Revelation 8:1–5

8:1 John has explained in 7:1–17 that those who are sealed by God will escape his wrath. Now he returns to the opening of the seals, and the Lamb opens the seventh seal. A seventh seal seems unnecessary, since the sixth seal led to final judgment and the end of history. The breaking of the seventh seal, however, leads to the blowing of seven trumpets. The trumpets don’t describe a new series of events but revisit, from a different perspective, the same period of time found in the first six seals. Revelation, like many texts in the OT, is recursive, revisiting the same period of time from a complementary perspective. When the Lamb opens the seventh seal, there is silence in heaven for about half an hour. What is the significance of the silence? In the OT we see silence before God acts in judgment (Hab. 2:20; Zeph. 1:7; cf. Wisd. Sol. 18:14–15). It is the kind of eerie silence we feel in the natural world before a tornado suddenly strikes.

8:2 John sees seven angels standing in God’s presence (cf. Tob. 12:15; 1 En. 90:21; 3 En. 17:1). Seven angels are mentioned quite often in Revelation (Rev. 8:6; 15:1, 6, 7, 8; 16:1; 17:1; 21:9), and as God’s servants they execute his will. The angels are given seven trumpets; when these trumpets are blown, the trumpet judgments will be inflicted on the earth (8:6–9:21; 11:15–19). The blowing of trumpets is often a call to war and judgment in the OT (Num. 10:9; Josh. 6:4–6, 20; Judg. 7:22; Jer. 4:19; 6:1; Ezek. 33:3–6; Hos. 5:8; Joel 2:1; Amos 3:6; Zeph. 1:16; cf. Matt. 24:31), and here the trumpets signify God’s judgment, just as the trumpets blown at Jericho heralded the fall of that city (Joshua 6). The opening of the seventh seal before the trumpet judgments doesn’t prove that the trumpets are subsequent to the seals, for we saw that the sixth seal was the final judgment. More likely, this is a literary device to continue the narrative.

8:3–4 Another angel appears with a golden censer and stands at the altar of incense (cf. Rev. 14:18; Amos 9:1). The angel plays a role in bringing the prayers of the saints before God (cf. 1 En. 9:3; 15:2; 99:3). The altar of incense was in the Holy Place in the OT tabernacle/temple (Ex. 30:1–10; 37:25–29; 40:5). On the Day of Atonement a censer of incense was brought inside the veil, and the incense cloud covered the mercy seat to avoid judgment (Lev. 16:12–13). John informs us that the incense here is offered with the prayers of the saints on the altar before God’s throne. Some understand this to say that the prayers of the saints are defiled without incense being added to them. It seems more plausible to say that the incense is the prayers—they are acceptable to God, just as incense was pleasing to him. The OT usage supports this notion, for Psalm 141:2 says, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” The prayers of the saints and incense are put in a censer and offered to God.

8:5 In response to the prayers of believers, the angel takes the censer from the altar of incense, fills it with fire from the altar, and throws it on the earth. The imagery is apocalyptic, of course, as there is no literal altar of incense involved. The fire the angel flings represents God’s judgment of the wicked. We see a similar judgment scene in Ezekiel, where the man in linen is instructed, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city” (Ezek. 10:2). Here too in Revelation, the judgments poured out in the trumpets represent answers to the prayers of the saints. Their prayers for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done are being answered (Matt. 6:10). The coming judgments, as a result of the prayers of the saints, are previewed with a massive thunderstorm and earthquake (cf. Isa. 29:6). In Revelation, a thunderstorm and earthquake regularly signal that the final judgment is coming (cf. 6:12; 11:13, 19; 16:18), and show that the judgment comes from God’s throne (4:5). (Cf. comment on 6:12.)