“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 symbolism of the 'trumpet' is significant. So often in the Old Testament it was used as an alarm of war, a summons from the Lord. It signifies the warning voice of God, and the judgments here are the call of God to men to take heed and repent of their sins. We should also notice the marked similarity between the judgments recorded under the first four trumpets and the plagues in Egypt - the hail, the fire, the water turned into blood, the darkness, the infliction of death - the correspondence is too striking to be merely accidental, and this in itself should be a key to interpretation. For what were the plagues of Egypt but the warning voice of God to Pharaoh, in relation to his treatment of the people of God, and His judgment upon continued pride, arrogance and impenitence?
Opinions may differ as to what exactly the trumpets are meant to indicate, but it has been suggested that the first symbolises the disasters that take place throughout the age (7), the second, maritime disasters (8, 9), the third land-water disasters, such as floods (10, 11), the fourth abnormal functioning and disturbance of heavenly bodies. To be thus specific may in fact be to narrow interpretation overmuch and be too restricted in their application, and this is a temptation to be avoided. What is more important for us is to notice that in each case it is a third part of earth, sea, heavenly bodies, etc., that is affected. Two things may be said about this, first, that it is partial judgment that is indicated, not full or final, and this bears out the warning aspect of the trumpets in general; and secondly, that this represents an increasing intensity as compared with the 'seals' where a fourth part (6:8) of the earth was affected. This bears out the general development of the book of Revelation as a whole, and is what we might expect as we go on.