The seventh seal follows the sixth one and is separated by the intermission of chapter 7. The two seals have a common purpose, namely, the portrayal of God judging unbelievers.
The seventh seal is a continuation of the sixth seal, but now there is a period of silence “either preceding or following the final judgment.”
Throughout Revelation, John contrasts the joy of the saints in heaven and the horror of the wicked when the wrath of God comes upon them.
Chapter 8 begins with a period of silence. Could it be that in witnessing God pouring out His wrath and judgment upon the wicked heaven stood speechless and in awe of the devastating power God.
Judgment is a recurring theme throughout Revelation. The Day of Judgment appears at the end of every cycle of the seven churches, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven plagues.
THE SEVEN TRUMPETS Part 1
Revelation 8:2-11:19
Introduction 8:2-5
The Lamb opened the seven seals, but angels blow the trumpets. The emphasis, therefore, is on the task of the angels, who, though not mentioned by name, are given specific responsibilities. They do not serve as mediators between God and humans; their task is to serve and stand in God’s presence.
The subtle contrast of verse 2 and verses 3–5 should not be overlooked. Seven angels are given seven trumpets with which they announce imminent destruction, while another angel mixes incense at the altar with the prayers of the saints and presents them to God.
These seven angels are given trumpets and blow them to usher in God’s initial judgment on his adversaries. Their final judgment comes when they stand before the great white throne (20:11–15).
John wishes to show the reader another development that is taking place at the altar. Therefore, the scene shifts not to indicate a delay in the sounding of the trumpets, but to reveal in the intervening paragraph the effect that the prayers of the saints have on the course of history.The focus is on an angel and the altar.
The altar of incense in the tabernacle was a copy of the one in heaven. This altar was most holy to the Lord God, because on its horns once a year the high priest made atonement with the blood of the sin offering (Exod. 30:10).
With his sacrifice on the cross Jesus has fulfilled the need for atonement once and for all. By it he removed the sins of his people(Heb. 9:28); and he perfected his people and their prayers.
A censer is a container with incense, which was often made from the aromatic gum of a frankincense tree. This incense was burned so that the smoke permeated the area with its fragrant aroma. Presumably God gave the angel a bountiful supply of incense. The multitude of prayers uttered by all the saints on earth had to be mixed with this sweet-smelling aroma.
When the prayers of the saints ascend, they are placed on an altar. Then an angel takes our supplications, places them on a censer, and presents them to God. Again, the angel is not a mediator but only a servant in this process. The indwelling Holy Spirit and the enthroned Christ, as intercessors, perfect our prayers and petitions so that we pray according to God’s will.
God has heard the prayers of the saints and in response is sending judgment in the form of punishment upon the inhabitants of the world, all in his predetermined time. God has taken to heart the cry of the saints at the foot of the altar (6:9–10). He instructs the angel to take fire from that altar, to fill the censer, and to throw fire to the earth, where it causes death and destruction. Here is the fulfillment of Jesus’ word of judgment, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled” (Luke 12:49).
The angel is only a servant sent forth by God to do his bidding. This becomes plain from the signs in nature that accompany the destructive fire: “peals of thunder and rumblings and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.” In the thunder and lightning God reveals himself as he did at Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:16).
Not an angel but God causes an earthquake, which in Revelation is mentioned seven times and is generally qualified by the adjective great. Earthquakes are among all the other signs that usher in the end times.
The First Trumpet 8:6-7
As a result of God’s hearing and answering the petitions of the saints, the seven angels are given the task of sounding their individual trumpets. Now the seven plagues on the wicked can be executed.
The first angel sounds the trumpet that results in the calamity of hail and fire mixed with blood cast upon the earth. We have no basis for interpreting the nouns hail, fire, and blood symbolically; hail and lightning are natural occurrences. They can maim and kill living beings, so that blood indeed mingles with the hailstones covering the landscape.
Not only human beings and animals experience the brunt of these cosmic forces, but also “a third of the earth was burned, and a third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned.” A total devastation of all grass including all the grain products in the world would mean an end of that which is necessary to sustain life for human beings and animals.
Even though God expresses his wrath in the ruin of his creation, he shows his mercy by destroying only a third part while keeping the rest of his creation intact.
The Second Trumpet 8:8-9
The preceding verses described devastation on the land, while these verses picture scenes on the seas. John has a vision and as he tries to verbalize what he sees he uses the expression as it were, thus he approximates reality in symbolical terms. He mentions a huge mountain burning with fire that did not fall into the sea but was thrown into it.
The plague that is described here is an “announcement of a coming cosmic catastrophe that will affect the whole surface of the earth.” John portrays the reality of divine judgment on the wicked in symbols that convey spiritual force and power.
John reveals an incident that can only be explained symbolically as something extraordinary that God performs in the sight of his people.
God causes the death of human beings whose blood stains a third part of the sea. The enormous loss of life, by whatever disaster God ordains, is a frightening judgment to behold.
All along, God’s mercy is evident in the repetitious use of the expression a third. Not all the seas turned to blood, not all the living creatures died, and not all the ships perished. Only a third of these were affected by God’s wrath; the fish not affected by divine punishment continued to multiply and the traffic on the sea unhindered by maritime disaster continued to proceed normally. The catastrophes that God caused to fall on the sea are signs of the end times by which God tells the people to repent and live.
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