“7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!””
Revelation 8:7-13
The trumpets represent natural disasters that take place during the dispensation. It is significant that we often use the term 'act of God' to describe natural catastrophes, such as earthquakes and floods. We do so of course unthinkingly, without realising the import of the words. But these so-called 'natural' disasters are acts of God, and sorely need to be interpreted as such. They are not accidental nor inexplicable, but sent by God as warnings to mankind, to recall men and nations to Himself in repentance and new obedience. We may recall the prophetic word, 'I have smitten you with blasting and mildew... yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord' (Amos 4:9).
But we must go further. If we take the sequence of the vision seriously, we must see that these disasters are caused, ultimately, by the thrusting of the Word of the gospel and the fire of God into the earth. The gospel is a living thing. It not only brings life, it brings death, when men resist and refuse it. The presence of a praying Church and the fire of God in its testimony creates great and lasting disturbance and turmoil among men. This is inevitable, in the very nature of the case. It is this that gives such urgency to the work of the gospel, rightly understood. Well might one of the greatest theologians of our time speak of this as 'the theology of crisis'. Crisis indeed it is leading to a still greater when the warning voice of God is ignored or unheeded, for then the trumpets are followed by the vials of wrath.