The Seventh Seal
Chapter eight marks the beginning of the last days of man’s dispensation on earth. These coming events are not only the judgement and destruction of the ungodly, but also serve to purify the earth for the coming physical reign of Christ and His kingdom on earth. The lamb, Jesus, is about to open the seventh seal.
Remember, He opened these seals when He received the scroll of His inheritance upon ascending into heaven after His resurrection. In the spirit world, things are eternal with no beginning and no end. Our flesh is temporal; living within a time frame. We’re born in a physical body, live our allotted years, and our bodies die. Humans cannot comprehend a timeless eternity. Time matters only to us in our fleshly bodies; not to our spirit man. In the spirit, time is not relevant. “A day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day.” 2 Peter 3:8
Revelation 8
1 “When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.”
According to Jewish tradition, angels exist in heaven whose only jobs are to praise and worship God at night. During the day they remain silent so heaven can receive the praises of Israel. In this case, silence stills heaven so the praise and intercessory prayers of the redeemed for the lost may be heard.
The silence lasted one-half hour. Why not three hours? Six? Again, numbers matter. One-half is one divided by two. One represents unity, or oneness of purpose. Two is the number of witness or confirmation. One-half hour represents the unity of purpose of the church in intercession, and the witness of Christians on earth. This will be the last opportunity for unbelievers to accept Jesus as Lord before the church is taken up. Once the church (and the Holy Spirit who dwells in the church) is removed, only two paths to salvation remain. Either repent and call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus out of massive tribulation, or die as a martyr for the Lamb.
These seven angels standing before God are the ones who will begin the final events in the cleansing of the earth. They are given trumpets and step on stage into the spotlight, awaiting the order to play.
3 “Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.”
The Hebrew word translated “altar” is mizbêac, meaning “lifted up,” and is symbolic for sacrifice and death. (Exodus 30:1-10). Priests slew the animal, poured the blood out on the altar, and burned the sacrifice. “All things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22) Why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted, and Cain’s rejected? Genesis 4
The Lamb of God offered Himself as a sacrifice. His blood was poured out upon the altar before the throne—on this altar—to take away the sins of the world. Hebrews 10:5-8
The “golden censer . . . with incense” is symbolic for prayer (censer) and intercession (incense). (Leviticus 16:12-13). As incense burns, the smoke rises and takes the prayers and intercession to heaven. God calls them a “sweet-smelling savor.” (Philippians 4:18). This smoke mixes with the prayers of all the saints. Incense is considered one of the most holy items in the tabernacle. To burn unauthorized incense resulted in death.
The prayers of saints mixed with the smoke of the incense sanctified the prayers and helped hasten them up to heaven. This is a picture of the Holy Spirit who helps us intercede in prayer when we don’t know what to pray. Romans 8:26
5 “Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 So the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.”
In the old temple, the priests sanctified the fire on the altar and never allowed it to go out. (Leviticus 6:13). This holy fire is symbolic for judgement and purification. The angel filled his censer full of judgement, and threw the fire to earth.
This picture of purification is reminiscent of the sacrificial Red Heifer found in Numbers 19:1-10, a particularly holy and rare sacrifice. Priests sacrificed only firstborn male kine. A red heifer perfect enough for this purpose was quite rare; she must be all red, without spot or blemish. More than two hairs of the wrong color disqualified her.
The priests burned the sacrifice on the altar with hyssop, cedar, and woolen material dyed red, collected the ashes, mixed them with water, and used the water for purification and sanctification.
The ashes of the red heifer are symbolic of purification.
Hyssop for purification applied by faith
Cedar for power, majesty, beauty, royalty
Scarlet wool for the blood atonement
Now is the time for the seven angels with the seven trumpets to sound. Seven is the number of perfection or completion. Trumpets are symbolic for gathering, judgement, or blessings.
The feast of trumpets, also called the feast of ingathering or the feast of tabernacles, is held on the 15th day of the 7th month of the Jewish calendar, in the autumn. (Leviticus 23:34-44) In the Old Testament times, trumpets gathered the people together. The feast celebrated the completion of the gathering in of the harvest.
This shows the time of the church’s work is about to be completed, and she is beginning to bring in the final harvest. The key is found in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Matthew 13:38-40 tells us who the players are.
38 “The field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; but the tares are the sons of the wicked one; 39 the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels.” Here, the angels are the harvesters preparing for the harvest. The trumpets they blow signal the harvest gathering, the separation of the wheat from the tares.
Leviticus 23:34-35 gives us a time frame for the church’s gathering up, or catching away.
34 “The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles (trumpets) for seven days unto the Lord. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work therein.” KJV
Convocation is the Hebrew word miqrâ´: something called out, a calling together, a meeting. While judgement breaks loose on the earth, the church will be busy helping the angels gather in the harvest. Once the harvest is in, the process begins for the church and all the saints to be called up together to meet Christ in the air. “The dead in Christ will rise first; and we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17
The phrase, “caught up,” is the Greek word harpazō which means to seize, catch up, to carry off by force. This is the term referred to in modern times as the Rapture. At the convocation, the church will begin our rest at last.
The Trumpets
The seven seals fall into two groups of four and three; the trumpets are divided the same way. The first four trumpets are reminiscent of the plagues of Egypt prior to the exodus. In a way, this is appropriate. Revelation 15:3 demonstrates Christ’s second coming as compared to the exodus; here too, redemption is preceded by plagues on the ungodly. During the plagues on Egypt, Pharaoh refused to repent. The same is true with the plagues and woes in Revelation chapters eight and nine.
