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A trumpet is, among
other things, a call to war. This
passage is sufficiently bloody and destructive to view it that way, and this
is unchallenged between interpretations.
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Following the
general pattern that these judgments begin with the symbolic and end with the
literal, we would see (with Talbot, a futurist) that the hail, blood and fire
are symbols of Divine Wrath. They
remind us of the plagues of Egypt (less the fire). Fire is described in two instances as
representative of Christ, one in particular referring to wrath:
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(Isa 10:17 NIV) The Light of Israel will become a fire,
their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns
and his briers.
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Alone among the
commentators I have, Lindsey insists that there is no symbolism at all in
this passage -- this is John’s attempt to describe a rain of ICBMs. I consider this a minority exception, and
one of the perils of the futurist point of view. Should the Lord tarry, who knows what
weapon will be picked next?
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Another minority
position (Talbot) holds that trees must be considered as great men, following
Daniel’s dream about Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:20-22). While this is certainly supportable in
Scripture, the parallel interpretations for grass (the fleetingness of man’s
life) and the earth (meaning its inhabitants) don’t seem to fit as well. It is possible.
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As usual, the
futurist holds this in sequence after the rapture. The historicist says it was fulfilled in
the invasions of Alaric the Goth.
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