Revelation 8

The four trumpets of the seventh seal - similar to Revelation chapter 2's first four of the seven churches.

This set of seven covers the Roman Empire, which becomes the Catholic Empire & the direction it took - with each conqueror of Rome's influence adding to her strength

1: WHEN HE HAD OPENED THE SEVENTH SEAL, THERE WAS SILENCE IN HEAVEN ABOUT THE SPACE OF HALF AN HOUR

The silence is that there is no more to describe of events to come, only to add onto the incidents that have happened

Half hour translates to about a week [day = year; hour = 1/24 year, or 15 days; 1/2 hour = half that, 7 days] ABOUT is used

2: I SAW THE SEVEN ANGELS WHICH STOOD BEFORE GOD; & TO THEM WERE GIVEN SEVEN TRUMPETS. 3: & ANOTHER ANGEL CAME & STOOD AT THE ALTAR, HAVING A GOLDEN CENSER; & THERE WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM MUCH INCENSE, THAT HE SHOULD OFFER IT WITH THE PRAYERS OF ALL SAINTS UPON THE GOLDEN ALTAR WHICH WAS BEFORE THE THRONE. 4: & THE SMOKE OF THE INCENSE, WHICH CAME WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS, ASCENDED UP BEFORE GOD OUT OF THE ANGEL'S HAND. 5: & THE ANGEL TOOK THE CENSER, & FILLED IT WITH FIRE OF THE ALTAR, & CAST IT INTO THE EARTH: & THERE WERE VOICES, & THUNDERINGS, & LIGHTNINGS, & AN EARTHQUAKE

Heaven, like a dream, has no time

Earthquakes signify violence, particularly from the earth

The voices are wisdom from heaven.

THE FIRST TRUMPET:

6: & THE SEVEN ANGELS WHICH HAD THE SEVEN TRUMPETS PREPARED THEMSELVES TO SOUND.7: THE FIRST ANGEL SOUNDED, & THERE FOLLOWED HAIL & FIRE MINGLED WITH BLOOD, & THEY WERE CAST UPON THE EARTH: & THE THIRD PART OF TREES WAS BURNT UP, & ALL GREEN GRASS WAS BURNT UP

First of four trumpets that reflect the Roman Empire - symbolizing the downfall of the most powerful empire up to that time - the termination of Rome's domination upon the earth, & its division into ten nations. The trumpets concur with the past seven chapters of Revelations:

It was the Goths, under Alaric, which brought the Roman Empire towards its demise shortly after the death of Roman Emperor Theodicies, 395 AD.

- a third of Rome was destroyed by war & weather, drying up most rivers - for four more years the Goths murdered, destroyed, & claimed

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. one, Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., Edward Gibbons, 1952, p.478 The year is 396. 'Alaric had traversed without resistance, the plains of Macedonia & Thessay, as far as the foot of Mount Oeta...' 'The Gothic nation was in arms at the first sound of the trumpet, & the uncommon severity of the winter. They rolled their ponderous wagons over the broad & icy back of the river. The fertile fields of Phociss & Boeotia were crowded with the deluge of barbarians; males were massacred; the females & cattle of the flaming villages were driven away. The deep & bloody traces of the march of the Goths could easily be discovered after several years.' '...an extremely hot season followed, wiping out a third of the trees & pastures; fields were burned out.'

THE SECOND TRUMPET:

8: & THE SECOND ANGEL SOUNDED, & AS IT WERE A GREAT MOUNTAIN BURNING WITH FIRE WAS CAST INTO THE SEA: & THE THIRD PART OF THE SEA BECAME BLOOD; 9: & THE THIRD PART OF THE CREATURES WHICH WERE IN THE SEA, & HAD LIFE, DIED; &THE THIRD PART OF THE SHIPS WERE DESTROYED

A mountain is rendered a place where great/powerful leaders come from, Revelation 17:9.

