In The Word
Read: Revelation 8
8 When the Lamb broke 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 came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense ascended from the angel’s hand with the prayers of the saints before God. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and hurled it to the earth; and there were peals of thunder and sounds, and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.
7 The first sounded, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, 9 and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. 11 The star is named Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters because they were made bitter.
12 The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
The fact is that there are seven seals and each one is opened separately. Inside the parchment of the seventh judgment are seven trumpets blown individually; this shows us that the judgment on the earth will be released over a period of time on the earth. How long will it last? Only God knows for sure. This we can know: the people on the earth will hope for a quick judgment, but they will not be given that wish. When the seventh seal is opened, the great degree of havoc that will be unleashed upon the earth will be so expansive that it will silence Heaven for thirty minutes. It will be as if God inhaled all the prayers of the saints throughout history, possibly their cries for justice too. In the seriousness of it all, everyone will be perplexed and fearful for what the exhale will bring. The trumpets are not for worship, but for punishment for the lack of worship. Death to all of creation will come at such a magnitude that it will rock the very foundations of the earth. Death will be a mercy. To live will be to face even a harsher judgment to come. People of the earth who do not know God, nor have accepted His Son, don’t understand the pain and torture that they are about to receive. Right now is not the time to be silent but the time to blow a different trumpet, warning the people to accept, worship, and serve Christ our Lord. It’s the only way out of what is coming.