First/Second
Trumpets- Prophecy Fulfilled in History
Revelation 8
VERSE 6. And
the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
The subject of the
seven trumpets is here resumed, and occupies the remainder of this chapter and
all of chapter 9. The seven angels prepare themselves to sound. Their sounding
comes in as a complement to the prophecy of Daniel 2 and 7, commencing with the
breaking up of the old Roman empire into its ten divisions, of which, in the
first four trumpets, we have a description.
VERSE 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.
p 478 -- Mr.
Keith has very justly remarked on the subject of this
prophecy: "None could elucidate the
texts more clearly, or expound them more fully, than the task has been
performed by Gibbon. The chapters of the skeptical philosopher that treat
directly of the matter, need but a text to be prefixed, and a few unholy words
to be blotted out, to form a series of expository lectures on the eighth and
ninth chapters of Revelation." "Little or nothing
is left for the professed interpreter to do but to point to the pages of
Gibbon."
The first sore and
heavy judgment which fell on Western Rome in its downward course, was the war
with the Goths under Alaric, who opened the way for later inroads. The death of
Theodosius, the Roman emperor, occurred in January, 395, and before the end of
the winter the Goths under Alaric were in arms against the empire.
The first invasion
under Alaric ravaged Thrace, Macedonia, Attica, and the Peloponnesus, but did
not reach the city of Rome. On his second invasion, however, the Gothic
chieftain crossed the Alps and the Apennines and appeared before the walls of
the "eternal city," which soon fell a prey to the fury of the
barbarians.
"Hail and fire
mingled with blood" were cast upon the earth. The terrible effects of this
Gothic invasion are represented as "hail," from the fact of the
northern origin of the invaders; "fire," from the destruction by
flame of both city and country; and "blood," from the terrible
slaughter of the citizens of the empire by the bold and intrepid warriors.
The blast of the
first trumpet has its location about the close of the fourth century and
onward, and refers to these desolating invasions of the Roman empire under the
Goths.
I know not how the
history of the sounding of the first trumpet can be more impressively set forth
than by presenting the graphic rehearsal of the facts which are stated in Gibbon's History, by Mr. Keith, in
his Signs of the Times,
Vol. I, pp. 221-233: - "Large extracts
show how amply and well Gibbon has expounded his text in the history of the
first trumpet, the first
p 479 -- storm
that pervaded the Roman earth, and the first fall of Rome. To use his
words in more direct comment, we read thus the sum of the matter:
'The Gothic nation was in arms at the first sound of the trumpet, and in the
uncommon severity of the winter, they rolled their ponderous wagons over the
broad and icy back of the river. The fertile fields of Phocis and Boeotia were
crowded with a deluge of barbarians; the males were massacred; the females and
cattle of the flaming villages were driven away. The deep and bloody traces of
the march of the Goths could easily be discovered after several years. The
whole territory of Attica was blasted by the baneful presence of Alaric. The
most fortunate of the inhabitants of Corinth, Argos, and Sparta were saved by
death from beholding the conflagration of their cities. In a season of such
extreme heat that the beds of the rivers were dry, Alaric invaded the dominion
of the West. A secluded "old man of Verona," the poet Claudian,
pathetically lamented the fate of his contemporary trees, which
must blaze in the conflagration of the whole
country [note the words of the prophecy, - "The third part of
the trees was burned up"]; and the emperor of the Romans
fled before the king of the Goths.'
"A furious
tempest was excited among the nations of Germany, from the northern extremity
of which the barbarians marched almost to the gates of Rome. They achieved the
destruction of the West. The dark cloud which was collected along the coasts of
the Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks of the upper Danube. The pastures
of Gaul, in which flocks and herds grazed, and the banks of the Rhine, which
were covered with elegant houses and well-cultivated farms, formed a scene of
peace and plenty, which was suddenly changed into a desert, distinguished from
the solitude of nature only by smoking ruins. Many cities were cruelly
oppressed, or destroyed. Many thousands were inhumanly massacred; and the
consuming flames of war spread over the greater part of the seventeen provinces
of Gaul.
