The seven trumpets of Revelation 8.1—9.21, 11.15—19 are precipitated by the cries of the souls under the altar: men and women martyred for their faith in Christ. The "Day of the Lord," divine judgment against evil and the consummation of God's in-breaking Kingdom, is symbolically represented in this passage through a series of terrifying, bizarre, and grotesque plagues. But the judgment of God is Good News—it means God is not indifferent toward evil and injustice and that God is taking action to make right the world gone wrong.

In the modern, Western world, this passages has often been misinterpreted as a prediction of a futuristic, end-times military battle. But with a cursory understanding of the Old Testament, one can clearly see that John is reiterating with flourishes the story of the Egyptian plagues in the Exodus/Passover and the prophecy of Joel about the Day of the Lord. The primary thrust of this passage is not to teach us some new information about the “end times,” but to call us to repentance, to turn from idolatry, and to place our trust in Jesus. It is his life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension that has inaugurated the in-breaking Kingdom of God. He now reigns above all as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That is why the final trumpet announces that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ.” This is Good News!