Theological Commentary: Click Here
Looking at
Revelation 8 feels like more of the same from the opening of the seven
seals. The judgments escalate in
severity. But generally speaking they
are more demonstrations of God’s ultimate power over creation and humanity.
However, let’s
focus on the seventh seal today. Do you
notice that the seventh seal doesn’t honestly bring about a judgment? In fact, the seventh seal brings about a time
of peace and respite! The seventh seal
offers up silence in heaven for a time prior to the beginning of the seven
trumpets.
It’s hard to
say why this happens. Regardless of the
reason, it first and foremost tells us that God understands our inability to
bear too much. God has just sent many
judgments upon the earth, and creation needs some time to rest. For all we know, God’s angels need time to
rest, too!
When we look
symbolically at the text, this really shouldn’t surprise us. This is the first of three sets of seven
judgments. The three tells us that these
judgments are divine in origin, as if we needed help understanding that point. The seven reminds us that these judgments
will be complete. What is it that
completes the judgments? The judgments
are completed with the same event that completed creation: rest.
This leads
us to the fact that God is ultimately a God of grace. He does not desire to end on a note of
judgment. He is not interested in
showing His dominance and then condemning everyone. He desires to put His power on display and
then give us time to respond.
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