"Alaric again
stretched his ravages over Italy. During four years the Goths ravaged and
reigned over it without control. And in the pillage and fire of Rome, the
streets of the
p 480 -- city
were filled with dead bodies; the flames consumed many public and private
buildings; and the ruins of a palace remained (after a century and a half) a
stately monument of the Gothic conflagration.
"The concluding
sentence of the thirty-third chapter of Gibbon's
History is of itself a clear and comprehensive commentary; for in
winding up his own description of this brief but most eventful period, be
concentrates, as in a parallel reading, the sum of the history and the
substance of the prediction. But the words which precede it are not without
their meaning: 'The public devotion of the age was impatient to
exalt the saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church on the altars of Diana and
Hercules. The union of the Roman empire was dissolved; its
genius was humbled in the dust; and armies of' unknown barbarians, issuing from
the frozen regions of the North, had established their victorious reign over
the fairest provinces of Europe and Africa.'
"The last word,
Africa, is the signal for the sounding of the second trumpet. The scene changes
from the shores of the Baltic to the southern coast of the Mediterranean, or
from the frozen regions of the North to the borders of burning Africa; and instead
of a storm of hail being cast upon the earth, a burning mountain was cast into
the sea."
VERSE 8. And
the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was
cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9. And the third part of the creatures which
were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were
destroyed.
The Roman empire,
after Constantine, was divided into three parts; and hence the frequent remark,
"a third part of men," etc., in allusion to the third part of
the empire which was under the scourge. This division of the Roman kingdom was made
at the death of Constantine, among his three sons, Constantius,
Constantine II, and Constans. Constantius possessed the East, and fixed his
residence at Constantinople, the metropolis of the empire. Constantine the
Second held Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Constans held Illyricum, Africa, and
Italy. (See Sabine's
Ecclesiastical History, p. 155.) Of this well-known
p 481
-- historical fact, Elliott, as quoted by Albert Barnes, in his notes
on Rev. 12:4, says: "Twice, at
least, before the Roman empire became divided permanently into the two parts,
the Eastern and the Western, there was a tripartite division of the
empire. The first occurred A. D. 311, when it was divided between Constantine,
Licinius, and Maximin; the other, A. D. 337, on the death of Constantine, when
it was divided between his three sons, Constantine, Constans, and
Constantius."
The history
illustrative of the sounding of the second trumpet evidently relates to the
invasion and conquest of Africa, and afterward of Italy, by the terrible
Genseric. His conquests were for the most part NAVAL; and his triumphs were
"as it were a great mountain burning with fire, cast into the sea."
What figure would better, or even so well, illustrate the collision of navies,
and the general havoc of war on the maritime coasts? In explaining this
trumpet, we are to look for some events which will have a particular bearing on
the commercial world. The symbol used naturally leads us to look for agitation
and commotion. Nothing but a fierce maritime warfare would fulfil the
prediction. If the sounding of the first four trumpets relates to four
remarkable events which contributed to the downfall of the Roman empire, and
the first trumpet refers to the ravages of the Goths under Alaric, in this we
naturally look for the next succeeding act of invasion which shook
the Roman power and conduced to its fall. The next great
invasion was that of "the terrible Genseric," at the head
of the Vandals. His career occurred during the years A. D. 428-468. This great
Vandal chief had his headquarters in Africa. But as Gibbon states, "The
discovery and conquest of the black nations [in Africa], that might dwell
beneath the torrid zone, could not tempt the rational ambition of Genseric; but
he cast his eyes TOWARD THE SEA; he resolved to create a naval power, and
his bold resolution was executed with steady and active
perseverance." From the port of
Carthage he repeatedly made piratical sallies, and preyed on the Roman commerce,
and waged war with that empire. To cope with this sea monarch, the Roman
emperor, Majorian, made extensive naval preparations. Three hundred
p 482 -- long
galleys, with an adequate proportion of transports and smaller vessels, were
collected in the secure and capacious harbor of Cartagena, in Spain. But
Genseric was saved from impending and inevitable ruin by the treachery of some
powerful subjects, envious or apprehensive of their master's success. Guided by
their secret intelligence, he surprised the unguarded fleet in the bay of
Cartagena; many of the ships were sunk, taken, or burned, and the preparations
of three years were destroyed in a single day.
