Revelation 8:8-9

8            The second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood,

9            one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.

We see a similar structure to the first trumpet blast:

• The trumpet sounded.
• Something was thrown onto the earth.
• 1/3 of the area was destroyed.

Let’s investigate what this mountain of fire was and what the sea represents.

Mountain is the Greek noun oros (or’-os). It symbolizes places of revelation and worship. Mountains were often seen as sacred places, a place where a divine interaction with God can take place. This place of communication is connected with the place of fire. John’s audience would have seen this connection and recognize that the fire is from God and his divine communication style to purge the world of the sin, evil, and corruption that we’ve talked about before.

We talked about how fire represents this purification response from God. God wanted to purify the world from the evil forces that has corrupted it. This is the major sticking point we have now seen in two trumpet sounds. God’s act of divine justice is a permanent purification of the world and his creation from the evil forces that has corrupted it.

Sea is the Greek noun Thalassa (thal’-as-sah). It symbolizes the vastness and depth of who God is and what he represents. It can represent this place of mystery and danger, associated with the chaos and the unknown. In the Jewish mindset, the sea possibly symbolized the nations, or the forces opposed to God. This changes how we can look at the end-of-the-world fears we hold. God is throwing this massive purification justice at the source that opposed God. Again, this is the evil forces of the world.

One thing I didn’t touch in Part 1 is why only a third of the creation was destroyed in this process. Third is the Greek adjective (descriptor) tritos (tree’-tos). It’s associated with completeness and divine perfection. A third both represents God’s compassion to not take everything out all at once but also shows that this his work of justice. Let’s look at what’s destroyed on both the first and second trumpet blast.

• 1^st Trumpet
  • One-third of the earth set on fire.
• • One-third of the trees was burned.
  • All the grass was burned.
• 2^nd Trumpet
  • One-third of the water in the sea became blood.
• • One-third of all things living in the sea died.
  • One-third of all the ships were destroyed.

3 acts of burning and destruction, each destroying 1/3 of what was attacked. We are beginning to see God’s perfect justice unfolding. It’s scary. It’s overwhelming. It’s knowing that we need to be on the right side of God’s story, whether this will happen in our lifetime or not. If we are a follower of God, scripture tells us that these acts will not be a fearful act nor will we be taken up in the carnage, but it doesn’t mean that we might not suffer as a result. It’s the reminder that we must be the hands and feet of God here on earth. Until next time, stay blessed.

Read the next part here: The Trumpet Sounds – Part 3