Fourth Trumpet
Revelation 8:12 Odoacer is the first
barbarian ruler of Italy who is connected with the downfall
of Western Rome in A.D. 476
Rev 8:12 And the fourth angel
sounded and the third part of the sun (Roman
emperor's) was smitten,and a third part of the
moon, (Roman Senate) and
the third part of the stars; (Roman
Consuls, the Sun, moon, stars are the three luminaries
of the Roman Government, {Emperors, senators, and consuls,}) so
as the third part of them was darkened, (Western
Rome fell A.D. 476 Romulus was the last emperor, he was
called Augustulus) and the day shone not for
a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Verse 13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the
mist of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, Woe,
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices
of the trumpets of the three angels, which are yet to sound.
The Three Luminaries of the Roman Government
1. Emperor = Sun
2. Senate = Moon
3. Consul = stars
476 A.D. Roman
Emperor position dissolved but election of Senate and
consul continue.
538 A.D. Belisarius
dissolved the Roman Senate and consul. Bishop of Rome
set up as sole interpreter of Scripture and ruler of
Europe. Heruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths, three
of the ten powers in Rome destroyed. The Bishop of Rome,
the Pope, becomes the dominate power in Europe.
The unfortunate Augustulus was the instrument
of his own disgrace: he signified his resignation to
the senate; and that assembly, in their act of obedience
to a Roman prince, still affected the spirit of freedom,
and the forms of the constitution. The senate
addresses an epistle, by their unanimous decree, to the
Emperor Zeno, the son in law and successor of Leo I,
who after a short rebellion was again on the Byzantine
throne. The Roman Senate disclaimed the necessity
or even the wish of continuing any longer the imperial
succession in Italy. They felt the monarch of the East
(Constantinople) could protect both the East and Western
empire. In their own name, and in the name of the
people, they consented to transferring the seat of power
from Rome to Constantinople. The Glory of Rome
as bearing rule over any nation, became extinct. A
new conqueror of Italy, Theodoric, the Ostrogoths, speedily
arose, who unscrupulously assumed the purple, and reigned
by the right of request. The royalty of Theodoric
was proclaimed by the Goths (March 5, 493 A.D.) with
reluctant consent of the empire of the east. The
Imperial Roman power that at times held sway in Rome
or Constantinople is no longer the official power in
Italy, thus a third of the Sun no longer emits the faintest
rays of light. The power of the Caesars was unknown in
Italy; and a Gothic king reigned over Rome.
But though the third part of the sun (emperor)
was smitten, and the Roman imperial power was at an end
in the city of the Caesar's, yet the moon (senate) and
stars (consul) glimmered for a little longer in Western
hemisphere (empire) even in the midst of Gothic darkness. Theodoric
did not abolish the consulship and the senate (moon and
stars). A Gothic historian applauds the consulship of
Theodoric as the height of all temporal power and greatness.
Instead of abolishing the office, Theodoric himself congratulates
those annual favorites of fortune who without the cares
enjoyed the splendor of the throne. Nevertheless,
in their prophetic order, the consulship and the senate
of Rome met their fate.