The Seven Trumpets
Revelation 8:1~11:19

	That the 7 trumpets follow the 7 seals chronologically would be the obvious way to interpret the text.  Six seals are opened, then in Rev. 7:1 it says: "And after these things I saw..." then it goes into a description of the sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads.  When that work is finished the great multitude of the saved who came through great tribulation are seen in heaven.  Could that possibly mean that John here is shown all the saved of all history?  Very possibly - the dead, and the living.  All God's saints are numbered, and they are all accounted for.  This fits well with the theory that the scroll that is of so much importance is in fact the Book of Life.  After the 144,000 are sealed, then the 7th seal can be opened, and everyone in heaven see who they are going to live with forever and ever.

	If the 7 trumpets do not follow the 7 seals chronologically, the discussion of the timing of the events rapidly devolves into guesswork.  The only other possibilities from an eschatological viewpoint would be a concurrent occurrence of the seals and trumpets, or an insertion of the start of the trumpets somewhere like after seal #4 or 5, but there are no obvious literary clues to support these views.  ALL of Revelation 7 is written AFTER the 6th seal has been opened, and before the 7th seal has.  So the scroll which is the subject of attention here is still closed.  As long as even one seal remains un-opened, the contents of the scroll cannot be seen.  While the description of what happens when each seal is opened is interesting, the original reason of why the seals are important at all must be kept in mind.  Everyone's focus in heaven is on the scroll, not so much on each seal.

	Some may say that the "great multitude" only refers to those who pass thru the "Great Tribulation".  This view has a lot of weight, but it is also possible to explain who they are a different way.  In 1RH Dec.2, 1875, "Delaying Obedience", Rev. 7:13~17 is quoted, immediately followed by this: "What an example have the martyrs for Jesus left us in their lives of self-denial and sacrifice."  This seems to equate the great multitude with martyrs.  In the "To the Little Remnant Scattered Abroad" vision (1846), Jesus says: "Come my people, you have come out of great tribulation..." when inviting the redeemed to the Great Supper, without making any distinctions in who the people are.  The view that the great multitude refers to the martyrs of all ages seems to have the greatest weight, as the 5th seal specifically refers to them, and says that they should rest until: "both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed."  This is pretty strong evidence that the great multitude referred to before the 7th seal is opened is actually completed at that point in time.  That "the number of their fellow servants" = 144,000, is completed before the 7th seal is abundantly clear, so it's a logical extension that the other group mentioned in the time frame between the 6th and 7th seals is also completed at that time.  One other minor point, is that the martyrs are told to rest a little while longer in the 5th seal, but the great multitude before the 7th seal is opened is not resting, they are waving palm branches and crying with a loud voice!  This shows that the order for them to rest is no longer binding, thus implying that there will be no more martyrs after this time.

	Silence refers to several different emotions or states in the Bible.  Of course it refers to the sleep of death - Psalms 115:17.  It also refers to being laid low: Jeremiah 8:14 "Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD."  Being prudent: Amos 5:13 "Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time."  Respect as shown in the song many of us sing every Sabbath: Habakkuk 2:20 "But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him."  And the simple 'shut-up' type of silence: 1 Corinthians 14:28 "But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God."  Of all these, the silence here at the opening of the seventh seal, the opening of which at last allows the un-scrolling of the object of everyone's attention, is most likely the silence of respect.  God's plan of salvation has been carried out,  here are the names of each one who accepted eternal life.  The fruit of God's labors and pain and suffering, attributes of God which none of his created creatures ever fully knew before this world was created, have been ably demonstrated.  This is the result - a great multitude, and 144,000.  I have to stop writing a bit and think in silence a while what this means myself....

	Is the "about half an hour" time span important?  Most likely.  But i don't know why.  There are two theories that it definitely does NOT refer to tho.  One is the theory that this half-hour refers to a literal 7 1/2 day period of time.  This is arrived at by the day-for-a-year principle, 360days/24hours = 15.  So half an hour would equal 7 1/2 days according to this theory.  The 1858 "Great Controversy, Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels" (hereinafter referred to simply as 'GC') states in chapter 25: "Prophetic time closed in 1844."  There is no day-for-a-year principle that applies after 1844.  The other theory is that this time of silence is the same as the time when noone is able to enter the temple just before the 7 plagues are poured out.  The reasoning is that since noone is able to enter the temple, it must be silent.  The silence before the 7 trumpets tho, is silence throughout all heaven, not just the temple.  These are two separate events.

	The seven angels who stand before God are most likely the same 7 angels of the 7 churches studied about in chapter 1.  Notice that they are given the trumpets.  In the description of the opening of the seals, it is described as more of a passive act.  John is told to "Come and see" each of the first 4 seals, and in the 5th and 6th ones he just records an act, not showing who or what caused that act to happen.  In the description of the 7 trumpets tho, there is an ACTIVE work on the part of the angels to carry out their mission.  During the time span of the 7 seals the people of the earth go through wrenching times which calls them to show their true colors and choose salvation or death, but these don't seem to be direct judgements from God.  When the 144,000 are sealed, and the great multitude is made up, then and only then are his judgements poured out on the world.

	This is a lengthy quote from GC chap.35 The Third Message Closed which supports the view that soon after the sealing, Jesus finishes his sanctuary work, receives his kingdom, the plagues fall, and Jesus returns all in rapid succession.  "I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven.  An angel returned from the earth with a writer's ink-horn by his side, and reported to Jesus that his work was done, that the saints were numbered and sealed.  Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the ten commandments, throw down the censer.  He raised his hands upward, and with a loud voice said, It is done.  And all the angelic host laid off their crowns as Jesus made the solemn declaration, He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

	I saw that every case was then decided for life or death. Jesus had blotted out the sins of his people.  He had received his kingdom, and the atonement had been made for the subjects of his kingdom.  While Jesus had been ministering in the Sanctuary, the judgment had been going on for the righteous dead, and then for the righteous living.  The subjects of the kingdom were made up.  The marriage of the Lamb was finished.  And the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, was given to Jesus, and the heirs of salvation, and Jesus was to reign as King of kings, and Lord of lords.

	As Jesus moved out of the Most Holy place, I heard the tinkling of the bells upon his garment, and as he left, a cloud of darkness covered the inhabitants of the earth.  There was then no mediator between guilty man, and an offended God.  While Jesus had been standing between God and guilty man, a restraint was upon the people; but when Jesus stepped out from between man and the Father, the restraint was removed, and Satan had the control of man.  It was impossible for the plagues to be poured out while Jesus officiated in the Sanctuary; but as his work there is finished, as his intercession closes, there is nothing to stay the wrath of God, and it breaks with fury upon the shelterless head of the guilty sinner, who has slighted salvation, and hated reproof."  Taking into account the time element, the 7 trumpets occur over an extended period of time, so they cannot be the same as the 7 last plagues, but they do occur after the scroll has been opened which still begs the question "when?".  I don't know.

