Revelation 8 – The Seventh Seal and the Trumpets

Revelation 8:1

(1) When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, (2) there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

  1. The last of the seals is broken by Jesus, the Lamb.
  2. The silence could speak of the day of atonement, with the silence that accompanied the High Priest’s entering the Most Holy place.  Speculations abound concerning this time of silence, but it is denoted in the heavens.  The most notable event concerning this seal is the next verse, of course, with it’s distribution of the trumpets.

Revelation 8:2

(1) And I saw the seven angels (2) who stand before God, (3) and seven trumpets were given to them.

  1. John now sees seven angels in response, as it were, to the breaking of the seventh seal.
  2. These are specific angels, apparently, for they stand before God, a particular designation.  This may be similar, although not directly correlating to, what Gabriel told Zacharias in Luke 1:19, that he, the angel Gabriel, told him.  Gabriel said he was one that stands in the presence of God.  It could be, but does not necessarily indicate, that Gabriel is one of these seven angels.  It is a good possibility, however.  The specific identity beyond this is not given.
  3. The angels were given trumpets, indicating that they did not previously possess them.  They are given the trumpets, but they await the command to employ them.

Revelation 8:3

(1) Another angel came and (2) stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; (3) and much incense was given to him, (4) so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on (5) the golden altar which was before the throne.

  1. Another angel, indicating one other than the seven comes.  Could this be Michael, or is he part of the seven?  The scriptures are silent.  It does not seem that it would be Christ being called an angel, for Christ is not subject to the seals, but it could be, since He is the great intercessor.  Again, specific identification is not necessary, nor particularly relevant, other than to search the depths of the Word.  They could simply be seven plus one angels that are heretofore never even mentioned in Scripture.
  2. This angel fulfills the role of intercession, so, again, it could be an anonymous picture of Christ, as true intercession is always done in secret, but it need not be.  Regardless, he holds the tools of that office, the bowl or censer for the incense offering.
  3. He is given much incense to offer, which indicates many prayers.
  4. His prayers are added to the saints prayers, and they are offered together.
  5. The golden altar, that is, the altar of incense.

Revelation 8:4

(1) And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, (2) went up before God out of the angel’s hand.

  1. The prayers are offered in heavenly fire.
  2. The result is the incense that fills the temple, an aroma to the Lord ascends from the censer the angel holds.  The temple worship is being described here, or, rather, the worship that the temple describes is here displayed in the heavenly vision.

Revelation 8:5-6

(1) Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, (2) and threw it to the earth; (3) and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. (4) And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.

  1. Altering slightly from the Earthly shadow of the tabernacle, the angel then fills the bowl, or censer, with fire from the altar.
  2. Doing something that is impossible from the Earthly tabernacle, proving it is a superior ministry (Hebrews 8:6), he hurls it to the Earth from the heavens.  This is all in preparation for the sounding of the trumpets.
  3. The thunder, lightning, and shaking, again, could be earthly or heavenly here.
  4. Thus prepared, the trumpets are ready to be sounded, and the angels hence respond prepared themselves.

Revelation 8:7

(1) The first sounded, and (2) there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and (3) they were thrown to the earth; and (4) a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

  1. The first of the trumpets of judgment.
  2. Hail and fire mixed with blood “came” to the heavens first, as the next phrase indicates.
  3. They were then thrown to the Earth, as was the censer earlier in the chapter.
  4. The seals consumed one fourth, the trumpets one third.  The bowl judgments will be all.  As this is not looking at a global catastrophe, this would most likely be the Roman’s destruction of the land surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judea.  The war on the Jews, not only requiring massive amounts of timber, but also the Roman’s policy of destroying the lands where they conquered (‘scorched earth’).  Josephus describes this in his History of the destruction of Jerusalem, noting how the trees were destroyed for the Roman’s war supplies all around Jerusalem.  He talks about how Judea and its suburbs became a desert because of the Roman army’s deforestation.

Revelation 8:8-9

(1) The second angel sounded, and something like (2) a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; (3) and a third of the sea became blood,and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.

  1. The second angel sounds.  No commands are given for the sounding of these trumpets, they simply sound one after another once they had been given and received, and after sufficient prayer had gone forth in the form of the incense.
  2. What exactly is represented here is not specifically determined.  Many preterists point to the temple on fire, the futurists often point to a meteorite or some such thing.  As the censer that was cast to the ground was representative of something spiritual cast down into the Earth, and many other things are sourced in heaven, the spiritual realm, and cast into the Earth, this mountian is most likely a spiritual thing. Josephus records (Book III, Chapter X, Section 9) gives a description of the country of Gennesareth of how there was a fight upon the Galilee with ships and many casualties, such that the sea (Lake Tiberius) became bloody and full of dead bodies.

Revelation 8:10-11

(1) The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and (2) it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. (3) The name of the star is called Wormwood; and (4) a third of the waters became wormwood, and (5) many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.

  1. The third trumpet results in a star falling from heaven.  This is not a comet, but a spiritual entity of bitterness.
  2. Again, the quantity of the destruction is upon a third of the Earth.
  3. The name given is Wormwood, or ‘bitterness’.
  4. The waters are made bitter.  The distresses concerning the days of vengeance upon Jerusalem became more and more bitter, as the famine increased, and the suffering drastically increased.  Josephus wrote of the increase of suffering of those inside the city, and reported it even to the Romans.
  5. The result of the bitterness is death.

Revelation 8:12

(1) The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, (2) so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

  1. This must be taken in context with the sixth seal.  If the sixth seal were completely literal, the stars have already fallen to Earth, and the sky rolled up.  It is not described as restored.  Hence, the spiritual is in view.  The cities of Judea were devastated in this period, as well as many leaders, nobles, and whatnot.  Any one of these could be in view, although I prefer the idea of the cities.  Again, this is about the limit of my willingness to allow metaphor, however, because it must be metaphor in light of the sixth seal, I allow it.  Perhaps, as well, there is a more specific, direct application, but it is lost on me at this point.
  2. The day and night are both likewise affected.

Revelation 8:13

(1) Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, (2) “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on (3) the earth, (4) because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

  1. After the first four trumpets, the remaining three are announced by an ‘eagle’, or an angel.
  2. Each woe is one remaining trumpet, as each trumpet represents a ‘Woe’ upon the city of Jerusalem.
  3. The word ‘earth’ is the same as above, in “the land”.
  4. The cause of the woe is the blasts of the trumpets.