summary
A series of escalating plagues and destruction ends with an unexpected announcement of the kingdom of GodThe kingdom (reign) of God is a central theme of Jesus' teaching and parables. According to Jesus this reign of God is a present reality and at the same time is yet to come. When Christians pray the Lord's Prayer, they ask that God's kingdom... and JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. Christ.
Analysis
The series of plagues that the angels release by blowing their trumpets recall the plagues with which God struck Egypt (Exodus 7-11), but with several notable differences. First and foremost, throughout the plagues, the amount of destruction is always limited to a third. Unlike the plagues of Egypt that struck all of the Egyptians, each plague targets a third of an aspect of creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and.... The first set targets the fecundity of the earth: a third of the earth is burned up, a third of trees are burned up and a third of the green grass is burned up (Revelation 8:7). The sea and flowing waters are also not spared (8:9, 8:10). The fourth trumpet targets the cosmos: a third of the sun, the moon, and the stars are darkened (8:12). The last set targets human beings. The fifth trumpet releases grotesque locustsLocusts are a type of grasshopper (which, along with wild honey, comprised John the Baptist's diet). A swarm of locusts is the eighth plague before the Jews left Egypt in Exodus. The book of Joel takes place in the aftermath of a plague of locusts,... that torture people and the sixth trumpet kills a third of humanity (9:5, 9:15). Just as with the plagues of Egypt that only served to harden Pharaoh’s heart, the plagues of the seven trumpets do not inspire people to repentance (9:20-21).
The sequence of the trumpets is interrupted by a vision of an angel with a scroll in his hand (10:2), followed by a command that John should measure the templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... of God (11:1). Then the angel describes the coming of God’s two witnesses. Only after those two witnesses are killed, resurrected, and taken up to heaven is the seventh trumpet blown and this comes with a surprise. Rather than the most terrible plague, the blowing of the seventh trumpet proclaims that the kingdom of the world has transformed into the kingdom of God and his MessiahThe Messiah was the one who, it was believed, would come to free the people of Israel from bondage and exile. In Jewish thought the Messiah is the anticipated one who will come, as prophesied by Isaiah. In Christian thought Jesus of Nazareth is identified... who reigns forever and ever. The vision of the trumpets reinforces the reality that terror and destruction cannot bring about real faith; rather, faith comes secretly in the midst of these things.
