What is the 2nd Trumpet?
The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Revelation 8: 8-9)
The 2nd trumpet appears to describe the world’s second global conflict: World War II (1939-1945).
World War II
World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. The conflict included most of the nations of the world and all the great powers: the Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania,) versus the Allies (Great Britain, France, Russia, the United States of America, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, and Yugoslavia). The Axis powers attempted to take over the world. The Allies stopped them.
Because of the advancements in technology, warfare had become even more efficient and included weapons of mass destruction. This resulted in unprecedented carnage and destruction. It culminated with the first use of atomic weapons. The Axis and the Allies were in a deadly race to develop the atomic bomb. The Allies developed it first.
A Huge Mountain All Ablaze, Thrown Into the Sea
After waging war for years, Germany unconditionally surrendered May 1945. Japan continued the war. Having developed the atomic bomb, the Allies attempted to get Japan to surrender before using the bomb. The Allies also distributed pamphlets in an attempt to warn the people in the likely target areas to flee. Japan refused to surrender.
In August 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on the island of Japan (at Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Japan officially surrendered a few days later and World War II was over.
An atomic bomb dropped on an island would resemble a huge mountain, all ablaze, thrown into the sea.
A Third of the Living Creatures in the Sea Died
Explosions from torpedoes, mines, depth charges, and bombs could easily have turned a third of the sea into blood and killed a third of the living creatures in the sea.
A Third of the Ships Were Destroyed
About a third of the ships involved in WWII were destroyed: roughly 105,000 ships participated and about 36,000 ships were sunk.
Unprecedented Deaths, Atrocities, & Genocides
During the war people died from combat, war-related disease, and famine. In addition, Nazis murdered whoever they considered to be subhuman, inferior, undesirable, or dangerous. The Nazis and the Japanese performed unimaginable experiments and atrocities on their prisoners.
United in their hatred of the Jews and a desire for world domination, Muslims formed the Islamic Waffen SS Handschar troops and joined with the Nazis.[i] The Nazis implemented large-scale civilian massacres and genocide. About 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews were killed in the Holocaust.[ii] By the end of World War II, about 52 million people had died.[iii]
A Rebirth of the Jewish Nation
World War II ended when the Japanese surrendered in August 15, 1945. It was the Shemitah year 1944-1945. For 3 years, the British remained in the area to safeguard the peace. Just hours before the British officially departed from the Holy Land in 1948, Israel declared their independence:
“We hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine, to be called Israel.” (David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the Palestine National Council and the 1st Premier of Israel) (May 14, 1948)
The announcement triggered immediate reactions from nations of the world. The first thing the USA did was to officially recognize the State of Israel. The first thing that the Arab nations did was to attack the State of Israel. As soon as the British exited, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq invaded Israel.[iv]
God delivered the nation of Israel from the attack of her enemies and He even gave Israel additional land. Instead of being annihilated during the Holocaust or the war that immediately followed Israel’s declaration of independence, the State of Israel was reborn.
References:
[i] 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar. Wickipedia.org. Retrieved 5-23-15.
[ii] Hedgepeth, Sonja; Saidel, Rochelle (2010). Sexual Violence against Jewish Women During the Holocaust. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England. ISBN 9781584659044. Page 16.
[iii] Sommerville, Donald (2008). The Complete Illustrated History of World War Two: An Authoritative Account of the Deadliest Conflict in Human History with Analysis of Decisive Encounters and Landmark Engagements. Leicester: Lorenz Books. ISBN 978-0-7548-1898-4. Page 5.
[iv] State of Israel Proclaimed. History Channel. Retrieved 5/23/15. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/state-of-israel-proclaimed/print.
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