Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck
At the sound of the fourth trumpet, a 1/3 of the sun, moon, and stars are struck lessening the light emitted from these celestial objects, “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,” (Revelation 8:12). The affects of such a judgment is immediately obvious to us – there’s an increase in darkness.
The world by and large has chosen to reject God and his free gift of salvation. They have chosen darkness over light and even in the tribulation, we see many cases of people who will willingly reject the obvious truth because they enjoy their sin that much.
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:18-19)
Without God there is no light. In this trumpet judgment, God is giving the world a taste of the darkness they’ve craved so much which will ultimately culminate in the fifth bowl judgment, “Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds”, (Revelation 16:10-11).
Until now the earth as experienced the revealing of the antichrist, global wars, global famine and economic collapse, widespread death, unprecedented persecution of believers, cosmic disturbances, a 1/3 of the vegetation is burned, followed by a 1/3 of the seas turn to blood, a 1/3 of the rivers and springs are made bitter, and now a 1/3 of the celestial bodies are affected.
Each and everyone of the affects these 11 judgments have had will compound on each other. As bad as these 7 seals and first 4 trumpets are they’re nothing compared with the last 3 trumpets to come.
“And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!'” (Revelation 8:13).
If you enjoyed this study, you can find similar studies on the book of Revelation here including the 7 Churches of Revelation, the 7 spirits of God, the 24 Elders, the 4 living creatures, 4 Horseman, etc.