Thus far in our Wisdom Journey, we have seen the seven seal judgments unleashed upon the earth in chapters 6 and 7. Now, with the opening of the seventh and final seal in chapter 8, seven more judgments are going to be released.

Like an official waving a flag or firing a starter gun, each judgment is introduced by an angel blowing a trumpet.

We will see that the first three trumpet judgments unleash the wrath of God through nature—that is, through what we would call natural disasters. It is ironic to me that mankind has deified nature, attributing to it the knowledge and power to create all that is and virtually idolizing, worshiping, Mother Nature. Well, Mother Nature is now turned on mankind. God is going to use this idol of mankind as a means of punishment.

This first trumpet judgment involves “hail and fire, mixed with blood . . . thrown upon the earth” (verse 7). Beloved, there is nothing to suggest this is anything other than a literal description. I do not believe it pictures a nuclear war and fallout, as some do. In fact, the Greek syntax indicates this mixture is created in heaven and then thrown to earth, just like the flaming balls of sulfur that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah were thrown from heaven (Genesis 19:24).

Verse 7 records the result:

A third of the earth [the surface] was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

By the way, this lets us know that at the end of human history, before God creates a new earth, there are still plenty of trees and green grass. And that requires plenty of rain and water and an atmosphere and the right amount of sunlight too.

The second trumpet sounds in verse 8, where we are told, “Something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea.” This sounds to me like an enormous asteroid that crashes into the ocean. We cannot imagine the tsunami created by this impact. It destroys a third of the ships at sea, according to verse 9. It also turns a third of the ocean to blood, and with that a third of the ocean’s creatures are killed.

Following this, the third trumpet sounds, and fresh water—springs and rivers—are polluted, John writes, by “a great star [falling] from heaven, blazing like a torch” (verse 10). The Greek word for “torch” (lampas) was commonly used for a meteor. This meteor’s impact poisons “a third of the waters,” bringing death to many people (verse 11).

The celestial bodies are affected by the judgment of the fourth trumpet, as revealed in verse 12:

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.

This judgment effectively dims the lights of the universe and, again, this strikes at humanity’s idolatry. For centuries, people have sought direction for their lives from the stars.

Well, this judgment will put the horoscope industry out of business for good.

Following this, we are told that an eagle flies through the sky delivering a warning, saying, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth” (verse 13). Why? Because three more judgments are coming. It is time to get right with God!

Now wait! Do I believe an eagle can be made to talk? Well, I believe a donkey talked back in Numbers 22. We have already learned in Revelation 5 that all animals will be given some ability to sing praise to their Creator. I am personally excited to find out what our creator God is going to do with the animal kingdom, which He created, especially in the coming kingdom when, we are told, a child could have a lion as a pet (Isaiah 11:6). Who knows, I might even have a pet cat one day, if you can believe that.

Then in chapter 9, an angel blows the fifth trumpet. John records what he saw in verses 1-2:

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.

I believe this star is none other than Satan. Jesus said in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Satan is given the key to the “bottomless pit,” literally, the abyss. This is where many demons are already confined, awaiting their final torment. Back in Luke 8:31 the demons who inhabited a man pleaded with Jesus not to send them into the Abyss.

Well, verse 3 says Satan is allowed to open this door, and John writes that from it come “locusts . . . given power like the power of scorpions.” Verse 5 adds, “They were allowed to torment [people] for five months, but not to kill them.”

These are demonic creatures, released with the permission of God to inflict torment on the human race. Mankind scoffs at the idea of a devil. They laugh at him as some little devious creature wearing a red suit and carrying a pitchfork.

Verses 7-10 give us John’s description of these demons. He says they look like horses, with crowns on their heads, faces like human faces, long hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions. They wear breastplates of armor; they have wings to fly and tails that sting like scorpions.

Verse 11 says, they’re led by a king called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek—both mean “destroyer.” This is either Satan, or another high-ranking demon under Satan’s command.

Finally, the sixth trumpet sounds in verse 13. This releases four demons who have been bound to this point. God not only allows them to be released but also uses them to act as agents of His judgment.[1]

The intensity of God’s judgments is increasing. If you have been doing the math, the death toll during the tribulation is just over 50 percent of the human race!

This demonic army will include “mounted troops . . . twice ten thousand times ten thousand” (verse 16). That is 200 million demons riding on horses. And verse 17 gives this horrifying description of these horses: “The heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.” They seem to be some kind of combination horse, lion, and fire-breathing dragon.

This is not the final battle of Armageddon, when the kings of the East will march on Israel. That will come later. The armies here are not human; they are demonic and terrifying. Satan and his demons will be seen for the bloodthirsty killers they are in their hatred for humanity. And I assure you, nobody will be laughing at them then.

Now you would imagine the rest of the human race still alive would cry out for mercy and run to God, right? Tragically, that’s not what we read in verses 20 to 21:

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 . . . nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

What is happening? God’s wrath is being justified. This is the depth of human depravity as people refuse to surrender to their sovereign Creator.

But what a blessing it is, beloved, for us who have trusted in Christ and been saved by His grace. We need never fear the wrath of divine judgment. We will never experience this horrific scene. So, let us thank God by the way we live for Him today.