Revelation 8

The seventh seal opens up the seven trumpets. There is a holding of breath, a pregnant pause as we wait for what happens next, and what happens next is that God answers the prayer of the saints: “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood” (6:10)? Four trumpets bring four tragedies, which remind us of the judgments on Egypt. The eagle could be interpreted in many ways, but we do know that the Romans sometimes did divination by charting their paths in the sky. That would mean they could be seen as messengers, which is what we see here.

I once had a professor who told us that, if we were ever struggling to interpret a passage in the Old Testament, it’s probably about God’s sovereignty! You could say the same thing about Revelation, or you could change it from sovereignty to judgment. Much of Revelation deals with God’s judgment! But here there is another aspect to God’s judgment – it comes as a response to the prayers of the saints. The reminder here is that God hears and answers prayer! Are there some caveats with that? Sure, the biggest being that we are praying according to His will. But He is always listening. And the silence reminds us that He doesn’t necessarily answer immediately. It can take some time. God works over the long haul. Proper prayers are never wasted. They are just answered the best way and in the best time!