Revelation 8:2

SECTION II

(Revelation 8:2-11:19)

And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there was given unto them seven trumpets. (Revelation 8:2)

The pageantry here did not take place during the silence, but after it. "Revelation 2-6 are a preface to the vision of the trumpets."[20]

Seven angels that stand before God ... It is natural that many should understand these as the seven archangels, and Barclay named them (not from the Bible, of course, but from Tobit): "Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel.[21] Only one archangel is mentioned in the Bible, Michael; and it seems logical to conclude that there could be only one archangel, the one of highest authority. See more on this in my Commentary on Jude, p. 534. Barclay also thought that "this verse is out of place, due to some copyist's error";[22] but such views come from a failure to see this little paragraph as a fitting introduction to the trumpet judgments.

There were given unto them seven trumpets ... "The reason for only seven angels being mentioned is that there were just seven trumpets to be sounded."[23] The usual view of this place, which is rejected here, is that "the seventh seal becomes the seven trumpets."[24] This series of judgments is new, but it covers the same time period as the seven seals; and there is here a significant difference. Whereas the first four judgments under the seals derived from the sins of people, the first four in the series of the trumpets are the result of what appears to be supernatural intervention. "The trumpets are structured over the same pattern as that of the seals,"[25] "but the judgments under the seals were natural, ordinary occurrences; the supernatural is added here."[26] The trumpet is often mentioned in Scripture in connection with the last things. See 1 Corinthians 15:50ff and 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

[20] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 230,231.

[21] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 41.

[22] Ibid., p. 38.

[23] John T. Hinds, op. cit., p. 118.

[24] Ralph Earle, op. cit., p. 552.

[25] Vernard Eller, op. cit., p. 107.

[26] Esther Ohstad, Courage for Today, Hope for Tomorrow (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1973), p. 38.