Commentary - Revelation 8:6

Bird's-eye view

Following the solemn and expectant silence that fell upon Heaven with the opening of the seventh seal, the scene now shifts to the instruments of God's active judgment. This verse, Revelation 8:6, serves as a crucial hinge. The preliminary work is done, the prayers of the saints have been offered as incense and accepted, and the censer filled with altar fire has been cast to the earth, signifying that those prayers are now being answered with judgment. This verse is the immediate consequence. The seven angels, who were previously introduced as standing before God and receiving their trumpets, now formally step forward to prepare. This is the moment the orchestra raises its instruments before the first note of a terrible symphony is played. The trumpets in Scripture are instruments of alarm, of coronation, and of war. Here, all three meanings converge. The preparation of these angels is the formal marshaling of God's heavenly armies for a holy war against a covenant-breaking people, namely, first-century Jerusalem. This verse marks the transition from the quiet of the courtroom to the cacophony of the battlefield.

The structure of the trumpet judgments, like the seals, is not a simple chronological sequence of unrelated events. Rather, it is a recapitulation, a telling of the same story of judgment from a different angle, with escalating intensity. These are not beads on a string but rather different camera angles on the same catastrophic event: the protracted siege and final destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, culminating in A.D. 70. This verse is the signal that the war is about to begin in earnest.

Outline

Context In Revelation

Revelation 8:6 is the direct result of the events in the preceding verses. The seventh seal has been opened, and instead of an immediate cataclysm, there was a profound silence in Heaven (8:1). This silence was the hushed reverence as the prayers of the persecuted saints were gathered and presented to God on the golden altar (8:3-4). An angel then took the censer, filled it with fire from that same altar, and hurled it to the earth, resulting in "peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake" (8:5). This act is judicial; it signifies that God is answering the imprecatory prayers of His people, the martyrs who cried out "How long, O Lord?" from under the altar in the fifth seal (6:10). The judgment is not arbitrary; it is a direct response to the pleas of the saints for vindication.

Therefore, when the seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets, they are executing the sentence that has just been handed down. The trumpets are the instruments of that sentence. This entire sequence, seals, silence, incense, fire, and now trumpets, forms a tightly woven liturgical and legal drama. The seals opened the scroll of indictment. The incense brought the testimony of the martyrs before the judge. The fire from the altar was the verdict cast down. And the trumpets are the beginning of the sentence being carried out upon the "earth," which in the context of Revelation, refers primarily to the land of apostate Israel, the persecutors of the early church.

Key Issues

The Jericho Pattern

To understand the trumpets of Revelation, we must have the fall of Jericho firmly in our minds (Joshua 6). The parallels are striking and clearly intentional. At Jericho, God's people, led by seven priests carrying seven trumpets, marched around the doomed city. For six days they marched in silence, punctuated only by the blast of the trumpets. On the seventh day, they marched seven times, the trumpets blasted, the people shouted, and the walls, the great defense of that pagan city, collapsed into rubble. The city was devoted to destruction.

Now look at the pattern in Revelation. We have seven angels with seven trumpets. We have just had a period of profound silence in Heaven (Rev 8:1). Now, the angels prepare to sound the trumpets, which will announce the collapse of another city devoted to destruction: the great harlot city, Jerusalem, which had broken covenant with her God. The silence in Heaven is the quiet march. The trumpets are the declaration of holy war. And the judgments that follow are the tumbling of the walls. John is showing his readers that God is dealing with apostate Jerusalem in precisely the same way He dealt with the pagan stronghold of Jericho. The old covenant city had become the new Canaanite fortress, and it had to come down so that the kingdom of Christ could advance freely.

Verse by Verse Commentary

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

This is a short, straightforward, but momentous verse. It is a verse of preparation, a moment of resolve before a great and terrible action. The angels prepared themselves. This is not a casual affair. We should envision this as a solemn, deliberate, and military preparation. They have their orders, which came in the form of the trumpets given to them in verse 2. Now, having witnessed the presentation of the saints' prayers and the casting of the censer of fire, the time for waiting is over. The time for action has come.

The preparation would involve raising the trumpets to their lips, taking a deep breath, and steeling themselves for the task assigned. This is the heavenly reality behind the earthly events that are about to unfold. As the Roman legions began to marshal their forces around Judea in the years leading up to A.D. 70, the true preparation was happening in the heavenlies. Earthly armies are but instruments in the hands of these angelic beings who are themselves instruments in the hand of God. The sounding of a trumpet was a declaration of war, a call to arms (Num 10:9; Jer 4:19; Joel 2:1). These angels are preparing to announce that God Himself has declared war on the apostate covenant community.

This preparation is the final moment of calm before the storm. The silence of the seventh seal is over, broken by the thunderings and lightnings of the censer. Now, the ordered, sequential judgments will begin. The die is cast. The sentence has been passed. The executioners are ready.

Application

We live in an age that is uncomfortable with the idea of divine judgment, even within the church. We prefer a God who is only and ever gentle, a celestial grandfather who would never harm a fly. But the God of the Bible is a consuming fire, and His holiness demands that He act against sin and rebellion, especially rebellion from within His own covenant people. This verse reminds us that judgment is not a chaotic accident; it is a prepared, deliberate, and holy action. God does not fly off the handle. His wrath is measured, judicial, and purposeful.

The preparation of these angels should be a terrifying thought for all who stand in opposition to Christ and His kingdom, particularly those who do so under a cloak of religiosity. But for the believer, it should be a source of profound comfort. Why are the angels preparing to sound these trumpets of judgment? Because the prayers of the saints have been heard (8:4). God does not ignore the cries of His persecuted people. He honors their prayers, and He will vindicate them. He will settle all accounts. Our task is not to take vengeance into our own hands, but to pray faithfully, to bear witness to the truth, and to trust that in Heaven, the angels are preparing to act on God's command. The judgments described in Revelation are not the random death throes of a meaningless universe; they are the faithful answer of a covenant-keeping God to the prayers of His beloved children.

Therefore, we should not fear the shaking of the nations or the tumult of history. We should see in it the echoes of these trumpets, the signs that God is at work, tearing down the Jericho walls of this world to establish the kingdom of His Son. Our response should be one of sober-minded faith, knowing that the God who commands angels is our Father, and the Lamb who opens the seals is our Savior.