'Rev 8:1-5

Back to Contents

Seventh seal (Rev 8:1-5)

As the ungodly suffered the increasingly heavy judgments of the first six seals, they turned against the Christians with greater persecution. This had caused believers to ask God how long it would be before he dealt with those who were killing them (see Rev 6:9-10).

God is now going to answer that prayer. He has postponed judgment as long as possible, but now the time has come. All heaven waits silently. But when the seventh seal is broken, it reveals judgments so terrible that a new set of visions will be needed to explain them. The new visions will be announced by the blowing of trumpets (Rev 8:1-2).

Before seeing the new visions, John sees in picture form how the prayers of the persecuted Christians have brought about these judgments. He sees the prayers held by an angel in a golden container, then mixed with incense and burnt on the golden altar. As the smoke of the burning incense rises, it pictures the prayers going up to God (Rev 8:3-4).

The angel then takes fire from the altar, puts it in the incense container, and throws the container to the earth. As soon as it hits the earth, terrible judgments break out. The whole vision is a dramatic way of showing how the prayers of God’s people play an important part in his dealings with the ungodly world (Rev 8:5; cf. Matt 24:22).