The First Four Trumpets
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire

barbarians3

The Seven Seals chronicle the decline of the Roman Empire, the first six trumpets prefigure its fall. The first four trumpets all pertain to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

No sooner had Christianity overthrown Paganism in the Roman Empire than it fell itself into the mire of idolotry. Saint worship, relic worship and the worship of angels called upon the Roman Empire a tempest of judgment.

"Theodosius died Jan. 17, 395 and before the winter ended the Gothic nation was in arms. That tempest of barbarians was to subvert the foundation of the Roman Empire." Edward Gibbon


The Fall of the Roman Empire
Rome Fell in Three Parts - The West Fell First
Threeparts Babylon fell in one night . Alexander quickly dispatched with Medo-Persia and Greece fell almost as quickly to Rome. But it took 1000 years for Rome to fall (406 - 1453). And it fell in three parts.

  1. A third part of the trees were burnt up. vs. 7
  2. A third part of the ships destroyed. vs. 8-9
  3. A third part of the rivers. vs. 10-11
  4. A third part of the sun darkened. vs. 12

The expression "third part" is only used with the first four trumpets. They caused the fall of a third part of the Roman Empire. The fifth and sixth trumpets caused the fall of the other two thirds.

  1. 1st 4 Trumpets - Barbarians - Western Empire
  2. 5th Trumpet - Arabs - Southeastern Empire
  3. 6th Trumpet - Turks - Eastern Roman Empire

The West Fell in Four Successive Judgments
The Last Judgment Fell on Rome Itself
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all [things]: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. Daniel 2:40

Rome broke all the kingdoms before it and as a result it was prophesied that its fate was to be broken in pieces as pottery shatters when broken. This was dramatically fulfilled immediately after the Roman Empire divided when it broke into ten kingdoms.

  1. 1st - The Goths under Alaric (400-410)
  2. 2nd - The Vandals under Genseric (425-470)
  3. 3rd - The Huns under Attilla (451)
  4. 4th - The Heruli under Odacer(476)

Additional Links
The Trumpets are Standard
The trumpets have been understood clearly since the Protestant Reformation. Historicsts don't argue about them with the exception of the dating of the time periods of the fifth and sixth trumpets.

There are many good commentaries available on this section of the Apocalypse. Alan Campbell's commentary and Uriah Smith's old commentary are excellent. We have included some other links as well.

The better you know the history of the period the more obvious it will become that this was the fulfillment of what was signified.

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