Preamble
When the LORD blessed Abraham and told him his seed would be as the stars of heaven in their multitude, Abraham asked him for a sign. He was almost 100 years old after all and without an heir. So, to confirm his promise, the LORD had Abraham divide a heifer, a goat, and a ram down the middle and lay them out on the ground. Abraham then fell into a deep sleep and was shown a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between the flesh of each of the three beasts. He then told Abraham his seed would dwell in a strange land and would be afflicted for four hundred years, after which the LORD would deliver them. (Genesis 15)
So it is, in the next three Trumpets we shall follow Israel as they pass through three beasts in the Book of Revelation…
THE SINAI TRUMPET: In Scripture, the 1st Trumpet sounded when the LORD called Israel out of its captivity in Egypt and bade them come to Sinai. Sent by the Existing One, (the LORD) Moses pleaded Israel’s cause with Pharaoh, and as each plea was refused a plague fell upon Egypt. After the last plague put the firstborn of Egypt to death, the Angel of the LORD led the Tribes of Israel to Mount Sinai. These events are remembered in the Feast of the Passover.
When the LORD told Abraham that his seed would become slaves in a foreign land, He had shown Abraham a smoking furnace, and a lamp, which passed through the midst of a bull, a goat and a ram. His seed, manifest in the Tribes of Israel, now stood before this very furnace, which pertains to Mount Sinai with its Covenant of Life and Death. There was lightning and thunder and the ground shook, and the mountain, and a Trumpet sounded louder, and louder, until the LORD spoke to Moses in a Voice. He commanded, Moses come up to the mountain top where he was given the Ten Commandments, written in stone.
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. (Exodus 19:16-20)
As we approach the 1st Trumpet in the Book of Revelation, like Moses, we also are met by lightning and thunders, voices, and a great earthquake. Now all of these things point to the LORD’S Word and the signs of those ministries. For instance, the lightning and thunder speak of God’s Word from heaven and the signs that accompany those messages; just as the voices and earthquakes pertain to those things given on earth. Therefore, the pattern of the Trumpets in Revelation overlays the trumpets heard in the Old Testament, and these trumpets are the voices of God heard in the ministries of Moses, the Prophets, the Apostles and the voices of the seven Church Angels.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and 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. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. (Revelation 8:2-6)
ISRAEL’S TIME: The forty-two generations from Abraham to the Messiah; the times of Israel’s Patriarchs to their lawgiver, Moses; from the Levitical Priesthood to their Judges, their Kings and Prophets to the coming of the Messiah. This is ‘the Dragons Time’ for it is in this dispensation we see Israel receive the Law with its ordinances of life and death. (Revelation 12:3)
ISRAEL’S JOURNEY’S: These are the journeys of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, through to the bondage of their children in Egypt; followed by Israel’s release from Egyptian oppression, and the march of her Tribes to the Promised Land. Then we see the corruption of her Kings and Priesthood, and later the carrying away of the House of Israel into Assyria; followed by the captivity of the House of Judah in Babylon.
ISRAEL’S FEASTS: The children of Israel were required to keep three Feasts to the LORD every year throughout their generations: the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of In-gathering. In Hebrew, the word ‘Feast’ means to be betrothed, or to be joined, and so in these Feasts the LORD desires to join to his people. In this period of Israel’s history the LORD ‘enjoined’ with Israel through Sinai’s Covenant of Life and Death with its tenants of blood and sacrifice; and its blessings and curses.
The 1st Trumpet – Sinai’s Light
[The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast on the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up] (Revelation 8:7)
[The Hail] The hail speaks of the plagues that fell upon Egypt and upon those who had not believed; plagues that separated Israel from Egypt and divided the firstborn of both man and beast. These plagues are also found in the Book of Revelation as they apply to the times of the Gentile nations; the Feast of Passover sits in this backdrop. (Exodus)
[And Fire Mingled With Blood] The Fire pertains to Israel receiving the Fiery Law on Mount Sinai: the Ten Commandments and the statutes that set the standards of justice within their society. The Blood speaks of God’s first Covenant with Israel, of the sacrifice of bulls, goats and beasts under the Old Levitical Priesthood and the pattern of worship in the Tabernacle. Things that foreshadowed Christ who we know is the Lamb of God offered up for our sin; the True Tabernacle pitched by God and not by man. (Leviticus)
[And They Were Cast To The Earth] This is a reference to the sign of the first voice given to Moses. When Moses held the rod aloft, Israel prevailed over its enemies and was blessed. When this rod was cast to the ground it became a serpent, and this refers to the Law being cast down by Israel’s Levites, Judges, Kings and Prophets; and the pouring out of the curses and sevenfold vengeance bound in the Law. Things recorded in the Song of Moses, which foretold Israel would desecrate God’s Word; be led captive into all nations and disbursed to the utmost isles of the sea. (Exodus 4:1-9)
[And The 1/3rd Part of The Trees Was Burnt Up] The burning of a third part of these trees speaks of the knowledge of the ‘Existing One’ being destroyed in the hearts and minds of Israel. Trees in Scripture are symbolic of either people or portions of the LORD’S Word. For example: The Fig tree is symbolic of Israel; the Pomegranate, the Priesthood; the Palm tree, the righteous; and the Apple tree, the Lord’s chosen. Then there is the Tree of Knowledge and of course the ‘Tree of Life,’ which is Christ; for if any man eats of this bread he shall live forever. (Joel 1:12)
[And All The Green Grass Was Burnt Up] The Grass is the pasture of God’s Word; pastures that feed the Lord’s sheep; his people. The ‘green grass’ speaks of Israel’s faith ‘in’ the Word of the LORD. The same ‘Word’ who told Moses He is the Existing One, now being destroyed. The ‘green shoots of this faith’ can be seen in the rod of Aaron that budded, and spoke of the Messiah to come. (Psalms 74:1-8)
Summary
The 1st Trumpet speaks of receiving God’s Law on Mount Sinai with its statutes, its blessings and curses, and of it being cast down to the earth. It tells of the consequence of Israel’s rejection of the Law in every generation from Moses to their captivity. It speaks too of Sinai’s futility; and of the Angel of the LORD who carried the LORD’S name, and who would not forgive our trespasses.