	"Between the cherubim was a golden censer.  And as the prayers of the saints in faith came up to Jesus, and he offered them to his Father, a sweet fragrance arose from the incense.  It looked like smoke of most beautiful colors.  Above the place where Jesus stood, before the ark, I saw an exceeding bright glory that I could not look upon.  It appeared like a throne where God dwelt.  As the incense ascended up to the Father, the excellent glory came from the Father's throne to Jesus, and from Jesus it was shed upon those whose prayers had come up like sweet incense.  Light and glory poured upon Jesus in rich abundance, and overshadowed the mercy-seat, and the train of the glory filled the temple.  I could not long look upon the glory.  No language can describe it.  I was overwhelmed, and turned from the majesty and glory of the scene."  We saw in the quote just above this one that the one who throws the censer down is Jesus.  But here in Rev. 3 it says: "another angel having a golden censer".  Can this angel be a reference to Jesus?  Yes, Jesus is often referred to as an angel in the Bible, one of the more famous being the reference to the burning bush in Exodus 3.  So it is probably Jesus who throws the censer filled with fire to the earth.  In this censer are the prayers of the saints.  This seems to be an answer to the martyrs' prayer that God avenge their blood on those who live on the earth.  In other words - for God to judge the inhabitants of the earth.

	Now the 7 angels with their 7 trumpets prepare themselves to sound.  This 'preparing' signals some active work on the angels' part to get ready to DO something.  These are not "Come and see" type of events.  John doesn't mention anything about 'look'ing until after the 4th angel has done his work.

	"The first angel sounded".  All of the 7 angels with the 7 trumpets are said to do their work in the same fashion - they "sound" their trumpets.  A quick overview of what trumpets were used for in the Bible reveals: Exodus 19:16 - get people ready to meet God, Leviticus 23:24 - have a holy feast (signalling joy), Numbers 10:2 - calling people together, Numbers 10:9 - for an alarm and to start war, 2Kings 9:13 - to announce a new king, 1Chronicles 13:8 - to worship and make music, 1Thessalonians 4:16 - to wake the dead in Christ.  Of course several of these uses may be mixed here, and there may be an entirely new use, but the easiest to understand uses would be to sound an alarm and to start war, along with announcing a new king.

	"Rev. 8:7 "The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up."  Ouch.  Nothing this bad is seen in the first four seals.  Growing up in green Tennessee and living now among a bunch of buildings in Osaka that is surrounded by green mountains, it's hard for me to imagine a world where there is no green grass.  People who already live in desert environments probably wouldn't feel as much pain seeing everything brown as i would - ha!  Humans and all life with the breath of God in it is quite dependent on oxygen which is produced by green plants.  Some people have to tried to explain the trees as some people somewhere on earth, and it is true that often in the Bible it talks about trees, especially the trees of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan as having human characteristics (Isaiah 14:8, Zech. 11:2), but the easiest way to understand this text is to take it literally for what it says.  Some translations say even 1/3 of the earth itself is burnt up!

	How appropriate that the trees and green grass are the first to get destroyed!  The current religion of the world is a nature-based evolution/animism/new-age mix, all of which talk freely of "mother earth".  So God begins his judgements on their 'god'.  Somehow with 2/3 of the trees left, there will still be enough oxygen for people to live, but it's doubtful it would be very pleasant.  It is said that on average a tree produces around 260lb. of oxygen per year, and the average human needs around 400lb., so 2 trees can take care of one person's needs (source: David Novak, USDA Forestry Service).  With 1/3 of the trees gone, there would probably be enough oxygen, but trees have other functions like absorbing carbon dioxide, cooling, holding dirt and so on.  Of course then we have the cows, chickens, dolphins, etc. to think about too...

	Here a third part of the trees are destroyed, which is the same fraction mentioned in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th trumpets.  This fraction doesn't seem to be something random that God just came up with, but to have some special meaning.  The only other places in the Bible that look like they have any bearing on this "1/3" fraction, are Ezekiel 5:12: "A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them." and Zechariah 13:9: "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."  One tells something bad that happens to each third of God's people, and the other talks about something good that happens to one third of them.

	During the first trumpet we will most likely see the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2:30: "And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke."  As if to make it doubly sure, showing the importance of these signs, the Holy Spirit had Peter say them in Acts 2:19: "And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke".  Altho i've been surrounded by Seventh-day Adventist books all 41 years of my life, and i've read all of the pioneer material i know of, i don't recall ever coming across any explanation of these signs.  These signs will happen just as prophesied, and those who have been studying will have their hearts gladdened when they see the fulfillment of prophecy, and the workings of God for their salvation in a tangible way.  Visible pillars of blood, fire, and vapour of smoke.  What a sight that will be!  I've seen pillars of fire and smoke, but blood!?!?  This will be the evidence that so many of the unbelieving world wish for - the evidence of the power of God.  Those who wish to disbelieve tho, will have their hearts hardened by the refusal of acknowledging each sign, until at last, like Pharaoh, they will be forced against their will to acknowledge Jesus is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

	Then the 2nd trumpet is sounded.  The descriptions of the first four trumpets are without any time elements, suggesting that these trumpets are given in rapid-fire succession.  This particular one has caught the imagination of the public at large, as there have been several movies and books about what would happen if an asteroid struck the earth.  Without going into the gory details, suffice it to say that even scientists who don't believe the Bible agree that it could cause super-devastation.

	End-time events are going to be spectacular.  They will force themselves on the attention of the entire population of the earth.  They will most likely be the only topics of conversation for people in the deep jungles of the Amazon, villages in Africa, citizens of Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Atheistic countries, along with those called 'Christian'.  From people living pretty much like animals, to those who are rich and increased with Gameboys.  Those who thots are mostly on what color shoes to wear, or what toppings to go on their pizzas, or which team is going to hit, carry, or kick some ball or puck into the goal or over some line, are going to be rudely awakened.  When all the green grass is gone it will free up some time from lawn mowing, but will cause a mad scramble to secure food.  With 1/3 of the ships gone, there will be very little food coming to Japan which relies on imports for over 60% of its food supplies, and other countries will be affected too.  Severely curtailed shipments, if any, of oil will lead to a complete stoppage of most everything.  Without oil, the cars won't be of much use except for camping-out.  If electricity stops, it will be easy to imagine slavery becoming a popular option to keep up standards of living for those with money.  And speaking of money, slips of paper with dead presidents on them will probably be worth about as much as perforated squares of paper on a roll - lavender scented.

