Revelation 8:12

And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. THIRD PART - not total obscuration, as in the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12). This, therefore, comes between the prayers of the martyrs under the fifth seal, and the last overwhelming judgments on the ungodly under the sixth, just before Christ's coming. THE NIGHT LIKEWISE - withdrew a third of the light which the bright Eastern moon and stars ordinarily afford....

7-13 The first angel sounded the first trumpet, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. A storm of heresies, a mixture of dreadful errors falling on the church, or a tempest of destruction. The second angel sounded, and a great mountain, burning with fire, was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood. By this mountain some understand leaders of the persecutions; others, Rome sacked by the Goths and Vandals, with great slaughter and cruelty. The third angel sounded, and there fell a star from heaven. Some take this to be an eminent governor; others take it to be some person in power who corrupted the churches of Christ. The doctrines of the gospel, the springs of spiritual life, comfort, and vigour, to the souls of men, are corrupted and made bitter by the mixture of dangerous errors, so that the souls of men find ruin where they sought refreshment. The...

Verse Revelation 8:12. _THE THIRD PART OF THE SUN - MOON - STARS, WAS SMITTEN_] Supposed to mean _Rome_, with her _senates, consuls_, c., eclipsed by _Odoacer_, king of the Heruli, and _Theodoric_, king of the Ostrogoths, in the fifth century. But all this is uncertain....

AND THE FOURTH ANGEL SOUNDED - See the notes at Revelation 8:6. AND THE THIRD PART OF THE SEA WAS SMITTEN - On the phrase the third part, see the notes on Revelation 8:7. The darkening of the heavenly luminaries is everywhere an emblem of any great calamity - as if the light of the sun, moon, and stars should be put out. See the notes on Revelation 6:12. There is no certain evidence that this refers to rulers, as many have supposed, or to anything that would particularly affect the government as such. The meaning is, that calamity would come as if darkness should spread over the sun, the moon, and the stars, leaving the world in gloom.

EXPOSITION REVELATION 8:1 AND WHEN. Καὶ ὅταν, instead of καὶ ὅτε (as in the other seals), is read in A, C, and gives a certain indefiniteness which does not belong to any of the rest (Alford). Ὅτε is, however, found in א, B, P, Andreas. HE HAD OPENED THE SEVENTH SEAL; _he opened. _As in the case of the other seals, the silence accompanies the opening (see on Revelation 6:1, Revelation 6:3, Revelation 6:5, etc.). This completes the number, and sets the roll free ...

AND THE FOURTH ANGEL SOUNDED,.... His trumpet. Some think this refers to the Eutychian heresy, which confounded the two natures of Christ, and of two made one mixed nature, neither human nor divine; and brought great darkness upon the doctrine of Christ's person, the sun of righteousness and into the church, signified by the moon, and among the ministers of the word, the stars. Others are of opinion that that darkness which preceded the rise of the Papacy, and introduced it, is here intended: AND THE THIRD PART OF THE SUN WAS SMITTEN AND THE THIRD PART OF THE MOON, AND THE THIRD PART OF THE STARS, SO AS THE THIRD PART OF THEM WAS DARKENED, AND THE DAY SHONE NOT FOR A THIRD PART OF IT, AND THE NIGHT LIKEWISE; when the doctrine concerning the person and offices of Christ, who is the sun and light of the world, was obscured by heresies; and the discipline of the church, which, like the moo...

ANGEL (_ See Scofield) - (Hebrews 1:4). _...

CHAPTER S 8:6-11:18 The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets _ 1. The first trumpet (Revelation 8:6)_ 2. The second trumpet (Revelation 8:8) 3. The third trumpet (Revelation 8:10) 4. The fourth trumpet (Revelation 8:12) 5. The fifth trumpet (Revelation 9:1) 6. The sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:13) 7. Parenthesis: The angel and the little book ...

THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. The first four trumpets, like the first four seals, form a connected group, and differ in character from the last three. They affect chiefly the natural world, which they overwhelm with disaster. Many of the features are borrowed from the plagues of Egypt. [The description seems to be based also on volcanic phenomena, as often in OT prophecy. The whole district was subject to volcanic disturbances, and in particular the island of Santorin (about 80 miles S.W. of Patmos) may have suggested several features. See J. T. Bent's article, What St. John saw in Patmos (_Nineteenth Century,_ 1888). On this island there is a work by F, Fouqué, _Santorin et ses é ruptions._ A. S. P.] REVELATION 8:7. The first trumpet (_cf._ Exodus 9:24), fire flashing continually amid

THE FOURTH TRUMPET. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for. third part of it, and the night likewise. 8:12. The fourth "wind" rushes forth as the fourth angel blows the charge of battle. The effect is darkness. The smitten sun, moon, and stars refuse to give their usual light, and. third part of the day and night is filled with darkness. I have before stated that, in the interpretation of symbolism, the sun, moon, and stars are the symbols of kings, dignitaries, and great men of the earth. The blast of the fourth trumpet then, evidently shows that there shall again be the rush of war, that the shock of battle shall overthrow. multitude of these earthly luminaries and the result shall be darkness. As we have found that th...