However, while this 1st Trumpet sits in the backdrop of Israel’s ‘Old Testament’ history, the cycle of this Trumpet still sounds within our Churches and societies today, at the very moment we turn from resting in Christ’s Salvation to being justified by the Law. The Trumpets do not sound at a single point in history, but are in perpetual motion throughout every generation.
The Dragon: The Law cast to Earth
In the preamble to this Trumpet I refer to this period as, “the Dragon’s Time.” It is in Israel’s generations from Abraham to the Messiah that a Dragon with ten horns, having cast down a third part of the stars of heaven, is itself cast down to the earth and waits to devour the coming Messiah. (Revelation 12)
To place this Trumpet in its wider Scriptural context we know from the Book of Genesis that when Eve, then Adam, ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil they fell, and death followed. In the same way, when Moses placed the Law with its statutes before Israel he said; “I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;”
The Apostle, Paul, the 1st Church Angel Messenger also said; ‘for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.’ Likewise, the 1st Church Angel’s message in the Book of Revelation pleads with those who have left their first love, to repent, so they might partake of the Tree of Life, and this points to the Churches having eaten from the ‘Tree of the Law.’ From this error, ‘the wheels’ of God’s vengeance are set in motion. For example, in the 1st of the Seven Seals we see a white horse and rider that rides out to conquer, and by the 4th Seal we see death and hell follow. So, from Genesis to Revelation the LORD reveals a ‘spirit’ bound in the Law, that draws us away from Christ, and seeks to overcome this faith.
When the Prophet, Ezekiel revealed the ‘King of Tyre’ was in Eden, and covered with precious stones, we know he spoke of Satan, the Serpent who stood by the Tree of Knowledge. However, when Ezekiel revealed that Satan walked in the midst of the fiery stones on Sinai and was also a covering Cherubim in the Tabernacle, he revealed Satan not only walked in the midst of Sinai’s Law, but also overshadowed the Mercy Seat atop the Ark of the Covenant. It is here we begin to understand that the Seat of Satan’s power and authority, sits over the Ten Commandments in the Ark of the Covenant. (Ezekiel 28: 12-16)
A ‘beast’ in Scripture represents a power, an authority of God. So, the first of three Beasts we encounter in the Book of Revelation is the Dragon cast down from Heaven with its seven heads and ten horns. Scripture reveals this Dragon is Satan, and that Satan’s power resides in the Ten Commandments. This is the Law of blessing and cursing. Just as a Lion, a Man, an Ox and the Eagle represent Jesus Testimony declared in the Four Gospels, so this Dragon represents Sinai’s Covenant and Satan’s power and authority within it. The Dragon’s ten horns symbolise the Ten Commandments.
This Dragon is ‘The Beast that was’.
Again, these ‘beasts’ in Scripture relate to God’s Word, or to God’s Word profaned. This ‘Dragon cast down to earth,’ is the Testimony bound in the Law, handed to Moses on Mount Sinai and like the ‘Rod of Moses,’ this Law when cast down, becomes a Serpent. This is the warning contained in the 1st Trumpet.
In the same Chapter of Revelation we encounter the Dragon, we also meet a Woman crowned with twelve stars, standing upon the moon, and clothed with the sun. She is symbolic of the Covenant of Promise made with Abraham, the Covenant of the Law handed to Israel, and the Gospel of JESUS Christ given to mankind. She represents those Covenants that ‘give birth’ to the Messiah. We shall follow her seed in the upcoming Trumpets as they keep the Commandments of God and the Testimony of Jesus.
So as the LORD first showed Abraham three beasts divided in their midst so we shall see Abraham’s seed pass through the midst of three beasts in the first three Trumpets of the Book of Revelation. ‘Beasts’ symbolic of three dispensations of God’s Word; of a time, a times and the dividing of time…
