“And the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea…” (Revelation 8:8-9, NASB)

When God’s judgment comes on earth, there will be no place to escape, land or sea. After the Lamb of God opened all of the seven seals, the seven angels who were given trumpets began to sound them. The sounding of the first trumpet brought about disaster on the land, but the second trumpet brought about disaster on the sea. It says in today’s passage,

“And the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood; and a third of the creatures, which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

The first two trumpet judgments affected the third of the earth and the third of the ocean. What could this possibly mean? At the sounding of the second trumpet, John saw “something like a great mountain burning with fire” cast into the sea. There are two classic interpretations of this event.

First, those who interpret this event as a symbolic event see the “great mountain burning with fire” as powerful and bloodthirsty nations clashing with other nations, causing bloodshed, death, and destruction. There is some validity to this interpretation because a similar thing happens in Revelation 13, where John sees two beasts, one coming up out of the sea and the other coming out of the earth, in order to unite the world under Satan. “Sea” and “earth” each represent many people, but in different realms. Many biblical scholars interpret the beast coming up out of the sea as someone emerging from a great political realm, and the beast coming up out of the earth as someone emerging from a religious system. If this interpretation is correct, then the “third of the sea becoming blood” would mean that the third of the earth’s population would experience bloodshed, followed by an economic collapse symbolized by the “ships” being destroyed.

On the other hand, those who interpret this event as literal see the “great mountain burning with fire” as a meteor, asteroid, or other space debris colliding with Earth. Some even think that a chunk of the sun will break off and collide with the earth because it will come “burning with fire.” Furthermore, because of the phrase “thrown into the sea,” interpreters of this view see this event as a supernatural act of God rather than a natural occurrence.

What do you think is the correct interpretation? Which do you think is more likely to happen? Whichever way you choose to interpret these two trumpet judgments, you must follow a basic rule of thumb. Your interpretation must have some consistency. For example, you cannot interpret the first trumpet as symbolic because it looks symbolic, and the second trumpet as literal because it looks real. There has to be some consistency. Otherwise, you will interpret things as you like and make things up as you go. Based on this rule of thumb, it is more commonsensical to interpret the first two trumpet judgments as literal events. In either case, at the blowing of the first two trumpets, God will cause His judgments to be carried out on the land and the sea.

The basic truth is that when His judgment comes, there is no escaping it, land or sea. Furthermore, when the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, it says that a third of the sun, moon, and stars were smitten, which implies that there will be no escape into space either. There is only one way of escape in the midst of God’s judgment, and that is through faith in the Lamb of God. Yes, many will be saved during the Great Tribulation. John was shown this when he saw a great multitude of people from every nation, tribes, people, and tongue. He was told, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev.7:14). Without faith in the Lamb, there is no escape from God’s judgment, land, sea, or space.

• How would you interpret the events of the first and the second trumpets?
• What does it say about God’s judgment and mercy, as it says that a third of things on earth are destroyed rather than all of them?