My grandsons are in band.  We have gone to concerts, marching band competitions on football fields and watched them in parades.  We are joined by other spectators who watch as the students look intently, “all eyes on me”, for the Director’s prompt. It amazes me to watch the discipline of band students.  Before a concert begins, everyone tunes their instruments in readiness.  This sounds like just a lot of noise if you have never experienced it.  But it is this “warm up” that gets everyone ready to make beautiful music together in perfect rhythm with pitch perfect harmonies—at least that is the goal! 

As soon as the Director steps up on the platform, all students fall silent.  You can hear a pin drop in the auditorium or on the field.  All focus is on the director. They are ready to be directed, with hours and hours of practice behind them, to perform what is asked of them in unity.

We come now to another band concert by seven angels led by the Lamb of God.  The Lamb will rip off the seventh seal.  Get this—heaven fell silent—for about a half hour!  Imagine everyone in heaven, stopping everything, all praises to God, all instruments quiet as the Director readies the band of Angels to begin the sound of trumpets!

The Seven Angels prepare to sound their trumpets, “always in readiness before God”.  All eyes on the Director—The Lamb of God! 

REVELATION—JESUS IS COMING BACK!

Revelation 8, The Message

When the Lamb ripped off the seventh seal, Heaven fell quiet—complete silence for about half an hour.

Blowing the Trumpets

^2-4 I saw the Seven Angels who are always in readiness before God handed seven trumpets. Then another Angel, carrying a gold censer, came and stood at the Altar. He was given a great quantity of incense so that he could offer up the prayers of all the holy people of God on the Golden Altar before the Throne. Smoke billowed up from the incense-laced prayers of the holy ones, rose before God from the hand of the Angel.

⁵ Then the Angel filled the censer with fire from the Altar and heaved it to earth. It set off thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake.

^6-7 The Seven Angels with the trumpets got ready to blow them. At the first trumpet blast, hail and fire mixed with blood were dumped on earth. A third of the earth was scorched, a third of the trees, and every blade of green grass—burned to a crisp.

^8-9 The second Angel trumpeted. Something like a huge mountain blazing with fire was flung into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, a third of the living sea creatures died, and a third of the ships sank.

^10-11 The third Angel trumpeted. A huge Star, blazing like a torch, fell from Heaven, wiping out a third of the rivers and a third of the springs. The Star’s name was Wormwood. A third of the water turned bitter, and many people died from the poisoned water.

¹² The fourth Angel trumpeted. A third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were hit, blacked out by a third, both day and night in one-third blackout.

¹³ I looked hard; I heard a lone eagle, flying through Middle-Heaven, crying out ominously, “Doom! Doom! Doom to everyone left on earth! There are three more Angels about to blow their trumpets. Doom is on its way!”

THOUGHTS TO CONSIDER

Let the music begin!  The Director begins His Judgements.  All eyes on Him! We can rely, trust, have faith in our God who told us this would happen along with protecting those who love Him.  God has already won this battle over evil through Jesus, the Lamb of God, who defeated death for all who believe.

The prayers of God’s holy, faithful people, who never stopped loving God, even though people around them did, are offered up to God.  ALL our prayers offered up to God!  Can you stop and imagine this for a moment?  What we pray to God matters to God!  We pray to the Father through the Son, for He alone is worthy (Rev. 5:3). For centuries, God’s people have been praying, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done!” and now those prayers are about to be answered. 

The purpose of prayer, it has often been said, is not to get man’s will done in heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth—even if that will involves judgment. True prayer is serious business, so we had better not move the altar too far from the throne!

The trumpet judgments are released during the first half of the tribulation, and the bowl judgments during the last half, which is also called “the wrath of God” (Rev. 14:10; 15:7). The trumpet judgments parallel the plagues that God sent on the land of Egypt. And why not? After all, the whole world will be saying, as did Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord that we should serve Him?”

The hosts in heaven had just worshipped the Father and the Lamb with a tremendous volume of praise (Rev. 7:10–12). But when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, heaven was silent for about thirty minutes.  Why?  Were they awestruck as God’s plan, written on the scroll was now seen by all?  Certainly, this silence was “the lull before the storm,” for God’s intensified judgments were about to be hurled to the earth. 

God’s prophets talked about this “silence”! 

“Be silent before the Lord, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.”  Zachariah 2:13

“Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?  They work so hard, but all in vain!”  Habakkuk 2:13 And to idol worshipers, the prophet relates from God, “But the Lord is in his holy Temple.  Let all the earth be silent before him.”  Habakkuk 2:20

There is time to speak and a time to be silent.  Listen for the voice of the Lord.  Be silent before Him.

FUN FACT:  During this silence, the seven angels were given trumpets, significant to John, because he was a Jew and understood the place of trumpets in Israel’s national life. According to Numbers 10, trumpets had three important uses: they called me people together (Num. 10:1–8); they announced war (Num. 10:9); and they announced special times (Num. 10:10). The trumpet sounded at Mount Sinai when the law was given (Ex. 19:16–19), and trumpets were blown when the king was anointed and enthroned (1 Kings 1:34, 39). Of course, everyone familiar with the Old Testament would remember the trumpets at the conquest of Jericho (Josh. 6:13–16).

The voice of the Lord Jesus Christ sounded to John like a trumpet (Rev. 1:10). The voice of a trumpet summoned John to heaven (Rev. 4:1), and some relate this to the promise of the rapture of the church given in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18.

Lord,

I recall Your declaration through the Psalmist, “Be still, and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.”  That’s why I come to you every morning—to be silent before You and Your Son.  I am your servant.  I am listening for your trumpet call.  I’m ready to obey.

In Jesus Name, Amen