	The worst outcome of the currently held interpretation of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, that most of them have already been fulfilled in the past, is that it leads to lethargy among God's people.  "Oh yeah, i know about that.  That happened way back in 1755 or 1833 or something didn't it?  We're near the end now.  It's all over except for the yawning.  I think i'll go take a Sabbath nap."  In spending over 100 hours on scanning in William Miller's "Views of the Prophecies and Prophetic Chronology, Selected From Manuscripts of William Miller with a Memoir of His Life" (1841) (whew! what a long title!!) it became apparent to me something that should have been obvious before i even picked up the book - that is, that he had to have ALL the prophecies wrapped up by 1843.  So all his interpretations of necessity were forced into this time frame.  This is why he wrote: "Then arose up the wonderful beast, Papacy, which is the Gog of our day, and ruled over kings, filled the world with her abominations, and must and will fall upon the mountains of Israel.  Already have the kings of the earth eaten her flesh, and no one can dispute but that the present signs of the times indicate her final dissolution; together with the false prophet, the Turkish empire, and Eastern Gog."  If he could see the rapidly growing power of the papacy or Islam today, he wouldn't write as he did then!

	"Oh no!  This guy is throwing away our heritage, and calling good old Father Miller a misguided soul."  No, i'm sorry if that is the impression i give, but i believe William Miller was led by God, and i believe Ellen White was God's special messenger to give his word in a simpler way in more detail to those who have to face Satan's wicked designs on them in this day and age.  God steadily reveals more and more of his plans to us as we get physically and mentally weaker and weaker with each generation, and Satan inversely gets subtler and subtler (is that a word?).  If we understood all the Bible perfectly, we wouldn't need the Spirit of Prophecy.  If God's people had understood the Law and Prophets perfectly, they wouldn't have needed the New Testament.  If the Torah had been understood perfectly, the Prophets wouldn't have been necessary.  If the 10 commandments had been understood perfectly, the Torah wouldn't have been necessary.  And if Adam and Eve had never fallen, none of this would have been necessary!!!

	So when Ellen White writes a whole chapter in the GC titled "William Miller" and says: "I saw that God sent his angel to move upon the heart of a farmer who had not believed the Bible, and led him to search the prophecies." i believe it.  No doubt about it, William Miller was directly led of God.  The 1st and 2nd angel's messages were given with power and accomplished what God intended for them to.  We are all deeply indebted to this man for following the Lord and opening to us mysteries which had been covered over with centuries of superstition and scholarly rubbish.  So just as the prophecy of Joel regarding the pouring out of the Spirit had a partial fulfillment on the day of Pentecost and in the giving of the 1st angel's message, there will be a complete fulfillment in the future.

	Then the 3rd angel sounds a trumpet.  'Then' shows the succession of events very clearly.  Any interpretation that tries to force one trumpet into some part of history, and then another trumpet into some other part of history, has to reconcile that view with this one simple word: 'then'.  Does God love us so much that he makes his Word uncomprehensible to anyone except those with D.D.s, or Ph.D.s?  Is it just possible that he means it like he has it written?  Seems simple and straight-forward to me.  But the man who is the foremost promoter of Scientific-Creationism in Japan told a friend and i that this verse meant that the nations of the world had their nuclear arsenals pointed not at cities or military targets, but that they were pointed at the enemy's rivers to pollute them!?  

	Here is a picture of a comet falling on a third of the rivers and springs of water making many men die because of the bitterness of the water.  Comets have always been harbingers of disaster, faithfully fulfilling their appointed duty by God: "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years".  This will be another spectacular sign, and God's people again should have their hearts made glad, not that many people will perish, but that they will see God's direct intervention for their salvation, and know their exact place in the prophetic trail of events.

	The word for 'star' here, seems to fit the description of a comet the closest, but this 'star' is the same word used in Rev. 9:1 to refer to the angel given the key to the bottomless pit, and also the "Bright and Morning Star" of 22:16.  Taken in the context of the passages, both of the other places where this word is used clearly refer to a being.  The words used are 'him' and 'I'.  But here in the 3rd trumpet there is no personal reference.  On the contrary, it would seem quite silly for some being to fall from heaven burning like a torch and fall on the third part of the rivers.  But it does have a name.  Perhaps this will be the name of the comet?  Perhaps i don't know what i'm talking about.  Here's a classic case where the weight of evidence is for one position (that of it being a comet), but there is room for considering other views.

	Then the 4th angel sounded.  This is another of the signs in the heavens promised in Acts 2:19 and Luke 21:11.  A third of the earth, sea, and rivers is ruined by the first 3 trumpets, but i guess it would be possible that some people somewhere are not directly affected.  Also, even with the obviously supernatural events occurring like a pillar of blood, probably many people will accept some 'scientific' natural explanation for their causes.  Having 1/3 of the sun, moon, and stars not shine will tend to stretch the credibility of those who still expound natural causes at that time.  What with satellites, space stations, and inter-planetary probes winging around in outer-space, it will be very hard to explain from a naturalistic viewpoint the "how and why" of these events.

	The machine-gun like first 4 angels have carried out their tasks.  The earth is in sad shape.  What is the time-frame?  There are no internal clues.  It's just a guess, but these 4 events could possibly all happen in one day!  Nobody would need TV or internet to tell that something dramatic had happened.  And all of God's people could know exactly where they were in prophetic history.

	A short interlude.... The description of the 7 seals is given with the first 6 in quick succession, then a break to explain the 144,000 and great multitude.  There is also a noticeable shift between the 4th and 5th seals.  The first four are horses going out to do their thing, with John called in turn by one of the four creatures to "Come and see".  Then there is a definite shift with no more horses, no more "Come and see", and no more of the four creatures.  Here in the description of the trumpets there is a definite interlude, almost like God is saying "Whew!".   He sends his angel to give a strange message - "woe, woe, woe".  Now words can have different nuances to different people, but the basic meaning of the word is usually what is listed in a dictionary.  In this instance - 'misery' and 'sadness' are given, along with examples of being in a bad situation, bind, etc.  In America this word is usually only heard anymore when describing the financial fix of a company, or in the phrase: "Woe is me!".  Why doesn't God tell people to repent or get ready?  Perhaps it's because the time for people to make choices is over.  All of God's subjects were made up just before the 7th seal was opened and the Book of Life was unscrolled for all the heavenly host to see.  God has no more message of mercy for the world.  Only woe.

