William Blake, an English poet and artist, drew a well-known picture titled “Angel of the Revelation.” In it, a tall, powerful angelic being towers over John, who is recording his apocalyptic vision. The angel holds a book in one hand and is making a commanding gesture with the other. His feet are burning (like Christ’s in Revelation 1). This is how Blake imagined the significant role that angels play throughout the book (especially chapter 10).

In chapter 8 of Revelation, the seventh seal is opened and there is a half-hour of silence in heaven (v. 1). What is the purpose of this? One reason is preparation. After the seven seal judgments, there will be a second round of seven trumpet judgments (v. 2). Some see the silence as dramatic, increasing the suspense and anticipation. The silence also likely signifies the momentousness of what is about to occur. Finally, silence in the Bible also often indicates another form of respect and worship. For example: “Let all the earth be silent before him [God]” (Hab. 2:20). “Be silent . . . the day of the LORD is near” (Zeph. 1:7).

Next, an angel takes a golden censer or firepan containing incense, representing “the prayers of God’s people,” and offers these prayers as worship to the Lord (vv. 3–5; compare Ex. 30:1–10). Then he fills that same censer with fire from the altar and hurls it upon the earth. The resulting “peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake” symbolize God’s wrath and judgment. This is a kind of poetic justice: The same golden censer that held the prayers of the saints also delivers justice from God’s throne.

The seventh seal, then, mainly introduces the next sequence of seven judgments and reminds us of the book’s central themes of worship and justice.

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What is the “seal” in today’s reading? While we don’t know exactly what, we do know why. In John’s day, a seal represented authority, protection, and ownership. Someone who carried a seal acted with the authority and under the protection of someone greater. The seal was a guarantee that the “someone greater” stood behind the person with the seal.

At this point in the narrative, the opening of the seven seals on the scroll of judgment is paused. Four angels, standing at the four corners of the earth, who have been given power to harm land and sea and nature (represented by trees), are told to stop temporarily (vv. 1–3).

The purpose of the pause is to “seal” or choose and commission 144,000 evangelists from Israel, including 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes (vv. 4–8). These numbers might be symbolic, but the reference is to ethnic Israel. This is one reason why the restoration of Israel as a nation in 1948 was so significant.

Next, John sees “a great multitude… wearing white robes” and holding palm branches. They lead heaven in praise, proclaiming, “Salvation belongs to our God.” The angels, 24 elders, and four living creatures join in, falling on their faces to worship (vv. 9–12).

But who are they? An elder explains, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation” (vv. 13–14). Some see them as believers who trusted Christ during the Tribulation and were martyred. Given the vast size of the multitude, though, they might be the church, raptured out before the Tribulation began. Either way, everything that is said about them is true of redeemed people in general, including the beautiful blessings of verses 15–17 (see also Isa. 25:8; 49:10). These believers contrast vividly with the sinners fleeing God’s wrath in the previous chapter (Rev. 6:15–17).

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In 2004, a devastating tsunami swept across the Indian Ocean at the speed of a jet airplane. A train in Sri Lanka was driven off the tracks. A boat off the shore of Thailand was thrown more than a mile inland. Triggered by a magnitude-9.1 earthquake, the tsunami killed nearly 250,000 people.

Natural disasters give us an idea of the catastrophic scenes recorded by John in his vision. In today’s chapter, the Tribulation begins as six of the seven seals are opened. The first four seals reveal the “four horsemen of the apocalypse”—conquest, war, famine or economic disaster, and Death (Zech. 6:1–7). First is a white horse with a rider who is given a bow for conquest (vv. 1–2). Next is a red horse with a rider who is given a sword to take peace from the earth (vv. 3–4). Next is a black horse with a rider who is given scales or balances, representing hunger and poverty (vv. 5–6). Finally, there is a pale horse whose rider is Death itself (vv. 7–8). The color “pale” is best thought of as the color of a corpse. Death is allowed to kill one-quarter of the world’s population.

