All the visions of the six seals had a particular application and an undoubted though partial fulfilment in the first age in which they were given; but they have a wider and more perfect fulfilment in all subsequent time, and perhaps will have an especially complete fulfilment in the last time, such as we know that the sixth seal will surely have. To seek constantly, however, for a merely literal fulfilment is surely to emphasize the least important part of their meaning, and to limit them narrowly to a definite historical event is to rob them of their larger purpose, for they are wide-flung types that speak as with a thousand tongues to the open ear and ready mind.
[In the order of the Revelation the connection is at this point interrupted and the climax suspended by introducing the Episode of the Sealed Ones (ch. 7:1-17), which will be found under IIb. The episodes are given separately in this outline, and outside of their proper position in the text, for the sake of clearness and emphasis].
7 The Opening of the Seventh Seal, Ch. 8:1
At the opening of the seventh seal a vision of heaven wrapped in perfect silence appears: the symbol of mystery, the unrevealed, the unspoken, the ineffable bliss of heaven which cannot be told in human words or portrayed in physical form, the great sabbath of the church's history,—a significant sign of the deep, unbroken rest [pg 133] from conflict and toil into which the people of God shall enter at the end of the earthly trial, and of the fulness of joy to be realized in the future life of the redeemed when the conflict and judgment of this world are over, all of which now lies beyond the power of words or vision to describe or display. The form of the vision is remarkably suggestive; the silence indicates that which cannot be spoken; it gives time for thought that is beyond expression, deepens “the sense of trembling suspense”, and serves to quicken anticipation of the revelation to follow.[403] The contents of this seal are to be realized in the future life of the redeemed after the conflict and judgment of this world are over, and they cannot now be revealed except in symbol; they lie beyond the sphere of earthly thought. The half-hour is a broken, fractional number, implying a limited period, and is here the sign of the relatively brief time during which John beheld the vision,—for the period covered by the thought of the vision is the whole period of eternity, the future endless life with God, and only a glimpse of it is given at this point in order to reassure the hearts of God's children in the midst of conflict,—thus affording an impressive break between the seals and the trumpets, which, though short in itself, must have seemed relatively long to the beholder in the midst of such stirring scenes. The silence may have been suggested to John's mind by that which the people kept during the time when the priest offered incense in the temple, for we find that the offering of incense by an angel immediately follows (v. 2-5),[404] and the solemnity of that time in John's own experience of the ritual worship may well have left its impress upon his mind. In closing the series it remains to be said that the last seal, notwithstanding that its contents are incompletely developed, yet joins with the first, and serves to mark out the whole course of the church's history through all the dread and storm of the other seals, as ever advancing from opening conquest to final peace, all the trials of the seals leading on to deep quiet in the end, the symbol of the great and enduring peace of God.
It may be well for us before entering upon the episode of consolation in the seventh chapter, to review rapidly the steps by which the prime purpose of the Apocalypse has been thus far wrought out in the vision of the seven seals, viz. to encourage the hearts of weak and suffering Christians and to fortify their patience on the upward way in the midst of trial and distress by pointing out the path of faith and hope alike to the certainty of victory in the future days of the church upon earth, and to the fulness of joy reserved for the redeemed in the far and fadeless glory beyond. The deeper lesson of the first four seals is one of absolute trust in God when the way, as then, was dark and the hearts of men terror-stricken. God has not in any sense forsaken his people, the vision proclaims, though his path and purpose lie hidden in the night. Amid all the trials of the earthly life his plan is working out unseen through the way to final victory. His people must learn the lesson of discipline in the path by which he leads, and strive to trust and be patient and obey, while he with unerring wisdom rules and works and wins. The closing three seals contain a more direct revelation of hope and comfort. Under the fifth seal the peace of the future life and the guarantee of recompense to the saints is reassured; the vision of the sixth leads to the episode of consolation which portrays the safe gathering of the redeemed on God's right hand at last, while the contents of the seal itself point to the surety and justice of divine judgment that shall inevitably fall upon sin and sinners; and the seventh reveals the endless and unbroken peace and glory of the future life with God. Thus, contrary to all appearances in the world of men, the perplexing trials of the Christian life are seen in the apocalyptic vision to be not in vain; the painful discipleship of Jesus has its abundant reward hereafter; the certain and unfailing victory of the righteous lies at the very heart of the eternal purpose of God; and this triumphant hope is presented as an abiding consolation for the Christian mind in the midst of prevailing trial and distress.
IIb The Episode of the Sealed Ones (A Vision of Salvation Assured). Ch. 7:1-17
The episode of the sealed ones is a vision of consolation, that is introduced as a digression between the sixth [pg 135] and seventh seals, elaborating the idea of redemption inwrought with judgment, and showing the safety, even in the midst of tribulation, of God's people who are divinely sealed, as also the certainty of their final reward. It is given for the encouragement of tried and suffering Christians who cannot understand why they suffer, and as an answer to the question in ch. 6:17, “who shall be able to stand?” i. e. in the midst of such judgment as is depicted under the sixth seal. There is, of course, a manifest element of consolation for the saints in the contents of the seals themselves, as indicated above, viz. the certainty of victory under the first, the divine limitation and control signified in the second, third, and fourth, the promise of peace and reward in the fifth, of vindication and judgment in the sixth, and of the heavenly rest in the seventh; but this word of comfort receives such a distinct reinforcement and emphasis in the episode interposed as to indicate clearly its purpose. The blessed consolation for God's people in all ages given in the book of Revelation has not, perhaps, been sufficiently emphasized in the past,[405] yet this has always made it a cherished message for those in affliction. The episode is found to consist of two parts, corresponding in some degree to the two dispensations, the Old and the New, the first setting forth the surety of salvation in the divine choice out of Israel (v. 1-8), and the second the fulness of salvation in the restoration to the divine presence of the entire body of the redeemed out of all nations (v. 9-17), the two together manifesting the consoling thought that redemption triumphs in the midst of judgment.