  CHAPTER 2 
The prophecy of the trumpets begins with Revelation 8:2 : “Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.” Verse 1 records the opening of the seventh seal. Thus it belongs to the prophecy of the seals. Verse 2 marks the introduction of a new prophecy, the vision of the seven trumpets.
Who are “the seven angels who stand before God” ( Revelation 8:2 )? Luke 1:19 records the words of the angel to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. “I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God.” But here in Revelation 8:2 we have seven angels standing in the presence of God. They are spoken of again in Revelation 15:1 : “Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.” Because of the parallel between the trumpets and the plagues, the suggestion is that the same seven angels are being referred to in chapters 8 and 15. The seven angels with the seven last plagues are described in more detail in Revelation 15:6 - 8; 16:1 : “After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, and their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever, and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended. Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.’ ”
The four living creatures who give the seven angels “seven bowls full of the wrath of God” are first brought to view in Revelation 4:6 - 8. They are cherubim who are the commanders of the heavenly hosts ( Ezekiel 1 ; 10 ). They minister before the throne of God ( Revelation 4:6 ). They receive their commands directly from God and pass them on to the angelic hosts ( Revelation 6:1 , 3, 5 , 7 ). During the mediatorial and pre-advent judgment ministries of Christ, depicted in Revelation 4 and 5, the living creatures send messages into the earth ( Revelation 6:1 - 8 ). But now Revelation 15:8 tells us that “the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.” Now Christ’s mediation and pre-advent judgment have ended, now the living creatures are not in the heavenly temple, now probation has closed. The seven last plagues are poured out after the close of probation, after Christ’s mediation and pre-advent, investigative judgment have ended, after every person on earth has made his or her decision either to serve God or not to serve God. The same seven angels are brought to view again in Revelation 17:1 : “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters.’ ” The chapter then reveals the historical and end-time, destructive work of anti-typical Babylon, and chapter 18 describes the ultimate judgments meted out upon her. Hence, the indications are that chapters 17 and 18 are an extension of the prophecy of the plagues itemized in chapter 16. The same seven angels appear again in Revelation 21:9, 10: “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.” Evidently the seven angels who are given the trumpets ( Revelation 8:2 ) and the seven last plagues ( Revelation 15:1 ) represent those who give signals to the angelic hosts who are commissioned to execute God’s sentence of condemnation against the wicked and the sentence of acquittal and deliverance for God’s faithful people. The number seven seems to represent the perfection of God’s work of executive justice.
Seven trumpets were given to the seven angels who stand before God ( Revelation 8:2 ). What is the significance of these trumpets? In Scripture, trumpets are said to have been blown for a number of different reasons. The blowing of trumpets was often a call to worship. For example, when God descended upon Mount Sinai for the giving of His law, a trumpet blast announced that the people were to approach the mountain in a spirit of reverent devotion and worship. God commanded that no one was to touch the mountain when He came down upon it ( Exodus 19:12 , 13 ). But God said, “When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain” ( Exodus 19:13 ). Clearly the trumpet blast was supernatural; it came from the throne of God. “On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder” ( Exodus 19:16 - 19 ).
Numbers 10:1 - 10 lists three purposes for the blowing of trumpets in Israel:
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make two silver trumpets; of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation, and for breaking camp. And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out. And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; they shall serve you for remembrance before your God: I am the Lord your God.”
