In a previous thread of mine (
More Proof of a Post-Tribulation Rapture [Post #1]) I not only demonstrated how the seventh trumpet and bowl are concurrent events, but I also used that information to prove that the rapture of believers takes place at the end of The Great Tribulation--when Jesus returns! While it was helpful in piecing together some of the order of end-time events, I figured this connection wouldn't be complete unless I also demonstrated that the previous six trumpets and bowls are connected concurrently, as well.
With the previous thread having our baseline logic for connecting the seventh trumpet and bowl, it makes sense then that we should examine their previous counterparts with an open mind that they, too, may also be concurrent! It helps to view these visions side-by-side while examining their text, so below I created a table doing just that. Additionally, to make things easier, I even included some highlights for emphasis on important areas.
Here, we'll see that the
red text shows us how these visions are connected, while the
blue text highlights areas that seem contradictory.
Trumpets | Bowls |
“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet,… Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.” – Revelation 11:15,19 | “The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake… From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people.” – Revelation 16:17-18,21 |
“The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.” – Revelation 9:13-15 | “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” – Revelation 16:12-14 |
“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and… The sun and sky were darkened… locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes.” – Revelation 9:1-5 | “The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony…” – Revelation 16:10 |
“The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.” – Revelation 8:12 | “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire.” – Revelation 16:8 |
“The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star… fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water… A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.” – Revelation 8:10-11 | “The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.” – Revelation 16:4 |
“The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.” – Revelation 8:8-9 | “The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.” – Revelation 16:3 |
“The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” – Revelation 8:7 | “The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.” – Revelation 16:2 |
Understandably, most people separate these judgements as being unrelated to one another due to the details highlighted in
blue. But what if the
blue text has a different purpose than just highlighting details that seem contradictory to each other when these visions are cross-analyzed?
If you look back at the fifth judgment in the series, we learn that when we line these visions up sequentially, the details of one are there to compliment the other. Which, in turn, creates a fuller picture to demonstrate what's happening. With this in mind, it would make sense then to determine that the reason why there is a
difference of accounts between these visions is because it's there to emphasize a difference of perspective! This is the only logical reason as to why these visions would be concurrent yet expound on contrasting details.
But what perspective would that be, and what about the fact that the trumpets use the term "a third" to describe the effects of the plagues while the bowls describe their effect to the complete/full extent?
The answer to both of these questions can be found in Revelation 12:7–9,4a, which reads:
Here, we see that the term “
a third” is used to describe the angels who followed Satan and fought against God’s divine will. So, with this in mind, when we see the same terminology used across the trumpets, what we’re being told is that these judgments are only affecting the wicked, while in contrast, God’s people are protected!
With this passage providing both biblical and logical reasoning as to how these visions are sequentially concurrent yet display signs that they're disjoint in nature, we learn that the trumpets show us the end-time plagues (i.e., God's wrath) from the perspective of the righteous, while the bowls show it to us from the perspective of the wicked.
As a result, we also learn that the bowls of God's wrath represent (or depict) God’s judgment on the wicked, while the trumpets represent (or depict) God’s divine protection for His people! Thus, keeping with scripture that states:
