The Beginning of the End
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Our text picks back up where we left off at the end of
Our text picks back up where we left off at the end of
How long oh Lord?
It’s a natural feeling.
It’s a question we may often ask. Hurt, heartache, suffering, loss.
It’s a warranted feeling.
But as it relates to true justice, the justice only God can execute, we must trust that he will fulfill it in his time and in his way.
Our text picks back up where we left off at the end of
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
The first thing up after the Lamb opens the seventh seal is silence (v. 1), after which John introduces seven angels who stand in the presence of God and who are given seven trumpets (v. 2). But before they do anything, another angel appears, who offers on the altar the prayers of the saints (vv. 3–4). Then at the end of the paragraph (v. 5) John experiences a spectacular theophany, reminiscent of and occurring again in . The phenomena themselves first appeared in 4:5 (q.v.), but now they include an earthquake.
The first thing up after the Lamb opens the seventh seal is silence (v. 1), after which John introduces seven angels who stand in the presence of God and who are given seven trumpets (v. 2). But before they do anything, another angel appears, who offers on the altar the prayers of the saints (vv. 3–4). Then at the end of the paragraph (v. 5) John experiences a spectacular theophany, reminiscent of and occurring again in . The phenomena themselves first appeared in 4:5 (q.v.), but now they include an earthquake.
- God’s promise fulfilled
- God’s promise fulfilled
Silence
In light of its significance in chapter 5, one might expect that the scroll itself would now be read. Nope!
In the present case, one is also caught by surprise that the opening of the seventh seal is not accompanied by loud sounds of various kinds, as in earlier moments (trumpet blasts, shouts, etc.); rather the reader is caught up short with silence.
Why?
Opportunity to hear the prayers of the saints.
Preparation for divine judgement.
Preparation for divine judgement.
Opportunity to hear the prayers of the saints.
- God’s work continues
- God’s work continues
This is an interruption of sorts
Seven angels
These could either be the seven angels of the seven churches mentioned in or they could be the seven archangels referenced in the Book of Enoch.
It is most likely the latter as this would have made most sense to the readers of that day. Of the 7 mentioned in the Book of Enoch, two are named in Scripture (Gabriel and Michael).
More important than specifically identifying them by name is understanding that they were given significant responsibility by God for a specific purpose.
Seven trumpets
Although the meaning of the “seven trumpets” has also been a point of some difference among interpreters, the most likely option is to be found in several texts in the Prophets, where warnings of judgment are accompanied by a trumpet blast.
the watchman will “blow the trumpet to warn the people”;
the “great day of the Lord” will be “a day of trumpet and battle cry” (cf. ; ).
If this is the interpretation taken (it is mine), than we would go on to understand that the trumpets are both the announcement and initiation of judgement, while the bowls complete the act.
way forward, then the difference between the trumpets and the coming “seven bowls” (ch. 16) is that the former only announce the coming judgments, and inherent in them is the opportunity to hear them as warning. What further supports this view is that when the trumpets are sounded only one third of the earth will be affected and people are regularly offered opportunity to repent, even though they do not (e.g., 9:20–21); while the later “bowls of wrath” are poured out as divine judgment, with no relief of any kind.
Parallel acts vs chronological ones
- God’s final judgement comes
- God’s final judgement comes
Continued imagery of the last judgment.
Another angel appears and stands at the altar.
The altar in view is the same of 6:9, under which were the souls of the persecuted saints.
Much incense was given to the angel, most likely by God.
This is consistent with the fact that in the saints presented their prayer directly to God, which demonstrates their direct access to the divine throne as priests (“royal priesthood”).
That the altar of v. 3 is the same as that of is confirmed by the repetition of “altar” three times in vv. 3–5, in connection with the following statement that he added “much incense … to the prayers of all the saints.”
This phrase is almost identical in wording to , which is then developed in , showing that the altar and temple theme originate in the temple vision of chs. 4–5.
The response to their prayers is that punishment cannot be executed until the number of God’s people destined for persecution is completed ().
This cannot happen until history comes to an end.
This is why, if and are viewed as a response to this petition, they must be understood as depicting the last great judgment.
Vv. 3–5 make this connection between 6:9–11 and 6:12–17/8:1 explicit by formally alluding to 6:9–10. This observation alone provides significant evidence against the traditional futurist view of Revelation, which depends on the contention that the various series of plagues depicted in the book are entirely consecutive in nature.
