The Seven Trumpets: Woe to the Earth-Dwellers (Rev. 8:6-9:21)

[Sung Psalm: 105]

The first five trumpets are patterned after the plagues of Egypt. "God's overall intention in the plagues was to harden Pharaoh's heart so that he would not release Israel (Exodus 4:21) and to give himself the opportunity to perform his plague signs (7:3; 10:1-2). These signs were not intended to coerce Pharaoh into releasing Israel but functioned primarily to demonstrate Yahweh's incomparable omnipotence to the Egyptians" (Beale, 465)

People sometimes object that if God hardened Pharaoh's heart, then somehow it wasn't fair for God to bring these judgments on Pharaoh. But Pharaoh deserved this.

Remember that Pharaoh had murdered all of the Hebrew boys that he could find! Pharaoh had enslaved Israel. Pharaoh had cursed the seed of Abraham. And God had promised Abraham – "those who bless you I will bless, and those who curse you, I will curse." So the purpose of the plagues was not so much to call Egypt to repentance, but to bring judgment against those who were already opposed to God....