The Seventh Seal

We pass on now to the beginning of the eighth chapter, to notice the last of the seals, because we regard the seventh chapter as a parenthesis; that is, not containing events which, in their occurrences, come in between the sixth and seventh seals, but which may take place during other parts of the apocalyptic period.
The seventh seal discloses to us the unfolding of the last roll of the prophetic book that was in the right hand of Him who sat upon the throne, and, I suggest, has its accomplishment, together with the last trumpet and last vial, in ushering in the personal revelation of the Lord from heaven, when the prophetic word will be fulfilled:
The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee (Zech. 14:5).
We do not expect lightnings and thunderings after Christ is manifested, but we find, in Rev. 19 where an account of Christ’s glorious appearing is given, it is said,
I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth {Rev. 19:6}.
We are told that when he had opened the seventh seal,
there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour {Rev. 8:1}.
There have been many conjectures about what this “silence in heaven” can mean; but there has been no better thought suggested, perhaps, than that of all intelligences in heaven standing in solemn awe at the fact, that the Lord Himself was now about to go forth in flaming fiery vengeance, to judge the world in righteousness, and to put all enemies under His feet. We can understand “silence in heaven,” I think, under such unparalleled circumstances.
John also saw
seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets; and another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer: and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake {Rev. 8:2-5}.
“The altar,” and “fire of the altar,” clearly show it to be the altar of burnt offering; whilst an angel-priest standing at the golden altar, using the censer, and burning the incense, gives acceptance to “the prayers of the saints.” These points invite our attention to a scene in connection with those who are on Jewish ground. It is remarkable, too, that the one who is seen acting as High Priest is not presented as a partaker of flesh and bones, but as an angel. No doubt it is Jesus the Lord, whom Israel will know, for He is a Priest for ever,
after the order of Melchizedec {Psa. 110:4}.
The Church of God now knows Jesus as her great High Priest, compassionate, merciful, faithful, and sympathizing, who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin; who intercedes for us and loves us as His own flesh and bone. This priestly intercession of Jesus will not be needed by us, as it is now, when we are glorified with Him, though we shall always know Him as a blessing priest; but those in Israel who do turn to Jehovah, and look for their Messiah, will need a priestly intercessor to present their groans and cries to God. Jesus will be both King and Priest to Israel. A praying people on earth, after the taking up of the heavenly saints, has been noticed in Rev. 5:8, and also in Rev. 6:10, where we see the character of their prayers as that of calling on God for vengeance. In this 8th chapter, God is known, we judge, as regarding the sighing of these poor and needy ones, and as having provided a faithful High-Priest in Jesus for them. He presents their prayers with incense from the golden censer, and in answer, it appears, the censer is filled with the fire of the altar — that consuming fire — and cast into the earth; and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake are the result, — accompanied or followed, if I mistake not, by the personal return of Christ in fiery vengeance: for He will avenge His own elect speedily. It seems as if the cry of an oppressed remnant will be the means of bringing Christ Himself to judge the world in righteousness, and of bringing His beloved nation into its long-promised rest and blessing.
Though the seven angels are seen here with trumpets, it does not follow that their several actions do not begin before the seventh seal is opened. John says he saw them, and he also saw them in Rev. 7:1-3, and heard commands given to them. For reasons previously given, the seals, trumpets, and vials, seem to be synchronous in their termination. Neither should I suppose that the priesthood of the Lord for His afflicted and oppressed ones only actually began when the seventh seal was opened. John seems to have seen it when the seventh scroll was unfolded; and in relating the different visions we find in this book, while some events are recorded in chronological order, others are not: for instance, at the end of the fifth chapter we are taken into the millennium, and in the following chapter brought back again; at the end of the eleventh chapter we are taken to the close of the millennium, and the twelfth begins with the incarnation of Christ.
The fourteenth chapter also takes us to an event after the Lord’s personal return, when He will tread the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God; and afterwards we are brought back again. There are other instances of a similar character. As we go through the Revelation, a series of pictures or visions pass before the eye, each perfect in itself, but the several pictures do not follow each other in distinct sequence as to order of fulfilment.
It may be said that the parallel of the seventh seal is not found in the twenty-fourth of Matthew, which we have considered as giving us a prophetic sketch of the seventieth week of Daniel, or the apocalyptic period, which we understand the seven seals to include. True, it is not so plainly referred to as the other six seals are; but as we have the sixth seal distinctly brought out in the 29th verse of that chapter, and the mourning of the tribes predicted by Zechariah (chap. 12:10), and the gathering of the elect of Israel, which we know will be after the Lord’s personal revelation in the clouds of heaven, in the following verses, the seventh seal, trumpet, and vial, will be prior to this. We conceive therefore, that it will come so speedily after the commotions of the sixth seal, that we must leave room for the seventh seal, and we are inclined to connect it with the first line of the 30th verse:
Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven {Matt. 24:30}.