III. The Church in Tribulation (8:2-11:18)

In the previous division (4:1-8:1) John was given a God's-eye-view of the plan for history. In that division, the scroll of the destiny of the human race was unsealed and John was allowed to see God's purpose in history.

In this division (6:2-11:19) John is going to be seeing 7 more visions. These 7 visions are a re-statement and elaboration of what was revealed in the first vision. (We know that this is a different division because the "anchor" or focus or center in these visions shifts from the throne of God to the 7 angelic trumpeters at the altar. We know that this division is an expansion of the one that preceded it because of the way the opening of the 7th seal seems both to end the first division and to begin the second division.)

In this division we will be seeing what will happen to God's chosen people during the tribulation.

A. The Setting: The 7 Angelic trumpeters at the altar and the prayers of the Church (8:2-6)

In the setting we learn that the 7 following visions are considered quite important because each is to be introduced by a trumpet blast. The sound of the trumpet is a symbol of God's intervention in human history (see Isa. 27:12-13).

The prayers of the saints calls attention to the fact that the fate of the chosen people is a major concern in all that is about to happen. Their prayers, mixed with heavenly incense and returned to earth, create the thunderous prelude to the sounding of the 7 trumpets. There could be no better way to show that prayers of Christians are effective.

It is against the background of praying martyrs and angelic trumpeters that the 7 visions concerning what the tribulation will mean to the Church on earth unfold.