The importance of seals and the number of trumpets – 1st Part

 

The book of Revelation, as well as other prophetic books, continue to teach us many things and change our point of view if we are truly willing to let ourselves be taught by the Bible.

As written in more and more articles this blog was born in an honest attempt to make the Bible speak, the only Truth, regardless of anything that would come out of it - John 17:17

Those who have accepted the fact that their religion, net of the good things taught and the sincere people present in it, is nothing more than one of the thousands that exist, self-referential, that is, without the chrism or approval of God, have without On the other hand, he made remarkable progress in Biblical understanding, as well as demonstrating his love for Scripture above all things.

Those who, on the contrary, have not been willing to recognize the role of Israel in biblical prophecy and in particular in the restoration of true worship have probably abandoned the blog, which was not born to "reassure one's religion" or to please everyone.

The author of this blog, as already demonstrated in several articles, remains available to discuss and retract any topic as long as any comparison is before the Scriptures and not the presumed authority of anyone - Acts 17:11

The following article will allow further progress in biblical knowledge and we will see how what until now had seemed like a "particular" had, until today, confused us.

This "particular" had prevented us from understanding a very important aspect relating to the day of the Lord, namely the order of events that the Lord narrates to his close friends.

Obviously anyone would be able to find several similarities between the description made by Jesus on the Mount of Olives and the book of Revelation (as this same blog has done) but whoever has managed, so far, to find the exact temporal sequence explained by him and How far did he go with his speech?

It seems strange but this confusion was due, indirectly, to understanding the exact number of trumpets…

How many trumpets are there?

As mentioned above it seems strange… because the book of Revelation is very clear about it: they are seven – Revelation 8:2, 6

This simple truth also taught us how the understanding that this book was not written in chronological order was absolutely illogical, bogus - see the article entitled " Who decides what" under the subtitle "The problem of temporal succession (chronology )"

Obviously the first angel to blow his trumpet is first, the second is second, and so on.

Any other interpretation exists only by virtue of one's own religious organization which seeks to give itself a chrism it cannot have.

However, with regard to the number of trumpets there had been, until now, a problem.

In the description given by the Lord and recorded in Matthew 24 it had seemed that there was, at least, an octave.

In Matthew 24:31 we read… “And (the Lord) will send his angels with a great trumpet to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” – New International Version

To this scripture we add 1 Thessalonians 4:16 which says “for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first”.

For now, in this article, let's focus on Matthew 24:31.

Obviously there would be no problem for the Lord to gather his angels through the sound of a trumpet but the most natural thing one should think is that this clear action, which cannot be considered an insignificant detail, is described in the last book of the Bible .

Why do we say this?

Well both speak of the end time, wars due to His presence, earthquakes, tribulation, pestilences etc.

In short, they refer to the same period and to the same events.

Isn't it the least bit strange that there is another trumpet (be it first, last, or between trumpets) that Revelation doesn't mention?

Because where, in this prophetic book, do we read about the trumpet that gathers the angels?

Some religious organizations have played on this apparent lack.

Those who have understood that the trumpets described in Revelation are linked, directly or indirectly, to the Jewish people, have tried to justify their hope (that is, their presumed and imminent rapture into heaven) with a possible "unwritten" trumpet which must while ringing on the Lord's day - Revelation 1:10

It is true that the trumpet of Matthew 24:31 would not in any case concern the heavenly resurrection but would open the hypothesis that there are trumpets of which Revelation does not speak.

And so, at the very least, there would be a 9th trumpet !

That's it?

Should we really think that the gathering of angels (who gather to gather and save God's people) and the moment of the resurrection are such marginal events that John would not have mentioned it or even received it in a vision? - compare Revelation 1:1-3; 5, 6

 

If we don't let our religion speak... how many trumpets are present in the Apocalypse?

  Marco and Luca do not talk about the sound of the trumpet

Let's go first of all to see how the other evangelists report the Lord's words.

After explaining the various stages of the Lord's day in much the same way as Matthew did, Mark 13:27 records… “And he will then send angels to gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” – New Review

Obviously the first statement that anyone trying to justify their belief would make would be that Mark had a different style of writing from that of Matthew and it is certainly true that each evangelist omitted or added details missing from the other.