When the fifth seal is opened, there is a pause in the action (vv. 9–11). Christian martyrs call for justice, lamenting, “How long?” They’re told to wait but assured that the time is drawing near. This scene no doubt provided encouragement to persecuted believers in John’s day and has done so throughout history.

Finally, the sixth seal is opened and, in the words of the Moody Bible Commentary, the world experiences “cosmic upheaval” (vv. 12–17). Though sinners recognize God’s wrath, they do not repent or seek His mercy, but instead foolishly try to hide or escape.

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Scripture often pictures God as our Shepherd (Psalm 23), including Jesus as our Good Shepherd (John 10). John the Baptist also called Him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This is probably a reference to the Passover lamb, which foreshadowed Christ (1 Cor. 5:7; Isa. 53:7).

These images are the biblical background for the Lamb in Revelation 5. Now that God’s throne room has been described in Revelation 4, the drama of the end times is set to begin. What will happen is written in a scroll with seven seals… but who is worthy to open this scroll (vv. 1–4)? As the tension rises, John weeps because apparently no one can be found.

Then one of the elders tells him that the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy (vv. 5–7). This and the Root of David are Messianic titles. John turns and unexpectedly sees “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne.” The seven horns symbolize strength, while the seven eyes symbolize knowledge and wisdom. He takes the scroll from the hand of God.

Three waves of praise follow. First, the four living creatures and the 24 elders play harps, holding golden bowls of incense that represent prayers, and sing of the Lamb’s worthiness, as He has accomplished God’s mission of redemption (vv. 8–10). Second, hosts of angels join in praising the Son’s worthiness to take the scroll and initiate God’s eschatological judgments (vv. 11–12). Third, “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” join in a thunderous and triumphant doxology for both Father and Son, with the four living creatures saying “Amen” (vv. 13–14; Phil. 2:9–11).

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Church tradition for various reasons has assigned four symbols to the four Gospels: Matthew is a man. Mark is a lion. Luke is an ox or calf. John is an eagle. Historically, these pictures are found in illuminated manuscripts, paintings, and church architecture details. Together all four are called the “tetramorph.”

Do these symbols sound familiar? They’re based on the four living creatures found in Revelation (vv. 5–8). These are likely angels, since similar living creatures are described in Ezekiel 1 and 10, and these are cherubim. In some ways, the descriptions also resemble the seraphim in Isaiah 6:2–3. Like those, the four living creatures here sing “Holy, holy, holy!” to the Lord.

Revelation 4–5 introduce and set the tone for the rest of the book. In chapter 4, John sees a vision of God on His heavenly throne (vv. 1–3, 5–6). In the throne room of heaven, the consummation of history is about to begin! Words aren’t enough, and John uses images of radiance, color, and precious jewels to depict God’s glory, and images of thunder, smoke, and lightning to convey His power and awesomeness. Many of these are references to Old Testament passages in which God appears, such as Exodus 19 and Ezekiel 1.

Around the throne, also on golden thrones, are 24 elders (v. 4). These are likely human beings. They’re dressed in white, signifying purity and righteousness. Some believe that the number 24 indicates twelve from the tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. Just as the four living creatures praise the One on the throne, so do the 24 elders (vv. 9–11). They lay their crowns before Him, giving Him all the glory. Their praise focuses on His worthiness to be worshiped as the Creator, a theme found in the Psalms (see Psalm 19).

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If you located the seven churches of Revelation chapters 2 and 3 on a map, they would form a rough geographical circle, starting at Ephesus and going clockwise to Laodicea. This is also the order a courier or messenger would likely have delivered the original copies of this book. The Roman province of Asia today is western Turkey. Sadly, these seven churches have mostly vanished, as this area is now largely Muslim. As we continue through the remainder of the seven letters, this fact is a warning to take their contents seriously.

