The Seventh Seal (and first Four Trumpets) Revelation 8:1-13 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The Seventh Seal – 1-5
1 – The seal opens and there’s ½ hour of silence in heaven – the sounds in heaven up to this point are found in Revelation 4:8, 11; 5:8-12; 7:10-12 and all refer to worship of the Lord – so all of this stops suddenly
2 – 7 trumpets are given to seven angels
3 – an 8th angel stands at the altar, from this we see:
There is a temple of God in heaven – 11:19
In this temple, before God, is a golden altar – 9:13 [matches the golden incense altar Exodus 30:1-3]
And it includes a golden censer as did the earthly altar Hebrews 9:4
– The angel offers incense in the censer with the prayers of all the saints Psalms 141:1-2
4 – The smoke of the incense comes up before God with the saints’ prayers – we ought to pray so much as to fill his presence with smoke [see Revelation 15:8]
5 – The angel fills the censer with fire from the altar [Leviticus 16:12-13] – then he casts it into the earth because the Lord is ready to make his appearance [Leviticus 16:2, 12-13] – notice Revelation 4:5 that out of the throne proceeds voices, thundering and lightning – these in the earth indicate the Lord’s presence in the earth accompanied by an earthquake Isaiah 29:6, Revelation 16:18
The First Four Trumpets
6 – The angels prepare to sound
7 – The first angel sounds
Hail & fire mingled with blood matches Exodus 9:23-24, Psalms 18:12-13 – similar to the judgment against Gog Ezekiel 38:22
1/3 of the trees and ALL of the grass are burnt up
8 – The second angel sounds
AS IT WERE a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea – so this is probably a city [Jeremiah 51:24-26; Revelation 18:16-19, 21]
1/3 of the sea becomes blood [where this city is thrown down]
9 – 1/3 of the sea creatures die and 1/3 of the ships are destroyed
10-11 – The third angel sounds
A great star called Wormwood falls from heaven burning like a lamp [which is what stars do – the Bible is scientific]
It falls on 1/3 part of the rivers and fountains of waters [i.e. wells]
The waters become wormwood
Many men die of the bitter waters [Lamentations 3:15] – this is why the saints in the tribulation are protected when they drink deadly things [Mark16:17-18]
12 – The fourth angel sounds
1/3 of the sun is smitten
1/3 of the moon is smitten
1/3 of the stars are smitten – so a 1/3 part was darkened
So a 1/3 part of the day shone not and a 1/3 part of the night likewise – evidently what is going on is that whatever is visible in the sky for an 8 hour period of the 24 hour day is gone – it seems to effect either the last 4 hours of the night and the first 4 hours of the day or the last 4 hours of the day and the first 4 hours of the night – they are just blacked out because the Lord has smitten them with darkness [Amos 8:9, Luke 21:25]
13 – An angel flies through heaven saying, “Woe, Woe, Woe” because there are three angels left to sound – Woe signifies great sorrow, grief and misery – as if what has already happened isn’t bad enough