Opening the Seventh Seal and Sounding the First Four Trumpets
• "1 And when He had opened the Seventh Seal, there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour." When the LORD Jesus Christ opens the Seventh Seal Judgment, the immediate effect is silence in Heaven. "But the LORD is in His holy Temple: let all the Earth keep silence before Him" (Habakkuk 2:20). The "angels desire to look into" (1Peter 1:12) both the Gospel plan of man's Salvation and the righteous plan of God's Judgments. "With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early: for when Thy Judgments are in the Earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness" (Isaiah 26:9).
The presence of God is a naturally joyful place. "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for Evermore" (Psalm 16:11). Therefore, any period of absolute "silence in Heaven" (Rev 8:1) must indicate the awful gravity of what is about to unfold. "As I live, saith the LORD GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11).
• "2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets." A picture of the Judgments of the Tribulation Week would begin with the Seal Judgments (Rev 6:1-17; 8:1) occupying the First Half of the Week. The Seventh Seal Judgment (8:1) contains the Trumpet Judgments (Rev 8:2-13; 9:1-21; 11:15-19), which dominate the Second Half of the Week. And, the Seventh Trumpet Judgment (Rev 11:15-19) contains the final seven Vial Judgments (Rev 16:1-21), which occupy the final handful of days of the Tribulation Week (after the Pre-Wrath Rapture). "And to wait for His Son from Heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come" (1Thessalonians 1:10).
The angels are God's messengers-- of the Gospel and of Judgment "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10). Trumpets are more than a musical instrument, but a means of announcing: (1) Old Testament Israel's New Year, which is the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah), i.e., "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month [Tishri, e.g., September], in the first day of the month [e.g., September 11th 1999], shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation" (Leviticus 23:24),
(2) the time for Old Testament Israel to begin their march in their wilderness wanderings, i.e., "Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps" (Numbers 10:2), and
(3) the alarm for war, i.e., "And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies" (Numbers 10:9).
• "3 And another angel came and stood at the Altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was before the Throne." The angel that "stood at the Altar" (8:3) would be one of the four divisions of Holy Angels described in Scripture: (1) Angels, in general, are "ministering spirits" (Hebrews 1:14), who are a numerous, i.e., "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands" (Revelation 5:11), but separate class of created beings, superior to man, i.e., man was made a "little lower than the angels" (Psalm 8:5), possessing greater Knowledge and Wisdom than man, i.e., "the Wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the Earth" (2Samuel 14:20), and having greater strength than man, i.e., "His angels, that excel in strength, that do His Commandments" (Psalm 103:20).
(2) Cherubim are commonly identified in the Old Testament as appearing around the person of the LORD of Hosts, i.e., "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth" (Psalm 80:1), possibly guarding His Throne as they guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden, i.e., "So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life" (Genesis 3:24), and aiding in the execution of the Almighty's will , i.e., "And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind" (Psalm 18:9-10).
(3) Seraphim are briefly mentioned as directing Heaven's worship of the LORD of Hosts, i.e., "3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts: the whole Earth is full of His glory... 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the Altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged" (Isaiah 6:3, 6-7). And,