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And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Rev 8:12, 13)
The fourth trumpet judgment sounds. At this point, God now strikes the three natural sources of light by one third. Again, some scholars incorrectly try to link this with a nuclear holocaust. If this were caused by nuclear war, the dark skies would continue around the clock like a black haze. God, who is in precise control, simply turns out the lights so that a day is shortened by one third. I believe, that from this day forward, a day will only be sixteen hours long. This would be consistent with what Jesus stated in Matthew 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” Who are the elect? They are the 144,000 Jewish witnesses and those who have not been martyred by the antichrist.
Immediately, John looked up and saw an angel flying through heaven announcing that there are still three trumpets to be sounded. As horrible as the first four trumpets were, these last three will be even worse. These are so bad that the warnings are emphasized with three “woes”.