A special time for the blowing of the trumpets was at the Feast of Trumpets that occurred on the first day of the seventh month. The Lord instructed that this day was to be observed as “a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blasts of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work; and you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord” ( Leviticus 23:24 , 25; cf. Numbers 29:1 - 6 ). After the captivity, in the time of Ezra, the Feast of Trumpets was observed by the reading of the book of the law of Moses ( Nehemiah 8:1 - 3 ). The effect on the people was dramatic; they wept and repented of their sins ( Nehemiah 8:9 - 17 ).1 The point is that the Feast of Trumpets came a few days before the Day of Atonement that occurred on the tenth day of the seventh month ( Leviticus 23:26 ). The Day of Atonement was a judgment day on which the sanctuary was to be cleansed of the sins that had been transferred to it during the year ( Leviticus 4 ). On this day, the people were to examine themselves to be sure that their sins were forgiven and that they had put away sin as a way of life ( Leviticus 16:29 - 34; 23:26 - 32; Numbers 29:7 - 11 ). Thus, the Feast of Trumpets was a preparation for this important day. As in Ezra’s day, the Feast of Trumpets provided an opportunity for the people to prepare for the judgment to come. One of the most significant occasions when trumpets were blown was at the conquest of Jericho ( Joshua 6:4 - 21 ). At the command of God, for six days the Israelites marched once around the city while seven priests blew trumpets. On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times, and when the priests blasted the trumpets, the walls of the city collapsed, and the people attacked the city and destroyed it. The blowing of trumpets was a significant part of Gideon’s overthrow of the Midianite army ( Judges 7:15 - 23 ). Job refers to the battle horse that “cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet” ( Job 39:24 , 25 ). The Psalmist tells us that God’s sovereign rule over the earth is announced with the sound of a trumpet ( Psalms 47:1 - 7 ). Hosea speaks of a trumpet blast betokening the unfaithfulness of God’s people and the judgments that will be meted out upon them ( Hosea 5:8 - 10 ). Amos sounds the same alarm ( Amos 2:2 ; 3:6 - 8 ). Joel announces the “day of the Lord” with a trumpet blast: “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!” ( Joel 2:1 , 2 ). In the context of Joel’s book, we receive the impression that the local day of the Lord, in which God’s unfaithful people were punished for their apostasy, was a type of the ultimate day of the Lord when “the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his host is exceedingly great; he that executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who can endure it?” ( Joel 2:10 , 11 ). The parallel with Revelation 6:12 - 17 and other passages in Revelation is impressive. In view of the coming calamity, Joel urges: “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber” ( Joel 2:15 , 16 ). The trumpet not only announces the coming day of the Lord, but it also calls God’s people to repentance. Zephaniah repeats Joel’s call to repentance in view of the approaching “day of the Lord.” This is “a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements” ( Zephaniah 1:14 - 18 ). Isaiah identifies the trumpet blast as announcing both the destruction of the unfaithful and the vindication of the faithful ( Isaiah 18:3 - 7; 27:12 , 13 ). Jeremiah urges the blowing of trumpets to warn of the coming of the king of the north with his army, the Babylonians, whom God would use to punish and take captive his apostate people ( Jeremiah 4:5 - 8, 19 , 21; 6:1 , 17 ). Then Jeremiah predicts that God will punish Babylon by bringing the Medes against them. The trumpet blast announces the demise of ancient Babylon ( Jeremiah 51:27 - 33 ). The nation that God used to punish His people was itself punished for its wickedness. Ezekiel speaks of the day of the Lord as a day of doom and terrible destruction, proclaimed by the blowing of the trumpet ( Ezekiel 7:10 - 27 ). He writes eloquently of the judgments poured out upon the unfaithful. In most instances of its use in the New Testament, the trumpet blast is associated with the second coming of Jesus ( Matthew 24:31 ; 1Corinthians 15:52 ; 1Thessalonians 4:16 ). We may summarize the Bible’s discussion of trumpets:
The relationship between the Bible’s general discussion of trumpets and Revelation’s trumpets will become clearer as we study each of the seven trumpets in turn. In anticipation of our later conclusions, we can say that the purpose of Revelation’s trumpets is as follows:
