We read in Revelation 8:1, "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” With the first part of Revelation 8, we have come to the last of the seven seals. One by one, the Lamb opened the seven seals of the scroll. The scroll containing God's counsel, God's plan for creation. Only one is worthy to receive, open, read, and carry out this plan, and that is the Lamb. God's own Son, after all, who had accomplished the work of atonement.
With each seal that was broken, more text was revealed, and with it insight into God's counsel and plan for the end times. How significant is it that the first seal was about God's Word going out. The gospel must be proclaimed around the world and to all. Remember the great missionary command that the Lord Jesus gave just before He ascended into heaven: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” This last command by Jesus on earth is the first in God's Council in heaven. Where Christ left us, He begins in heaven. This characterizes the end times! This is where our great commission lies!
Then came the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seals: judgments. Where God's Word is rejected, there is war, famine, and death. At the opening of the 5th seal, the martyrs in heaven cried out, "How long?” In response, the opening of the 6th seal followed, a vista of the great judgment day with great and terrible cosmological signs. Creation trembles after the opening of the sixth seal.
Then, before the opening of the 7th seal, there is a pause. That pause serves as encouragement to the church here on earth in the battle. The LORD knows His own! They are sealed, His property, purchased with Christ's blood! In every age, it is only a small number, 144,000, but at the end of time, it is a multitude that no one can count. They will stand in heaven and sing to the Lamb! That vision ends with a glorious promise: "They are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:15-17)
And so, we come to the opening of the seventh seal. But not before we are encouraged and have seen the glorious future that awaits all who love the Lord, because He has loved them to the end.