The First Four Trumpets of the Seventh Seal: “A Mountain Burning with Fire” – Revelation 8

The seventh seal opens with four trumpets blown from four angels that reveal the judgment of God upon the Roman Empire. Interestingly, the first group of four were the four horsemen that depict the use of the Romans as God’s instrument of punishment upon the house of Israel and others who were in the path of their onslaught.

John saw what looked like “a great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea” (Rev. 8:8). Chapter nine adds another element to this mountain; a pit (Greek phrear, meaning “shaft”, or “well”, cf. John 4:6). In addition, we take from Revelation 19:20, 20:10, 15; 21:8 and add a “lake of fire.” If you add these parts to this work of art, you have a great mountain burning with fire with a pit and shaft that leads to a lake of fire below it. The image of this mountain being cast into the sea is the result of a volcanic mountain exploding, leaving behind a crater. Many recognize that a volcanic eruption is being described in Revelation 8 (McGuiggan, Barclay).   Seeing that 79 A.D. is within that generation and that God’s judgment upon the Gentiles would follow that of the Jews, it is very likely that this chapter is a specific description of Vesuvius that erupted at the end of that generation and fulfills a Gentile judgment before the commencement of the reign of Christ in the new order. Pliny’s letters give a description of an eye-witness account of its eruption.  It is as if God chose a mountain that was forgotten as posing any threat.  Most mountains of Greece and Rome were associated with a god.  Vesuvius had no such associations or legends concerning it.   In Bulfinch’s Mythology, the World of the God’s Map does not even show Mt. Vesuvius.  Similar to Paul choosing an idol with the inscription “to the unknown God,” God chooses a mountain of destruction unknown or forgotten by the Romans to display His fury of wrath.  Further, Milford Terry writes, “Soon, however, perhaps even before Pliny published his letters to Tacitus early in the second century, the destruction of Pompeii had come to be interpreted as more than a natural event, rather as an instance of divine punishment” (Oracula Sibyllina IV).   He goes on to explain that in the Sibylline Oracles (80 A.D), the eruption was not viewed as a punishment upon the Pompeians, but on Titus and Romans who sacked Jerusalem in 70 and had become emperor in 79.   Of course, the city, itself was immoral, fit for destruction like Sodom and Gomorrah.  Many were killed from this devastation.  Among them were Felix and Drusilla, according to Josephus, Praetorians (the navy fleet headquartered in Misenum, the other fleet protected coast at Ravenna), and the commanding officer, Pliny the Elder. 

Attached to this image is that it is home to the beast, false prophet, the devil, and anyone whose name is not found in the book of life (Rev. 19:20, 20:10, 15; cf. Matt. 25:41). This would include the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murders, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars (cf. Rev. 21:8).

The opening of this seal to reveal the contents of the scroll is preceded by thirty minutes of silence in anticipation of its revelation. This probably corresponds to the solemn period of silence of prayer while the priest laid the incense on the golden altar inside the temple (cf. Luke 1:8-23). Whatever its intended significance, it has the effect of preparing for a grand finale at the hand of Almighty God and the Lamb.

1. Seven Angels stand before God and each was given a trumpet. There are no indications that we have been previously introduced to these angels earlier in the book.

2. Another Angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne. According to the Edersheim, about half a pound of incense was used each morning and evening in the temple. On this occasion, the Angel is given much incense to add to the prayers of the saints. The sense of this action is to make a great appeal to God by increasing the incense of a pleasant odor that accompanies the prayers of the saints. In Revelation 5:8, John had mentioned the “golden bowls full of incense” being the “prayers of the saints”. The altar of incense was located nearest the Most Holy Place just as the Golden altar is “before the throne.” The smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints goes up before God from the Angel’s hand. God hears their impatient cries for vengeance and the day to avenge His people is come (cf. Luke 21:22). This prayer, along with the vision of the seventh seal connects the day of God’s wrath to volcanic activity and its arrival as an answer to the prayers of the saints. Verses 5-12 describe the catastrophic event of a judgment in answer to prayers. Though Christians understand that vengeance is God’s role, they are not rebuked for seeking the day of vindication and justice at the hand of God.

3. In addition to much incense being burned in association with the prayers of the saints that pleases the Father, this burning creates a chain of events that produces another altar with a natural bowl formed by the crater of a volcano. It, also, sends up the smoke of burning that pleases the Father. The mention of much incense being given to the angel is emphatic for its use in producing a pleasant aroma to our God. In other words, the effect of this burning produces a pleasant and satisfactory result for our God. The Angel takes the censer and fills it with fire from the altar and casts it upon the earth. Jesus explains that he came to cast fire upon the earth (Luke 21:49). When the wrath of God and of the Lamb is being poured out upon the earth, it fulfills His imminent promise of judgment and His baptism of fire (Matt. 3:11, Luke 3:16). The “day” is not a twenty-four-hour day but a period of judgment that begins with the Jews, but would spread to the whole earth as a prairie grass fire would soon engulf an entire region (cf. Romans 2:1-11). The effect of this fire thrown to the earth was voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake, precursors to the destruction. Each trumpet describes the effect a volcano might have in a bay like Naples, or a coastal town. Death touched the sea and the living creatures of the sea, and the land. Death could be caused by firey hailstones, suffocation, sulfuric smells, and contaminated freshwater. Pliny testifies that they chose to leave the houses for the fields and ran with pillows tied around their heads.  

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck (v. 7)
The first angel sounded: 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 green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck (vs. 8-9)
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.  Today, the summit of Vesuvius is around 4200 feet above sea level.  It is estimated by scientists that the mountain was roughly 6,000 feet high before it erupted in 79 AD.  The National Geographic Magazine says that six cubic kilometers of ash and pumice were blown 20 kilometers or more into the air.  Much of these settled in the sea and Bay of Naples. 

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck (vs. 10-11)
Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning 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 men died from the water because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck (v. 12)
Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.

The reference to a third depicts a partial rather than complete destruction.  Even though Pliny would later write that he thought all mankind was involved in the same calamity and that he was perishing with the world itself, it was only a third part.