Seventh Seal

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings,flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. Revelation 8:1-5

The redeemed of the tribulation had been sealed for God (Matthew 24:31), now the opening of the seals concluded with the seventh. This final opening introduces the trumpet judgments. These seven special, unique angels announce the judgments of God on the earth. Another unique angel approached the altar with a golden container of much incense, representing the virtue of Jesus Christ, to be offered up with all the prayers of the saints. This offering rose up to God. Then the angel took fire from the altar of God and threw it to the earth. This is the warning signal of the severe judgments which were foretold in chapter 6.

Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. Revelation 8:6-12--

The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Destruction of vegetation.

The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Oceanic devastation, red tide suffocation of sea life, trans-oceanic commerce disrupted.

The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. Fresh water fouled by wormwood bitterness. Not just bad-tasting, but poisonous.

The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. Atmospheric disturbance, unnatural darkness, cosmic gloom.

This is ominous.

There are previews and forewarnings of this universal darkness and devastation throughout the scriptures. Those were just foretastes of what would be in store for the rebellious inhabitants of the earth during the great tribulation.

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves…”Luke 21:25 

Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.
I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. Isaiah 13:9-11

Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? Amos 5:20

Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.”The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness,a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord.In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:13-18

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. Exodus 10:21-23

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!” Revelation 8:13

The eagle represents God’s judgment.

God’s judgment has arrived.