Fall of Empires (2) Second Trumpet

The second trumpet released judgment that affects the sea.

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed (Rev 8:8).

John saw a large mountain blazing with fire and being thrown into the sea. This is not a physical mountain. The Old Testament prophets described the powerful empires that controlled the world as mountains (Isaiah 45:1-2; Micah 1:4). In Daniel’s vision the Kingdom of God is represent by a huge mountain (Dan 2:5). A blazing mountain also represents God’s activity on earth (Deut 4:11).

This vision relates back to the Psalms, where God’s judgment against a powerful empire is likened to a “flame that sets the mountains ablaze” (Psalm 83:14). John saw the collapse of an empire that is influential throughout the earth. In Revelation, the sea represents the people of the earth.

The waters you saw…. are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages (Rev 17:15).

The decline of this mountain will just affect its own people, but shock waves will spread out to harm the people and nations of the world.

One nation that has brought prosperity to the world in recent times is China. The Chinese empire controls more than a billion people, which one fifth of the population of the world. The rapid development of Chinese manufacturing has flooded the world with extremely cheap consumption goods. Container ships from China have supplied the greatest consumption binge that the world has ever known.

Every empire that controlled has eventually collapsed under the strain of holding such a diverse and populous area together. The Communist Part of China has now controlled this immense empire for more than sixty years, but the strains are sowing. Transferring control to each new generation of leaders is precarious process. There is a huge divide between the urban people who have benefited from economic development and the rural poor who still struggling to survive. Monetary inflation is producing economic pressures and rigidities that will be difficult to control.

The people of the world are now dependent on cheap goods imported from China, at a time when the government of the Chinese empire is becoming increasingly unstable. If it were to collapse into civil war or economic depression, terrible economic suffering would come to the world.

The collapse of the Chinese economy would destroy a huge chunk of the world shipping activities. If the Chinese factories stopped exporting, hundreds of container ships would be laid up with no economic purpose.

Only a third of the sea is harmed, so this is only a partial judgment. The people of the world will experience the worst effects of the judgment, which suggests that John saw an economic catastrophe, rather than a political or military collapse. The Chinese economy will experience a serious setback, but the Chinese empire will not be destroyed. It will continue on as a major political and military power until it has fulfilled its purpose in history.