The First Trumpet
Revelation 8|7
7 The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
This verse is all the information given in John’s vision concerning the First Trumpet.
It begins with the sounding of the Trumpet by one of the seven angels each given a Trumpet in verse 6.
2 I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
Here is a paraphrase of this verse with our focues marked in parentheses. One of the angels sounded his Trumpet. I heard the sound of the first trumpet, and then I saw “hail (ice precipitation) and fire (1)”, mingled with blood (2) as well (in the sky). These elements were cast down on the soil (3) (earth). One third of the earth was consumed. One third (4) of the trees (5) was consumed (6), and all green grass (7) was also consumed.
1 Focus No. 1: Hail and fire
In Exodus 9 there was this account during the judgment of Pharoah’s hardheartedness before the children of Israel were leaving Africa. The Israelites were still slaves in Egypt. I will be in agreement that as in the Exodus, when the first Trumpet is sounded, the children of God and the Bride of Moshiach (Christ) will likewise be in the world.
23 Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 So there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very severe, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, both man and beast; the hail also struck every plant of the field and shattered every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail.
I will point out the difference between this Exodus narrative and the First Trumpet. In Egypt, it was judgment against the head of state and it was “every” tree – physical vegetation – was hit by impact of the ice balls. There may not be many trees in the desert nation but Moshe recorded that every tree was hit and shattered. Whether it was a hyperbole expression or literally meant, we note that the narrative speaks of destruction.
However I do not interpret this prophetic scene to mean destruction targeted at the trees alone and no other objects on the earth. And at that some of the trees but not all of the trees. In the First Trumpet, somehow John recorded that only 1/3 of the trees will be affected. Let us consider whether John was informing the readership that it was a physical attack or otherwise. Hailstones are not known to be directional but fall randomly. The coverage is general. By contrast, a tornado can have a narrow path of devastation of properties. Five houses on either side of a house have been known to get hit while it can be left untouched. We shall discuss this in Focus No. 5.
In Bible times, comets are often expressed as hail and fire. Today we understand this about the comets: object consisting of a nucleus of ice (hail) and dust and, when near the sun, a “tail” of gas (fire) and dust particles pointing away from the sun.
Therefore a certain comet will be expecteed to be a visible sign on earth for when the First Trumpet is sounded. This is the sign that the Lord has given the readers in the last generation. In recent years we name the following as suitable candidates.
Magnificent Comet Hale-Bopp on April 3, 1997. This comet was mistaken by a cult in California to be the sign for the end of the world. They committed mass suicide.
Lovejoy
Comet Lovejoy, formally designated C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), is a long-period comet and Kreutz sungrazer. It was discovered in November 2011 by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy.
Last perihelion: December 16, 2011
Comet PanSTARRS in March 2013. The green comet.
ISON Last perihelion, 28 November 2013. Comet ISON, formally known as C/2012 S1, was a sungrazing comet. I will mention that this comet was seen during the US Thanksgiving. More significantly it passed on the feast of Dedication (Chanukah).
Comet ISON came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 28 November 2013 at a distance of 0.0124 AU (1,860,000 km; 1,150,000 mi) from the center point of the Sun. Accounting for the solar radius of 695,500 km (432,200 mi), Comet ISON passed approximately 1,165,000 km (724,000 mi) above the Sun’s surface.
It is entirely feasible that the First Trumpet has sounded and the sign of that was the ISON comet. I am not committed to it and I am open that the comet that serves as the sign for the First Trumpet has yet to be revealed. Comets are known to be discovered by amateur astronomers that are not state-hired. Some of these comets such as ISON was only discovered on its approach to earth a month prior. I am not a pretribulationist. I am entirely fine wit this interpretation.
2 Focus No. 2: Blood (Gk. haima)
We shall note that the word “blood” appears twice among all seven trumepets, once each in the First Trumpet and then in the Second Trumpet. We shall explore if they point to the same sign.
There are 19 occurrences of haima in all of Revelation. We shall break down the uses by chapter. We will find out from the analysis that “blood” is surprisingly used to describe a wide breadth of objects.