After Constantine, the Roman Empire was divided amongst his sons into three parts, giving purpose to 'a third part'

- Constantine II ruled Briton, Gaul, & Spain

- Constantius ruled the East

- Constans ruled Africa, 337 AD

After the invasion of the Goths came the Terrible Genseric's & his Vandals, 428-68, the sounding of the second trumpet figuratively. Fire & blood poured onto the sea & a third part of Rome was destroyed. Genseric's ambition was to create the most powerful navy force in the world. From Gibbon, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, page 584-85;

'To rid him of sovereignty Majorian & the imperial navy of 300 large galleys, with an adequate proportion of transports & smaller vessels, was collected in the secure & capacious harbour of Carthagenia in Spain...' 'He surprised the unguarded fleet in the Bay of Carthagenia: many of the ships were sunk, or taken, or burnt; & the preparation of three years were destroyed in a single day.' - 'The whole expense by whatsoever means, was destroyed, of the African campaign, amounted to the sum of one hundred & thirty thousand pounds of gold, about five million two hundred pounds of sterling...the fleet that sailed from Constantinople consisted of 1113 ships, the number of soldiers & marines exceeded 100 thousand men...' 'In the obscurity of the night, these destructive vessels were impelled against the unguarded & unsuspecting fleet of the Romans...'

Genseric constantly pirated the Roman fleets to the brink that a third of Rome was physically & financially destroyed trying to stop him

THE THIRD TRUMPET:

10: & THE THIRD ANGEL SOUNDED, & THERE FELL A GREAT STAR FROM HEAVEN, BURNING AS IT WERE A LAMP, & IT FELL UPON THE THIRD PART OF THE RIVERS, & UPON THE FOUNTAINS OF WATERS; 11: & THE NAME OF THE STAR IS CALLED WORMWOOD: & THE THIRD PART OF THE WATERS BECAME WORMWOOD; & MANY MEN DIED OF THE WATERS, BECAUSE THEY WERE MADE BITTER

A star was no different then than it is now - the main character of a play or time - already noted as a messenger. This is a great star, powerful star - Attila the Hun, & through him a third of Rome fell.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p 548-50 Attila the Hun, 433-53, 'They traversed, both in their march & in their return, the territories of the Franks; & they massacred their hostages & their captives. Two hundred young maidens were tortured with exquisite & unrelenting rage: their bodies were torn asunder by wild horses, or crushed under the weight of the rolling wagons: their unburied limbs were abandoned on public roads, as prey to the dogs & vultures...' P.550 'But the most casual provocation, the slightest motive of caprice or convenience, often provoked them to involve their whole people in an indiscriminate massacre;...' - 'The three great capitals of Khorasan, Maru, Neisabour & Herat, were destroyed by the armies of Zingis; & the exact amount of the slain amounted to four million three hundred & forty-seven thousand persons.'

Wormwood [Jer. 9:15, 23:15; Lam. 3:15 & 19] is shown as symbolic of bitter calamity & sorrow

THE FOURTH TRUMPET:

12: THE FOURTH ANGEL SOUNDED, & THE THIRD PART OF THE SUN WAS SMITTEN, & THE THIRD PART OF THE MOON, & THE THIRD PART OF THE STARS; SO AS THE THIRD PART OF THEM WAS DARKENED, & THE DAY SHONE NOT FOR A THIRD PART OF IT, & THE NIGHT LIKEWISE

The sun, the moon, & the stars signify the Roman government,

EMPERORS - western Rome finally fell in 476 under Romulus; with his resignation - the sun was smitten - the last emperor

SENATORS & CONSULS - Italy was no longer recognized as Roman. By 522, the Eunuch Narses defeated the Goths & ended the still reigning senate & consuls - thus the moon & stars were smitten

Odoacer, 433-93; is the first barbarian ruler of Italy, 476-93 - a trumpet symbolizes his career & he is untimely connected with Rome's downfall

Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, 483-526, ruled by virtue of his conquest; his loyalty was proclaimed, March 5, 493, with the cheerful authorization of the East Emperor

This is the era where the future Exarch of Ravenna shall reign a short time & then as the seventh - still becomes the eighth

The most powerful rule the earth was to encounter would die as it had risen - the LAW in effect; as should happen to Christianity thru the Imperialistic United States of America

13: & I BEHELD, & HEARD AN ANGEL FLYING THROUGH THE MIDST OF HEAVEN, SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, WOE, WOE, WOE, TO THE INHABITERS OF THE EARTH BY REASON OF THE OTHER VOICES OF THE TRUMPET OF THE THREE ANGELS, WHICH ARE YET TO SOUND!

A break - as in the seven church eras - denoting an end & a beginning: similar to chapter one's intro

The next 3 trumpets are accompanied by three WOES signifying thunderous trumpets unlike those of the past