Revelation 8 – Seventh Seal Opened

The Church has been raptured, the 144000 Jewish believers have been commissioned and a huge group of martyrs has arrived in Heaven. In many places on Earth, war rages unchecked, with its attendant famine and pestilence, and yet in other places peace still prevails. Now, God is about to open the last seal, fully open the scroll and unleash the 7 Trumpet judgments.

One of the difficulties in studying the next chapters is trying to determine whether the events are sequential or parallel or concurrent. H. Wayne House, Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament: Some say the seals, trumpets and bowls are consecutive: the seals come first, are followed chronologically by the trumpets, which in turn are followed by the bowls. Others say the seals, trumpets and bowls are simultaneous: they all refer to the same phenomena, but are repeated to show the same phenomena from different angles or perspectives. Others say the seals, trumpets and bowls are telescopic: the trumpets are the content of the last seal, and the bowls are the content of the last trumpet.

W. G. Scroggie, The Book of the Revelation, pp. 167-169 says that the trumpets do not follow, but ARE the Seventh Seal. In like manner, he holds that the bowls constitute the seventh trumpet: Therefore, the Bowls do not double back over the Seal and Trumpet Judgments; neither is it correct to say that they follow the Trumpet visitations. They do not follow because THEY ARE THE SEVENTH TRUMPET CONTENTS. Scroggie goes on to note that the judgments of the bowls are poured out in quick succession.

(1) When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour.

• Broke the seventh seal:
• Notice in the above picture that the 7^th seal must be broken before the scroll can be opened!
• Seventh seal:
• Chapters 6 and 7 present the six seals. The seventh seal contains the seven trumpets and the seven vials of judgments. The seventh seal contains the period of both trumpets and vials and is immediately followed by the Great Tribulation. The first six trumpets relate to the earth, the seventh to heaven (11:5).
• Silence:
• At Jericho, the priests blew their trumpets each day and the people kept SILENT. But on the SEVENTH day, they compassed the city seven times, sounded their trumpets SEVEN times and SHOUTED.
• In his commentary on Revelation, Earl Palmer says, "It communicates in a dramatic way the full and awesome authority of God. Everything must wait for his kingly move."
• It is the calm before the storm of judgment to come! The next set of judgments will be so catastrophic that heaven is silent in anticipation.
• The twenty- four elders ceased to play their harps. Heaven’s angels hushed their singing. Cherubim and Seraphim ceased to praise God. The host of Heaven stood in awe. Think of Heaven standing in complete silence for the space of half an hour!
• Per Psalm 22:2-3; 39:2; 62:1; 65:1, silence is the period between offering up a prayer and its answer, which tells us what we should do when we pray.
• Psalm 46:10: "Be silent, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world."
• Habakkuk 2:20: But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him."
• Zephaniah 1:7: Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign LORD, for the awesome day of the LORD's judgment has come. The LORD has prepared his people for a great slaughter and has chosen their executioners.
• Zechariah 2:13: Be silent before the LORD, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling."

(2) And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets

• Seven Angels:
• According to Revelation 8:2, there are seven angels "that stand before God." One of these is Gabriel. We know this because of information that he gave to Zacharias in the following words: “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God" (Luke 1:19). Gabriel brought a message to Daniel (Daniel 9:21). We have no clear information as to the identity of the other six that stand in the Almighty's presence, but Michael is probably another. Interestingly, the apocryphal book of Enoch, an ancient book that is not part of our Bible, gives the names of all seven angels. They are Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sarakiel, Gabriel, and Phanuel.
• Trumpets:
• Above from http://blog.churchoftherock.ca/revelation-revolution. Notice that the seventh trumpet is not sounded until chapter 11!
• In Numbers 10, Moses ordered the manufacture of two silver trumpets that were to be blown on different occasions and for various purposes. One of the purposes of the trumpets was to call together at the door of the tent of meeting an assembly of the leaders of Israel. At times, the sounding of the trumpets was to announce the marching of the camp forward to another location. Sometimes, they were blown at the time of burnt offerings and sacrifices of peace offerings. At other times, they were sounded as a call to war (Numbers 10:9, Ezekiel 33:1-6). But, in the book of Revelation - they sound an alarm of war - the war of Heaven against earth.
• Joel 2:1: Blow the trumpet in Jerusalem! Sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the LORD is upon us.