CHAPTER occurrence and meaning
1, 5, 7 – Y’shua’s blood
6 – a. the martyrs’ blood, b. the color of the moon
8 – a. hail; b. the sea
11 – water
12 – Y’shua’s blood
14 – blood of the unjust
16 – a. the seawater as decomposing blood; b. water; c. the martyrs’ blood ;d. judgement
17 – (2X), the martyrs’ blood
18, 19 – the martyrs’ blood
19 – b. blood of the unjust, judgment
In tabulation summary of the word blood, haima –
The Blood of the Savior – 4 times
The blood of the martyrs – 5 times
The blood of the unjust – 2 times
Blood describing a water body – 3 times
Blood as judgment – 2 times
Blood as a dying analogy – 1 time
Blood as a color description – 1 time
Blood as a mixture with hail – 1 time
A comet that is mingled with blood could be a hint at an occurrence that coincides with a special date or a feast of the Lord. It can also be a prophetically foretold hint such as the name of the designated comet. Our God sees the beginning from the end. It is not difficult at all for Him to reveal to prophets what He already knows from the future. The (SON) of the name ISON (C/2012 S1) of the comet is an interesting fact to note. For Y’shua is the Lamb of God, who shed His precious blood for the sinners for redemption by faith.
3 Focus No. 3: Earth (Gk. gē)
The earth in the original language used here is gē. gē does not mean the kosmo, the inhabited world elsewhere in the Bible. It means the soil. The soil exactly is where the types in the parable found in Matthew 13 for their growing ground. To me, it means the foundation of our faith will be put to the test by a spiritual fire. The hail and fire mixed with blood affects the whole earth, which I interpret to mean our foundation of faith in Moshiach. Therefore I am not looking at the First Trumpet to be an environmental crisis but on the other hand it could be a spiritual crisis for many believers today who are alive waiting for His Appearing. The majority of those in churches do not have any sound concept that we live in the last generation before the Lord returns. When we look into the burning of the trees and the grass this message is made increasingly clear.
In its use, gē is used symbolically in the Trumpets series. What John saw was a spiritual vision much like a prophetic dream that people come to me to give them an interpretation of. Not many visions in Revelation are actual and literal objects, including the appearance of the Word of YHVH – Y’shua. When John saw His feet which looked like burnished bronze, it is pointing to Y’shua being our altar of sacrifice and of worship of the Most High. He is where we meet the Most High.. Such as the locust armies that will be released in the First Woe at the Fifth Trumpet are not locusts. We shall see later how that applies also to the other focuses of the First Trumpet.
4 Focus No. 4: “One third”
This is a repeating motif, or a pattern, that is used in the visions in multiple places. The Greek word in the manuscript is tritos. In terms of percentage points, one third is 33.3%. 33.3% of the trees will be consumed by fire, giving light to shine at the tribulation. This view is contrary to the mainstream gloom and doom interpretation.
Being tested in season by God is a wonderful thing. As the clay pot being molded in the hands of a potter, and if the potter is displeased with the craft, he may break it up to start over. In Jeremiah 18, the Word of YHVH says, ” 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.” We will be tested and judged by the Lord in our character and in the strength of our faith in Him. We have had a lifetime to learn and practice faith and walking with Him and then those who invest in it, treating the opportunity as a precious thing in our lives will invest in it with heart and soul. I will see this is a means in which the just and merciful God will demonstrate to all the believers each walking in love of His Son before the Redeemer comes. His approval matters. Therefore, those who will be gathered by Him to the marriage are acknowledged at the marriage and then unfortunately, those that will be told to depart from Him will understand that their foundation was all wrong. Sometimes, when the Lord calls a believer to repentance, he has to heed it.
Ezekiel 18
26 When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. 27 Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life.28 Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
The lesson we shall learn from above is the need to repent to God. This is true for both the just and the unjust. People of the New Testament must not mock the grace of God by choosing to sleep with the devil after he has been saved by the precious blood of Y’shua. Paul made it clear that the Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation therefore, do not grieve the Holy Spirit. As in Ezekiel 18, the justified believer also needs to be held accountable to Y’shua, the Word of YHVH. If he turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. In the New Covenant grace is given as a period for repentance. Grace is not given so that a believer may go on sinning and go on unrepenting for the people that he hurts and the damage that he has done to the lives of many, or if to one. If the just man keeps on sinning and he does not turn to the Lord, he will be called fruitless. The fruitless believer will be cut, according to the words of Y’shua. He won’t cut him but His Father will find him not worthy.
But what about the rest of the trees not in the 33.3%? The balance comes to 66.6%.
