After Jesus has broken six seals, and the Book of Revelation went into two interludes, pointing forward to a thematic shift–the last seal on the two-sided scroll that Jesus will break. However, instead of having four accounts of the 7th seal with the same themes, we find the first account of the 7th seal preparing us for the judgment to come. So, we first look at the 7th seal that prepares us for the others.
The 7th Seal
Read Revelation 8:1-4
Excursus: The Seven Angels in Heaven
When Jesus finally breaks open the 7th seal, we might think such an event would immediately follow with much fanfare and the quake of thunder. But, instead, we get silence, not for a minute, but for 30 minutes! So, what can these 30 minutes of silence represent? Most likely, it points back to the Old Covenant offering of incense, but from an eternal, New-Covenant perspective.
This section describes the angels performing in heaven the same ritual the Levitical Priests performed in the earthly Temple (Exodus 30:1-10). (Remember that God told Moses to make an earthly place of worship as “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven” [Hebrews 8:5; see also Exodus 25:40 and Wisdom 9:8]. And this is still true in the New Covenant–that how we worship is still to be a copy and shadow of what takes place in heaven.)
Yet, these angels are not simply some random group of angels; they are the seven angels (the direct article is in the Greek). We won’t get the significance of this unless we know the Apocrypha and the book of Enoch (which the New Testament book of Jude also references and quotes).
- Tobit 12:15 reads, “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One.”
- 1 Enoch 20:2-8 lists the name of the seven angels: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqaeul, Gabriel, and Remiel.
So, again, we see a picture of heavenly worship, this time focused on the angels. However, with the connection of what we do on earth joining with the angels in heaven, they also present, and join with, our prayers to God, represented by the burning incense.
What does this mean? It means that when we worship, we do not worship simply as the Church on earth, but as the Church–on earth and in heaven. That is why the pastor speaks or chants this from the liturgy every week: “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your [that is, God’s] glorious name, every more praising You and saying…”
Read Revelation 8:5
Now the seven trumpets earlier given to the seven angels will be used. In Scripture, one of the functions of trumpets is to signal the end:
- Old Testament Apocrypha book 2nd Esdras 6:23: “And the trumpet shall sound aloud, and when all hear it, they shall suddenly be terrified.”
- Matthew 24:31: “He [God] will send out His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:52: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”
With that preparation, we now look at the others accounts of the 7th seal.
The 7th Trumpet (11:15-19)
Read Revelation 11:15-17
Again, we see worship in heaven, but this time the 24 elders (representing the saints in heaven).
– How do they show that worship also involves the body, not just the soul or spirit?
– How do they praise God?
– How should this shape our worship, so our worship is in sync and not at odds with the worship in heaven?
Read Revelation 11:18-19
– John describes the people of God as God’s servants, prophets, saints, and those who fear His name. Is he describing different groups or are they various descriptions for the same group of people?
– What does this mean in our relationship with God as His people?
– John says that it was now “the time to judge the dead.” When does this happen?
We know that this scene describe the beginning of Jesus returning to earth as judge of the living and the dead. Earlier, God was described as “the One-Who-Is and the One-Who-Was and the One-Who-Will be” (Revelation 1:4). In this section, God is described as “the One-Who-Is, and the One-Who-Was.” What is missing is the God who will be, that is, the God who will come again.
Also, if we remember the Old-Covenant Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest could enter there, and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement. When Christ was crucified, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple was torn in two. This showed that Jesus had opened the way, so all of God’s saints could be in God’s presence. Yet, this reality is still not fully fulfilled, for God’s saints in the Church on earth still have their sinful natures that keeps them from seeing and receiving God in all His glory.
So, this vision with the Temple of God being opened in heaven shows that God’s work of salvation is ending and that the Messianic era is now completed. For after all the saints are rid of their sinful nature, they can delight in the fully glory of God in His divine being and essence.
The 7th Sign (15:1-8)
Read Revelation 15:1
– If we remember from Lesson 1, 7 is a number for divine judgment. Yet, what in this verse points to Christ’s return and the end of the world as we know it?
Read Revelation 15:2-4
– Where are those who had not given in to the beast?
– What are they doing?