(3) THEN another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to be offered on the gold altar before the throne.

• Another angel:
• There are 2 Greek words for another – állos and héteros. Héteros is another of a different kind and állos is another of the same kind. Therefore, this probably is another angel of the same kind as in verse 2. However, many of the expositors of Revelation identify this angel as Jesus himself because, in the Old Testament while marching through the wilderness, Israel is led by a great angel called “the Angel of Yahweh”.
• Incense burner:
• In the Old Testament order, the priests would burn incense upon the altar of incense, and the smoke would fill the Temple or the Tabernacle and would then ascend to heaven. Incense was symbolic of worship and prayer and a reminder that intercession to the Lord has the character of sweet incense. The altar in heaven is referred to seven times in this book (6:9; 8:3a, 8:3b, 8:5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7). Commentators differ as to whether the altar is the altar of burnt offering or the altar of incense, although the latter is usually preferred.
• Notice that there seems to be a contradiction as to the location of the incense burner! The Old Testament references seem to indicate that it was kept in the Holy Place, not in the Holy of Holies. In Hebrews, Paul says it was kept in the Holy of Holies! Why? The difference between the Golden Altar in Revelation 8:3 and that in the Temple is the absence of the veil that once separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Because the veil has been rent in two, we now have boldness to enter the Presence.
• Exodus 30:7-9: "Every morning when Aaron trims the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar. And each evening when he tends to the lamps, he must again burn incense in the LORD's presence. This must be done from generation to generation. Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or drink offerings.
• Exodus 37:25-28: The incense altar was made of acacia wood. It was eighteen inches square and three feet high, with its corner horns made from the same piece of wood as the altar itself. He overlaid the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold and ran a gold molding around the edge. Two gold rings were placed on opposite sides, beneath the molding, to hold the carrying poles. The carrying poles were made of acacia wood and were overlaid with gold.
• Leviticus 16:12-13: he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the LORD. Then, after filling both his hands with fragrant incense, he will carry the burner and incense behind the inner curtain. There in the LORD's presence, he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark's cover -- the place of atonement -- that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. If he follows these instructions, he will not die.
• Psalm 141:2: Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
• Luke 1:9-11: As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary and burn incense in the Lord's presence. While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. Zechariah was in the sanctuary when an angel of the Lord appeared, standing to the right of the incense altar.
• Hebrews 9:1-4: Now in that first covenant between God and Israel, there were regulations for worship and a sacred tent here on earth. There were two rooms in this tent. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and loaves of holy bread on the table. This was called the Holy Place. Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing some manna, Aaron's staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant with the Ten Commandments written on them.
• Revelation 5:8: And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense -- the prayers of God's people!
• God’s people (saints in the KJV) – Greek = ton hagion:
• The question is, who ARE these saints or God's people? Why are they praying? At the time of the removing of the seventh seal, the Church will be in Heaven, having been raptured before this time of terrible judgment.
• We are not specifically told who the “God’s people” or saints are, but the implication of the passage is that the saints here are Tribulation saints, both Jew and Gentile believers who are living on earth during the Tribulation. Their prayer is that God would pour out His wrath on a rebellious world, but their desire is to establish His kingdom and will on earth.

(4) The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.