	As bad as the first 4 trumpets were, we are prepared in the story to witness 3 events more terrible, so terrible that God has the angel say "woe" to describe each one.  So let's steel ourselves for some gruesomeness in the last 3 trumpets.  My style of writing may be called 'flippant', but there is a big point i'm trying to make here.  All thru my life i've heard these things in Revelation, including the 3 "woe" trumpets, as being something far off long ago completed in the annals of history.  The direct effect on me is a little less than a Star Wars movie (i know, i shouldn't have wasted time or money on that trash, but it was cool at the time i thot).  If something so bad that God's angel is sent to cry "woe", is already over without me experiencing any of it, and with me currently having everything i could possibly want in the realm of invented material things, then what am i to worry?  Somebody else may have had a hard go of it, but everything's coming up roses for me.  I guess God's "woes" are basically just warnings to catch my attention, but don't really affect my lifestyle ----  WRONG ----.  

	These trumpets describe something that may not affect me in my lifetime.  I may run into a truck tomorrow, and turn to dust.  But God's word will stand sure, and it is very sure that at the end of time, just before Jesus returns in the clouds, that there will be horrible things that God causes to happen.  The plagues rained down on Pharoah are just a preview of what is soon to come on the whole world.  If by the Lord's grace i am allowed to live up to that time, i want to tell as many people as possible to repent now while repenting can be had, and prepare myself for that grand and awful time.  I don't want to be caught without God's protection and have to exclaim "Woe is me!".

	When the 5th angel sounds, a star falls from heaven to earth.  That this star represents an angel is clear in the text, and has been mentioned above in this article.  There may be significance that the angel fell from heaven, implying that it is God's angel, but the only other place in the Bible where it talks about an angel falling from heaven is when referring to Satan and his angels (Rev. 12:9, Isaiah 14:12, Luke 10:18).  That the angel here mentioned is important is clear by giving his name in 9:11 in Hebrew AND Greek.  The name has the meaning: 'destruction' in both languages, and is evidently important for some reason.

	The army this angel commands is like nothing ever seen before on the face of the earth.  Noone has ever seen locusts that weren't interested in eating leafy things, look like horses prepared for battle, have crowns on their heads that look like gold, have faces like men, hair like women's hair, teeth like lions' teeth, breastplates of iron, wings sounding like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle, and tails like scorpions.  Not your average grasshopper we're talking about here!

	A short aside story to explain why i believe in a literal explanation of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation:  I've heard many interpretations concerning these prophecies in my life (there he goes again...) and have never yet heard even one person who could interpret this 5th trumpet explaining every word.   Is it even necessary to explain EVERY word?

	William Miller's "Rules of Interpretation" are excellent as a guide for the student of the Word of God.  Here is all of Number 13 and the first part of no. 14 copied from his book: "To know whether we have the true historical event for the fulfilment of a prophecy.  If you find every word of the prophecy (after the figures are understood) is literally fulfilled, then you may know that your history is the true event.  But if one word lacks a fulfilment, then you must look for another event, or wait its future development.  For God takes care that history and prophecy doth agree, so that the true believing children of God may never be ashamed. (Ps. xxii. 5.  Isa. xiv.17,18,19.  1Pet. ii. 6.  Rev. xvii. 17.  Acts iii. 18.)   XIV.  The most important rule of all is, that you must have faith.  (underlining for emphasis).

	So when people tell me: "See, these things are helicopters.  Their wings sound like chariots...", i ask them about the stinging tails.  "Those are missles".  "What about lions' teeth?"  "Those are machine-guns".  But usually here they start to hem and haw a bit.  "What about the women's hair?"  "Those are the blades."  "The faces of men?"  "That is looking inside at the pilots".  "Crowns, breastplates?"  "Metal on the helicopter."  Up to here most of the explanations can be forced to fit, but what about the instruction not to eat any green grass? or the biggest one - nobody dies as a result of their 'stings'!!!  These are really weird helicopters with missles and machine guns that don't kill anybody!  Oh yeah, somewhere somebody in a bottomless pit went to all the trouble to make them, and then they don't do anything except hurt some people!  William Miller's rules of interpretation are violated by such an interpretation.

	Recently the man i respect more than any other in all Adventism, a man who has spent many years in prison for his faith, told me that these locusts are the Islamic invaders who overran much of the Middle East, Northern Africa, and parts of Europe.  He gave detailed explanations how they wore crowns into battle, how their hair was long, how they sounded like many chariots, etc. (no, he didn't need to explain that they had the faces of men - ha!), but when i replied that these locusts in Revelation don't hurt anyone with the seal of God in their foreheads, and don't kill anyone at all, he promptly dropped the email discussion.  This is super clear.  It absolutely cannot have happened in the past.  Not a single soul in all of history has ever received the seal of God on their foreheads.  And there has never been an army in all of history who was given power to hurt people for 5 months but not kill anyone.

	The command for these locusts not to hurt those with the seal of God in their foreheads is an added proof that there is no "great multitude" that is going alive to heaven.  At least it seems unreasonable to me to imagine that God would allow these nasty critters to torment his people who were going to heaven, but didn't have the mark, while only protecting those who did have the mark.  Only 144,000 saints will pass thru the gate without ever tasting death.  "To the Remnant Scattered Abroad:" "The living saints, 144,000 in number..."  No comment needed.

	The bottomless pit? - Perhaps it's the abyss that is mentioned several times, usually with great fear  (Psalms 69:15, Luke 8:31).  This is also where the beast that "was and is not" appears from in Revelation 17:8, and also where the Devil will be chained to for 1,000 years in 20:3.  Isaiah 34:11 "But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness." may also refer to this bottomless pit.  If so, it sounds like a place where there is no solid earth like we know it.  "Stones of emptiness" sounds oxymoronic, but these are the best words God could use to describe it with our limitations of knowledge and language.

	Whatever causes the smoke, the locusts are said to come out of it.  Locusts were dreaded anciently, and still are wherever they occur today.  Exodus 10 and Deuteronomy 28 describes the main use God has for the locust - to punish.  Nothing much is good about these ravenous green-eating machines.  The devastation is incredible in a normal locust swarm.  To imagine swarms of locusts all over the world with these fearsome looks, and stinging tails - makes me want to ask God "Why?"  One reason i can think of is to show the 144,000 how loathsome sin is.  Even tho everyone without the mark is getting stung, none of them are repenting and turning to God.  For five long months they will seek death, but will not be able to find it.  This seems to signify that a supernatural act will occur to make it impossible for people to die, at least during these five months.  Is "five months" significant?  I can find nothing in the Bible or SOP to give any importance to it.  But 5 months to get stung seems awfully long.

