The trumpet judgments mark the beginning of God’s wrath which will be unleashed during the Great Tribulation before the Lord returns with the saints. God wants to let the devil and the world know that He is still in absolute control. God will destroy one-third of the world in the trumpet judgments. 

1. Judgment of hunger (Rev 8:7-9)

First trumpet (Rev 8:7) – Hail and fire will cause a third of the world’s greenery to be destroyed. There will be devastating climate change, severe water scarcity, drought, mass species extinction, disruption of regional and global weather patterns, threatened food security, leading to global instability and severe degrading of the whole planet for human survival. Everyone will be fighting for a very limited amount of food. 

Second trumpet (Rev 8:8-9) – A great mountain, burning with fire, will be cast into the sea; and a third of the sea will become blood. One-third of the sea creatures will die. Carcasses will float on the sea, and they will smell. A third part of ships will be destroyed, collapsing global food chains.

2. Judgment of thirst (Rev 8:10-11)

Third trumpet (Rev 8:10-11) – A great star called Wormwood will fall from heaven into a third of the rivers, and upon the fountains of water, making the waters bitter and poisonous, and many people will die. People will no longer be bathing in order to preserve water. God wants to help man to stop thinking of their physical thirst, and think about their spiritual thirst.

3. Judgment of freezing temperatures (Rev 8:12-13)

Fourth trumpet (Rev 8:12-13) – One-third of the sun, of the moon, and of the stars will stop shining. Temperatures will drop significantly, oceans will freeze, the earth’s ecosystem will collapse, leading to the demise of life. The air will be very difficult to breathe in.

God sends these trumpet judgments in His mercies to slow down man’s sinful behaviour. He wants to awaken man to think about his mortality and to turn to Christ as his Lord and Saviour. However, salvation will come at a very high cost during the Great Tribulation. May we share the Gospel with unbelievers around us now while the trumpets have not yet been blown.