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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 8

1 Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.⁠ 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.⁠ 3 Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne.⁠ 4 The smoke coming from the incense, along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.⁠ 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. 6 Now the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood,⁠ and it was thrown at the earth so that a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.⁠ 8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood,⁠ 9 and a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed. 10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky; it landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.⁠ 11 (Now the name of the star is Wormwood.) So a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned.⁠ 12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. And there was no light for a third of the day and for a third of the night likewise.⁠ 13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying directly overhead, proclaiming with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them!”

Texts in conversation

Compare Joel 2:30 and Revelation 8:7

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Joel describes cosmic signs of blood, fire, smoke, and darkened skies to warn of the day of the Lord, imagery echoed in Revelation where trumpets signal destruction on the earth. Both emphasize the scale and scope of judgment to include all creation.

Passages

Joel 2:30

Hebrew Bible
28 (3:1) “After all of this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have prophetic dreams; your young men will see visions. 29 Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth—blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, before the day of the Lord comes—that great and terrible day! 32 It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the Lord has promised; the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joel

Revelation 8:7

New Testament
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. 6 Now the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown at the earth so that a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, 9 and a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... The list of cosmic catastrophes that will accompany the day of judgment is such a common phenomenon in Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic that it should be considered a literary form within the larger and more encompassing literary genres in which it is set. Within Judaism, such lists probably originated with theophany imagery, i.e., the atmospheric and seismic phenomena (e.g., earthquake, thunder, lightning, smoke, and darkness) associated with the revelation of God at Sinai. The phenomenon of darkness (Amos 8:9), for example, may have been elaborated as the darkening or destruction of the sun, moon, and stars (Joel 2:30–31; Isaiah 13:9–10; 34:4; Ezekiel 32:7–8). More general lists of cosmic catastrophes are also a commonplace (Sibylline Oracles 2.196–213; 3.81–92, 669–701; 4.171–78; 7.118–29; 8.225–43, 336–58). Some of these lists are very similar to Roman prodigy lists (Sibylline Oracles 3.796–808; compare Josephus Jewish Wars 6.289–300) ..."
David Aune, Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 6-16 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017), 372.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Joel 2:30 and Revelation 8:7

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