	Thus the first woe ends.  Can anyone recall from any history book anything close in pain and suffering to as many people?  Even if the world's population has been decimated at this time as many have already died during the seals and the 3rd trumpet, this 5th trumpet affects more people and in a more dreadful way than anything in recorded history.  We must remember that God doesn't enjoy seeing any of his creatures suffer.  He designed everything to live forever.  But when beings he created choose death, he gives it to them (after awhile), while at the same time protecting his faithful followers who have chosen life.  We must also remember that while this world is center stage for the Great Controversy, there are principles at stake reaching far beyond this speck in the universe.  God's character spanning the endless ages of eternity will be vindicated.  Sin will not arise again.  It will be made so horrible, so awful even in the minds of us earthlings who lived in the rotten soup and imbibed in it ourselves, that it will never rear its ugly head again.  This is probably the main reason for the woes - to wean the hearts of the saints from the enticements of sin forever.

	Revelation 9:12 "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter."  There is little (zero) small talk about the first woe.  It is given in a matter of fact fashion describing where the nasty critters come from, who is their leader, what they look like, and how long they do it.  Now to the next part of the same subject - the remaining two woes.

	Then the 6th angel sounds his trumpet.  All in order.  All in God's time-frame.  The priest dabbed his finger with the blood of the sin offering onto the four horns of the altar in the earthly sanctuary (Leviticus 4:25).  This obviously has some significance, but it escapes me.  The voice comes from the four horns of the altar, commanding the sixth angel.  This angel doesn't seem to do anything all that tremendous.  All he does is release the 4 angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.  The river Euphrates appears several times in the Bible, being one of the four heads of the river that came out of the garden of Eden.  This river is called "great" as early as when God made the covenant with Abram: "...Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18).  Purely in terms of water flow it is definitely big, but there are much bigger.  "Great" most likely has other meanings besides just physical properties.

	Euphrates is also mentioned in Revelation 16:12.  Surprisingly, it is mentioned in the 'sixth bowl' also called 'sixth plague'.  The close similarities have made some interpret the trumpets and the plagues to be the same thing written from different angles, with clues regarding the events given from 2 different perspectives.  Admittedly there are strong similarities, with the 6th being the most closely related.  But even here there are enough differences to determine that these are two separate events.  The 6th trumpet has the 4 angels released, 200,000,000 strange horses gathered, and a great war that kills 1/3 of all people.  The 6th plague involves the Euphrates being dried up and 3 unclean spirits performing signs to assemble everyone to Armageddon.  An objective look reveals that about the only similarity is that "Euphrates" is mentioned in both accounts.  The 7 trumpets and the 7 plagues are not descriptions of the same events.

	The 4 angels were prepared for "an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year..."  It is possible that this trumpet will last exactly one year, one month, one day, and one hour, but more probable is the interpretation that these angels have been prepared EXACTLY for this point in time, and that this point is being stressed here.  Some Bible translations specifically state: "the hour...".  God knows the times in advance.  Yes, we can and must do our part to hurry up the return of our Saviour by proclaiming the 3rd angel's message all over the world.  If we don't, things will drag on longer than they should, and eventually angels will be given work to do that us humans begged off.  God's plan will be executed, and we can choose to act a part or not.  There shouldn't be any feeling of resignation like: "Oh well, God's got it all under control whether i do anything or not".  This type of attitude is a sure barometer of a heart that doesn't love Jesus or fellow humans supremely.

	A surface reading leads to the conclusion that the angels are released to work on leader's hearts to get them to come together and have a huge battle.  But there is one big problem with this scenario - these are not your regular Appalossas!!  True, people can put breastplates on horses and make them look colorful, but who has ever seen a horse whose head was like a lion? or had fire, smoke, and brimstone come out of its mouth? or had a tail like a serpent having a head and harming with it???  Again, this is a description of something that noone has ever seen (except in vision), and has been interpreted in all sorts of fantastic ways.

	While the Apocrypha is generally disregarded by Seventh-day Adventists, it was used by the early pioneers as the references added by James White to Ellen White's visions in "A Word To the Little Flock" attest.  There is also a very interesting quote attributed to Ellen White.  She herself said to only use her published works to determine her settled position, so while this Manuscript Release vol.15 p.66 quote doesn't determine her settled position, it is interesting: "I saw that the Apocrypha was the hidden book, and that the wise of these last days should understand it. I saw that the Bible was the standard book, that will judge us at the last day."

	There are some really weird things in the Apocrypha, especially in Judith and Tobit, but there are some things that have a direct bearing on end-time prophecies also.  So in the attitude of healthy skepticism, with a heart open to being led by the Holy Spirit, here is the following from 2 Maccabees 5:2~4 "2.  And then it happened, that through all the city, for the space almost of forty days, there were seen horsemen running in the air, in cloth of gold, and armed with lances, like a band of soldiers,
3.  And troops of horsemen in array, encountering and running one against another, with shaking of shields, and multitude of pikes, and drawing of swords, and casting of darts, and glittering of golden ornaments, and harness of all sorts.
4.  Wherefore every man prayed that that apparition might turn to good."  

	Taking the strictest interpretation of this 6th trumpet, and what the 4 angels do, you can see that it says nothing about gathering the nations together so they can do battle.  It says they were "loosed...to slay 1/3 of mankind."  It sounds like the angels themselves are the ones who do the slaying, thru the means of objects that look like (or actually are) fantastic horses just like the people in Jerusalem saw in the air for 40 days back before Christ's time.  One last minor point to show that this is not a street-fighter type of battle between human forces, is that these are judgements from God.  Humans have been killing each other ever since Cain and Abel.  Would people be likely to interpret some human battle as being a plague directly from God?  Yes, God allows and causes wars to punish us, but these at the end time are special events to show his judgements.

	Even with the horrible destruction, noone repents.  They are immune.  Nothing God can do will change their hearts.  While the opportunity to repent was open during the seals, many did repent, but sadly many more closed the door to their hearts.  Forever.  And they continue to do wickedly.  Living in Japan almost every day i see people folding their hands and praying to stones, or tinking a bell to make their dead loved ones know they are remembering them.  But in western culture countries this scene is usually only seen in Catholic churches.  However at the end of time, people will be openly worshipping demons and works of their hands.  They will be under the complete control of Satan.  2Thessalonians 2:8~12 "8.  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9.  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10.  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12.  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

	On this note the 6th trumpet with its 2nd woe ends.  Or does it?  Just because chapter 9 ends, and the scene shifts dramatically, doesn't mean that this woe is over.  Let's keep reading thru Revelation.  Ummmmm, here it is, chapter 11 verse 14: "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe comes quickly."  Hold on here!  Are you saying the 2nd woe encompasses the mighty angel with the little book that John eats AND the entire account of the Two Witnesses?  I didn't write it, just showing that read in a common sense fashion with a mind open to learning, this is the obvious way to understand it.  Again, i'm not saying that other interpretations are wrong.  They have been a blessing to people of past ages, and that is how God intended it to be.  But there is a special last day application, taken in its literal sense, understandable to anyone who cares to pick up this book and be led by God in its reading.