“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God” ( Revelation 8:3 , 4 ). The Greek word for “altar” used in Revelation 8:3 is thusiasterion. This Greek word is used in the Septuagint ( LXX ) and the New Testament for both the altar of burnt offering in the court of the ancient Israelite sanctuary ( Exodus 29:38 , LXX; 1Corinthians 9:13 ) and the altar of incense in the holy place of the sanctuary ( Exodus 30:1 , LXX; Luke 1:11 ). Revelation 8:3 is clearly a reference to the altar of incense in heaven which is the great original, of which the altar of incense in the earthly sanctuary was a copy ( Hebrews 8:5 ). The altar of incense in the ancient Israelite sanctuary is described in Exodus 30:1 - 10. It was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Moses was instructed: “You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides round about and its horns; and you shall make for it a molding of gold round about” ( Exodus 30:3 ). “And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps in the evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations” ( Exodus 30:7 , 8 ). The golden altar of incense was positioned in the holy place before the veil ( Exodus 40:26 ), and every morning and evening the smoke of the incense burnt by the priest on the altar ascended over the top of the veil into the presence of God in the most holy apartment. The offering of incense represented the prayers of the people ascending to God. The Psalmist wrote: “Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee ( Psalms 141:2 ). And Revelation 5:8 identifies incense as “the prayers of the saints.” As the priest morning and evening burnt incense on the altar in the holy place of the sanctuary, the people stood outside in the court with the sure knowledge that their prayers were being heard by God. This was the scenario when Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist was serving in the temple: “Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense” ( Luke 1:8 - 10 ). When sin offerings were performed on behalf of the high priest or the entire community of Israelites, some of the blood of the sacrificial animal was sprinkled on the horns of the altar of incense ( Leviticus 4:7 , 18 ). This symbolized the transference of the forgiven sin to the sanctuary. Then on the Day of Atonement the high priest took “a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small,” and he brought it “within the veil and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat which is upon the testimony [the tables of stone on which were written the ten commandments], lest he die” ( Leviticus 16:12 , 13 ). Then the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat, after which, he went into the holy place and sprinkled some of the blood on the horns of the altar of incense ( Leviticus 16:16 ; Exodus 30:10 ). Then he went into the court and sprinkled some of the blood of the sin offering on the horns of the altar of burnt offering ( Leviticus 16:18 , 19 ). The sprinkling of blood in the most holy place, the holy place, and on the altar of burnt offering in the court symbolized the cleansing of the sanctuary ( Leviticus 16:20 ). These acts, and the other acts of the priest on the Day of Atonement, described in Leviticus 16 , provided atonement ( cleansing from sin, purgation, reconciliation ) for both the sanctuary and the people. The Lord told Moses: “. . . for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. . . . he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly” ( Leviticus 16:30 - 33 ). The same services practiced in the wilderness tabernacle were later regularly performed in the temple built by Solomon ( 1Kings 7:48 - 51; 2Chronicles 4:19 - 22 ). The offering of incense morning and evening represented the prayers of the people ascending to God so that their hearts could be made ready for the other services of the sanctuary and especially for the events of the Day of Atonement, the great annual judgment day when sin was to be finally eliminated from both the sanctuary and the people.
Who is the “angel” whom John saw standing before the altar in heaven offering incense? The short answer is that it is Christ our heavenly High Priest who intercedes for His believing people. Hebrews 8 informs us that “we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord” ( Hebrews 8:1 , 2 ). Hebrews 9 explains that “when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent ( not made with hands, that is, not of this creation ) he entered once for all into the Holy Place [the heavenly sanctuary], taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” ( Hebrews 9:11 , 12 ). The “angel” offering incense at the heavenly, golden altar of incense is Christ our one heavenly Mediator. