“The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, which fell on the earth; and a third of the earth was burnt up, and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. “ - Rev 8:7

“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, — and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment, — and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” - Exo 6:6-8.....
.....And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt; there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field throughout all the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and the hail struck down every plant of the field, and shattered every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, there was no hail.” - Exo 9:23-26 (NRSV)

Hail was the 7th plague of the 10 that fell upon the land of Egypt. This was no ordinary hail, in that we see “fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail”. The hail unleashed by the first trumpet in the book of Revelation goes further... it is also mingled with blood - a terrifying hail indeed!

It is worth noticing that, in the hail in Revelation, 1/3 of the earth and trees are consumed ( but all the green grass is destroyed ) - 2/3rds are spared. In Egypt, though the hail destroys everything - the Egyptians WERE WARNED to seek shelter for themselves and their cattle ( “Now therefore send, get your cattle and all that you have in the field into safe shelter; for the hail shall come down upon every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home, and they shall die.”’” Then he who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his slaves and his cattle flee into the houses; but he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his slaves and his cattle in the field.”- Exo 9:19-21 ). Those servants of Pharoah who heeded the warning saved themselves and their cattle. The Israelites, however, were spared from the hail ALTOGETHER - as NO Hail fell on the land of Goshen.

What a picture we see when we put these accounts together! The mercy of the LORD is visible in Him restraining His hand even in judgement, sparing twice as much (2/3 as opposed to 1/3rd ) as He strikes down. Like He did in Egypt, He is warning the world now, take refuge and shelter in Christ - the only one who can shelter them from His righteous judgement. His elect need no such protection - we can be sure that they are safe in the 2/3rds of the planet that are not affected. We see this pattern of 1/3rd repeated in the judgments of trumpets two, three and four - where it is a 1/3 of the sea,rivers, and light of the sun and moon that are affected.

This is VERY different from the unmitigated wrath we see in the bowl judgements later on where the ENTIRE planet is struck - with no relief for anyone going through that period. Also compare this with the Seal judgements. The first three seals unleash troubles that are not limited in their scope ( false Christ’s, war,famine) but range over the whole world - the fourth seal is the only one where we see the scope of unnatural/untimely death ( sword,famine,disease,wild beasts) restricted to 1/4th of the earths population. The general nature of the seal judgements, and the universal wrath of the bowl judgements are like two bookends outlining this period of the trumpet judgments.

Some commentators have interpreted the earth,sea, trees, and grass to represent Israel, the Gentiles, Kings and common people respectively - and while this generally accords with how we see them treated in the OT, and even subsequent chapters in this book - we are absolutely certain that here - we are meant to interpret it literally. The vision is quite clear ( see Rev 9:4, 15,18 ) about referencing mankind and humans when it is humans that are affected. The Spirit is not mixing metaphors in the same passage in the same context.

When a passage is explicitly marked as symbolic ( eg Rev 12:1 onwards ) we look to find an explanation immediately in the text ( usually supplied or clear ) or in clear passages of other Scripture. Our approach has always been to read scripture literally, and apply simple logic except where we know metaphors or allegories are clearly implied. Joseph’s visions, Daniels visions, Ezekiel’s visions all come with explanations. Our Lord intended for this book to be understood, He dictated/showed the apostle exactly what He wanted him to write/see, and the apostle wrote it down faithfully, not altering one word or letter (and warned others against alteration as well), In language that He as the Word, knows we can understand. Those who say that this book is written/coded in symbols only the early church understood are ignoring Rev 1:1,2 and Rev 22:18.

This is real hail, impacting real trees, grass and earth, just like in Egypt. The judgements of the next three trumpets are equally literal, and we will not need to discuss them any further.

One last point - we have demarcated it in the second text we opened with this week. The LORD says He will redeem His people with great acts of judgement - and that is exactly what He is going to do even in the period of the Great Tribulation. Judgement on the world, while the elect are in it - is not something new - and it does not mean that the elect suffer through those judgments along with everyone else. Very important to keep in mind.

Though the period of the Trumpets is trouble like the elect have never seen since the days of the seal judgements, the judgement is not directed at them - and though they might endure persecution in other forms... these judgements will never touch them - just as the LORD protected His people in Egypt. These judgements are for the benefit of the “ Egyptians” that will worship the last Pharoah...as they did once so long ago.

The LORD WILL remember His covenant - we see it in the Exodus text, and we see His ark revealed in Rev 15:5. He does not forget His promises... though they take a while.. and will show Himself to be mighty over every power that exalts itself against His Name.

Hallelujah!