The Seventh Seal

The first theme in Revelation 8 is “divine presence.”

When God manifest himself on Sinai with Moses a trumpet sounded (Exod 19:16-19). As a king would ascent to rule a trumpet blast publicized his ascension (1 Kings 1:39-40). The kingship of God is marked by a trumpet (Ps 47:5-9), a declaration of war; pronounced by a trumpet (Judg 3:26-28; 7:19-20; Neh 4:18), and the day of the Lord was announced (Joel 2:1; Zeph 1:16), you guessed it, by the blast of a trumpet.

The second theme is “the world.”

Each time an angel “blew on his trumpet” (Rev 8:7, 8, 10, 12) a portion of the earth is judged. Grass is burned, ships destroyed, sea creatures die, water becomes bitter, stars are darkened, and so on.

The third theme is “judgment” which is an expression of his “power.”

In order to judge the world, God must be more powerful than the world. We can safely conclude that God’s ability to judge reflects his being more powerful than you, the world you live in, and the idols you may be struggling with.

Revelation 8:1–2 (CSB)

1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them.

There is silence in heaven while the saints pray for the unrepentant, and those who are unwilling to submit to the power of God. If you are struggling turn to Jesus, “he has the power to help you recover.” (Principle 2).