“The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the side. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed” (Revelation 8:8-9, NIV).

The devastation caused by the eruption of the Laki volcanic fissure in Iceland in 1783 was felt globally for years after the event. The Laki eruption lasted for 8 months, emitting toxic gases that poisoned crops and killed 60 per cent of Iceland’s grazing livestock. The volcano released enough SO₂ to cause acid rain and global temperatures to drop.

The eruption resulted in a famine that killed over 10,000 Icelandic people, roughly a quarter of the country’s population at the time. As Laki’s toxic eruption traveled south, it killed 23,000 in Britain and caused a famine in Egypt. Some environmental historians believe the European famine caused by the eruption may have been a catalyst for the French Revolution.

On April 10, 1815 Mt. Tambora in Indonesia erupted sending volcanic ash 25 miles into the sky. It was the most powerful eruption in 500 years. The Tambora eruption was the deadliest volcanic eruption in recent human history, claiming the lives of up to 120,000 people.

Upon entering the ocean the force of the pyroclastic flow caused the creation of a series of towering tsunamis. Because of the enormous amount of SO₂ emitted by the volcano, the world experienced a severe temperature drop that led to global crop failures. Thousands starved to death in China while typhus spread across Europe. In the two years after the explosion, the price of grain in Switzerland more than quadrupled.

With the scope of devastation on the earth caused by these natural disasters, it’s not hard to believe that large segments of Earth’s population could be impacted by the devastation described in the Revelation calamities.

But, what Revelation predicts is much more than widespread natural pollution resulting from violent volcanic upheavals; it’s eschatological judgment of astronomical proportions!

And, as we stated previously, each of the calamities and their effects gives rise to subsequent calamities and effects.

Yet, Revelation says that all this apocalyptic disaster and destruction is still not enough to convince humanity to repent: “The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold silver, bronze, stone and wood–idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Not did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts” (Revelation 9:20-21, NIV).

So, the calamities described in the book of Revelation and their resulting devastation aren’t symbolical or metaphorical or allegorical. They are literally true descriptions of God’s end-of-time judgment of the earth.

The end is at hand. Jesus is coming again as King and it will be Earth-shattering!

Don’t be part of unconvinced humanity. Repent and believe in the coming King!

But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. (Revelation 10:7, NIV)