The fifth letter is to the church in Sardis (vv. 1–6). The congregation’s high reputation is undeserved. They need to wake up and repent! Yet there is a faithful remnant, counted worthy to walk with Christ. The sixth letter is to the church in Philadelphia (vv. 7–13). This congregation is praised for their faithfulness and patient endurance. As with the church in Smyrna, no sins or weaknesses are pointed out. The seventh is to the church in Laodicea (vv. 14–22). Tragically, they receive no words of commendation from the Lord. They’re portrayed as lukewarm, complacent, and prideful. They need to accept God’s loving discipline and repent.

The rewards described in the letters are both specific and general. They’re specific in that they fit well with the strengths and admonitions in each letter. But they’re also general in that they’re available to all believers. This is because most of the rewards have to do with eternal life and our relationship with Christ. While the letters focus on “what is now” from the perspective of the original readers, there are timeless truths for us as well. The rest of the book will deal with “what will take place later” (Rev. 1:19), that is, end-times events that are still in our future.

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Doubtless, we’ve all read one or more of the 21 letters, or epistles, in the New Testament. In each one, the author was writing to a specific church, including greetings, personal names, and specific spiritual issues. The “mini-epistles” we find in Revelation 2–3 are shorter but otherwise the same. These letters from Christ are aimed at specific churches, while also being aimed at readers throughout church history, including us.

These letters include five main ingredients: (1) something about Christ, the author of the letters—typically a quality already mentioned in chapter 1; (2) something good or praiseworthy; (3) a weakness or area for improvement; (4) a call to hear and respond rightly; and (5) rewards for those who are “victorious.” Not every letter has every ingredient, but the pattern is consistent. While we cannot exhaustively discuss each letter here, we’ll hit the highlights.

The first letter is to the church in Ephesus (vv. 1–7). The believers there are praised for their hard work, perseverance, and hatred of wickedness and false teaching. But they’re admonished to repent of their cold hearts to return to their “first love.”

The second letter is to the church in Smyrna (vv. 8–11). This congregation is recognized for their endurance of afflictions and poverty, slander and persecution from others. Impressively, no weaknesses are mentioned.

The third letter is to the church in Pergamum (vv. 12–17). They are praised for being faithful and true under pressure, even to the point of martyrdom, though some do follow false teaching and need to repent. Culturally, the “white stone” reward probably symbolizes admission to the Messianic banquet (Isa. 25:6; Rev. 19:9).

The fourth letter is to the church in Thyatira (vv. 18–29). They do well in love, faith, service, perseverance, and good deeds, but they’re much too tolerant of a certain false teaching.

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John Newton, eighteenth-century slave-ship-captain-turned-abolitionist and hymn writer, wrote of Jesus, “In [Christ], I have an offering, an altar, a temple, a priest, a sun, a shield, a Savior, a Shepherd, a hiding place, a resting place, food, medicine, riches, honor, wisdom, righteousness, holiness, in short, everything.”

The Apostle John also was deeply moved by the glorious vision of Christ. John was in exile, a brother and companion in persecution alongside his original readers (vv. 9–11). For the sake of the gospel, they shared in “the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus”—a striking phrase. On the Lord’s Day, Sunday, the day Christ rose from the dead, John was worshiping “in the Spirit.” He heard a voice “like a trumpet” instructing him to write down what he was about to see and send it to the seven churches.

Naturally, he turned around to see who it was. There stood “someone like a son of man” (an allusion to Daniel 7:13), the Messiah, Jesus Christ (vv. 12–16). He wore a robe and a golden sash, indicating royalty. His white hair symbolized wisdom and eternality. His eyes blazed fire, indicating His penetrating insight and omniscience (Heb. 4:13). His feet of glowing bronze stood ready to trample His enemies. His voice sounded like rushing waters, powerful and beautiful. He held seven stars, the angels of the seven churches (v. 20). Out of his mouth came a double-edged sword, the Word of God (Heb. 4:12). His face shone like the sun (Num. 6:24–26). He is “the First and the Last,” “the Living One,” and holds the keys to everything.

John fell on his face in worship (vv. 17–18). Jesus, however, said, “Do not be afraid,” and told him again to write “what is now and what will take place later” (vv. 19–20).

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