01.32. The Woe-Denouncing Angel

The Woe-denouncing Angel.

"And I beheld, and heard an eagle flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth, from the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are to sound."-- Revelation 8:13. The word eagle, instead of angel, is in accordance with the more recent revised editions of the Greek. It must symbolize persons peculiarly apprehensive at this crisis, of disasters to follow the extinction of the Roman empire in the west. During the first half of the sixth century, the Sclavonians invaded the east, "spread from the suburbs of Constantinople to the Ionian Gulf, destroyed thirty-two cities or castles, razed PotidÊa, which Athens had built, and Philip had besieged, and repassed the Danube, dragging at their horses’ heels one hundred and twenty thousand of the subjects of Justinian."--Gibbon. And they continued their inroads, until the citizens became apprehensive that the Empire of the East would be extinguished like that of the West. This symbol also indicates that the events under the trumpets which were to follow, would be far more dreadful and terrible than those of the preceding ones. For this reason, the last three are sometimes denominated THE WOE TRUMPETS.