Revelation 8:13

And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound.

An eagle ... Woe, woe, woe ... This is intended as an ominous sign, the eagle being chosen perhaps because it is a bird of prey. The rather fanciful notion that, "God uses nature to send his messages to men,"[68] is not likely to be the meaning. God used John the apostle to send this message. The communication with God through nature is quite limited. The use of this bird, described by Caird as "a vulture, means that there is a theological reason why the woes are to be worse"[69] than the misfortunes caused by the four first trumpets. We cannot agree with those who identify this eagle as "a symbol of Roman legions, some exceptional prophet, Gregory the Great, or even Christ himself."[70] Rist even thought that this eagle might be the living creature with the eagle's head."[71] Is it any wonder that people get mixed up and confused in their studies of this prophecy?

Strauss pointed out that the prophecy here of woes that shall be worse and worse "is in harmony with Paul's teachings (1 Timothy 3:12)."[72] Smith correctly viewed all of the first four trumpet judgments as "relating to some disaster falling upon the world of nature, and also that this verse is the first appearance of the word translated woe in the Apocalypse."[73] It seems to us that Bruce correctly gave the meaning of the three woes here announced:

It is not only in man's natural environment that the repercussions of his sin are felt; that same sin unleashes demonic forces, uncontrollable by man, which bring woe after woe upon him. These are symbolized by the next three trumpets.[74]

Beckwith's summary of this and the next chapters is also helpful:

The first four trumpets are sent directly upon part of the world of nature, and upon men indirectly. The fifth and sixth woes are sent directly upon the persons of men. They assail the whole world and are peculiarly poignant and demonic in character.[75]

From these observations, it is clear that the vision of the eagle is transitional, marking the diverse natures of the four first and the three last trumpets.

[68] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 46.

[69] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 117.

[70] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 284.

[71] Martin Rist, op. cit., p. 431.

[72] James D. Strauss, op. cit., p. 134.

[73] Wilbur M. Smith, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 1072.

[74] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 647.

[75] Isbon T. Beckwith op. cit., pp. 558,559.