Revelation 8:8-9
8 And[kai] the second[deuteros] angel[aggelos] sounded,[salpizo] and[kai] as it were[hos] a great[megas] mountain[oros] burning[kaio] with fire[pur] was cast[ballo] into[eis] the sea:[thalassa] and[kai] the third part[tritos] of the sea[thalassa] became[ginomai] blood;[haima]
9 And[kai] the third part[tritos] of the creatures[ktisma] which[ho] were in[en] the sea,[thalassa] and had[echo] life,[psuche] died;[apothnesko] and[kai] the third part[tritos] of the ships[ploion] were destroyed.[diaphtheiro] KJV-Interlinear
8 And
the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire
was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood;
9 and a
third of the creatures, which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third
of the ships were destroyed. NASB
The key phrase here is ‘hos,’ translated ‘as it were,’ which is an adverbial
phrase, and a definite article pointing to the subject, ‘mountain.’
This is not something ‘like,’
but is in actuality a mountain.It is not
just any mountain but a great mountain.And
since it affects the oceans of the world, we can presume that it is a great
mountain in or very near the ocean, but most likely a mountain in the ocean.
The greatest mountain in
the ocean is Mauna Kea in Hawaii.If you
measure it from its base on the ocean floor, to its peak, then it becomes the
tallest mountain in the entire world at 30,000 feet. But it is one of five mountains that form the
Island of Hawaii (the big island).Mt.
Mauna Loa to its south on the island, is the active
volcano at the moment.
Now, we are not
predicting that this is the mountain that will erupt, but if these five
mountains did happen to erupt violently and in all directions, then the entire
Pacific Ocean would be affected.But
also all of the coastlines that border the Pacific and beyond would be impacted
as well.This example is only mentioned
so that we can gain some understanding of the possible impact of this second
trumpet.
This is a great mountain,
and by the way this is not an asteroid as many commentaries try to
portray.An asteroid would have a very
different type of affect if it struck the earth in an ocean.
This is a mountain and a
great mountain at that.It will pour hot
lava complete with all of the violence of an eruption as well as all of the chemicals
such as sulfur and gases and such, that would pollute and contaminate the ocean
to the extent that one-third of the sea life will die.
Likewise, one-third of
the shipping traffic that will be on the ocean at that time,
will be destroyed.These will be ships
at sea and ships that are in port and presumably washed up onto the shore with various
tsunami's that will occur.
The blood is both literal
and figurative.Representing death,
there will certainly be a great deal of that.
The ocean and the shores will be awash with dead things floating, and in
various stages of decay and deterioration.
And unlike the first
trumpet which targeted the burning and destruction of only plants (trees and
grasses) and perhaps small buildings or shanties, this destruction, of the
second trumpet, will take sea life and pour the stench of death into virtually
every coastal community in its path.
The specific mountain is
not mentioned or identified in any way, so we cannot presume that this will take
place in the Pacific or the Atlantic or the Indian Ocean, or anywhere else for
that matter. Likewise the one-third designation does not apply to the entire
world, but to the region affected by the eruption. This judgment could easily apply to the Mediterranean
or to any sea anywhere.
And since in later
judgments entire islands sink into the sea, then this could easily be more on
the scale of a local disaster, rather than a broad regional disaster. In either case, it will be a massive
disaster.
With the first trumpet,
the range of the storm is virtually unlimited.
Storm clouds can go anywhere on the earth. But with this second trumpet, the disaster is
limited to a mountain (singular, and not indicating many mountains) and the
surrounding region of that mountain, however big or small that region might be.
These first two trumpets
are intended to gain everyone's attention, and to warn everyone that faith in
Christ is necessary in order for them to continue life in heaven, because life
on this earth was never intended to go on forever, and certainly evil will not
be permitted to continue. Certainly
there will be a loss of life of some sort due to these first two trumpet
judgments, but death of people will not begin on a massive scale until the next
trumpet.
So choose.
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