And when He broke the seventh seal,

there was SILENCE IN HEAVEN for about half an hour.

There are two views as to what causes the silence.

• What heaven sees inside the scroll is so awful, it is stunned.
• God wishes to listen to the prayers of the saints (Revelation 8:3) that He silences the heavens in order to hear them.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God;

and seven trumpets were given to them.

Before every woe, a warning is given by an angel blowing a trumpet. Each trumpet was unique and contained its own warning upon a specific part of the physical universe.

Trumpets also are associated with revelation particularly the giving of the Law (Exodus 19:16-20) and the prophesy (Amos 3:6-7). Jericho prevented Israel from taking the Promised Land; it fell by the trumpet (Joshua 6:12-21 ); so, too, the evil one prevents or tries to prevent Christ from claiming His true inheritance. This is associated with seal seven. Satan uses the Gentile nations to hold on to this earth and to fight the Jews, God's Chosen. See Zechariah 14:1-4 and Luke 21:20-24 .

And another angel came and stood at the ALTAR, holding a golden censer;

Hagar, Sarai's maid, sees an 'angel of the Lord' in Genesis 16:9-13, and ends up referring to the angel as "Thou art a God who sees".

The initial encounter of Gideon was with the angel of the Lord in Judges 6:11-18. Later, 'the Lord' said He would be with Gideon.

The background to Samson's birth announcement in Judges 13:2-20, Manoah's wife saw the angel of the Lord who brought her the message of her new baby to be a Nazirite. When Manoah entreated the Lord if this true, he went through a most fascinating dialogue. The angel of the Lord said His name was incomprehensible (usually an attribute of Christ's name). Furthermore, the 'angel of the Lord' ascended out of Manoah and his wife's sight in the smoke of the ALTAR they had built. This is curiously parallel to the angel standing at the alter in this verse.

The high priest, alone, carried the censer, fire pan full of coals, as a sin offering for himself, Leviticus 16:11-14.

This mediating role is Christ's alone between God and man as Paul describes in 1 Timothy 2:1-7.

Interestingly, there never has been a reference to Christ ever appearing back on earth as an angel after His ascension. However, Paul indicates in Hebrews 13:1-6 that we may have entertained angels without knowing it. Was Christ one of them?

and much incense was given to him,

that he might add it to the PRAYERS of ALL the saints upon the golden ALTAR which was before the THRONE.

Incense also is very closely tied to Christ's name. Malachi, in Malachi 1:6-14, rebukes defiled offerings and the priests who permit them. He indicates that incense is offered to the greatness of His name.

And the smoke of the incense,

with THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS went up before God out of the angel's hand.

It is not unusual for prayers to be thought of as incense. David uses the same analogy in Psalm 141:1-2-4 .

And the ANGEL took the censer;

and he filled it with the FIRE of the ALTAR,

and threw it to the earth.

and there followed
 
• peals of thunder and
• sounds and
• flashes of lightning and
• an earthquake.

And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.

Yet with God being beyond the constraints of time, John, who is time limited or constrained, probably had no other way of describing these occurrences. One thing is certain, at the seventh bowl, the proclamation is given, "It is done.", Revelation 16:17. The vengeance, as horrible as it is, has been completed.