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” ( 1Timothy 2:5 ; cf. 1John 2:1 ; Hebrews 8:6 ; 9:15, 24; 12:24 ). The Holy Spirit cooperates with Christ’s work of mediation ( Romans 8:26 , 27 ), and the twenty-four elders and four living creatures of Revelation 4 and 5 function as assistants to Christ our High Priest ( Revelation 5:8 ), just as the regular Israelite priests assisted the earthly high priest ( Luke 1:9 - 11 ). Nevertheless, we have only one Mediator who pleads our cause because He has lived on earth as a man and suffered for the sins of the whole world on Calvary’s cross ( 1John 2:2 ). But why would Christ be referred to in Revelation 8:3 as an angel? Often in Scripture the Deity is spoken of as an “angel” or “the angel of the Lord.” When Jacob blessed Joseph and his sons, he said: “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has led me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads” ( Genesis 48:15 , 16 ). At the burning bush, “the angel of the Lord appeared” to Moses ( Exodus 3:2 ). “God called to him out of the bush” ( Exodus 3:4 ). The angel of the Lord, the Messenger, was God Himself ( cf. Acts 7:30 - 34 ). It was Christ who accompanied the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings, dwelling in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night ( 1Corinthians 10:4 ). But he is spoken of in the Old Testament as “the angel of God” ( Exodus 14:19 ; cf. 23:20 - 24 ). The “angel of the Lord” who spoke to the people, as recorded in Judges 2:1 - 4, was the Lord Himself. The “angel of the Lord” who appeared to Gideon was the Lord Himself ( Judges 6:11 - 24 ). Christ is the “angel” offering incense, as mentioned in Revelation 8:3 , 4. This in no way implies that He is a created being like heaven’s angels. “For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily” ( Colossians 2:9 ). He is the I AM who appeared to Moses ( John 8:58 , 59; Exodus 3:13 - 15 ). Christ is equal with the Father in authority and power ( John 5:18 ). To know Him is to know the Father ( John 14:8 - 11 ). In Revelation 8:3 , 4, we have the magnificent picture of Christ our heavenly High Priest mingling the merits of His intercession with our prayers. His incense is said to “mingle with the prayers of all the saints” ( Revelation 8:3 ). John says: “The smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God” ( Revelation 8:4 ; ; compare Revelation 5:8 , which identifies incense with “the prayers of the saints” ). We need have no fear that our prayers are not heard and answered. Jesus, our loving Lord, accepts our prayers and presents them before the Father’s throne as acceptable because mingled with them are the merits of His divine intercession. Ellen G. White spelled out the meaning of Revelation 8:3 , 4 in a thoroughly biblical manner: “As in that typical service the priest looked by faith to the mercy-seat which he could not see, so the people of God are now to direct their prayers to Christ, their great high priest, who, unseen by human vision, is pleading in their behalf in the sanctuary above. “The incense, ascending with the prayers of Israel, represents the merits and intercession of Christ, his perfect righteousness, which through faith is imputed to his people, and which can alone make the worship of sinful beings acceptable to God. Before the veil of the most holy place, was an altar of perpetual intercession, before the holy, an altar of continual atonement. By blood and by incense, God was to be approached-symbols pointing to the great Mediator, through whom sinners may approach Jehovah, and through whom alone mercy and salvation can be granted to the repentant, believing soul.”- Patriarchs and Prophets ( Mountain View, CA.: Pacific Press, 1890, 1913 ), p. 353. [Compare Christ’s Object Lessons ( Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1900, 1941 ), pp. 156, 157.]
“Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth; and there were peals of thunder, voices, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake” Revelation 8:5 . Censers were used by the priests to burn incense as part of the morning and evening services ( Numbers 4:14 ; Exodus 38:29, 30; 1Kings 7:50 ). On the Day of Atonement, the high priest used a censer to burn incense in the most holy place ( Leviticus 16:12 , 13 ). The “angel” ( Christ ) now ceases offering incense, fills the censer with fire from the altar, and casts it into the earth. When God is symbolically represented as casting burning coals of fire into the earth, this act betokens punishment for the unfaithful ( Ezekiel 10:2 , 6, 7; 9:8 - 10; 11:5 - 12; Psalms 18:6 - 15; Genesis 19:24 , 25; Luke 12:49 ). The end of Christ’s intercession for mankind, represented here by His ceasing to offer incense, is the close of probation.2 This is the point of time when Christ’s loving appeals to humanity cease; the time when God is aware that every living human being has made a decision either to serve Him or not to serve Him. This same event is referred to in other passages in the book of Revelation. When the fourth seal was broken ( Revelation 6:7 , 8 ), John saw “a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.” Here is a picture of God withdrawing His protection from those who have rejected the first three messages ( Revelation 6:1 - 6 ). They were given the righteousness and salvation by faith message ( the white horse and its rider, Revelation 6:1 , 2 ), but they