	The mighty angel seems to refer to Jesus Christ himself, but there are reasonable doubts about this.  First, this being is referred to as "another mighty angel".  John has already seen the Lord in chapter 1.  He refers to him as a being "like the Son of Man", and promptly falls at his feet as a dead man.  But when he sees the mighty angel in chapter 10, he does no obesiance of any kind.  Also, there is a commanding voice from heaven to go and take the little book from the angel.  It would seem strange to have some angel or other being in heaven (this cannot be The Father here) giving commands to the Captain of the Hosts - Jesus.  Perhaps this is Gabriel here, the same angel sent to Daniel to help him understand HIS visions.  One last clue that this is not Jesus is that this angel swears: "by him that lives for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it."  Would Jesus need to swear by himself?

	There are many points of interest here that could take pages of material to go thru explaining each one, the sun, rainbow, loud voice as a lion, foot on sea, foot on land etc.  Yes, they are literal, just as John saw Jesus in the midst of literal candlesticks that had a spiritual meaning also, he sees literal angels, locusts, and horses with fire coming out of their mouths.  All of these very likely also have a spiritual interpretation that adds more meaning to each object.  All the resources of all the greatest minds on earth could get together to study this, and still not plumb the depths of the wealth of information here.  We will all be learners in the great school of Christ all the endless ages:)

	Two more points about what happens in this scene with the mighty angel and his little book - when this angel cries out, seven thunders utter their voices.  John is immediately told to not write what they said.  This seems pretty strange.  What's the point of having the seven thunders say anything at all if John is not supposed to write it down?  Ellen White wrote this about thunders that may have a bearing on this: "And as God spoke the day and hour of Jesus' coming, and delivered the everlasting covenant to His people, He spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth!  The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upwards, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder!" (A Word To the Little Flock).  If John had written down the day and hour of Jesus' coming, then that would have made Christians for many centuries lose all hope, and made the wicked even bolder in their rebellion.  If today we knew that Jesus wouldn't come back until 2112 or whatever, would we be as interested in studying the prophecies?

	And just what is this 'little book'?  It surely isn't the scroll - the Book of Life that has just been opened.  That book is never referred to as little, and it would be unthinkable that John would be told to eat something that all the heavenly host were so interested in, and even John himself cried because noone could open it.  Actually a very similar incident occurred with Ezekiel.  Ezekiel 3 "1.  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
2.  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
3.  And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4.  And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them."  Later we read that Ezekiel "went in bitterness".  There is the initial sweetness, followed by bitterness.  While Ezekiel and John both literally ate books in their visions, the spiritual application is obviously of importance.  One possible interpretation is that the book is the words of God of prophecy concerning judgement.  Having the words of God is truly a happy experience, sweeter than any 31 flavors ever were.  But having to go and give those words to a bunch of people who won't be happy to hear them - ut-oh.  Enough to give anyone indigestion.  Jonah's experience is somewhat similar too, except he ran away from the start to escape the bitter experience.  In this time frame John possibly represents the 144,000 sealed saints, who will be the only ones alive at that time who are following God.  But perhaps John will be resurrected to actually perform this task then.  He has basically just been looking and writing up to this time, and this is the first time that he is commanded to do some other type of action.

	That the contents of the book must be given (prophesied) before the 7th angel sounds is evident from comparing verses 7 and 11 of chapter 10.  It doesn't mean much to anybody to prophesy after the mystery of God is already finished.  This gives a very important TIME clue and CONTENT clue.  Everything written by John between when he got the little book and when the 7th angel starts to sound, is what is in the little book, what it is about!  And the time is defined somewhat clearly here too (more clearly later).  It cannot be such a short time as a day or so, as that would not give time to taste the sweet, experience the bitter, and prophesy before many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.  At the minimum we should expect several months of time to be described before the beginning of the 7th trumpet.  Is that what we find?  EXACTLY!

	This is it!  What i've been wanting to get to ever since starting this article about the 7 trumpets - The Two Witnesses.  Earlier i mentioned that no explanation i've ever heard of the locusts in the 5th trumpet has satisfied Miller's rule of EVERY WORD of the prophecy being literally fulfilled before you can be sure you have the correct interpretation.  Well, this one regarding the Two Witnesses is the absolute clincher.  This, of all the events in Revelation, is just crying out, demanding to be taken literally.  While respecting past interpretations, and knowing that people in the Great Advent Movement were blessed of God in taking those interpretations, it is obvious that there is a more complete fulfillment awaiting in the future.

	To study Japanese i bought some Bible tapes to listen to.  Over, and over, and over again the same words went in one ear and out the other.  A mockingbird could do better than this old skull can, but finally the words stuck, and i listened to it like it was something new to me.  Hearing it in a new language was like starting all over from zero, like a little child again.  And the thot kept hitting me again and again: "Why can't this be taken just as it reads?  Why does someone have to search all over for books to explain this?  Did God intend to make this so complicated that noone except those with access to some library full of history books can understand it?"  Of all the places in Revelation that struck me this way, the Two Witnesses hit me the hardest.  But i pretty much kept my ideas to myself, thinking that i must be the only one in the world who was thinking that way so i must be some kook, and frankly, all the material i saw written by people espousing a literal interpretation was not true to the Bible or Spirit of Prophecy.  When Ellen White says: "I saw" in the original 1858 Great Controversy 161 times, i take it for real, almost the same as when John says: "I saw" 35 times in Revelation.  So any interpretation has to agree with the Bible and SOP.  About two years ago a missionary in Africa said he was studying Revelation, and would be interested in anything i had, so i told him it looked like the final fulfillment of many prophecies there are future and literal.

	To support the above view i sent my missionary friend the following piece: 
"Let's look at it.  Revelation 11.  First of all, the timing is way off for this to have happened in the 1700s.  The timing for chapter 11 is DURING the 7 angels blowing their trumpets.  This particular event is the SECOND woe.  Speaking in 2000, have the other events like the hail and fire mingled with blood (8:7), a great mountain burning with fire being thrown into the sea and a third of the sea becoming blood (8:8), or even the first woe of the 5 months of nasty little stinging things (9:1) already happened?  Who saw them?
 
11:3  Please notice, they only prophesy 1260 days (or years if that is the interpretation), then they are finished.  Are the prophecies of the Bible finished here in 2000?
 
11:5  Many people even today hurt the Bible with spurious translations etc. but i haven't heard of anyone being burnt.  And no, this isn't talking about burning them when Jesus comes back, because many of those who despised and hurt the Bible have died peacefully.
 
11:6   Notice it says: "in the days of their prophecy".  Again, is this supposed to mean that their prophesying ended in 1798???
 
11:7  Has the Bible finished it's testimony???  Has the beast ascended out of the bottomless pit yet?
 
11:8  Was our Lord crucified in Paris?  And if this city is Paris, then do other places in Revelation that refer to the great spiritually wicked city also refer to Paris?  Is Paris somehow more terribly wicked than London, New York, Moscow, or Tokyo?
 
11:9,10  Not very many peoples or nations saw the dead bodies of the Bible in the 1700s.  Notice the traditional interpretation implies that the Bible wasn't dead in the other countries during that time, only in France.
 
11:10  Lots of wicked men lived between 538 and 1798 who weren't tormented at all by the Bible.
 
11:11  Did the Bible not have any Spirit of Life for 3 1/2 years in the 1700s???
 
11:12  How many people saw the Bible going up to heaven in the 1700s?
 
11:13  Did a tenth of Paris fall in an earthquake around 1798?  Did those left give glory to God??
 
11:14  If this was finished in 1798 or so, then we should look for the 3rd woe coming quickly.  Has it come?
 
So just applying William Miller's own rules for interpreting the Scriptures, we see that the two witnesses' prophecy has not been fulfilled yet here in 2000."

	My missionary friend sent me a email saying basically that i was a kook, and broke off all contact with me.  For those who have bothered to read this article this far - please answer these simple questions regarding the Two Witnesses.  My email address is at the bottom of this article, and i will be eager to see any and all responses.  If the above questions cannot be truthfully answered with the current interpretation, then why not study to see if these things are true?  If they can be interpreted successfully by the current interpretation, then please show me.  I'm still in the school of truth, and will be ever learning in the school of the Master.  I don't want to learn for learning's sake, ever studying and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.  I want the truth!  John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life...".  John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

	Until August, 2002 i did not know of anyone who was studying the prophecies from a literal viewpoint still keeping true to the Bible and SOP.  Doing a Google search on "Revelation prophecy SDA" came up with a site that had some very interesting (and long) articles.  You can imagine my joy at finding others of my own kind - kooks!

	You already have a good idea where i'm coming from regarding the Two Witnesses, by the questions raised above.  While it is easy to challenge one theory, it is harder to show a new theory attempting to explain all the words so as to be in line with Miller's rules.  Let's go into the details surrounding the Two Witnesses in chapter 11.  Very similar to the measuring rod in Ezekiel's vision (Ez. chap.40~), John is given a reed to measure with.  The angel tells him to: "Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."  He is to measure the temple, the altar, and those worshipping there, and told NOT to measure the court outside the temple.  

	To understand this, first we have to determine where the temple is.  God has not recognized any temple on earth as his since he had an angel tear the curtain in the one in Jerusalem when Jesus died.  The word "measure"  obviously has a spiritual meaning as surely noone really cares if the people there are 5 feet, 6 feet, or 3 meters tall.  What is the purpose of measuring?  When i was little i helped my dad build some houses.  We would get out the measuring tape and mark a line on a board, and then take the saw to it.  The piece would then fit perfectly in the place we wanted it to go, and it could perform its function of supporting or beautifying the house.  Perhaps this could apply to the people there in a spiritual sense, but that still begs the question of the need to measure the temple and altar.  I don't know.  But the temple of God is obviously in the "holy city", which certainly doesn't refer to any city on this sick planet anymore.  Jerusalem was cut off at the cross.  There has been nothing "holy" at all about it since then.  So of the only two possible contenders for the place - the New Jerusalem is the one that fits best, but as the word "holy" did once refer to the city in Israel called "Jerusalem", that place cannot be entirely ruled out.

	How will the Gentiles tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months?  It violates common sense to expect a bunch of unholy people to go to heaven for 42 months and tramp around.  But then it violates the interpretation rule of taking things literally to say that this has only a spiritual application.  Any help on this would be appreciated:)

	Now to my favorite part of this story - the Two Witnesses.  "3.  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4.  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5.  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6.  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will."  Lots of people over the centuries have written countless articles trying to figure out who the two witnesses are.  My view on it may or may not add to the knowledge of God's people, but one thing is sure - the people who live in the time of their testimony will have studied, and will know without a doubt who these two beings are.

	"My two witnesses".  These witnesses are from God.  They have a specified time to prophesy.  They wear sackcloth.  They are likened to THE two olive trees and THE two candlesticks standing before God.  Noone is allowed to kill them during the time of their prophecy, and they have power (from God) to do all sorts of 'nasty' things.  1Kings 6 describes olive trees being used to make the cherubims in the Most Holy Place in Solomon's temple, and also for the doors etc.  Psalms 52:8 describes the righteous person as being like an olive tree in the house of God.  Then there is the most direct explanation given in Zechariah 4.  Even after seeing them in vision Zechariah couldn't tell who they were, so it's not likely that we can easily tell either, but the strongest clue is given in verse 14: "Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth."  Hmmmm, two anointed ones that stand by the Lord...  They are evidently some beings in heaven at the time of the vision as Zechariah makes no comment about the future in this particular passage.  The field is pretty well narrowed down to two angels, two creatures, or two humans.  My suggestion is that they refer to Enoch and Elijah.

	Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"  Only 2 humans in all of history have never died.  Is that a coincidence?  Yes, there will be 144,000 who never taste death, but they will be judged while alive!  God specifically promised that he would send Elijah before he comes again (Malachi 4:5).  There is no such promise about Enoch, but he fits the description better than anyone else.  Both of these holy men were great prophets while on earth, one to the those before the flood, and one to those after.  They will wear sackcloth which always symbolizes mourning (Genesis 37:34).  They sound a little bit like Godzilla, burning up with fire from their mouths anyone who tries to hurt them.  They have power to shut up heaven so that it doesn't rain signalling a drought of no water, and no Spirit of God.

	Then when their 1,260 days (42 months) of testimony is over, God allows the beast from the bottomless pit to kill them.  The beast is most likely Satan.  He will kill the two witnesses which will completely fulfill Hebrews 9:27.  Then these two men will lay dead in what city?  This is a real no-brainer - where was our Lord crucified?  Can't get much plainer.  This city is as Sodom and Egypt in the Lord's eyes (Jeremiah 23:14, Ezekiel 23).  Sodom symbolizes moral degeneracy, and Egypt symbolizes idol worship.  When they are killed, the people of the world are very happy.  You can imagine how they will treat the beast who killed the Two Witnesses who plagued them for 3 1/2 years.  The 3 1/2 days probably has some significance i don't understand.  The fact that the wicked who are left send gifts to each other at that time tells us that everything on earth isn't totally ruined yet.  There is still money in some form, and things of enough value to send as gifts.

