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THE FIRST TRUMPET
Early in the year 395 A.D. the Emperor Theodosius died, and before the end of that year there swept down upon the Western Roman Empire, the armies of Alaric, King of the Visi-Goths. From then until 410 A.D. these Gothic invaders ravaged and rampaged across this section of the Empire, devastating its provinces by fire and the sword, thrice invading Italy and twice besieging Rome itself. Together with these Gothic invaders came an army of a quarter of a million Vandals, Suevi and Burgundians, under the leadership of Rhadagasius, whose bloodthirsty advance is described by Gibbon the historian:- "The consuming flames of war spread from the banks of the Rhine over the greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul; the scene of plenty was suddenly changed into a desert." It is also interesting to note that Gibbon, describing the siege of Rome by the Goths, used the very language of the Apocalypse and says:- "The inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet." BLOOD, HAIL AND FIRE These symbols remind us of the Plagues, which God poured out on Pharaoh's Egypt. Their purpose was to free God's people, Israel, from heathen tyranny, and similarly under the Seventh Seal, the blowing of this First Trumpet, the Gothic invasions, resulted in the withdrawal of the Roman Legions from England and Wales, thus freeing Israel in the Isles from the yoke of Imperial Rome, the Fourth or Iron Kingdom, which Daniel had seen in his vision. Fire and blood need no explanation, for they followed the Gothic armies, whilst hail is used in Scripture to symbolise warfare. TREES AND GREEN GRASS These have both a literal and symbolic meaning. The Goths pillaged the rich farms and vineyards of Gaul and Italy, leaving the environment as scorched earth. The late Rev. Bickersteth in his "Commentary on Revelation" says that by these symbols:- "are perhaps intimated those more prominent institutions and multitudinous arts which adorn and clothe the life of civilised nations." Certainly in Judges Chapter 9, trees are used as a symbol of the chief men in society, and without doubt many were the generals and governors of Imperial Rome who fell before Alaric and the Goths. It is interesting to note before passing on to the next Trumpet, that Alaric showed mercy to the Christian places of worship, and whilst palaces and villas were sacked, churches were spared. This may have been because a section of the Goths had embraced a form of Christianity, through the ministry of Ulphilas, and some even believe that the Goths contained pockets of true Israelites amongst them. THE SECOND TRUMPET
THE SYMBOLS USED Once again John has made use of the volcanic symbols, which I explained under the Sixth Seal. They are a perfect symbol of the next group of Barbarians to ravage the Roman Empire; the Vandals, under the leadership of Genseric. THE HISTORICAL FULFILMENT The Vandals, having swept across the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal), crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and began to ravage the hitherto untouched North African sector of the Roman Empire. In 430 A.D. they besieged and burned Hippo, home city of Augustine, the protagonist of the "spiritual Israel" theory. Nine years later they conquered Carthage and dominated the Mediterranean coastline of North Africa from Morocco to Libya. Their fleets roamed the Mediterranean attacking shipping and coastal towns, and even sailing up the River Tiber to sack proud Rome itself. The islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Majorca and Minorca fell before them, as in fulfilment of Bible Prophecy, they brought judgements to the seas, ultimately destroying the fleet of Imperial Rome. The once mighty Roman Empire which had ruled the world was now tottering on its feet of clay, when there came the sounding of:- THE THIRD TRUMPET
WHO WAS THE STAR WORMWOOD? As we have already seen, stars represent ruling powers and authorities. Therefore a great star would represent a mighty leader to come on the stage of world history, in this case one who would cause great bitterness, misery, death and destruction. Furthermore, if the Goths brought judgement on land, and the Vandals by sea, then we are looking for a leader whose people brought destruction to the river valleys of the Alpine regions. History records that just such a leader was Attila the Hun. THE HISTORICAL FULFILMENT The Huns, whose name has endured to the very day as a symbol of terror were amongst the fiercest of all the Barbarians whoswept into Western Europe at that time. Attila ruled over a territory bordered by the Danube, the