• Ray Stedman: “There is one prayer that the people of God in all ages have been praying that has never yet been answered. It is clear from the Scriptures that the saints of God prayed this prayer from the dawn of the race. Adam probably prayed it when he left the Garden of Eden. Noah undoubtedly prayed it when he came out of the ark into a new world after the flood. Abraham surely prayed it as he looked for a City yet to come. King David prayed it, and, when we come to the New Testament, all the apostles, including Paul, prayed this prayer. It is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," (Matthew 6:10, Luke 11:2 KJV). That prayer has never yet been answered. We have not seen God's kingdom visibly on earth. Invisibly it is present in the church and is seen in the rule of God over the affairs of men, but visibly the prayer has never been answered. But when we come to the end of these three series of judgments we will find that the prayers of men are at last to be fulfilled.”
• Clarke: "It is not said that the angel presents these prayers. He presents the incense, and the prayers ascend WITH it. The ascending of the incense shows that the prayers and offering were accepted."

 (5) THEN the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.

• Thunder … lightning … earthquake:
• Revelation 11:15,19: Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: "The whole world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever." … Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared; there was a great hailstorm, and the world was shaken by a mighty earthquake.
• Revelation 16:17-18: Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne of the Temple in heaven, saying, "It is finished!" Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed. And there was an earthquake greater than ever before in human history.
• Ezekiel 10:2: Then the LORD spoke to the man in linen clothing and said, "Go in between the whirling wheels beneath the cherubim, and take a handful of glowing coals and scatter them over the city." He did this as I watched.
• If burning incense is symbolic of the prayers of saints who are imploring God to act -- then returning that fire to earth is a symbol of answered prayer. In other words, we have now come to the time when God will answer the prayers of his people. What is the result?
• The clear implication is that the censer is here used as a symbol of judgment, apparently in response to the intercession and prayers of the suffering saints in the midst of the great tribulation. The scene, therefore, is set for the judgment symbolized by the seven trumpets about to sound according to the next verse.

(6) THEN the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.

• In Revelation 11:15, at the last of the blowing of trumpets, we learn that when the seventh angel blows his trumpet the same sounds are heard and an angel proclaims that, "The whole world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ". These sounds come at the end of each of the series of seven - the seals, the trumpets and the bowls of the wrath of God. Thus, we learn here at the opening of this seventh seal, when the great Angel casts the fire of God back upon the earth, that the day has come when God answers fully the prayers of his people.
• Notice this occurs before the first trumpet is blown.

(7) The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down upon the earth, and one-third of the earth was set on fire. One-third of the trees were burned, and all the grass was burned.

• John, along with the 24 elders representing the raptured church in heaven, is watching judgment fall on the earth.
• This is very similar to the seventh plague that fell on Egypt during Moses' confrontation of Pharaoh, when hail and lightning came upon the whole land. Here, it is mingled with blood. Notice that the plagues of the first four trumpets all fall on creation.
• Thrown Down:
• Revelation 16:2: So the first angel left the Temple and poured out his bowl over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue.
• Third:
• The word "third" is used eight times in these chapters 8 & 9 alone.
• Hail:
• Exodus 9:24: Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that, with such severe hail and continuous lightning.
• Trees:
• The word “trees” speaks of “fruit trees”.
• All the grass:
• This must refer to the complete destruction of the green grass within the one-third area, because green grass is protected in 9:4.
• Wheat is a grass and its destruction would be catastrophic.

(8) THEN the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. And one-third of the water in the sea became blood.

• Great mountain (KJV: something like a great mountain):
• John carefully said that this is not an actual mountain (note the use of the word like in the KJV), but it was a blazing mass as large as a mountain.
• This may refer to nuclear devastation or a giant asteroid or meteor that comes from outer space, killing 1/3 of the aquatic life.
• Tim LaHaye thinks it is likely an enormous meteorite crashing through the atmosphere. As a result, a third of everything living in the sea dies, and a third of the ships on the sea are destroyed.
• Sea:
• The sea may be a specific reference to the Mediterranean and not a reference to all oceans. For a person in the world in which John lived, the Mediterranean Sea was the sea.
• Revelation 16:3: Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse. And everything in the sea died.
• Blood:
• Exodus 7:19: Then the LORD said to Moses: "Tell Aaron to point his staff toward the waters of Egypt -- all its rivers, canals, marshes, and reservoirs. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn into blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots in the people's homes."

