The Seventh Seal

From Revelation 8:1 we have the opening of the seventh seal, which out of the seven must be the most famous. It's advent starts a series of events which are to bring the world to a point never before experienced in the history of mankind.

1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
2. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
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.
4. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
6. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

The opening starts with a pause, a 'silence' in heaven for half an hour. The word 'heaven' is taken to mean the Heaven where God resides, but can equally mean our sky and universe above us. It's literal translation comes form the idea of elevation, above, and its contextual position in the statement leads people to assume it means the heaven of God.

While this may be true the apparent time frame around this silence leads us to think that this may also be a terrestrial silence. To God there is no time, half an hour is nothing but to us it is quite along time to be silent. Certainly when transferred to the global view of our sky being silent, it would constitute a very spooky and eerie silence, causing a feeling of expectancy and fear around the world.

From the fifth seal we saw the souls of those killed during the tribulation crying out to God to be avenged now this time has come they stop crying out and watch as the preparation is made by God to exact that vengeance on the world. The half an hour can be considered as a time of reflection and a deliberate pause, showing that the vengeance is not a reactionary response but a co-ordinated and inevitable consequence of man's own actions.

Following the silence God prepares seven angels (who's place, or residence is before God, Revelation 4:5 and 5:6 - the seven spirits of God) to bring about the final plagues upon man and the earth. But first we see another angel come to the alter who's job it was to make an offering to God with incense added to which was the prayers of the saint's under the alter who had been killed during the tribulation and who cried to be avenged (Revelation 6:10). The offering was good before God and the angel was allowed to fill the censer or bowl with the fire from the alter (verse 5).

This view of preparation is complemented within the verses of Revelation 15. In verse 2 we have the saints who were killed during the tribulation, before God singing their praises, all standing before the throne on a glassy sea mixed with fire, the fire which tries and cleanses, 1 Peter 1:7 and 1 Corinthians 3:13

7. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
13. Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

The angel having filled the censer with fire casts it to the earth sealing the eventual fate of the earth as mentioned in 2 Peter 3:7

7. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly

And also heralds the judgement of God through the consuming fire of truth. 2 Thessalonians 1:8

8. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

The censer has been poured on the earth to show what is to be cleansed, its reaction with the earth is one of destruction (verse 5) as the perfectness of the consuming fire comes into contact with a sin drenched earth.

Now the mood changes and the seven angels prepare to sound the seven trumpets heralding the judgements and plagues on man before the Return of Christ.