The Seventh Seal: Voices, Thunders, Lightnings, & Earthquake
Rev 8:1, Zephaniah 1:7 — ημιωριον — half an hour — Interestingly, this is the only place in the New Testament where ημιωριον is used. The theme here seems to fit Zephaniah 1:7 "Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: For the day of the LORD is at hand: For the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath bid his guests." While this is almost certainly made out to be 30 minutes, it is suspiciously placed near the middle of "the hour of judgments" in the 7-year tribulation. Could this be a poetic double entendre?
Was there "silence in heaven before the wrath begins for half an hour at the half point of the hour of judgment in the 7-year tribulation?" We are not told, nor is it critical to us, that we try to interpret what is being said too deeply. But it does attest to the book of Revelation's high level of structure.
Now, not every word (like ημιωριον) is meant to be astonishing, and not every connection is meant to be bound together. Drawing out of the text what it does not clearly say must be done with extra care, even if it aligns with a particular interpretive framework. Thus, using this as evidence for the contention that this is the middle of the great tribulation is a leap, and an unnecessary one, since a mountain of other evidence already points to this moment of the 7 trumpets being near the middle of the tribulation.
In 8:2, it says, "seven messengers who stand before God." This phrase may not seem significant, but it is if it is assumed that the first four messengers of these seven are the same as those in Revelation 7:1 who are holding back the four winds of the earth. Note the messengers' position: In 8:2 "before God" and in 7:1 "standing on the four corners of the earth". While the messengers need not be seen in a fixed position at all times, 8:2 places them before God within the context of the blowing of the trumpets, not on the earth. This does not mean the messengers are unable to relocate to earth for their blowing of trumpets (Revelation elsewhere gives opportunity for this type of movement from heaven to earth), but the direction of the text does not appear to be giving opportunities for that movement for all of chapter 8.
Re 8:2, Re 8:6 — The "silence" like half an hour, and the censer with fire appears to be the judgments of the 7th seal. We do see the seven messengers who have the seven trumpets appear at the 7th seal, but they do not act until after the "thunders, and voices, and lightnings". Thus, their blows are not encapsulated in the 7th seal; the blows come after. The text further pushes this understanding by saying that they "prepared them to blow" after those things. The text does not say they "had blown" or even that they "did blow". Thus, the text is very clear: the 7 seals and 7 trumpets come after one another; they are nested like Russian nesting dolls.
Re 5:8, Re 8:4 — These are not exactly the same but are similar, "are" in 5:8 vs "with" in 8:4.
Seven Trumpet Plagues
Linear Scene 1.3a: Each time Revelation transitions into a new set of plagues, the text makes it clear that the judgments do not nest inside one another but instead unfold sequentially. Each series leads directly into the next at its final member. At the end of the seventh seal, we see seven angels introduced, and those same seven angels appear at the beginning of the trumpet judgments. Likewise, in the seventh trumpet, we see "the wrath of God is come, and tabernacle of the testimony opened", and that identical scene appears again in Revelation 15 just before the seven vials are poured out.
Re 8:6, Re 8:2 — The "silence" like half an hour, and the censer with fire appears to be the judgments of the 7th seal. We do see the seven messengers who have the seven trumpets appear at the 7th seal, but they do not act until after the "thunders, and voices, and lightnings". Thus, their blows are not encapsulated in the 7th seal; the blows come after. The text further pushes this understanding by saying that they "prepared them to blow" after those things. The text does not say they "had blown" or even that they "did blow". Thus, the text is very clear: the 7 seals and 7 trumpets come after one another; they are nested like Russian nesting dolls.
The First Trumpet: One Third Trees and Grass
Important Note: Like many things in Revelation, it's easy to push interpretations too far if we aren't careful with the details. The blood mixed with fire in the first trumpet is no exception. Still, for due diligence, it's worth asking what this blood represents. Whose blood is it?
Most likely, it is simply part of the judgment imagery itself, fulfilling Joel 2:30: "And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke." In that sense, it is not anyone's specific blood. To assume this is "the blood of the saints," the moon, or the Lamb goes beyond what the text actually allows. The safest conclusion is that this blood functions as an element of divine judgment, not as an identification of a particular group. And likely points to Joel 2.
Re 8:7, Re 16:2
Re 8:7, Joel 2:30
The Second Trumpet: One Third Sea
Re 8:8, Re 16:3
The Third Trumpet: One Third Fresh Waters
λαμπὰς — a lamp —"Burning like a torch" or "burning like a flaming torch" as a "light source".
Re 8:10, Re 16:4
Re 8:11, Deuteronomy 29:18, Proverbs 5:4, Jeremiah 9:15, Jeremiah 23:15, Lamentations 3:15, Lamentations 3:19, Amos 5:7 — Wormwood is strongly linked to Israel's exile from Jerusalem. There are key moments in Revelation when we see similar exile-type events that could relate to Wormwood: the flight of the tribes of Israel into exile as the dragon pursues them as the woman and they are given eagle wings to fly into the wilderness (Revelation 12:14), the killing of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:8), and the patience of the saints (Revelation 13:9-10). This further places the trumpet plagues near or just after the middle of the tribulation.
Re 8:11
The Fourth Trumpet: One Third Heaven's Lights
Important Note: With this, the fourth trumpet has finished the plagues that are directed toward creation: the earth, the sea, the waters, and the heavens.
Re 8:12, Re 16:8 — In 8:12, we see darkness, and in 16:8, we see great heat. The connection is that these plagues are upon the heavens.
Woe, Woe, Woe
Important Note: The three woes seem to indicate that the trumpets 5, 6, and 7 are distinct from one another and that their timing is also separated. Unlike trumpets 1-4, which seem to be grouped together like seals 1-4.
The Critical Text calls this flying messenger an "eagle" (αετου). The Majority Text uses a more general term, "angel/messenger" (ἄγγελος). The Critical Text is not out of place with its priority for eagle. This is because "flying" (πετομένου) in the book of Revelation is used almost exclusively when describing birds or eagles. Thus, because we see "πετομένου", it is safe to expect the Greek with it to also be "αετου" (eagle). Also, because of this pattern of flying being related to birds, even if the original Greek was ἄγγελος (messenger) and not αετου (eagle), we could infer the messenger is an eagle using that pattern, even if the word for "eagle" is not present.
Linear Scene 1.3: Picking up the linear story from seal 6, we come to seal 7, which is the last of the seals. At the 7th of each plague group, seals, trumpets, and vials, there are always "voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake" with growing intensity. There is also hail that follows the earthquake. For the 7th seal, there is no hail following the earthquake until the first trumpet blows in 8:7. There is not just symmetry; the 7th seal, 7th trumpet, and 7th vial. There is symmetry throughout, but we should not mistake that symmetry for the simultaneous occurrence of the different plagues all at once.
Important Note: We can see that the text prevents us from reading a simultaneous occurrence, because the seven angels who blow the 7 trumpets appear at the time of the 7th seal plague. This eliminates the possibility of those angels sounding at the time of the 1st seal, as they do not appear until the 7th. So, trumpets cannot appear before seal judgments (as some interpreters suggest). The plagues simply transition smoothly into the next symbolic set, and their symmetry exists to communicate God's order in what appears to be chaos. The symmetry also poetically conveys His authority over all creation: the earth and trees and grass that give life, sea life, the waters of life, and the heavenly lights (Revelation 14:7).
Note: These trumpet plagues might mirror Ezekiel 5:2, 5:12's thirds: one third by fire (falling fiery stars), one third by sword (200,000,000 army also with fire), and then in the 7th trumpet, the final third "thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them…".