A STUDY OF REVELATION Chapter Six

The opening of the seals foreshow the various effects of the gospel as preached. It is a complete view from this angle of vision from John's day to the end of things, suppressing only the final climax for the time being (see 8:1: which properly is the last verse of chapter 7), with the temporary silence on the opening of the seventh seal, which silence will be broken when at the end of the book.

The sounding of the trumpets is symbolic of the gospel as prayed. Prayers of the persecuted saints as ascending up to the throne of God. The key passage of this section (8:3-6), reveals that every trumpet sounded is a response to prayer. This also is a complete view from the day of John till the end of time, hinting at but suppressing the final climax, as did the seals. While it is a complete view, like the seals, it is from a different angle of vision. The events of this section are not successive to the seal events, but synchronize with them. The two views are parallel.

The great leading features of Daniel's visions were the four great governments, beginning with the Babylonian, and ending with the Roman, in its papal form. Not so, however, with John; he lived when three of those governments had passed away, and the fourth and last was in being, and in the height of its glory, as an universal monarchy. Under that government John was in banishment on the isle of Patmos, "for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ." It was his part to give the prophetic history of the fall of the last of the Roman Empire, and give us the various means by which that great persecuting system should come to ruin. The first decisive step in the downfall of Rome, was the removal of the seat of empire from the west to the east. Until then its unity had been very faithfully preserved. After that, division and subdivision became the order of the day, until the final ruin of the empire.

The sounding of the seven trumpets are understand to shadow forth the instrumentalities by which the Roman empire was to be overthrown and subverted, and finally ruined. The empire, after Constantine, was divided into three parts; and hence the frequent remark, "a third part of men," &c., in allusion to the third part of the empire which was under the scourge. Under the first four trumpets the two western divisions fell, and under the fifth and sixth the eastern empire was crushed; but under the seventh trumpet great Babylon entire will sink to rise no more at all.

The first trumpet symbolizes the judgment of the Roman Empire, and thus judgment means the invasion of nations from the north." Gibbons explains that. "Scandinavia, Germany, and beyond the Danube, even the shores of the Baltic - out of their forests came the untamed Germans and Goths and across the Danube came the Vandals and Huns.” B. H. Carroll gives credit to Gibbons for this information from his book "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." Gibbons shows the invasion of these hordes from the German forests and across the Danube broke over all the boundaries of the Roman power and carried their wasting influence with fire and sword into Italy itself.

I am persuaded beyond any question to agree that Gibbons is right in his historical account. I also believe B. H. Carroll is unmistakably right in his application of Gibbon’s account of the pagan Roman Empire's destruction. The destruction of pagan Rome came about in answer to the prayers of God's people. That was the first trumpet. Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

A mountain in the book of Revelation, the Prophesies of Isaiah and others has reference to a nation and to a kingdom. The second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and a third part of the sea became blood; and there died a third part of the creatures even them that had life, and a third part of the ships were destroyed. Near the city of Rome was the volcano, Vesuvius. History records that Pompeii and Herculaneum were cities buried by an eruption of the volcano of Vesuvius.

This is a symbol of the overthrow of the pagan Roman Empire as a result of the prayers of the saints of God. This Roman Empire was completely buried as if by an eruption of a volcano never to rise again, and it all came about in answer to prayers. Carroll credits Dr. Lyman Beecher's history as stating it took Rome 300 years to die. Gibbons as he writes about the decline, writes about the fall in his book "The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire." The eruption of the volcano of Vesuvius was simply a type of the eruptions which took place through armies invading Rome and brought about the downfall of the existing kingdom or power at that time. According to Daniel, that empire divided into ten kingdoms. Each of those ten kingdoms were completely destroyed.

And there fell a great star from heaven. A star is a natural emblem of a prince, of a ruler, of one distinguished by rank or by talent. Here the religious implications are that of a minister one who had known the truth and departed leading many astray. Wormwood (bitterness) The water was made bitter and for this cause many died symbolizing the infecting pure Christian doctrine with his heresy. Some belief that this refers to a false teacher named Arius

The sun is a symbol of the supreme ruler, and the moon and stars of inferior dignities. If the Roman emperor, ruler of the world, should be cast from power, his empire overthrown, the consuls, senators, and great men who supported his power be cast to the dust, and a period of darkness should follow, it would fully meet the symbolism.