Up to this point in the tribulation, billions of people would have perished due to war, famine, disease, natural disasters etc. Despite this fact, it only gets worse from here. As bad as this is, it’s important to highlight this fact because we don’t want anyone to go through this time period.
Knowing what will come upon the earth in the future should be the catalyst that spurs us to action, to preach the Gospel and warn others of what’s to come if they don’t repent and accept Christ.
Something to note ahead of time is that many of these punishments are in parts, meaning God only allows some calamity to happen. It is well within his power to end it all at once if he wanted, but he wants none to perish but that all should repent. Although the tribulation is a terrible time of suffering, it’s another example of God’s mercy on display to an unrepentant mankind. After the 7th seal judgment, the 7 angels gather, each with their own trumpet.
When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets…So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. (Revelation 8:1-2, 6)
First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck
At the sound of the first trumpet, there’s hail and fire mixed with what John sees to be blood. This wipes out a 1/3 of the vegetation on the earth (Revelation 8:7). What many of these judgments don’t show us is the ripple affects they cause. A third of the world’s vegetation being burned up might not seem like a big deal when we just skim over the passage, but one of the affects of this will be a decrease in the world’s oxygen supply.
A more obvious affect of such a judgment is food sources that derive from vegetation will be cut by a third and animals that also rely on vegetation as a source of food will be affected. Not only do we see possible decrease in the oxygen on earth but also food shortages and famines. If you recall, the third seal judgment brought conditions of scarcity (i.e. global famine) to the world so this can add to this (Revelation 6:5-6).
To bring this in relation to current events, as of the posting of this article (September 8th, 2019), the Amazon rainforest which is dubbed as the “lungs of the earth” – as 20% of the world’s oxygen derives from this area – has been burning for several weeks. This has since sparked international outcry and increased talks concerning climate change. In an article titled What you need to know about the Amazon rainforest fires by The Washington Post touches on these fears.
The Amazon — nearly four times the size of Alaska — is a vast sink for storing carbon dioxide and a key element of any plan to restrain climate change. Any increase in deforestation there would speed up global warming as well as damage an important refuge for biodiversity.
Despite what your thoughts may be on global warming/climate change in light of what we know in terms of bible prophecy, this is something worth paying attention to. This event and many like it globally is in my opinion a precursor to the first trumpet judgment.
As I noted earlier in the article, this is where we can see an example of God judging in “parts”. The first trumpet judgment wipes out a 1/3 of the vegetation on earth. At first this looks terrible. Some may question how God could enact a judgment like this, however he has the power to wipe out all vegetation on earth at once if he so pleased.
The purpose of these judgments is indeed punishment but they’re also meant as a wake up call to those who have yet accepted God’s free gift of salvation. In the next study we’ll take a look at the second trumpet judgment.
If you enjoyed this study, you can find similar studies on the book of Revelation here including the 7 Churches of Revelation, the 24 Elders, the 4 living creatures, 4 Horseman, etc.
Sources
- What you need to know about the Amazon rainforest fires (August 27th, 2019) – The Washington Post