If that group of three sixes look familiar to you, I guarantee you that it is not a coincidence. What John was given to see is not a number or the actual count of the trees such as 1,304,876 units. He was inspired by this Biblical number that has been used in the Old Testament. As a Jewish man, he was familiar with the Scriptures. It is a symbolical number that holds a meaning as it was first used in the Old Testament. In my commentary, I will only use Scripture to interpret Scripture, no matter how unheard of it may sound.
If the grace of God is like a dam that is holding back the flood of wrath the dam is not going to be doing this for long. The wickedness of the unjust has been increasing. Two things are happening simultaneously. Believers in the Churches are not repenting from their casual attitude of no big deal toward habitual sinning. They can blame it on their pastors and leaders but the Bible says God will hold each individual accountable. The other thing that is becoming more and more common is the apostacy that is happening among Christian denominations that were once held as sound bodies of faith in Christ. They are dropping like a row of ducks one by one. In Ezekiel 16, Israel was rebuked by the Word of YH to be such a harlot that even the pagans were astonished at their idolatry commitment. Likewise today, the decent people outside of the Church, and many of them, despite being disbelievers, are moral living people. I am sure they are shocked by the sexual sins that are exposed behind the curtain from those who the community holds them in high regard until they completely get exposed. Just last month in Chicago, three pastors were charged in a sextrafficking ring in corrupting a 14 year-old girl while promising her mother in the view of the congregation that they will be a father to her. In real life, they were grooming her to be a common prostitute. The news coming out from courthouses in America and in Europe that found Roman Catholic clergymen guilty of child molestation from the last 70 years is raising eyebrows. But the wickedness that is going on in organized religion is not the last of it.
The beast system has been gaining grounds week after week, mainly through the mainstream churches, the LBGTQIA churches, the legalistic churches, the unloving cold churches, the unforgiving churches, the New Age churches, the swinging churches, the naked churches, the OSAS churches, the FE churches, and the pedo churches. You get the idea. Some religions have been long deceived way before 2019. We only hear about these trainwrecks in the news today and we sigh over them. They are all mocking God and it cannot go on for another handful of years, if not sooner. The heavenly armies are all looking to the LORD of host for the command to come down to put away trash.
There are also those who think they are born anew in the Spirit, believers who walk according to the ways of the world. If the beast system has infiltrated the Churches thus far, we can only imagine how rooted the secular world is in it.
Christ has no fellowship with the devil. His true followers surely follow His examples. Those who are not true disciples are in bed with the devil and they do not feel it, do not get a scent of it and do not unjoin themselves from it.
Note this is part of the New Testament. The person who touches an unclean thing will not be received by God.
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 King James Version (KJV)
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
5 Focus No. 5: The trees
Those who are ready for the final test and welcome it, will be like the psalmist.
Psalm 57:4
My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
The 66.6%.
I am afraid that the two thirds of the trees will not shine and give light once subjected to the final test. All of the following sects and flavors of the Churches have one root problem. They have become lukewarm. E.g. Gay Christians, Pro-Choice Christians, Christians who do not turn back to God are not going to have oil. They grieve the Holy Spirit, the seal of salvation. The one who has oil to burn is hot to the touch. They stifle the Holy Spirit by divorcing themselves from reading and sponging in the Word.
The hail and fire mingled with blood is sent to test the earth (soil). The First Trumpet is not for the unjust. It is for sifting the believers at every stage.
Ephesians 4:30 King James Version (KJV)
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Y’shua has issued this warning and from my meeting with many, many people who call themselves believers, in my opinion, they have been deceived by a litany of unsound doctrine and humanistic philosophy. The unsoundness is beyond recognition when compared to the Word. Yes it is true. They are lukewarm. The Holy Spirit may have left many of them. This brings in the question. Will a former just person who once has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit be qualified to receive Him again? The answer will lie in a case by case basis and largely he has to answer this question. Did he taste the goodness of the Holy Spirit? Now for many who took on the office of the Pastor, my own view will be a doubtful one.
Hebrews 6:6-9 King James Version (KJV)
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
6 Focus No. 6: Consume with fire Gk. katakaió, burn
The word katakaió is used also in Matthew 3|12, “but he will burn up the chaff”; Matthew 13|30 “bundles to burn them: “; Matthew 13|40 “and burned in the fire”; 1 Corinthians 3|13 “work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss:”; Hebrews 13|11 “for sin, are burned without the camp.”;
This word only mean to burn and to burn in a complete manner till nothing more can be burned. In the KJ, the translators use “burned up”, and can be understood that the items are consumed by fire in John’s vision.
