Seventh Seal
I
find it very interesting that after all the buildup of the first six seals -
the seventh seal initially seems to be a dud.
After all, the seventh seal brings about … silence. All the other seals brought signs of judgment
and wrath; this seal brings nothing.
Well, almost nothing. In fact,
when the “nothing” that it brings about is revealed, it will be so much
“something” that you will want to chastise me for once declaring it as
“nothing.”
The
silence comes because of the full realization of being in the presence of God. 1 Kings 19 tells us of the story of Elijah in
the mountain cave where God was not in the fire or the earthquakes but rather
in the stillness.
Additionally,
the silence could represent the fullness of God’s desire to listen to our prayers. Anyone who has ever used incense knows how
much it fills each and every aspect of the room in which it is used. As the prayers of the saints fill heaven
fully, silence ensues so that God can give them his full attention.
Furthermore,
the silence could be from the overwhelming nature of the completion of the
opening of the seven seals. If we can
take the previous chapter (especially 7:1-3) as a reminder about God’s plan for
salvation (either the birth narrative or Pentecost) and the sealing of the
saints, then this seventh seal can be seen as the great response to God’s plan
of salvation.
Whatever
happens to be the motivation for the silence, the reality is that the silence
comes because God is present and at work.
The silence – the “nothing” that the seventh seal reveals – is a stark
reminder to us that God is what is important as well as the fact that God is
present.
Incense
Before
we go on to the trumpet angels, note that the angel with the incense is
standing at the altar. Traditionally,
sacrifices were given at the altar. With
the death of Christ, blood sacrifice is no longer demanded of us for the
forgiveness of sin. All God asks of us
is that we have a repentant heart. In
other words, our prayer and relationship with God is the New Testament analogy
for the Old Testament sacrifice – although certainly Christ’s bloody death on
the cross does all of the meaningful work of salvation.
But
there is yet more in this altar discussion.
The coals that are thrown down upon the earth are gathered from the
altar, where the prayers are being offered as incense. The chain of cause and effect is clear
here. Our prayers rise before God
because we live in a world where sin makes them necessary. God responds to our prayers by offering a fiery
condemnation of the sin and brokenness in the world. God does not immediately and vengefully
condemn the sinner because we are given grace and an opportunity for repentance;
but God does immediately condemn and judge the sin and forgive it once repented. I think that it is important to not miss the
chain of events, though. Prayer fills
all of heaven, and a response is issued forth.
First Four Trumpets
So
now we move on to the seven trumpets – well, only the first four for this
chapter. Church tradition holds that the
seven angels before the throne are called archangels and they are given the
following names:
- Uriel: “Fire of God;” also known as God’s Keeper of the Light,
- Raphael: “Healer of God”,
- Raguel: “Friend of God;” also known as the bringer of Justice,
- Michael: “Who is like God;” also known as the commander of God’s army,
- Sariel: “Command of God;” often also mentioned as Arazyal, the Angel of Death – though not all sources agree with this,
- Gabriel: “Strength of God;” also known as the messenger of God,
- Remiel: “Thunder of God;” also known as the compassion of God.
They
are spoken of in the Apocrypha in Tobit 12:15.
Historically speaking, trumpets are used in a community for one of three
purposes: as a calling for the community to come together, as a calling to initiate
battle, or as a beginning to special
festivals. I think all three of
these reasons could well apply in this accounting.
The
first four trumpet blasts are eerily reminiscent of the control over nature
that God displays in the Exodus story. We
have water turning into blood, hail beating the earth, hardship upon the things
that dwell upon the land, darkness coming from the quenching of the heavenly
lights. John’s point in this passage is absolutely
identical to Moses’ point during the 10 plagues: God is ultimately the one in
charge.
In
addition to the Old Testament references, John also ties in other aspects of
life understood to occur as a part of Mediterranean life. Although not frequent, rain the color of
blood falls from the sky when red sand from the Sahara Dessert gathers in the
atmosphere before a storm. We’ve already
spoken of the fact that fire and smoke poured down from the heavens with the
eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Furthermore, the whole Aegean Sea is a volcanic rich area which brought
eruptions as well as the destruction and formation of new islands during the
time when John would have been alive.
John is tying Old Testament tradition with the commonly observable world
in order to remind the people that God continues to be in control regardless of
what Rome may say on the issue.
The
third trumpet specifically brings about a star called Wormwood. Biblically speaking, Wormwood is not traditionally
used as a specific name. Rather, it is a
general classification for a group of bitter herbs that Jewish tradition finds
particularly unpleasant to eat. These
herbs come from a class of plants called artemisia. They are also known as Mugwort or
sagebrush. The most famous of these
would be tarragon, but they should not be confused with salvia, which many of
us confuse with sages. They are often
used as natural bug repellants, especial against fleas. Deuteronomy 29 and Jeremiah 9 speak of
wormwood as an analogy to the bitterness of God’s wrath – especially against
the sin of idolatry.
Here
John taps the Jewish tradition of Wormwood representing bitterness in order
that he should paint us a picture about our relationship with nature. Wormwood serves as a warning to the
inhabitants of the earth that we should beware of the effects of our sinful
nature upon each other and the creation.
When we lust after our own desires, the world becomes a very bitter
place. When our lust becomes so great
that God intercedes in judgment, the world will become very bitter indeed.
Eagle's Interlude
The
eagle’s interlude is ominous in word and description. The description of “midway” – although some
translations translate this as “midair” and thus lose some of the emphasis of
the passage – does mean in the middle of the sky, but specifically at its
highest point, the apex. It is as though
a solitary bird flies through an empty sky and just as it is about to begin its
descent it has nothing else to do but warn the inhabitants of the earth of what
they have brought upon themselves. Just
like the eagle that is at the point of making its descent, the height of
humanity has ended.
The
imagery between this last verse and the preceding verses should not be
missed. The four trumpets that came
before the eagle were trumpets that dealt largely with natural effects. Now an eagle – another element of nature –
calls out to humanity in warning. Nature
groans against the effects of our sinfulness.
Nature has a way of warning us when we as human beings are out of
balance. God uses nature to convey the
signs that tell us about the effects of our human sinfulness. The signs can be good or bad, but they are
always honest. The more we turn away
from God, the more we risk bringing destruction and wrath upon ourselves.
The
trumpet judgments have come, and the story takes a turn for the wrathful. Wait and see, the story only gets starker
from here. Woe indeed.
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