When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. v1

Finally, the 7^th and final seal is Broken. Notice this Seal is complete silence in Heaven, just like a Sabbath of Seals. God rested on the 7^th day of Creation, there is a break/silence on the 7^th seal of the great tribulation. This marks the beginning of the next phase of judgement, natural disasters,  the 7 trumpets

Half an hour- a short amount of time

(Remember from previous chapters, 7 is symbolic for completion)

In this Chapter we will only see the first 4 Trumpets sounded

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. v2-4

In this scene we see the 7 Angels (who represented the 7 Churches) and the 7 trumpets that are now given to them. Each trumpet will represent a different judgement/natural disaster upon the Earth, some of them are very similar to the plagues of Egypt. We will break them down in more detail as we go along.

Remember our prayers are collected by God and released like a sweet-smelling incense. Just think of all your heartfelt prayers to God are not only heard but are being collected and used to glorify God!

May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering. Psalm 141:2

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. v5-6

The censer filled with all our prayers is now thrown down to Earth to begin massive judgement of the wicked and evil. Now all that is left is judgment for the wicked!

Notice the similarities between the Trumpets judgements and the plagues of Egypt

The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. v7

The 1rst Trumpet,  1/3^rd of the entire Earth is scorched! Imagine this scene, we see the wildfires going on in California, imagine 33% of the Earth is on fire! No green grass is left on the entire Earth! Its beginning to look like Hell on Earth already. Compared to the fire and brimstone God sent down on the Earth during the plagues of Egypt

And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. Exodus 9:23

Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. v8-9

The 2^nd Trumpet, 1/3^rd of the sea turns to Blood! 33% of everything living in the sea dies! Again very similar to the plagues of Egypt.

So Moses and Aaron did even as the LORD had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. Exodus 7:20-21

Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. v10-11

The 3^rd Trumpet is sounded, and now 1/3^rd of all the fresh drinking water is contaminated. A great star named “Wormwood” is thrown into the water and poisons it, so what is Wormwood? Wormwood is a popular bitter herb , even still used today. So when you say “Wormwood” people generally associate it to “Bitterness”. However as we read, the water are not only Bitter but Poisonous. This will cause great distress among the Earth

Wormwood a “star” is probably a demon

And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.) / So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Exodus 15:23

Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. v12

The 4^th Trumpet is sounded, and darkness is cast upon the Earth, as the Sun, Moon, and 1/3^rd of all stars are struck. Again this is very similar to the plague in Egypt where God cast darkness upon Egypt for 3 days.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.” Exodus 10:21

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” v13

The ending of this Chapter is very interesting, the finally 3 Trumpets are known as the 3 Woes because of this warning upon the Earth. The word “Woe” in the Bible is often used to describe a Judgement that is beyond description. Jesus used the warning of Woe throughout his Ministry

As bad as the first 4 Trumpets were, the last 3 Trumpets (Woes) are going to be even worse! Get Ready!

Notice the reference to the Triune God, Woe, Woe, Woe, and Holy Holy Holy!

And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:3