rejected it. They were given warnings ( Revelation 6:3 , 4 ) and repeated warnings ( Revelation 6:5 , 6 ), but they scorned them. Then came judgment, involving rejection by God followed by death and destruction. Such judgment has been repeated many times throughout history, and it will occur ultimately shortly before the second coming of Jesus. The end-time close of probation is referred to in Revelation 7:1 - 3. God restrains the work of destructive angels, as He says, “till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads” ( Revelation 7:3 ). When the end-time sealing work is complete, then the winds of strife are let loose at the close of probation. The same end-time close of probation is depicted in Revelation 15:5 - 8. The “temple of the tent of witness in heaven” will be opened and the seven last plagues will be poured out. And no one is permitted to enter the heavenly temple until the plagues have been administered ( cf. Leviticus 16:17 ). The opening of the heavenly temple at the beginning of the outpouring of the plagues symbolizes the close of probation. The same end-time close of probation is announced in Revelation 22: “Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done” ( Revelation 22:11 , 12 ). H. B. Swete comments: “It is not only true that the troubles of the last days will tend to fix the character of each individual according to the habits which he has already formed, but there will come a time when change will be impossible-when no further opportunity will be given for repentance on the one hand or for apostasy on the other. . . . The moment has been reached when the Master of the house has arisen and shut the door, and those that are without will knock in vain ( Matthew 25:10 ; Luke 13:25 ); men can then no longer recede from the position which they have chosen to take up”3
Ellen G. White clearly identifies Christ’s casting down the censer ( Revelation 8:5 ) as the end-time close of probation:
“I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer’s inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and 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, 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. “Every case had been decided for life or death. While Jesus had been ministering in the sanctuary, the judgment had been going on for the righteous dead, and then for the righteous living. Christ had received His kingdom, having made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The subjects of the kingdom were made up. The marriage of the Lamb was consummated. 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.”4
Speaking of the close of probation in her book, The Great Controversy , Ellen White adds:
“When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven. Christ in the Revelation, looking forward to that time, declares: ‘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. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.’ Revelation 22:11 , 12.”5
Apart from this end-time close of probation, Bible prophecy speaks of an historical close of probation for Israel as a nation. In the sixth century B.C., Gabriel gave Daniel the message that “seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy” ( Daniel 9:24 , NKJV ). The Hebrew translates literally, “Seventy sevens. . . .” Although the word “years” is not in the text, it is generally agreed by scholars that these seventy sevens are 490 years.6 They can’t refer to days because the time period reaches forward to the time of the Messiah. It was the Messiah’s sacrifice that put an end to guilt in the lives of those who believe. It was His work on the cross that made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness. Moreover the next verse ( Daniel 9:25 ) informs us that these 70 sevens began with “the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem” and reached “until the Messiah the Prince.” 70 times 7 days, or 490 days, would certainly not span the specified time. But 490 years certainly did. Daniel 9:24 says that “Seventy weeks [of years] are determined [or decreed] for your people and for your holy city” ( NKJV ). In other words this 490 year period is specified as a period of probation for the Israelite nation. This period of probation began with “the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem” ( Daniel 9:25 ). Ezra 6 , verse 14 mentions three human commands to rebuild Jerusalem-three commands that enacted God’s command. “So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia” ( Ezra 6:14 ). Cyrus’ decree for the return of the Jews after the captivity was enacted probably in 537 B.C. The decree of Darius I was passed about 519 or 518 B.C. The decree of Artaxerxes I Longimanus was certainly put into operation in the autumn of 457 B.C.7 Since three human decrees applied God’s command ( Ezra 6:14 ), we are justified in dating “the command to restore and build Jerusalem” ( Daniel 9:25 ) from the third decree, that of Artaxerxes I Longimanus in 457 B.C.
