Prophecy Truth

Key to the Prophetic Chart - The Three Woe Trumpets

Uriah Smith, 1864

On the right side of the Chart are seen four angels, the first one flying through heaven and three times repeating the word Woe! and the three others following, each with a trumpet to his lips; while the events to transpire under the sounding of two of them are represented by two horsemen, in different attitudes and actions. The angel that cries Woe, is described in Revelation 8:13; and the three that follow are a part of the series of seven trumpets brought to view in Revelation 8 and 9. They are called war trumpets, because to each of these is attached a woe. It is after four of the seven trumpets had sounded that an angel was seen and heard flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “WOE! WOE! WOE! to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.”

The First Woe

“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.... And there came out locusts upon the earth, and the shape of the locusts was like horses prepared unto battle and their power was to hurt men five months [150 prophetic days]. Revelation 9:1-11.

This trumpet, represented by the first horseman on the Chart, was fulfilled by the Saracens. The fifth trumpet commenced to sound July 27th, 1299, when Othman, the founder of the Turkish empire, made his first attack on th Greeks. It extended 150 years, to 1449. Their power was to torment, not to kill. During that whole period the Turks were engaged in almost perpetual war with the Greek empire, but yet without conquering it. When the fifth angel ceased, it was said, “One woe is past, and behold two more woes come hereafter.”

The Second Woe

“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice saying to the sixth angel, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river, Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year, to slay the third part of men” [that is, blot out the Greek division of the Roman empire]. Revelation 9:13-15. This trumpet, represented by the second horseman, commenced July 27th, 1449, when the 150 years of the previous one ended. Its chief characteristic was the use of gunpowder and fire-arms, for purposes of war, which were then but recently introduced. Mark the apostle’s description: “Out of their mouth issued fire and smoke and brimstone.” The time designated for its continuance was one day, that is, one prophetic day, or one year; one month, or 30 days, 30 years; one year, or 360 days, 360 years; and one hour, one 24th part of a prophetic day, or 15 days; amounting in all to 391 years and 15 days. It ended August 11th, 1840; AND AT THAT TIME THE OTTOMAN SUPREMACY DID CEASE! This calculation was made by J. Litch, in 1838. Its exact accomplishment two years later gave a mighty impulse to the Advent movement. It should have no less force now. “The second woe is past, and behold the third woe cometh quickly.” Revelation 11:14.

The Third Woe

“And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in Heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.” Revelation 11:15.

This is not the last trump which wakes the dead [1 Corinthians 15:52], as some have supposed. But it is like the two preceding it, a woe trumpet. It occupies days [years] in sounding. See Revelation 10:7. “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants, the prophets.” What is this mystery? The gospel to the Gentiles. Ephesians 1:9; 3:3;6:19; Colossians 1:26, 27; 2:2;4:3. What is its finishing? A glance at the closing work of our great High Priest in the heavenly Sanctuary, is a sufficient answer. The commencement of this trumpet seems to be marked by the opening of the temple of God in Heaven [Revelation 11:19]; which took place at the end of the 2300 days, in 1844. See under Sanctuary. Solemn and fearful events are located under its sounding. It introduces the time, not when the world will be converted and the spiritual reign of Christ begin, but the time when the dead shall be judged, all God’s servants rewarded, and the destroyers [or corrupters] of the earth destroyed. Under the seventh trumpet the seven vials [Revelation 15, 16] are poured out. Read Revelation 11, from verse 15 to 19. Mark the events of verse 18:

“And the nations were angry, and thy WRATH is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be JUDGED, and that thou shouldst give REWARD unto thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldst DESTROY them which destroy the earth”.

Thus have we briefly passed over the lines prophecy, and the symbols presented upon the Chart. How impressive are the great truths which they illustrate! and what a world of meaning is crowded into their minutest particulars! How clearly they show us our position on the stream of time! Seven distinct times are we brought down in these lines of prophecy to the end of all things; and in each instance we are shown to be on the very verge of the opening of the new dispensation, on the threshold of eternity. Everlasting life and eternal death are before us. The world is now receiving its final call to decide speedily which they will choose, and the result of their choice will soon be given them. Be it your aim, dear reader, from this time forward, to secure a citizenship in that fifth universal kingdom which shall soon succeed to all earthly governments; to be among the saints of the Most High who shall take the kingdom, when the Roman Papal beast shall be destroyed and given to the burning flame; to be on the side of the “Prince of princes” when the little horn of Daniel 8, is broken without hand; to be among those of whom it shall be said, “Let them be holy still,” Revelation 22:11, when our great High Priest leaves the Sanctuary, and the days probation are ended, and the work of atonement forever done; to be among those who shall with joy exclaim, when the Son of man appears upon the great white cloud, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us,“Isaiah 25:9; to be among the 144,000, who shall sing the song of victory upon mount Zion, when the two-horned beast of Revelation 13, and his accomplices, are cast alive into the lake of fire; and to be among the servants of God when the events which the seventh angel is announcing as now near at hand, shall come to pass, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, when he shall destroy those that corrupt the earth, and give reward to those that love and serve him. We can say no more. But if you choose to reject the counsel of God against yourself, and range yourself among the rebels against his government, when you are being swept away with the besom of destruction which will surely come upon such, and sinking into the dark region of despair and death, remember that now, ere probation had ceased, while the way of salvation was open, and mercy still lingered, the light was held up before you, and the invitation given you to come and live.