To understand the 7 Trumpets of Revelation and the rapture one must first understand that contrary to popular belief, the events of Revelation (Seals, Trumpets and Vials) do not occur sequentially. I explained this in great detail in a previous article entitled, “The Four Horsemen, ISIS & the Return of Jesus Christ” which can be found at
http://www.deanodle.org/FourHorsemenISIS.html
If you have not read “The Four Horsemen, ISIS & the Return of Jesus Christ” then I suggest you begin there so you will see what the Scripture actually says about these events. But to sum it up, the 7 Seals are the long story of the last days that start in the first century and ends at Armageddon and the second coming of Jesus Christ. The 7 Trumpets are the shorter story beginning in 1914 and ending at Armageddon and the second coming of Jesus Christ. And the 7 Vials are the very short story that start in the last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation and end at Armageddon and the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is very important to understand.
As I stated in my previous article, 5 of the 7 seals spoken of in Revelation 6-7 have been opened. You might be surprised to find out that 5 of the 7 trumpets have already occurred as well! I know that is not the traditional teaching of the western church, but it is the truth. The first 5 trumpet judgments happened between 1914 and 2008 and we are quickly approaching the 6th Trumpet War mentioned in Revelation 9.
The 6th Trumpet
The Word of God describes a war that will start when four (bad) angels are loosed in the Euphrates River region and will kill one third of mankind. It just so happens that the Euphrates River touches FOUR nations. The river begins in Turkey, runs through Syria and Iraq, and then touches Iran for 50 miles before it empties into the Persian Gulf.
“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths” (Revelation 9:13-18).
As we look at the news, we see the raging civil war in Syria and ISIS taking over in Iraq and most of Syria. We see multiple Muslim groups threatening to attack Israel and Iran funding the terror activity of Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran is also getting closer and closer to developing a nuclear bomb. With the help of President Obama and his nuclear deal, Iran is ensured to complete a bomb unless Israel stops them. Turkey is ratcheting up their anti-Israel rhetoric and soon these Muslim nations (along with Russia) will move against Israel and a major war will begin which fulfills Bible prophecy.
Therefore, knowing that the 6th Trumpet War is on the horizon, it stands to reason that the first five trumpets have occurred. But the Trumpets of Revelation are not the only Bible prophecies that have come to pass in the 20th Century!
The 20th Century and Fulfilled Prophecies
The 20th Century was very much the Century of End-Time Bible Prophecy. We started the early 1900s with the great Azusa Street Revival that took the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of the gift of supernatural tongues, healing, and deliverance in Jesus Christ to the nations. There was a worldwide outpouring of the Holy Spirit that started in Los Angeles California in 1906. This was a fulfillment of Joel 2:28-29 and Acts 2:16-18 which says,
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28-29)
“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:” (Acts 2:16-18)
The automobile and airplane became commonplace in the 20th Century. And we also saw the birth of television, computers, satellites, space travel and nuclear technology. All of those things (happening in a relatively short period of time when compared to 6,000 years of recorded human history) definitely fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel concerning an explosion of knowledge and increased travel that would happen in the last days.
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4).
However, one of the most significant fulfillments of Bible prophecy happened when Israel became a nation again in 1948. This was foretold by the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel over 2,600 years ago. Isaiah prophesied by the Holy Spirit that Israel would be brought back to their land a second time:
“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:10-12).
The first time Israel came back to their land was when they returned from 70 years in Babylonian captivity in 536 BC. The second time was in 1948 after 1,878 years of the Jews being scattered to other nations after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD. In 1948, Israel managed to survive an immediate invasion from their Arab neighbors who were determined to destroy their newly declared Jewish State. The retaking of Jerusalem by Israel in the Six Day War of June 1967 (that was instigated by the Arabs) was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy and a sign that we have truly moved into the last days.
The 3rd Trumpet: Wormwood & Contaminated Water
Now let’s look at some major events that happened in the 20th Century and the early part of the 21st Century that are the fulfillment of Trumpets 1 through 5 spoken of in Revelation 8 and 9. For me this goes back almost 20 years when I heard that some believed the 3rd Trumpet occurred in 1986, but I never pursued it. Then in 2011, I saw a minister named Irvin Baxter present the evidence on when the 3rd Trumpet happened and after praying and doing my own research, I concluded that he was correct. Just to be clear, I do not agree with Irvin Baxter on several things, but on this one he is right.
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Revelation 8:10-11).
I believe that this star Wormwood is the name of a real event that happened on April 26, 1986. Here are some things to keep in mind when looking at the 3rd Trumpet:
• In Scripture a star is not always a literal star. The term “star” can represent an angel or message/messenger from God.
• The Bible says that this “Wormwood” caused the WATER to become contaminated and that many died from this contamination. Remember that water is in the air and in clouds and then it comes to the earth as rain that goes into the streams and rivers.
• We also need to recognize that this passage of Scripture DOES NOT say that this would be a world wide event. People usually assume that the 3rd Trumpet would affect the entire world but the Bible does not actually say that.
For those who did not recognize the significance of April 26, 1986, it was the date of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Prypriat, Ukraine. At that time, the Ukraine was part of the former Soviet Union. A test in their nuclear power plant went terribly wrong and the nuclear reactor overheated and exploded. It spread nuclear radiation all over the Ukraine and even all the way to England. It was and still is the worst nuclear accident in history (unless Fukushima eclipses it in the days ahead). The radiation that went up into the atmosphere was then brought down to the earth and spread by rain. Over 17 million people were affected by this accident. Hundreds of thousands died and some are still dying from cancers due to radiation exposure.