We find the saints not only singing the “Song of the Lamb” but also the “Song of Moses.” The Song of Moses was a song the Israelites sang after they had crossed the Red Sea. Part of that song is this: “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, working wonders?” (Exodus 15:11) Even more, the Old Testament compared the triumph at the Red Sea to God’s crushing of a giant, sea monster (Psalm 74:13-14). So, we see how fitting the Song of Moses is, showing that the defeat of the dragon and the beast of the sea is now fully realized.
Read Revelation 15:5-8
This vision relates back to Isaiah 6:1-5, where Isaiah had a vision of the throne room of God. There, angels were present and smoke filled the temple. The smoke of incense testifies to the presence of God (1 Kings 8:10 and 2 Chronicles 7:1-3). That is why, to this day, some Christians still burn incense during worship–to testify that God is present in Word and Sacrament.
After Isaiah saw his vision, God commissioned him to pronounce a coming judgment on the people of Jerusalem. In this vision, John also stands in the throne room and pronounces a coming judgment, but this time on the entire world.
– What would keep us from entering “the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled”?
The 7th Censer (16:17-21)
Read Revelation 16:17-18
– Four refers to created life and things. How does the fourfold pattern (voices, thunders, lightnings, and earthquake) help show what will precede Jesus’ return on the Last Day?
“Poured out his bowl into the air”
Earlier in Revelation, we have seen God pour out His wrath on the earth, sea, and rivers (8:7-11, 16:2-7). We even saw such wrath displayed to the sun, moon, and stars (8:12, 16:8). But this is the first time God releases His wrath “into the air.” In the other judgments, the power of nature warred against humans, but now the air that surrounds us is even filled with wrath. There is now no escape possible. That is what is unique about God’s wrath being poured into the air.
Yet, there is more. Ephesians 2:2 reads, “You [Christians] used to walk according to the ways of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience.” The realm of air was considered the sphere of Satan’s activity and the power of evil. So, God is doing more than just saying that time is up–He is also bringing to fulfillment the final defeat of Satan on his “home turf.”
“It is done”
“It is done” brings to mind Jesus’ words on the cross, “It is finished.” However, the Greek words are different, so we can’t make a direct connection based on vocabulary between Jesus’ completed work for us on the cross and His return on the Last Day. On the cross, Jesus said, “Telestai”; in Revelation we hear, “Gegonen.”
What gegonen, instead, tells us is that everything needed has been completed, so the end can now come. So, “it is a done” not only refers to what John had written about in the first six seals, it also points to the final act: the 7th seal. The last seal emphatically proclaims that time is up, for the end is here and it is now time for the final judgment.
On the cross, “It is finished” signaled the end of Jesus’ suffering, but also signaled Jesus doing everything needed for the new beginning of a new life at the resurrection. Here in Revelation, the cry, “It is done,” signals the last chance to repent before the end of time.
Read Revelation 16:19-21
What does Babylon symbolize?
The Babylonian Empire and its capital, Babylon, destroyed the first Jewish Temple. Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and deported most of the Israelites of the Southern Kingdom, where the Israelites lived in exile for 70 or more years.
So, Babylon (until 70 AD) was the “evil empire” that destroyed the Jewish Temple. Babylon represented the seat of power that did not follow God’s ways. Babylon does not represent any one specific city but, instead, represents humanity in organized opposition against God and people in rebellion against Him. That is why God gives Babylon “the cup of wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” In all of Revelation, we find no stronger expression of the devastating nature of God’s punitive judgments.
Islands and mountains disappearing; giant hail from the sky
The mountains disappearing calls to mind Old Testament passages that speak of the coming of the Lord. However, with the islands being included, that emphasizes all the more the finality and judgment associated with Jesus’ return.
- Psalm 97:5: “The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord.”
- Isaiah 42:15: “I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation.”
- Isaiah 45:2: “I will go before you and will level the mountains.”
- Ezekiel 38:20: “The earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.”
This is God’s way of saying, “Time’s up; there’s nowhere to run.” For the Bible often described mountains as hiding places in times of God’s judgment (Genesis 19:30; Matthew 24:16, Mark 13:14, and Luke 21:21).
The fiery hail that falls down to destroy the earth reminds us, not only of the 7th plague of Egypt (Exodus 9:24), but also of Sodom, which was destroyed by fire from heaven (Genesis 19:24). These events are the last call to conversion.
– What happens, repentance of continued unbelief?
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