Trumpet 1 - Earth (Revelation 8:7)
The 1st trumpet was World War I and judgment was against the earth. On August 1 (
9th of Av) after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, Germany declared war on Russia. Central Powers fought the Allies in Europe, Africa and Asia.
John sees hail, fire and blood. Advances in artillery, especially machine guns, shoot a hail of bullets. There are many firsts: tanks, airplanes and anti-aircraft guns. Chemical weapons were used by both sides. This was the first modern war of land, sea and air. Trench warfare stretched 475 miles along the French and German borders devastating the earth. The war caused a third of trees and grass to burn up.
In 1917, the British issued the Balfour Declaration supporting a homeland for the Jews. On December 9, 1917, the lion miraculously captured Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks without a shot fired (
Isaiah 31:4, 5). Two days later on the 25th of
Kislev (
Hanukkah), British General Edmund Allenby walked into the Holy City. Many Jews return to their homeland (
Ezekiel 37:11-12).
Trumpet 2 - Sea (Revelation 8:8-9)
The 2nd trumpet was World War II and judgment was against the sea. On September 1, 1939 (17th of
Elul,
Teshuvah). Axis Powers fought the Allies in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
A major part of the war was fought on the sea. In the Battle of the Atlantic, U-boats sank merchant ships and naval convoys. In the Pacific, battles were fought island to island. A third of ships sank. A nuclear explosion looks like a mushroom cloud but John describes it as a mountain on fire. On August 9, 1945 (1st of
Elul,
Teshuvah). the second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki (
Exodus 34:1).
Since 63 BC, the Holy Land was ruled by Gentile nations. The United Kingdom voluntarily surrendered control of Israel. The United Nations divided the territory between Israel and Palestine. On the 5th of
Iyar (May 14, 1948), the nation of
Israel was born (
Isaiah 66:8).
Trumpet 3 - Rivers & Springs (Revelation 8:10-11)
The 3rd trumpet was the Cold War and judgment was against fresh water. Red Communists fought Black Capitalist
horses. On April 26, 1986 or the 17th of
Nisan (
Unleavened Bread), Chernobyl Reactor 4 powered down to test the backup generator but caused a catastrophic failure.
The city Chernobyl, Ukraine is translated Wormwood, a bitter plant in the sunflower or aster (star) family. John sees a star-like object falling from the sky. The reactor overheated causing a steam explosion that blew the 1000-ton lid off the reactor. A second explosion caused a graphite inferno which started the nuclear meltdown releasing uranium and plutonium about a mile into the atmosphere. The radioactive fallout was three hundred times Hiroshima. The Soviet Union evacuated 3.5 million people from Belarus and Ukraine and used 600,000 liquidators to contain the reactor. It rained in Europe and Western Asia for a week, poisoning fresh water.
After the fall of the Soviet Union and Iron Curtain, many Jews immigrated from Russia and Eastern Europe to Israel. Former Soviet countries opened borders to missionaries (
Jeremiah 29:14).