	God resurrects the Two Witnesses after 3 1/2 days, and they go up to heaven in a cloud.  The wicked are awed by this sight.  How will Satan (the beast) explain this one away?  Then a large earthquake occurs in this city killing 7,000 people, and those who don't die are afraid and give glory to God.  This one little phrase here that the wicked at this point in time "give glory to God" directly impacts the whole idea that probation is closed before the 1st trumpet is sounded.  If their probation is all over at this time, how can they give God glory?  In every other instance after the trumpets start sounding, and all thru to the end of the 7 last plagues, when it describes the reaction of the wicked to the judgements, it says they blaspheme God.  One possible explanation, is that giving glory to God does not always necessarily mean to repent.  Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 23:39 "For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." will not be fulfilled until AFTER the second resurrection.  GC chapter 40 The Second Resurrection: "All are seeking to hide in the rocks, and shield themselves from the terrible glory of him whom they once despised.  As all are overwhelmed and pained with his majesty and his exceeding glory, they with one accord raise their voices, and with terrible distinctness exclaim, Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord."  The wicked are forced to admit the facts, but there is no heart repentance.  Possibly this could be the same kind of 'admission' after the earthquake when the Two Witnesses go up to heaven.

	Finally the 2nd woe is past.  It has lasted from Rev. 9:13 to 11:13.  One third of mankind dies by the weird horses, John eats a sweet/bitter book and measures the temple, and the Two Witnesses testify 1,260 days, get killed, and get resurrected.  Quite a range of events for the 2nd woe.  The 1st woe was where the nasty little critters sting the wicked for 5 months.  Just one event.  What about the 3rd woe?  It is said to be "coming quickly" in verse 14.  If in fact the 1st woe and 2nd woe with all their events have already taken place, are already part of history, then we should be able to read about what the 3rd woe is in a history book too since it's "coming quickly" after the 2nd.  I've never seen any explanation for it.  In fact, i don't see anywhere in Revelation where it even mentions the 3rd woe starting or ending.  What's with that?

	Then the 7th angel sounds his trumpet.  The 5th angel sounded and the 1st woe began.  The 6th angel sounded and the 2nd woe began.  Logically, the next angel and the next woe should go together too.  In 8:13 the angel basically equates the 3 remaining trumpets (5, 6, & 7) to the 3 woes.  The last place that the word "woe" is used in Revelation is 12:12, but it doesn't really sound like this is "the 3rd woe".  So let's interpret the 7th angel as carrying the 3rd woe.

	To back up a step, information about the seventh angel can be found in Revelation 10:7: "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."  This clearly shows what to look for when reading about the seventh angel.  There are three events described under this angel's trumpet - "great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever", the 24 elders worshipping God, and the ark of the covenant in heaven being seen along with fearful signs in nature.

	When do the kingdoms of this world finally become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ?  Just after Jesus says: "It is done!" in GC chapter 35 The Third Angel's Message Closed it says: "I saw that every case was then decided for life or death. Jesus had blotted out the sins of his people.  He had received his kingdom, and the atonement had been made for the subjects of his kingdom.  While Jesus had been ministering in the Sanctuary, the judgment had been going on for the righteous dead, and then for the righteous living.  The subjects of the kingdom were made up.  The marriage of the Lamb was finished.  And the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, was given to Jesus, and the heirs of salvation, and Jesus was to reign as King of kings, and Lord of lords."  Jesus receives the kingdoms at the close of probation.

	The 24 elders worship God and call him something eerily similar to what the beast is called in Revelation 17:8.  The beast is called the one who was, is not, and yet is.  God is worshipped as the one who is, who was, and who is to come.  There is no 'yes' and 'no' with our God, only 'yes' and 'yes'.  Praise him for his never changing ways!  God's wrath comes with the 7 last plagues.  The righteous dead have already been judged at this point in time, but the wicked dead will be judged during the 1,000 years.  The saints are rewarded when taken to heaven (there is even a chapter (38) in the original Great Controversy called: "The Saints' Reward"!).  Destroy "those who destroy the earth" is surely referring to the 2nd coming of Jesus.

	I want to waste 30 seconds speculating with the speculators about who really are "those who destroy the earth".  Are they big polluting companies?  If so, then we are all part of it because we buy their products.  Are they those who litter?  I've wanted to think so when finding beer cans in caves, but i've had stuff blow out of my car before.  Are they those who detonate nuclear bombs?  This might be it, and also knowing that there are scientists (Tesla) who have said that devices can be made to literally split the earth, i tend to think those using weapons of destruction is what is meant.  Even now there are governments experimenting with changing particles in the atmosphere to mess with the weather, sending electromagnetic pulses to affect body rhythms, confining plasma energy in a ball to basically melt everything in its path etc.  Very possibly we will see breathtaking technology before the end of time.

	Revelation 11:19, the last verse in the Bible with reference to the 7 trumpets should be familiar to all Seventh-day Adventists.  There are three references to those who keep the commandments of God in Revelation, and they are proof that God's commandments are not changed or abolished, even at the time of the 2nd Coming.  This verse shows that the ark of his covenant is in heaven, and deserves our attention.  The point of contention at the time of the end, is whether to keep a man-made law (first-day of the week Sabbath), or keep God's law (seventh-day of the week Sabbath).  God has given abundant proof that just as his finger wrote it on the tables of stone, the Sabbath is in force today.  It makes no difference if all the world ignores it, or if most everyone who calls themselves 'Christian' chooses to believe it has nothing to do with salvation.  It still stands, a silent testimony to the claims God has on us as the Creator of everything.  The most awe-inspiring display that this is really what it's all about will be when people on earth will be able to peer into heaven, and see the ark of his covenant that is there.  Then there will be a nature display very similar to the one that the Israelites witnessed when God gave them the original 10 commandments - lightning, thunder, and an earthquake, (without the hail), (Exodus 19:16~18).

	So just as the first trumpet has hail in it, the last trumpet also has hail in it.  There is nothing good about any of the trumpets to those who reject salvation.  All the green grass is destroyed.  Water turns to blood.  Water kills many with its bitterness.  One third of the heavenly bodies refuse to shine.  All the wicked get stung for five months.  One third of all people are killed by horses.  John eats a little book and measures the temple.  Two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days.  The kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.  This perfect plan of God should lead us to become more earnest about our salvation, and for those around us.

	Written September, 2002.  Any comments, questions, advice, criticism etc. are welcome.  Please send to Daniel Winters at: tenkoku1@hotmail.com