C. The Seventh Seal (8:1-5)

In contrast to the judgments let loose on earth by the blowing of the first six trumpets (8:6-9:21), 8:1-5 affirms the stability and security of heaven. To a church tormented by tribulation, John accents the value of prayer as an offering to God, thus the symbol of the altar (see Wesley, Notes, 679).

Opening the seventh seal leads into the sounding of the seven trumpets.