(9) And one-third of all things living in the sea died. And one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.

• Ships:
• Clarkson’s Shipping Intelligence Weekly listed in 2012 58,900 cargo-carrying vessels. The World Fleet Monitor, which covers everything else (except fishing boats, naval and so on, listed 87,483 ships. Additionally, there are about 5,000 war ships in the world. So, the total would be 151,000 sea-going ships! So, about 99,000 ships would be destroyed!

(10) THEN the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great flaming star fell out of the sky, burning like a torch. It fell upon one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

• Star:
• We will find a similar "star" in Chapter 9 when we hear the fifth and sixth trumpets of judgment: Revelation 9:1: Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
• The words used by John here are mevga Megas ajsthvr Aster, literally “Mega Asteroid” unlike the burning mountain, which fell on the sea.  This meteorite falls on 1/3 of the drinking water. This meteorite could very well be part of the first one, also being toxic in nature. This meteorite as it enters earth’s atmosphere could break up causing its toxicity to hit the drinking waters.
• An object half a mile across packs a one-million-megaton punch, enough to threaten the globe, but objects this large are rare. "Tunguska-class" objects, that is, those measuring about 195 feet (60m) across, strike Earth far more frequently. Indeed, the class itself refers to an object that exploded above the Siberian taiga in 1908 with an estimated force of 10 megatons or more. (http://www.astronomy.com/)
• Rivers …. springs of water:
• Revelation 16:4-7: Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs, and they became blood. And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying, "You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, who is and who always was. For your holy people and your prophets have been killed, and their blood was poured out on the earth. So you have given their murderers blood to drink. It is their just reward." And I heard a voice from the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God Almighty, your punishments are true and just."

(11) The name of the star was Bitterness. It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died because the water was so bitter.

• Bitterness = Wormwood in the KJV (Greek apsinthos)
• This great star is very likely a comet, which breaks up when it enters the atmosphere and scatters itself throughout the earth, falling into the rivers and springs and poisoning them with what is probably a form of radiation. We have had, perhaps, a kind of a foregleam of this and a note of warning from God, in the terrible nuclear accident that happened in Russia some years ago. It occurred at a city named Chernobyl -- and Chernobyl is the Russian word for Wormwood! In Chernobyl, Ukraine, the worst nuclear accident in history exposed 6.6 million people to potentially lethal radiation, contaminating the Dnieper River and reservoir, one of Europe's largest water systems.
  

(12) THEN the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark and one-third of the night also.

• The results of the first three trumpets, results in what happens in the fourth. With the increase in volcanic activity and the burning of grass and trees, the earth being struck by two asteroids the billowing smoke fills the outer atmosphere as happened in the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia, the most violent volcanic event in recorded history. The eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT - about 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the bomb that devastated Hiroshima. The cataclysmic explosion was heard as far away as 3,000 miles. The clouds of ash were more than six miles high. It created a 120-foot tsunami wiping out islands and ships a mile away. The explosions hurled an estimated 11 cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere darkening skies up to 275 miles from the volcano. In the immediate vicinity, the dawn did not return for three days. The shock waves in the atmosphere circled the planet at least seven times. Within 13 days, a layer of sulfur dioxide and other gases began to filter the amount of sunlight able to reach Earth. The atmospheric effects made for spectacular sunsets all over Europe and the United States. Average global temperatures were up to 1.2 degrees cooler for the next five years. In the weeks following the eruption, fine fragments of rock fragments and dust were propelled miles into the stratosphere and began to make a ring around the equator. They would remain suspended there for years causing remarkable solar effects and atmospheric hazing as they bent the incoming light. Also, the enormous volumes of sulfur dioxide gas molecules that were ejected into the atmosphere combined with water to make sulfuric acid. These acidic aerosols sufficiently blocked enough sunlight to drop the Earth's temperature by several degrees for a few years. Their presence in the atmosphere also created spectacular effects over 70% of the Earth's surface. Effects such as halos around the sun and moon, and amazing sunsets and sunrises were seen. For years these particles would remain suspended in the atmosphere. Earlier, in 1815, the Tambora eruption caused global temperatures to be an average of five degrees cooler; even in the United States, 1816 was known as the “year without a summer.” Crops failed worldwide.
• Sun, moon and stars:
• Matthew 24:29: Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near. Immediately after those horrible days end, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.
• Dark:
• The meaning seems to be: the sun’s power to light the day was removed for one-third of the time and the same was true for the moon and stars at night.
• Exodus 10:21: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Lift your hand toward heaven, and a deep and terrifying darkness will descend on the land of Egypt."
• Revelation 9:1-2: Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air were darkened by the smoke.

