Category: Daniel Burton

Throughout the whole of this chapter, many times and numbers are given.  It is very likely that these are not indicative of the literal time but rather as an indication of completeness and representing God.  Furthermore, as John references the temple, it is the opinion of this author that this does not necessitate a physical rebuilding of the temple.  The temple refers to the people of God and the true believers who find their identity in the body of Christ.  In the Old Testament, the temple represented the place where the priests would intercede for mankind to God.  Now, with the coming of Jesus Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit, we as the body of Christ represent the intercession of God to the world and identifying with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. In this chapter, you see the believers begin to feel the persecution of the world.  For part of this, the people of God will be spared and for others, true believers will feel the unabated persecution.  Throughout this chapter, though, we see that God does not abandon His people.  No matter what the world does to those who believe, God will protect those who worship Him and belong in Jesus Christ.

Stop for a moment and consider what John has witnessed so far.  John has witnessed the throne room of heaven, seen the beginnings of heaven’s collision with earth, and watched as God poured out judgment on the world.  He has witnessed natural disasters beyond explanation and seen heavenly creatures roam throughout the earth.  With six of the seven trumpets having resounded their blasts, a brief interlude begins resembling the interlude between the breaking of the seven seals.  For all of the wonders that John has seen, though, at this point, it is almost as if there is still time and hope for the people of the world.

In the first four trumpets, the earth endured the punishment for the sin with a third of the world being wiped out from the first four trumpets.  The earth felt the effects of sin which cannot withstand God’s judgment.  Through the initial actions of Adam and Eve and our continued sin, we subject the earth to the judgment of God that undoubtedly will not go unnoticed by the people.  After these trumpets, the angel delivered a solemn warning of what was to come; woe to those who dwell on the earth.  For the next two trumpets, mankind receives the beginning of their judgment for their sin and rebellion.  God takes the issue of sin extremely serious.  Sin is unholy rebellion against the things of God and goes against our intended creation of how God made the world to function.  Hence, the first act of God to repair the effects of sin came in the form of sending Jesus Christ to die as the lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.  Now, the land of God stands in judgment over the world for those who do not find their identity in Him.  With the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpet, those who persist to follow other gods will find themselves experiencing the fullness of God’s judgment but they are not outside of the reach of the hand of Jesus Christ to provide grace.  

At the end of Revelation 7, the patriarchs of the Old Testament, the multitudes, the angels, the creatures and everyone else worships the Lord as the invasion of Heaven to earth continues.  There is a taste of heaven that the world receives (and shudders as it does so).  The judgment of God is being poured out as the seals on the scroll are being opened.  Previously, there was an extended pause after the sixth scroll and now the judgment continues.  The Lamb of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah opens the seventh scroll.  Yet, for all the raucousness of the previous seals, heaven falls strangely silent.  Events unfold and an angel ministers at the altar, dealing with the prayers of the saints before the throne.  There is a mixture of prayers of the people and the offerings of the heavenly beings.  The holiness of God and the prayers of the people unite in one and are returned to earth.  The prayer we have all been taught by Christ Himself plays itself out in this moment; “your kingdom comes, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

Between the 6th and 7th seal being open, there is a brief pause.  Up until this point, the believers have felt the effects (albeit not the consequences) of the judgment being poured out on the world.  Then, with the return of the martyrs and the persistent denial from the world of the Lordship of Christ while seeing clearly His omnipotent hand, creation pauses and the scene shifts.  John’s vision makes it clear that the judgment will be ramping up in intensity and in consequence.  The nearer to the end of time that humanity approaches, the more adverse the effects.  After all, sin is permitted to remain for the sake of saving as many persons ensnared by its alluring grasp.  Thus, as sin continues, its effects on the world continue and the punishment becomes more and more deserved with each passing day.  In fact, the judgment of God has already started, pouring out the first seals by the hand of the Lamb of God.