Like Pharaoh, mankind will not repent.
First Trumpet: Failing Glory of Man
7 “The first angel sounded; and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. A third of the trees burned, and all the green grass burned.”
Compare this to Exodus 9:23-26. Hail and fire fell on all Egypt, except on the land of Goshen where the Children of Israel lived, sealed and protected. This is a shadow of the church.
Hail is symbolic for judgement.
Fire is symbolic of purification
Blood represents the life of all living things
God’s judgement rains down on all living things to purify the earth. Innocent animals are not immune; they, too, will be destroyed during the purification. (Remember the ark, only a specific number of each kind?) Any life touched by sin must be purified. 1 Samuel 15:2-3
Trees are symbolic for nations and individuals. Exodus 9:24
Grass represents the failing glory of man. Isaiah 40:6-8
One third is the number of divine completeness, the completion of God’s wrath
The first trumpet portrays the failing glory of man.
But man will not repent.
Second Trumpet: the End of Man’s Strength
8 “The second angel sounded: and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.” The phrase translated “something like” is the Greek hōs, which means: as, like, in like manner. This is not an actual mountain, but something like a mountain. Many teach “a mountain thrown into the sea” refers to an asteroid smashing into the sea. So far none are able to explain satisfactorily how an asteroid can turn the sea to blood. Let’s go back to the key and find what this means to men on earth.
Mountain represents the world and the world’s strength and majesty
Sea is symbolic for the restless masses of humanity, the nations
Sea creatures represent the people, individuals, in the “sea of humanity”
Ships are symbolic for merchandise and commerce
Again, the number one third (1/3)
One is the number of unity, oneness of purpose. Three represents the Trinity, or deity. This demonstrates the Trinity’s oneness of purpose. The Father isn’t playing around, the Lamb is filled with wrath, and the Holy Spirit is frustrated no one wants to listen to Him.
Mankind rejects God’s grace offered to them, and chooses to trust in themselves. God will cast down the worldly strength and majesty mankind trusts in. Like a stone tossed into a pool sends out ripples, so will the casting down of the mountain affect the masses of humanity. International commerce will grind to a halt, and the most ungodly of mankind and business will be destroyed. Remember the businessmen who jumped out of windows during the worldwide depression of the 1930s?
But man will not repent.
The Third Trumpet: Bitterness
10 “The third angel sounded: A great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became Wormwood, and many men died of the water, because it became bitter.”
A star named Wormwood fell from heaven to earth. A star is symbolic for an angelic being or spirit; a fallen star is a fallen angel or demonic spirit. Time is not relevant in the spirit world. This falling occurred at the time of the casting down of Lucifer’s angelic rebellion. In Luke 10:18, Jesus told His disciples; “I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Satan’s power is held in abeyance until the time is right, in Revelation 9:1.
Rivers are symbolic for life-giving flow, the breath of life, or overwhelming flood
Waters (seas) represent restlessness, masses of humanity, nations of the earth.
Wormwood represents bitterness, Satanic poison, death.
Bitter waters are symbolic of suffering, or the suffering of Calvary. (Isaiah 38:17)
Remember at Jesus’ crucifixion, soldiers offered him wine mixed with bitter myrrh on a sponge to deaden the pain. Israel ate the first Passover meal with bitter herbs, a shadow of things to come, both of the crucifixion and of the bitterness in man’s heart.
Wormwood comes from the Hebrew làănâh, from a little used root meaning “to curse.” The word refers to the plant species hemlock, a poisonous plant. In the times of the Roman emperors and Caesars they used hemlock for murder, suicides, and executions. In Revelation, the Greek word used is apsinthos; a type of bitterness and calamity.
This event represents a release of a demonic spirit of bitterness into the life flow of the masses of people in the earth. Bitterness goes so deep into the hearts of man, they will suffer constant anguish, some unto death. God allowed Satan to use this spirit to harden Pharaoh’s heart during the plagues of Egypt. (Exodus 7:14). Unforgiveness leads to bitterness and hardness of heart, which leads to all sorts of physical ills. Mankind will allow bitterness to fester, and revel in their anguish as an excuse hate God.
Man will harden their hearts, and refuse to repent.
The Fourth Trumpet: The Light Fades
12 “The fourth angel sounded: and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.”
The sun, moon, and stars when used together represent the glory of the Godhead, the Trinity, the Light of the world. Who is the Light of the World? John 8:12
Men’s hard, bitter hearts will darken their vision, like lighting a lamp in a dark room and covering the light with a basket. Though the church’s light will shine bright out of tribulation, the truths of the spirit world and the Glory of God will be darkened by man’s bitterness and suffering. Hatred toward God will cause the truth to grow dim in the eyes of evil mankind; they will gnash their teeth and curse God for the darkness. God will continue to call, but many will close their eyes to the light in a vain effort to ignore Him or silence His calling.
Still, man will not repent.
13 “I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!””
The original Greek says, “an eagle flying.” The eagle is symbolic for swiftness. This is a swift angelic messenger. The messenger announces three woes coming. Three trumpets remain. Praise God, the church is safe in Goshen (Exodus 9:26). She will only be observing the judgement.