There is neither a positive or a negative connotation for this consumption for in Matthew the burning is for the discarded chaff and in Hebrews 13 the burning is for a sacrifice which is holy to the LORD.
11Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp.
Therefore, our interpretation for the trees and the grass will not be directed specifically toward either a favorable sign or an unfavorable sign.
The talk of burning is mentioned in Hebrews 6. This goes to all the grass that will become stubble of wrath.
Deuteronomy 4|24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
The Last Prophet John said this of the Moshiach.
Luke 3
16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The threshing floor is a motif at harvest times when the crop is gathered for separation. I believe the time for the winnowing is at hand. Y’shua will fulfill this prophecy in the last days. The wheat shall be separated by Him from the chaff. The word burn is explained here.
That wheat is the life of a righteous saint who is a wise and faithful servant in the end times kingdom. He is found at work when his Lord comes back. As a tree in Matthew 13 can provide shelter to the birds and all the creatures to come for nesting and for shelter in good times, the tree that burns with oil, such as an olive tree, a walnut tree, an avocado tree, trees that can produce cold pressed oil, will light up the darkness that we will be guaranteed to find ourselves in the end times.
1,313 BC
In the Sinai incident, upon the Word of God visiting His meeting with Moses, in Exodus 19
18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.
We shall know that when we are the trees that are tested by fire, the Lord will be with us. We are not the grass that will be all burned up leaving nothing. I shall discuss this at Focus No. 7 shortly.
One translation for Romans 12 says set our hearts on fire for the Lord. It is becuz worship comes from the heart. Throwing up one’s hands in worship is an expression not the be all and end all. The Lord knows the heart of the worshiper. He is indeed worthy of all our worship and praise, 7 days a week. Our hearts are always on fire for Him as He is jealous for us in love.
Romans 12:11-13 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
11 Do not be lagging in zeal; be fervent in spirit. Keep serving the Lord, 12 rejoicing in hope, enduring in distress, persisting in prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the kedoshim, extending hospitality.
The adversary has a different kind of brightness. He has been known to give an almost but not the real deal.
The Illuminati will be taking over world governments and uniting all the false religions into ecumenism under one rule. Revelation 18 says that the antichrist will destroy the Great Harlot and will turn all the worship of the world from the One World Religion to himself, he will take all the worship and praise. Massive mind controls of the masses and mandatory healthcare measures to drip feed “treatment” of created crises and neurological disorders will keep many medically andh psychoreactively captive. The trees have a place to shine for God once He sends the fire. The rest of the sinful world will be judged.
7 Focus No. 7: Grass
100% of grass will be burned up. Now this burning up is just a wildfire upon those who are dried up on the rocks looking like grass, those that choose a growing ground among thorns without weeding their environment of the cares of life, the charms of life and the heroes, games and celebrities, season tickets, etc. looking like grass from afar in their entanglement with the world (thorns that do not bear fruit). They are the ruined ones among the wicked in Psalm 1.
When the children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt they went to gather the stubble to burn.
Exodus 5|12
So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw as fuel for the brick kilns.
Malachi 4|1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
Obadiah 1|18
18 “Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,” For the LORD has spoken.
Grass being consumed with fire refers to those who will be tested and will be headed for the wrath.
Y’shua says during the tribulation, deception is rife.
Matthew 24
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
Those that are deceived will be swept under the 66.6% unholy category. When tested by fire, they do not have the oil to light up. All the grass will burn up. Not because the grass have oil. But because the grass is just plain combustible without resistance to a wildfire. That is the place a warning that comes from the Bible has.
Therefore in conclusion, the First Trumpet is refinery fire and purification. It is how the Master is refining the House in the tribulation before the Woes, the fire is only a euphemism for His methods. In preparing for the marriage gathering, He is to send His disciples one last time to call the rest to repentance. Those that qualify will be included. Those that are disqualified will be on their own. The antichrist would love to have them and will brand them with his mark.
Today many of those who pay attention to the Trumpets have concerns that their homes and their jobs may be threatened. Their governments will snatch them. But I think that they are being deceived and as is the intention of deception, they are led to look at the wrong focus altogether.
Daniel's 70TH Week (Shavua) "I Will Be Back!" 