The 7th Seal
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(This chapter is a continuation of chapter 6. The seventh seal is a collection of scourges and man-made disasters invented by humanity to punish themselves. People who take part in these things act like puppets under the influence of destructive divine forces.)
When he had opened the 7th seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (The seventh seal is the seven trumpets.)
(2) Then I saw 7 angels who stand before God. They were given seven trumpets. (3) Another angel, who had a golden incense burner, came and stood in front of the altar. He was given much incense. He should burn it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. (4) The smoke of the incense from the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. (5) Then the angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth; and there were claps of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
(This disaster is a continuation of the sixth seal: nuclear bombs, a meteorite colliding with Earth, or a cataclysmic volcanic eruption which happens about every 80.000 years, see 4:5, 6:13, 11:19, 16:18, 18:21, Isaiah 2:10.)
The Trumpets
(6) Then the 7 angels who had the 7 trumpets got ready to blow them. (7) The 1st angel blew his trumpet. Hail and fire mixed with blood(Here we have a collection of symbols: hail is frozen water: ice-cold emotions, ruthlessness; blood is water colored red like fire: destructive emotions: hatred, anger, rage.)
was thrown on the earth. (Earth here is symbolic for material things and the way people make their living.)
A third of the earth (Earth here has to be understood literally. This chapter repeatedly uses the number "a third", which is symbolic: a third is the reciprocal value of three, the opposite of the number of God meaning the ungodly part and the part, which has lost divine protection, see 9:15, 12:4.)
was burned, a third of the trees were burned and all the green grass was burned. (Burned means damaged or destroyed. Destructive emotions attached to the way people make their living causes damage to the environment.)
(8) The 2nd angel blew his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain (The mountain symbolizes the element of earth: material things, money. It is a huge mountain, which means that modern economy creates an enormous amount of wealth.)
burning with fire (Fire here symbolizes the destructive side effects of modern economics caused by greed.)
was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, (was polluted, see 16:3.)
(9) a third of the creatures living in the sea died, (Fishes are threatened to become extinct because of sea water pollution and overfishing.)
and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Freak weather caused by environment pollution threatens seafaring, see 16:3)
(10) The 3rd angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, burning like a torch, fell from the sky  |
(The star is a symbol of Jews and Christians, here it means their culture, particularly science which has fallen from the sky representing the element of air, where it belongs, see verse 12, 2:1, 9:1, 12:4. It is burning with fire symbolizing destruction. Jewish-Christian science has been perverted and produces poison. It has been suggested this verse predicts that a meteorite will hit the earth as in 6:13. Such a meteorite will have many conspicuous effects but not to poison drinking water.)
on a third of the rivers and on the sources of water.
(Toxic waste, the by-product of chemical industry leaks into the ground and poisons drinking water.)
(11) The name of the star is Wormwood. (Wormwood is a very bitter herb symbolizing poison.)
A third of the waters went bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. (polluted and poisoned, see16:5.)
(12) The 4th angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, (The sun as the main source of life on earth has also lost divine protection, see verse 7. It has been turned into a destructive force, see 16:8.)
a third of the moon, (The moon is symbolic for the element of water meaning emotions.)
and a third of the stars, so that a third of them became dark. (Darkness symbolizes a perverted unnatural way of life full of problems, see 16:10.)
A third of the day was without light, and it was similar with a third of the night. (13) Then I saw and heard an eagle  |
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(Air is one of the elements.)
It said in a loud voice, "How terrible, how dreadful it will be for the inhabitants of the earth, when the other three angels will blow their trumpets!" (You have been warned, see Isaiah 24:17.)