(13) THEN I looked up. And I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, "Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets."

• Eagle (Angel in KJV. Greek aetos):
• It is quite evident that the eagle that John saw "crying loudly as it flew through the air, "Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world," was referring to the last three trumpet judgments, which are here called "terrors." The reason for this fact is that the latter three judgments are far more intense and destructive than the first three--although these seem almost to reach the limit of the endurance of men in the areas where they take place.
• This is no ordinary eagle. The Greek uses the word normally translated angel, indicating some kind of supernatural message, sent to prepare the world for what's ahead.
• Terror, terror, terror:
• This possibly corresponds to the last three trumpets that are to come (cf. 9:12; 11:14; 12:12); it may also be a symbol of intensity (like "holy, holy, holy" of 4:8). In Hebrew a three-fold repetition is a superlative.
• The angel's “terrors” or “woes” are well founded, because one-third of the earth's population will die in the next three trumpets.
• The fifth angel that sounds with his trumpet calls forth the first terror, and the sixth with his blast causes the second terror to come forth with all its might. These are described in chapter 9. But the seventh trumpet--the third terror --does not call forth any definite specific thing that transpires upon the earth. Rather, it develops into the seven bowl judgments described in chapter 16.
• Revelation 9:12: The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!
• Revelation 11:14: The second terror is past, but look, now the third terror is coming quickly.
• Revelation 12:12: Rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea. For the Devil has come down to you in great anger, and he knows that he has little time."
• Metzger (Breaking the Code. Understanding the Book of Revelation) says that the “judgments that follow each of the first four trumpets are elemental forces of nature, which are directed against the cosmos and which affect humanity indirectly.” He contrasts that with the “last three trumpets [which] call forth demonic forces, falling directly on humanity.”
• Similarly, Ladd (A Commentary on the Revelation of John) says: “The forces of nature have fallen under divine judgment as a warning to sinful men [with the first four trumpet judgments]…” The fifth and sixth plagues will fall directly on the “persons of men.” He also says that an eagle is chosen because it has strong wings and has a wide perspective. “to all who belong to this world’ is a repeated expression in the Revelation designating the pagan world in its hostility to God (3:10; 6:10; 11:10; 13:8; 17:2.
• As severe as the first four judgments have been, worse is yet to come. The first four attacked nature, with humankind affected indirectly. The next judgments will attack humanity directly. John is saying, “The worst is yet to come. You ain’t seen noth’n yet!”
• Above image from http://www.thesecondcomingofchrist.org/

NOTES:

• Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois.
• Disclaimer: Source material for this study has been gleaned from many different sources. If you want further study, I have attempted to acknowledge these sources at http://revelationofjesustojohn.blogspot.com/2014/03/book-of-revelation-references.html
• Index to all our studies are at http://oakview-bible-fellowship.blogspot.com/