Linking the 7 Trumpets to the 7 Heads of Revelation

This study puts forth an interpretation of these two prophecies that renders them inseparably linked, placing them on parallel timelines, in which each helps to interpret the other.

Overview
Timeline
Judgment & the Sound of the Trumpet - An introduction to this approach, what it means to sound a trumpet, and why judgment is linked to a kingdom.
Linking Guidelines - The step-by-step thought process behind linking the 7 Trumpets and 7 Heads, and the resulting guidelines.
Trumpet #1
Head #1
Trumpet #2
Head #2
Trumpet #3
Head #3
Trumpet #4
Head #4
Trumpet #5
Head #5
Trumpet #6
Head #6
Trumpet #7
Head #7
Head #8 - A revived previous power.
The 7 Last Plagues - The culmination of the 7 Trumpets.
The Final Realm - The final transition of power occurs at Jesus Second Coming when Jesus establishes His everlasting realm and shares it with His people.

Overview:

Because of the inseparable relation in the Bible between a nation experiencing a moral fall and the accompanying warning and judgment, this approach links the 7 Heads on the Scarlet Beast of Revelation 17 (the nation/realm and its 7 successive ruling powers/kingdoms) with the 7 Trumpets of Revelation 8 (the 7 successive judgments on the realm).

Heads on a beast are established in Daniel 7 as divisions of political power (kingdoms) within a single realm. The leopard (Dan. 7:6) symbolizes the realm of Greece (331 - 168 BC), and its four heads symbolize the division of Alexander's realm into four separate, but Greek, political units by 301 BC. In consistently applying the symbol of heads on a beast, the 7 heads of the scarlet beast must then represent 7 divisions of political power within the realm of Rome (Rome is the 4th and final realm, encompassing many complex phases of government and divisions from 168 BC until the Second Coming). The heads differ in that they are presented as rising and falling sequentially ("five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come" - Rev. 17:10), so they are not simultaneous powers, but come one right after another. View more details about this symbolism in the Linking Guidelines.

The Heads on the beast are said to have "fallen" (Rev. 17:10), which Biblically necessitates the occurrence of a moral fall (a turning away from God and His laws by the entity) and therefore the accompanying judgment and fall from power (the results of sin and leaving God's protection). Likewise, if a Trumpet, which describes judgment, is going to sound, it Biblically necessitates the corresponding moral fall by an identifiable entity. Thus, these two prophecies fit together hand in glove. They parallel each other and cover the same 7 time periods that reach from John's day until Jesus returns (31 AD to the Second Coming).

God's judgments are not random, but carefully given, affecting a specific group of people and identifiable ruling entity. A typical judgment is as follows: After long endurance on God's part, when there is no repentance, the entity experiences a moral fall, warnings are given, calamities occur, and eventually the ruling entity loses power and His rebelling people are given into the hand of a new power. Thus, we could expect to find time periods in history that are not only characterized by the description in the Trumpet, but also by the length of time a ruling power has control over the area experiencing the conditions of the Trumpet. Furthermore, since nations bring judgment upon themselves, the conditions of the Trumpet can be linked by cause and effect to the actions of the ruling power. We can also expect a shift in ruling power as each Trumpet transitions, and accordingly, we find this exact correlation in history!

Amazingly, we see that the same event which brings about the end of a ruling entity's dominant power, is the same event that brings a close to the conditions described in the corresponding Trumpet judgment. As only God's prophetic eye can provide, these great themes and transitions in history, along with detailed signpost events, are revealed in the Bible long before they unfold. This study shows how each Trumpet judgment develops, afflicts and overthrows the ruling powers.

The prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are primarily concerned with those powers that rule over God's people. God's people are everywhere, so more specifically, the prophecies follow the powers that rule over God's visible church, the organization on earth and its associated movement, that He establishes to share His truths with the world. We can expect God's people, faithful and rebellious, to be very active where the judgments occur, as His people spread present truth warnings and His apostatizing people rebel with the rulers and bring about the resulting calamities. This is pertinent to the end-time church, as it proclaims the final warning message (3 Angels' Messages) amidst the afflictions of the 7th and final Trumpet judgment. The unbroken succession of power is finally concluded as Jesus, the King of kings, establishes His everlasting realm where the blast of Trumpet judgment is never heard again.

The rule of the seven powerful political entities and power transitions, as well as the conditions manifested during each Trumpet, are carefully examined in this study. Follow the links above to study these prophecies.