2. The fifth and sixth trumpet judgments ch. 9

John continued to relay the revelation of the trumpet judgments that he had received to clarify God's future plans for his readers. John was still viewing things happening on the earth.

"In this chapter there are more occurrences of the words as' and like' than in any other chapter in the Bible, which shows how difficult it was for John to describe the scene which he saw in the vision."³²⁰

 The fifth trumpet (first woe) 9:1-11

"Already introduced by the eagle's proclamation in 8:13, the fifth trumpet sets the tone for the last three trumpets through its specificity and independence of the two to follow. This feature marks the last three seals too. The seventh trumpet also resembles the seventh seal in the way it solemnly concludes the whole and contains the next series within in its scope. As with the seals also, two episodes intervene between the sixth and seventh members. In so doing, the episodes set the stage for the seventh trumpet."³²¹

 The sixth trumpet (second woe) 9:13-21

As will become evident, the severity of these judgments increases as the trumpets (woes) unfold.