Four hundred and ninety years from 457 B.C. bring us to A.D. 34. Hence, A.D. 34 was the year that Daniel specified as the end of the probationary period for Israel. Why do we regard this year as the close of probation for Israel as the chosen nation? Because of the events that occurred during that 490 years. According to Daniel’s prophecy, the Messiah, the Anointed One would arise 69 weeks of years, or 483 years after 457 B.C. ( Daniel 9:25 ). Four hundred and eighty-three years after 457 B.C. bring us to A.D. 27. There was no year zero; 1 B.C. was followed by 1 A.D. Significantly in A.D. 27 Jesus became the Anointed One when He was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism ( Acts 10:38 ; Matthew 3:16 , 17 ). Luke 3:1 - 3, 21 reveals that Jesus was baptized in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar. This year was A.D. 27. The Emperor Augustus died on August 19, A.D. 14. Following the antedating or non-accession year method of numbering regnal years, Tiberius’ first year was August-October, A.D. 14. The Jewish New Year’s Day occurred in October A.D. 14. Thus, Tiberius’ second year was October A.D. 14 to October A.D. 15. And so on. Luke followed the Tishri to Tishri civil year of the Jews. Therefore Tiberius’ 15th year was autumn to autumn A.D. 27/28. Hence, the historical event, the anointing of Jesus the Messiah at His baptism took place in the year that Daniel had predicted. What else occurred during that 490 year period of probation for the ancient Israelite nation? After the 7 plus 62 weeks of years, or 483 years, the Messiah was to be “cut off” ( Daniel 9:26 ). The next verse tells us that the Messiah would “bring an end to sacrifice and offering” in the middle of the final week ( Daniel 9:27 ). The final week of years was the seven year period from A.D. 27 to 34. In the middle of that week, or 3 ½ years from the autumn of A.D. 27, the Messiah would bring the Israelite system of sacrifices and offerings to an end by offering Himself as the ultimate divine sacrifice for the sins of the world. In other words, the Messiah would be cut off in the Spring of A.D. 31. And so it was. Since Jesus was baptized in the autumn of A.D. 27, He attended four Passovers during His ministry, the Passovers of 28, 29, 30, and 31. The Gospel of John reveals that Jesus did, indeed, attend four Passovers ( John 2:13 ; 5:1 ; 6:4 ; 13:1 ). The point is that throughout His three and one-half years of ministry Jesus was opposed and rejected by the Israelite leaders and ultimately condemned to an unjust death on the cross. The Jews closed their probation as God’s chosen nation by rejecting Jesus Christ as the Messiah. At the crucifixion of Jesus, they claimed, “We have no king but Caesar” ( John 19:15 , KJV ). Little did the Jewish people realize that when they asserted, “His blood be on us and on our children” ( Matthew 27:25 ), they were inviting heaven’s final rejection of their nation as the chosen people and inviting an outpouring of the divine curses stipulated by Moses ( Deuteronomy 28 ). Jesus’ predictions came true: “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom” ( Matthew 21:43 ). “See, your house is left to you desolate” ( Matthew 23:38 ). They were given no assurance of reinstatement as God’s chosen people after they had rejected Christ. God mercifully gave the nation another 3 ½ years to repent and accept the gospel, but Daniel’s predicted period of probation finally came to an end with the stoning of Stephen ( A.D. 34; Acts 7:54 - 60 ), and the Christian Church assumed its role as the international custodian of the oracles of the faith. Although the Israelite nation is no longer God’s chosen people, individual Jews may be saved as Gentiles are saved, by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord ( Romans 11:1 - 5 ). “They are not all Israel who are of Israel” ( Romans 9:6 ). Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are the true Israel of God, whether they be Jews or Gentiles ( Galatians 3:7 , 26- 29 ). “And they [the Jews] also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” ( Romans 11:23 ). The significance of all this for the prophecy of the trumpets is quite dramatic. The trumpets may be viewed as the major retributive political upheavals permitted by God throughout the Christian era, after the close of probation for Israel as the chosen nation in A.D. 34. John informs us that after Christ’s intercession ceased, “there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake” ( Revelation 8:5 ). Certainly there were major political and social upheavals for the Jewish nation after they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Daniel predicted the same thing. After the Messiah was to be cut off, Daniel revealed, “the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood. And till the end of the war desolations are determined” ( Daniel 9:26 ). Surely Daniel was foreseeing the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70. Hence, we may view the seven trumpets as events that occurred throughout history from the rejection of the Israelite nation as the chosen people in A.D. 34 till the second coming of Jesus. Daniel also predicted the end-time close of probation at the conclusion of the pre-advent judgment. “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book” ( Daniel 12:1 , NKJV ). In the book of Daniel, Michael is the Messiah. He is “the great prince” who watches over the people of God. He is the Son of Man who entered the heavenly court at the beginning of the pre-advent judgment ( Daniel 7:13 , 14 ). Jesus is our Advocate in the judgment, at the conclusion of which He stands up and leaves the heavenly court. This is the end-time close of probation which is followed by an unprecedented time of trouble. As we have seen, Revelation 8:5 also refers to the end-time close of probation. Therefore, the