry trees: “For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” (Luke 23:31)

The apostate Jews went on to persecute their brethren who had accepted Jesus. The early church consisted of true Jews—as described in Romans 2:29—and as the church grew mightily during those early years, the apostate Jews only added to their condemnation through their subsequent actions, again in collusion with the Romans. Thus, they identified themselves clearly as the oppressors of those who followed the promised Messiah, placing themselves outside of the protection of the covenant with God that they claimed to uphold.

Mercy lingered for some four decades. But now, at the first trumpet judgement (as the white horse of the first seal was riding out with the pure gospel message), they experience curses associated with abandoning the covenant. The first trumpet is a concise pronouncement of judgement for the demise of the Jewish nation: Romans utterly destroyed Jerusalem in AD70 —including the temple where they had obstinately continued the obsolete sacrificial service in denial of the Lamb of God. The historical record shows that not a single Christian perished because they heeded the warning of Jesus and made a timely exit (see Matthew 24:15-16).

For the time has come for judgement to begin at the house of God: and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17

“. . . and begin at My sanctuary.” Ezekiel 9:6