Italy continued to
be long afflicted by the incessant depredations of the Vandal pirates. In the
spring of each year they equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage,
and Genseric himself, though at a very advanced age, still commanded in person
the most important expeditions.
The Vandals
repeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania,
Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece, and Sicily.
The celerity of
their motion enabled them, almost at the same time, to threaten and to attack
the most distant objects which attracted their desires; and as they always
embarked a sufficient number of horses, they had no sooner landed than they
swept the dismayed country with a body of light cavalry.
A last and desperate
attempt to dispossess Genseric of the sovereignty of the seas, was made in the
year 468 by Leo, the emperor of the East. Gibbon bears witness to
this as follows: "The whole expense of
the African campaign amounted to the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand
pounds of gold, - about five million two hundred thousand pounds sterling....
The fleet that sailed from Constantinople to Carthage consisted of eleven
hundred and thirteen ships, and the number of soldiers and mariners exceeded
one hundred thousand men ... The army of Heraclius and the fleet of Marcellinus
either joined or seconded the imperial lieutenant.... The wind became favorable
to the designs of Genseric. He manned his largest ships of war with the bravest
of the Moors and Vandals, and they towed after them many large barks filled
with combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, these
p 483 --
(picture not
included)
p 484
-- destructive vessels were impelled against the unguarded and
unsuspecting fleet of the Romans, who were awakened by a sense of their instant
danger. Their close and crowded order assisted the progress of the fire, which
was communicated with rapid and irresistible violence; and the noise of the
wind, the crackling of the flames, the dissonant cries of the soldiers and
mariners, who could neither command nor obey, increased the horror of the
nocturnal tumult. While they labored to extricate themselves from the
fire-ships, and to save at least a part of the navy, the galleys of Genseric
assaulted them with temperate and disciplined valor; and many of the Romans who
escaped the fury of the flames, were destroyed or taken by the victorious Vandals....
After the failure of this great expedition, Genseric again became the tyrant of
the sea; the coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia were again exposed to his
revenge and avarice; Tripoli and Sardinia returned to his obedience; he added
Sicily to the number of his provinces; and before he died, in the fulness of
years and of glory, he beheld the FINAL EXTINCTION of the empire of the
West." Gibbon,
Vol. III, pp. 495-498.
Concerning the
important part which this bold corsair acted in the downfall of Rome, Mr.
Gibbon uses this significant
language: "Genseric, a name
which, in the destruction of the Roman empire, has deserved an equal rank with
the names of Alaric and Attila."
*******
Remember- prophecy
is but future's history. We see the
fulfillment of prophecies in history and while we might not want to delve so
deeply into history to have the prophecy puzzle worked upon, we have to. To comprehend what has been is to leave what
will be. We are living right now in the time of prophecy as all of us have to
some extent throughout time.
We've discussed
before during this study on the book of Revelation that we are living in an
enlightened age, a time when the books of prophecy were opened to
comprehension. None who read this can
dispute the historical fact the we lived in a horse driven society for
thousands of years and then suddenly we are living in the age of steam engines,
in fuel propelled vehicles that quickly made horse travel obsolete. Then in a
blink of an eye we are traveling the skies in balloons, planes, and
rockets. The unbelievable leaps and
bounds of sudden knowledge in all thing is HISTORY. The Bible prophecies predicted the increase
in knowledge and it has come to pass and then some. We can't dismiss history and its proper place
in Biblical prophecy. No, you may not
find the history/prophecy studies interesting but they are truth, they are
fact, they are necessary for our comprehension of future prophecy which hasn't
unfolded as yet.
May God bless us as
we study His truth! May our spiritual
eyes be fully opened. By the grace of God may we read and keep what we learn
from this book so we may receive the blessings we need.
All through our
Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, now and forever!
Amen.