trumpets may be viewed eschatologically as events occurring after the end-time close of probation, which comes at the conclusion of the pre-advent judgment.8 A comparison of Revelation 7:1 with 8:7 supports this interpretation. As recorded in Revelation 7:1 no harm is to come to “earth,” “sea,” or “tree” prior to the conclusion of the sealing work. But the first trumpet records destruction for “earth,” “trees,” and “green grass” ( Revelation 8:7 ). Hence, the casting of the censer into the earth ( Revelation 8:5 ) marks the end of the sealing work ( Revelation 7:1 - 4 ). Looked at this way the trumpets are chronologically parallel with the plagues ( Revelation 15 ; 16 ). Nevertheless, there seems to be a marked distinction between the trumpets and the plagues. The trumpets are devil-inspired scourges, allowed by God because of the unfaithfulness of humanity. For example, the locusts of the fifth trumpet represent Satanic forces, permitted to destroy partially, but restrained by God from harming His sealed people ( Revelation 9:3 , 4 ). By contrast, the plagues are direct curses meted out by God as punishments upon sections of earth’s ungodly inhabitants. The plagues are designed to counteract and restrain the destructive work of Satan involved in the trumpets. The plagues are clearly stated to emanate from “the seven bowls of the wrath of God” ( Revelation 16:1 ). The third plague is said to be God’s response to man’s unjust destructiveness. “For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink” ( Revelation 16:6 ). Under the sixth trumpet, the four angels “who are bound at the great river Euphrates” ( Revelation 9:14 ) are released and international conflict results. By contrast, the sixth plague results in the drying up of the river Euphrates “to prepare the way for the kings from the east” ( Revelation 16:12 ). Satan’s work of destruction and bloodshed ( trumpets ) is countered by God’s work of restraint ( plagues ). Ellen White’s comments on the trumpets and plagues are enlightening. 1. The trumpets and plagues are related: “Every form of evil is to spring into intense activity. Evil angels unite their powers with evil men, and as they have been in constant conflict and attained an experience in the best modes of deception and battle, and have been strengthening for centuries, they will not yield the last great final contest without a desperate struggle. All the world will be on one side or the other of the question. The battle of Armageddon will be fought, and that day must find none of us sleeping. Wide awake we must be, as wise virgins having oil in our vessels with our lamps. . . . The power of the Holy Ghost must be upon us, and the Captain of the Lord’s host will stand at the head of the angels of heaven to direct the battle. Solemn events before us are yet to transpire. Trumpet after trumpet is to be sounded, vial after vial poured out one after another upon the inhabitants of the earth. Scenes of stupendous interest are right upon us” 9
2. Satan’s work of destruction will be most intense after the close of probation:
“When He [Christ] leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God’s long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old. “A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and filled the land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere.”10
“The wrath of Satan increases as his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction will reach its culmination in the time of trouble.”11
“The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled upon His law. Dark are the records of human misery that earth has witnessed during its long centuries of crime. The heart sickens and the mind grows faint in contemplation. Terrible have been the results of rejecting the authority of heaven. But a scene yet darker is presented in the revelations of the future. The records of the past-the long procession of tumults, conflicts, and revolutions, the “battle of the warrior . . . with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood” ( Isaiah 9:5 )-what are these, in contrast with the terrors of that day when the restraining Spirit of God shall be wholly withdrawn from the wicked, no longer to hold in check the outburst of human passion and satanic wrath! The world will then behold, as never before, the results of Satan’s rule.”12
3. The plagues after the close of probation will be God’s judgments upon the wicked:
“When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary, the unmingled wrath threatened against those who worship the beast and his image and receive his Mark ( Revelation 14:9 , 10 ), will be poured out. The plagues upon Egypt when God was about to deliver Israel were similar in character to those more terrible and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God’s people. . . . These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy.”13
“Now the seven angles who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them” ( Revelation 8:6 ). The seven angels were given the trumpets before the vision of Christ interceding for His believing people ( Revelation 8:2 ). But the seven angels do not blow the trumpets until the end of Christ’s mediatorial work when He casts the censer into the earth ( Revelation 8:5 , 6 ). Hence, the interpretation that the trumpets apply in a special sense to events after the close of probation is supported by the order of events in the passage. As pointed out above, the trumpets refer to international conflicts inspired by Satan and allowed by God after the close of probation for the ancient Israelite nation in A.D. 34. The historical application of the trumpets reveals events that have occurred throughout the Christian era. But these events are types of the destructive operations of Satan and evil men after the eschatological close of probation.