4 The fact that the smoke of the incense goes up with the prayers of the saints shows that the petition of 6:9–10 is now being presented before God. In the Bible, incense is always associated with sacrifice, so that the sacrifice, accompanied by a pleasing aroma, will be acceptable to God. These verses echo , where the priest takes the censer full of coals off the altar before the Lord, fills his hands with incense, and puts the incense on the fire before the Lord. In prayer is associated with incense and compared to a form of sacrifice: “May my prayer be counted as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.” The fact that incense is offered from the altar shows that the prayers of the saints who were slain for their testimony (6:9) represent the sacrifice of their lives in the cause of Christ, and so their petition for judgment in 6:10 has been found acceptable to God.
The fact that the smoke of the incense goes up with the prayers of the saints shows that the petition of 6:9–10 is now being presented before God.
In the Bible, incense is always associated with sacrifice, so that the sacrifice, accompanied by a pleasing aroma, will be acceptable to God.
The fact that incense is offered from the altar shows that the prayers of the saints who were slain for their testimony (6:9) represent the sacrifice of their lives in the cause of Christ, and so their petition for judgment in 6:10 has been found acceptable to God.
God’s formal acknowledgement of the angel’s presentation of the saints’ prayers and His positive response is the unmentioned link between vv. 4 and 5. This is evident from recognizing v. 5 as a clear divine answer to the petition of 6:10. The verse formally interprets the scenes of woe in 6:12–17 and 8:1 as the answer to the prayer of 6:10 and demonstrates that God has heard and answered these prayers, for the angel throws fire from the altar down to the earth to signify that the last judgment is taking place. The phrase peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake is almost identical to the description of the last judgment in 11:19 and 16:18 (see also 4:5, which serves as an introductory note giving expectation of a final judgment), and is rooted in descriptions of divine judgment in the OT, particularly at Sinai (, ; see also and , “You will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise”). Jesus used earthquake imagery to portray woes preliminary to the final cosmic destruction but not part of it (, , ). Richard Bauckham has shown in “The Eschatological Earthquake in the Apocalypse of John,” Novum Testamentum 19 (1977), 228, that 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; and 16:18–21 form a progressive sequence of allusions to , that systematically build upon one another, commencing with lightnings, sound, and thunders in 4:5 and at each step adding other elements. The effect of these progressive, yet virtually identical repetitions is to underscore the final judgment and that each recapitulated portrayal of the judgment fills out in more detail how it will occur. Therefore, after the introductory note of 4:5 announcing the expectation of the final judgment, each of the remaining phrases is a formal notation that the last judgment has been narrated, but not exhaustively so.
is God’s response of final judgement, though not clearly stated, to the petition of .
The angel throws fire from the altar down to the earth to signify that the last judgment is taking place.
The phrase peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake is almost identical to the description of the last judgment in and and is rooted in descriptions of divine judgment in the OT, ( and ).
Jesus also used earthquake imagery to portray woes preliminary to the final cosmic destruction but not part of it (, , ).
Note that in , , the judgment is accompanied by loud blasts of a trumpet, which is particularly interesting as the trumpet judgments are about to be unfolded. That v. 5 is about the last judgment is confirmed from 14:18–19, where the judgment day is commenced apparently by the same angel, described in the same language here as in vv. 3–5. There, “another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar,” and commanded a second angel to execute God’s final act of wrath against the earth. The portrayal here is modeled to a great extent on , where an angel standing in the temple of the Lord takes fire from between the cherubim and scatters it over the city, emphasizing the decree of God’s judgment narrated in . This judgment comes on all the unfaithful, those upon whose foreheads God’s angel did not give a protective mark, exactly as the saints have their foreheads sealed in so that they will be protected in a similar way. The pattern of this passage follows broadly that of some OT depictions of divine judgment against sinners: prayer for help, divine response to prayer, which leads to fire proceeding from the heavenly temple to consume the persecutors (e.g., ; ). Those not bearing the seal suffer final judgment.
This judgment comes on all the unfaithful, those upon whose foreheads God’s angel did not give a protective mark, exactly as the saints have their foreheads sealed in .
Beale, G. K., & Campbell, D. H. (2015). Revelation: A Shorter Commentary (pp. 165–167). Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
The pattern of this passage follows broadly that of some OT depictions of divine judgment against sinners: prayer for help, divine response to prayer, which leads to fire proceeding from the heavenly temple to consume the persecutors (e.g., ; ). Those not bearing the seal suffer final judgment.
- Theophany
Practically
Practically
- God appears to Moses and the people of Israel.
God hears our prayers
- When John first sees God in heaven.
God’s timing is perfect
God’s call is not for us to escape