Sounding of the Seven Trumpets begins

This is a brief overview of what will take place in chapter 8.

      1.   The opening of the 7th seal                            (vv. 1-5).

      2.   A great silence in heaven (Interlude)             (v. 1) 

      3.   Another great earthquake                               (v. 5).

      4.   Then the first four of the trumpet judgments (vv. 6-13).

Chapter 8 begins with the breaking of the seventh seal (vv. 1-5). The importance of this event is confirmed by the fact that “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour after it was opened.” Dr. J. Vernon McGee says the silence marks the transition from grace to judgment. God has always been a gracious God offering salvation to all who would receive it through Jesus. At this point:

1.  The first trumpet sounds - hail and fire mixed with blood is cast down and a third of the earth is burned up (v. 7). 

2.  The second trumpet sounds - a third of the sea turns into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea die, and a third of the ships are destroyed (vv. 8-9). 

3.  The third trumpet sounds - a large star falls to the earth from heaven, turning the water into bitterness so that the people who drank it die (vv. 10-11).