1 On the significance of trumpets in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 10 , see Roy Gane, Leviticus, Numbers: The NIV Application Commentary ( Grand Rapids, Mi.: Zondervan, 2004 ), pp. 401, 402, 571. 2 Christ’s casting the censer into the earth is not generally interpreted as the close of probation. My view is somewhat unique. Alternative interpretations emphasize the pouring out of judgments upon the earth but do not identify a close of probation. See Ranko Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 285, 286; Mervyn Maxwell, God Cares, Vol. 2, pp. 229, 230; Jon Paulien, Decoding Revelation’s Trumpets, pp. 321-323; William Barclay, The Revelation of John ( Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1959 ), pp. 51, 52; G. E. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John ( Grand Rapids, Mi.: Eerdmans, 1972 ), pp. 125, 126; R. C. H. Lenski, St. John’s Revelation Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg, 1943 ), p. 271; Robert Mounce, The Book of Revelation ( Grand Rapids, Mi.: Eerdmans, 1977 ), p. 182, 183; R. H. Charles, The Revelation of St. John ( Edinburgh: Clark, 1920 ), pp. 231, 232; H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John ( Grand Rapids, Mi.: Eerdmans, 1908, 1968 ), p. 109. 3 Henry Barclay Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 305. 4 Ellen G. White, Early Writings ( Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1882, 1945 ), pp. 279, 280. 5 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy ( Mountain View, CA.: Pacific Press, 1888, 1911 ), pp. 490, 491. cf. pp. 613, 614, 627-629. 6 John F. Walvoord, Daniel, the Key to Prophetic Revelation ( Chicago: Moody Press, 1971 ), pp. 217-220. Leon Wood, A Commentary on Daniel ( Grand Rapids, MI.: Zondervan, 1973 ), pp. 247-248. James A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel ( Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1927, 1964 ), p. 372. 7 S. H. Horn and L. H. Wood, The Chronology of Ezra 7 ( Washington, D.C.: Review & Herald, 9 553, 1970 ), pp. 124-127. 8 David E. Aune comments: “The use of the metaphor of the sounding of a trumpet for introducing a series of eschatological divine punishments has an inherent logic, if only because of the use of the trumpet in ancient warfare to deploy successive units of troops and cavalry in attacking the enemy forces at a variety of points.” Later in the same volume he adds: “The parallels between Exodus 7:8 - 13:16 ( the ten Exodus plagues ) and Rev 8:1 - 11:19 and 15:1- 16:21 indicate that Exodus provided the model for the author’s vision of the eschatological punishments inflicted by God on the unbelieving inhabitants of the world.”- Revelation 6 - 16 ( Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 52B; Nashville: Thomas Nelson ), pp. 497, 546. 9 Ellen G. White Comments, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary ( Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1957 ), Vol. 7, p. 982. 10 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy , p. 614. 11 The Great Controversy , p. 623. 12 The Great Controversy , pp. 36, 37. 13 The Great Controversy , pp. 627-629.
cf. is a legal term, meaning "Compares favorably with . . ."
Root is "eskhatos" the Greek word for "last"
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