3. OF THE FIRST TRUMPET Revelation 8:7 7 And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth:--This was what John saw and heard in the vision; finding what it symbolizes is another matter. Hail and fire are evidently used to indicate punishment or destructive forces, fire probably meaning lightning when joined with hail. Referring to the plagues in Egypt (Exodus 9:23), the Psalmist said: "He gave over their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts." (Psalms 78:48.) See also Psalms 105:32. Any devastating, withering, or destroying power that came against Rome would fulfill the signification of these words. John saw the hail and fire mingled with blood, which doubtless means that the two elements would produce bloodshed, the whole scene representing destructive warfare, bringing dreadful punishment and loss of life to the empire. This is indicated by these combined elements being cast upon the earth which meant the Roman world. (Luke 2:1.) and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.--On this language two important questions present themselves: (1) What is meant by "the third part"? (2) Are any of these words to be taken literally? Confessedly both are difficult questions. A failure satisfactorily to answer them, however, will not affect our duty to God, nor make it necessary to change the general plan of interpreting this book. The visions must apply to the Roman Empire in the period indicated, even if we cannot certainly find the exact thing signified by every term used. We have already found that passages of general symbolic significance may contain both figurative and literal expressions. A splendid example, already mentioned, is Psalms 80:8-11. The words "vine," "plantedst," "root," and "boughs" are all figurative. But "Egypt," "nations," "sea" (Mediterranean), and "river" (Euphrates) are all very literal. In Jeremiah 3:6 the harlotry of backsliding Israel is figurative, but "high mountains" and "green trees" where their idol altars were placed are literal. Hence, the words "trees" and "grass" in this vision can be applied either figuratively or literally according to what the facts may require. Commentators vary greatly in their views of what is signified by the expression "third part." Only two applications of it seem worthy of consideration. One is that it signifies an indefinite but "large amount" the other, that the word "earth" means the Roman Empire, and the third part means practically one-third of the empire. In either case it is not necessary to say it means exactly one-third. The expression "third part," however, is used literally as signifying a part of the whole. It seems a natural view to say that the expression means one-third of the Roman Empire, and that as each of the four trumpets is sounded, one-third of some particular part of the empire was affected by the destructive power indicated in the vision. As already shown the four destructive powers to be let loose at the sounding of the first four trumpets must come between A.D. 396 and the end of the Roman Empire, A.D. 476. Of the expositors consulted three (Elliott, Barnes, and Johnson) hold the view that the Gothic invasion, under Alaric, in the first part of the fifth century is signified by the first trumpet vision. This application of the language seems to have all the probabilities in its favor and is therefore accepted as correct. The leading features of Alaric's invasions may be gathered from chapters 30 and 31 of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. They are as follows: In 403 Alaric was defeated by a Roman general and retired from Italy. In 408 he laid siege to Rome the first time when, according to Gibbon, "that unfortunate city gradually experienced the distress of scarcity, and at length the horrid calamities of famine" and "many thousands of the, inhabitants of Rome expired in their houses, or in the streets, for want of sustenance." The miseries of famine were aggravated by pestilential disease. This siege was raised by the payment of an enormous and humiliating ransom. In 409 Alaric again attacked the city by capturing the source of supplies, by which he forced the acceptance of his demand for a new emperor. In 410 by his third and final siege the city was taken, buildings plundered and burned, both men and women inhumanly tortured and murdered till the streets were filled with dead bodies. After six days the Gothic army evacuated the city, and a few days later Alaric, their leader, was dead. Surely such destruction of life and property would be fittingly represented by the symbols of hail, fire, and blood. The word "trees" is sometimes used symbolically to represent men. (2 Kings 19:21-23; Daniel 4:20-22.) Grass also may represent people. (Isaiah 40:7.) Probably trees, because of their height, indicate rulers, leaders, and those of prominence, while grass would mean the common people. As rulers, military leaders, and the people suffered, the vision fits the facts, if trees and grass are understood symbolically. A "third part" of the trees would signify that not all the rulers were relieved of their position; all the people, however, felt the effect of the siege. If trees and grass are to be taken literally, the symbol still finds fulfillment; for the invasion of such a devastating army produces just that kind of results. An invading force that could overrun a country which had subdued and civilized a large part of mankind, sack its capital city which had stood for more than eleven hundred years, and carry away its richest treasures was undoubtedly strong enough to leave the country as if swept by devastating fires. The Gothic blow staggered the Roman Empire, but did not end it. In 412 Adolphus, Alaric's brother-in-law and successor, concluded a treaty of peace with Rome. He says that at first he aspired "to obliterate the name of Rome" and gain immortal fame as "the founder of a new empire"; but deciding that the Goths were incapable of sustaining a well-constituted government, he determined to "restore and maintain the prosperity of the Roman Empire." (Vol. III, p. 295, Decline and Fall,)