Day 152

^“The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, ⁹ and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.” Rev 8:8-9 NASB.

There is a strong link between the plagues of Egypt, the 7 trumpets and the 7 last plagues. The fact that water turns into blood here is a strong reminder of the first plague of the Exodus (Exodus 7:19-21). Turning the Nile into blood would destroy Egypt’s economy and comforts in an instance. The lifeblood of Egypt was and is the water from the Nile.

There is a second clear allusion in this text, a reminder of God’s judgment on ancient Babylon. “I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. Jer. 51:25, NIV. In Jeremiah 51 God pronounces judgment on Babylon because she has been oppressing the people of God. So the second trumpet blends elements of the OT judgments on both Egypt and Babylon. What is interesting is that both countries were and are flat, dry, and dependant on the great rivers that pass through them.

But if ancient Babylon was located in a flat river valley, why does this text speak of a mountain? It is a symbolic reference. In Daniel 2 it is God’s kingdom that is described in terms of a great mountain. So, Jeremiah’s description suggests Babylon is a great counterfeit of God’s true kingdom. This trumpet promises that God will destroy that counterfeit in the waters of her own “sea.”

The symbolic judgments represented in the second trumpet may well reflect the collapse of the Roman Empire, an event still future at the time the Book of Revelation was written. From the point of view of the first readers, the Empire may have seemed invincible. But John is assured through this vision that God marks the activities of oppressors on this earth, and He acts at the proper time.