THE SEVENTH SEAL

#445                                               THE SEVENTH SEAL

Scripture  Revelation 8:1-13, NIV                                                                               Orig. 2-18-1973

                                                                                                                                 Rewr. 5-18-1989

Passage: 8 1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

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

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

The Trumpets

6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood.[a] A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!

Purpose: Continuing a study for Church Training in Revelation, here focusing in on the opening of the seventh and final seal.

Keywords:        Bible Study                  Judgment                    Deliverance

Timeline/Series:           Revelation

Introduction

            John has been through an emotional buzz-saw.  He encountered the glory of the throne room in chapter four which was quickly turned to consternation as the following chapter opened.  The seven-sealed title-deed suddenly claimed every fiber of his being.  Throughout chapters 5, 6, and 7, we watched as those seals were broken, and as God keeps His hand on His people for good.  Even though the seals were indicative of judgments, and the final seal broods toward a final judgment, God’s patient love sustains.

            Chapter seven has closed on the high note of the purpose of God.

            7:17 “For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

            There is a sudden silence as the seventh seal is severed.  The angels are silent in the agony of expectation.   The  living creatures dare make no sound before the face of the Almighty.  The elders are speechless in their praise for the One  who has kept His promise. 

            Now will begin the transaction that will occupy our attention through chapter eleven.  At that point the final destiny of the world will be marked.  We will consider seven angels with seven trumpets, seven thunders, three woes, and then the dramatic conclusion.

I.          Presenting the Elements of the Final Seal.  V1 “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence.”

            The “he” is the Lamb.  6:1 “When the Lamb opened one of the seals.”

            There was total, unmitigated silence.  Part of the heavenly mystic, thus far, has been the noises.  For first four seals, living creatures call out “with voice of thunder” (6:1, 3, 5, 7).  Fifth seal vents the alarmed cry 6:9-10 “with a “great voice” of the martyrs.  Sixth seal contained the earthquake.  Then the “loud voice” of the multitude.  Now, we are beset with stillness.

            The door is opening for the trumpet blast.  In New Orleans we were staying at the Seminary Guest House.  It was early Saturday morning, silence pervaded our part of [the City].  Suddenly the quietude was broken by some jerk driving by with volume on full.

            The trumpet has long played a part.  Exodus 19:6—Call Hebrews to Sinai.  Isaiah 27:13—Summon the exiles.  Joel 2:1—The day of the Lord “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion . . . sound . . . an alarm.”  I Thessalonians 4:16—The trump of God sounds.  I Corinthians 15:52—The dead in Christ shall come forth.

“When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,

And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair.

And the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,

And the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.” 1

            Then there is an angel priest with a golden censer, incense, and a fire.  The place of angels for the Hebrews was for watchcare.  They have played a major role throughout scripture, again in Revelation: Agents of God’s revelation; to bring protection/reassurance (BI F84p80); agents of judgment; used to foretell the future. 

            The altar is that of incense (Leviticus 16:12, Numbers 16:46 (18” x 18” x 3’—gold):  Burned before the first sacrifice, after the last; offering in envelope of incense; prayers of believers take the place of sacrifices of Israel; prayer is the watchword of obedience.

II.         With that, the First Trumpet is Sounded.  V7 “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.”

            The first declaration of judgment is cast upon the earth.  There is hail, and fire, and blood.  Mindful of the four angels of Chapter 7, restraining the winds.  Trees and grass are destroyed: Adam and Eve account of tree; Daniel 4 tells of Nebuchadnezzar’s tree vision; Ezekiel 31 seems to recount same; Jesus compared Israel to a tree—Matthew 3:10 “Now the ax is laid to the root of the trees; every tree that beareth not good fruit is hewn down”; Grass is the symbol of human frailty—Isaiah 40:6 “All flesh is as grass.” 

            Not all of the earth affected.  But all mankind.  We are genetic equals.  We have the power to reason for/against God.  We have the will to decide.  Therein we are sectarians.

            The opening seal had to do with creation.  “Horseman on white horse with bow and crown came forth conquering.”  He  met with failure.  The derelicts of the world mark this.

III.       Then is Sounded the Second Trumpet.  “A great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea.”

            Perhaps we can presume an “as if it were a great mountain.”  How else would a meteor appear?  First possibility is volcanic eruption: Vesuvius—August AD 79; Santorini—we were disallowed to visit because mule tenders were on strike; Surtsey—in our own time.  The second possibility would be that of a gigantic comet, meteor: of tidal wave proportions; harbors would be destroyed; trucking and shipping affected for hundreds, thousands of miles.

            We take a look at the blood.  Literal, as in the Nile plague, Exodus 7:20.  Figurative, as in fine, red sand blown from the Sahara in such a storm.  Joel 2:34 “the sun turned to darkness, and the moon to blood.  Ezekiel 28:23 Zidon, “blood in her streets.”  Hosea:1-3, Zephaniah 1:3, Isaiah 2:16f.

IV.       Next Comes the Third Angel with Trumpet. V10, “There fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp.”

            There has been judgment upon the earth, sea.

            Now there is judgment upon the rivers.  The picture here seems more to the point of a comet.  But the bitterness of the waters is what brings dismay.  We can think of radioactive fallout.  There are ecological concerns such as industrial pollutants.  Even volcanic eruptions: St. Helens.

            We can gain insight about wormwood.  Deuteronomy 29:18 “The day that any of you . . . begins to turn away from the Lord and desires to worship these gods of other nations, that day a root will be planted that will grow bitter and poisonous fruit.”  Jeremiah 9:14-15, 23:15 “wormwood and gall.”                  

V.         The Fourth Angel with Trumpet.  V12 “A third part of sun, moon, and stars.”

            Thus judgment has passed from earth to sea, to fresh waters, to the heavens, [to] galaxies.

            In this manner, light is affected.  At first it seems to be partial.  But then there was total darkness for a third of the day.  Luke 21:25-28. Think of storm darkness or an eclipse.

            II Baruch 77:20-22, “And I called an eagle and said to him these words:  You have been created by YAHWEH the Most High that you should be higher than any other bird.  But now go and do not stay in any place, do not go into a nest, do not sit on any tree until you have flown  over the breadth of the many waters of the river Euphrates and have come to the people that live there and cast down to them this letter.”  Luke 17:37 vultures NIV, [eagles KJV].

            Darkness as a symbol of judgment runs throughout the Old Testament.  Amos 5:18 “Day of the Lord as a day of darkness.”  See II Peter 3:1-10 (3-4, 7, 10).

1 Black, J.M.  1893, “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.”