Revelation 8 · ESV Study Bible

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

REVELATION 8 [†]When the Lamb opened u the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2[†]Then I saw the seven angels v who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3[†]And another angel came and stood w at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with x the prayers of all the saints on y the golden altar before the throne, 4and z the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5Then the angel took the censer and a filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and b there were peals of c thunder, rumblings, [1] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

6[†]Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

7The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed d hail and e fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a f third of the earth was burned up, and a third of g the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8[†]The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like h a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea i became blood. 9A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of j the ships were destroyed.

10[†]The third angel blew his trumpet, and k a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on l the springs of water. 11The name of the star is Wormwood. [2] A third of the waters m became wormwood, and many people died from the water, n because it had been made bitter.

12[†]The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of o the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

13[†]Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, p “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

REVELATION—NOTE ON 8:2 Seven angels stand ready to sound seven trumpets, initiating limited judgments that warn of coming destruction (cf. Ezek. 33:1–6; Joel 2:1) and summon rebels to repent (Rev. 9:21).

REVELATION—NOTE ON 8:3–5 The earthly OT sanctuary had two altars, one for bloody sacrifice in the courtyard and the other for smoky incense inside, adjacent to the veil into the Most Holy Place (Ex. 27:1–8; 30:1–10). John sees only one altar in heaven, fulfilling both functions (Rev. 6:9; 8:3). As incense was associated with the prayers of the saints in the earthly sanctuary (see Ps. 141:2; Luke 1:9–11), so it is in John’s visions (see Rev. 5:8). Not only martyrs under the heavenly altar (6:9–10) but also suffering saints on earth cry out for justice. Therefore fire from the altar, from which the saints’ prayers rise, will be flung to earth in judgment, indicating that the judgments to follow answer the prayers of the saints.

REVELATION—NOTE ON 8:1 An interlude promising the sealing and safety of God’s servants (7:1–17) has delayed the opening of the final seal. The silence in heaven that ensues when the Lamb breaks the seventh seal further sustains the suspense. Yet God’s patience in delaying judgment should not be mistaken for indifferent slowness (cf. Luke 18:1–8; 2 Pet. 3:4–13). The brief period of silence—about half an hour—displaces ceaseless praises by living creatures (Rev. 4:8), elders (5:9), angels (5:11–12), and the church triumphant (7:9–10). Silence is appropriate in anticipation of the Lord’s coming judgment (Zeph. 1:7–10; Zech. 2:13).

REVELATION—NOTE ON 8:2–5 Heaven’s Incense Altar: The Saints’ Prayers, and Fire Flung to Earth. Like the just-completed cycle of visions associated with the Lamb’s breaking the scroll’s seven seals, a sevenfold vision series begins with a glimpse into God’s heavenly sanctuary. As seven angels stand ready to sound warning trumpets, the incense altar from which smoke rises (symbolizing the prayers of the suffering church) is the source of a succession of fiery judgments cast from heaven to the earth—devastating, but still restrained, foretastes of final judgment to come.

REVELATION—NOTE ON 8:2–11:18 The Angels and the Trumpets: Warnings of Coming Wrath. A brief vision of God’s heavenly temple, focusing on a golden incense altar, opens a new cycle of seven visions, each of which is introduced by an angelic trumpet blast. Fiery devastation descends from God’s altar in response to his people’s pleas. It despoils the entire environment inhabited by rebellious humanity: land and sea, rivers and springs, lights in the sky overhead—yet divine restraint and forbearance delay the final cataclysm, prolonging the opportunity for repentance. Visions of woe initiated by the last three trumpets disclose intensified demonic activity and global violence as the consummation approaches, at which time “the kingdom of the world” will have “become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (11:15), and every rebel against his reign will endure eternal condemnation and punishment.