Volga and the Baltic. Historians describe him as deformed in appearance, with a large head, square shoulders, swarthy complexion, deep eyes and flat nose. By all accounts he must have appeared sub-human, yet he seemed invincible in battle and he soon earned his title "The Scourge of God" as his forces advanced through the Alps and Apennines into Northern Italy, sacking the cities of Padua, Verona, Milan and Turin. In the scene here depicted, a Bishop appeals to Attila to spare a French town during the devastating rush of the Huns through France. Not only did his armies bring bloodshed, but famine and pestilence in their wake. They were to reach the very gates of Rome before being persuaded to turn back by Pope Leo. With the subsequent death of Attila, the Empire of the Huns collapsed and had disappeared by 453 A.D. One more final Barbarian onslaught was all that was needed to bring down Imperial Rome in the West, which was now a mere shadow of its former self. This event is recorded for us in the symbolism of:- THE FOURTH TRUMPET
THE SYMBOLISM USED The darkening of the sun, moon and stars, the ruling powers and the authorities, denotes the final end of the Western Roman Empire, which was to he eclipsed in 476 A.D. with the abolition of the Imperial title, and the departure from Rome of Romulus Augustulus, the last occupant of the Imperial Throne. To find out how this came to pass let us look briefly at the:- HISTORICAL FULFILMENT The final downfall of Imperial Rome can be attributed to Odoacer, chieftain of the Heruli. His father Edecon had been ambassador and secretary to Attila the Hun. A nominal Christian of the Arian sect who denied the Deity of the Lord Jesus, he received a prophecy from a hermit who told him:- "Go to Italy and you shall rise to honour and cast away your coarse garment of skin for nobler vestures and your wealth will be equal to the liberality of your mind." Odoacer brought his forces to act as mercenaries in what remained of the Western Roman Empire, quickly rising to be a general. He marched his armies into Italy where he had little problem in compelling the last Emperor of Rome to abdicate. Thus were the sun, moon and stars of Caesar's mighty Empire extinguished into oblivion.
CONCLUSION - THE THREE TRUMPETS OF WOE
We have now come to the end of our studies, for with the close of the eighth chapter of the Apocalypse, the scene of Divine Judgement moves from the Western to the Eastern section of the Roman Empire known as Byzantium. These last Three Trumpets are described as Woes, and the first Two are covered in our verse by verse commentary on Revelation 9, entitled "Islam in Prophecy" in which we showed that:-
What a wonderful book the Apocalypse is - unveiling the history of our world, whilst at the same time uplifting the Lord Jesus, as the soon-coming world ruler. Whilst our Revelation Studies are aimed at those who are already Christians, should anyone reading this be uncertain regarding their spiritual condition, we urge you to make your calling and election sure, by repenting of your sins, trusting in the atoning blood of Jesus, the Lamb of Calvary for forgiveness; and we encourage and exhort you to go on in obedience to His command by taking His name in water baptism by total immersion, and seeking your individual personal sealing by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. CONCLUSION - THE THREE TRUMPETS OF WOE
We have now come to the end of our studies, for with the close of the eighth chapter of the Apocalypse, the scene of Divine Judgement moves from the Western to the Eastern section of the Roman Empire known as Byzantium. These last Three Trumpets are described as Woes, and the first Two are covered in our verse by verse commentary on Revelation 9, entitled "Islam in Prophecy" in which we showed that:-
What a wonderful book the Apocalypse is - unveiling the history of our world, whilst at the same time uplifting the Lord Jesus, as the soon-coming world ruler. Whilst our Revelation Studies are aimed at those who are already Christians, should anyone reading this be uncertain regarding their spiritual condition, we urge you to make your calling and election sure, by repenting of your sins, trusting in the atoning blood of Jesus, the Lamb of Calvary for forgiveness; and we encourage and exhort you to go on in obedience to His command by taking His name in water baptism by total immersion, and seeking your individual personal sealing by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. OVERVIEW OF THE SEVEN TRUMPETS
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TRUMPET 5 - 1st WOE: ISLAM UNDER THE ARABS 
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