This is a beautiful way to get a complete picture of the life and personality of Jesus: there is no denying it.

Can we therefore assert that Marco would have omitted the detail of the "great sound of the trumpet"?

As it happens… he would have omitted what John himself would have omitted in the Apocalypse.

Before drawing any conclusions let's go see Luca.

After mentioning all the events from false prophets to darkness and the shaken powers of heaven (the same things Matthew and Mark also mention), Luke 21:27 reads… “Then they will see the Son of man coming upon the clouds with power and great glory” – New Review

Not even Luke, therefore, mentions the sound of the trumpet.

At this point we just have to go and see how Matthew 24:31 is translated from other Bibles.

How do they translate other Bibles?

The CEI/Jerusalem translates... "He will send his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather all his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other".

Do we notice a difference?

This translation does not say at all that He calls the angels through the sound of a trumpet (a word that does not appear at all) but that "he will send his angels with a large trumpet", i.e. the angels who have a large trumpet .

It seems that the "riddle" is clearing up?

The old Diodati translates “And he will send his angels, with a trumpet and a great cry; and they shall gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

In this translation it is not clear whether Jesus himself is meant to have a trumpet (which, as we will see, does not create any problems for us) but he certainly does not say that he gathers them through "the sound of the trumpet", which is instead important.

In fact, if He does it with a "great cry", He does not do it with the sound of the trumpet.

Westcott & Hort's interlinear similarly reads “great trumpet” with no mention of the sound.

Of course, it is not enough to discover that some translations and interlinears make no mention of sound to choose them as accurate to the detriment of the others.

In doing so we would risk wanting to corroborate our interpretations a priori at all costs, exactly as religions in general do.

Who is right, among them, and how can we understand it?

As we always have, we simply need to see if other parts of the Bible mirror this translation or if they clash.

If the Lord said that the son of man would send his angels "with the trumpet", we should find it written in the Bible and certainly in at least one of those books that mention the "day of the Lord".

Well… if we go to Revelation 8:1, 2 it reads… “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Then I saw the seven angels standing before God, and they were given seven trumpets.”

So the account is clear: it is the opening of the seventh seal , an action performed by the Lamb (or son of man) that sends "the angels with the trumpet".

This, among other things, as we will see in the next article, does not even exclude that He, i.e. Jesus Christ, is precisely the seventh angel as we have seen to be the same rider on the white horse who "goes out winning and completing his victory" - Revelation 6:2

Was the mentioned scripture taken “at random” to justify this interpretation?

No, not at all, because now we can clearly see the similarities between the Lord's words and John's vision.

Matthew says “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars… and nation will rise against nation” (Matthew 24:6, 7a) while Revelation says “When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, «Come ». And another horse came out, red; and it was given to him that sat on him to take peace from the earth that men should kill one another, and he was given a great sword” (Revelation 6:3, 4)

“...there will be famines and earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7b) as Revelation says “When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: «Come». I looked and saw a black horse; and its rider had a balance in his hand. And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil or the wine" (Revelation 6:5, 6)… so we speak of pestilence (Luke 21:11) and Revelation speaks of a “deadly plague” (Revelation 6:8)…

If we continue reading we will read of “sun darkened and moon that will not give its light and stars that will fall from heaven” (Matthew 24:29) and in Revelation we read “I looked again when the Lamb opened the sixth seal; and there was a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, and the moon became all like blood; the stars of heaven fell to the earth as when a fig tree shaken by a strong wind drops its unripe figs” – Revelation 6:12, 13

In short, we see the same events and the same temporal order up to the point where "The kings of the earth, the great, the generals, the rich, the powerful and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks: “Fall on us, hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath has come. Who can resist?” (Revelation 6:15-17) exactly where Matthew says “Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” – Matthew 24:30

Understanding that Matthew 24:31 is the event described in Revelation 8:1, 2 is only a logical consequence due to the context.

This understanding opens the way to a better understanding of the seals and order of events Jesus speaks of.

At this point it becomes clear that, in his explanation, the Lord begins and ends with the seals, pausing just before the sound of the first trumpet.

What does this mean and what does it involve?

And what do we now understand about 1 Thessalonians 4:16?

These and other questions will be answered in the next article.