Second Trumpet - Burning Mountain
The second trumpet harmed much of the commerce on which human society, the “inhabitants of the earth,” relied – Revelation 8:8-9.
After the second angel sounded his horn, a great “burning
mountain…was cast into the sea.” The language alludes to a passage in Jeremiah,
originally, a judicial pronouncement against Ancient Babylon for its oppression
of Judah.
- (Revelation 8:8-9) – “And the second angel sounded; and as it were, a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and the third of the creatures which were in the sea that had life died, the third of the ships was destroyed.”
John did not see a literal mountain falling out of the
sky. Instead, he likened what he did see to “a great mountain burning with
fire.” This is an example of a simile. The first plague
impacted the vegetation of the earth. Now, the second trumpet harms the “sea.”
And in the book, the “sea” is synonymous with the “Abyss”:
- (Revelation 11:7) – “And as soon as they have completed their witnessing, the beast that is to ascend from the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and slay them.”
- (Revelation 13:1-7) – “And the dragon stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw, out of the sea a beast ascending…And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.”
The second trumpet uses imagery from the first Egyptian
plague when Yahweh turned the waters of the Nile into blood to curtail Egypt’s
economic life:
- (Exodus 7:17-21) - “The fish in the river died, and the river became foul, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.”
The “mountain burning with fire” echoes the
judgment dirge against Babylon recorded in Jeremiah:
- (Jeremiah 51:25) - “Behold me against you, O destroying mountain that destroys all the earth! Therefore, will I stretch out my hand over you and roll you down from the crags, and make of you a burning mountain.”
Later, Babylon is called the “Great Harlot”
that sits on the “seven mountains,” which represent the kingdoms over
which Babylon holds sway, especially in its economic sphere - (Revelation 17:9-10).
The image of Babylon as a “burning mountain”
hurled into the “sea” symbolizes its judgment and the results for global
commerce. Just as this “great burning mountain was cast into the sea,” so
end-time “Babylon” will be “cast into the
sea like a great millstone,” which causes all merchants,
shipmasters, and sailors to lament that “in one hour so great riches came to
nothing” - (Revelation 8:5, 18:16-21).
The “burning mountain” also caused the “ships
to be destroyed (diaphtheiro).” The clause translates
the Greek verb borrowed from the Septuagint version of Jeremiah
- “I am against you, destroying mountain that destroyed all
the earth (diaphtheiro).” The verbal connection is deliberate. The same
verb occurs again when the seventh trumpet is sounded:
- (Revelation 11:18) - “And the season came to reward your servants the prophets and the saints, and to destroy them that destroy the earth (diaphtheiro).”
The destruction of a third of all ships devastates
seaborne trade. The destruction will become total with the final overthrow of
end-time “Babylon,” and the “burning mountain” anticipates
that judgment. Portrayed here is of the partial destruction of her economic
base, the source of her power and influence - (Revelation 18:16-20).
- “God uses the ‘blazing mountain’ of Babylon, the ‘destroyer of the whole earth,’ to pollute the sea on which Babylon itself depends for the maintenance of its commercial empire” [G.B. Caird, Revelation, 1999, p. 114].
Thus, this cosmic enemy of God’s people is used in an ironic
fashion by the “Lamb” to execute judgment on the unrepentant “inhabitants
of the earth.” The very thing they idolized and needed for their prosperity,
“Babylon,” becomes the agent of their own destruction. Reliance on the
economic power of the “Great Harlot” will be their undoing.
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