Revelation of John 8:2

the seven angels--Compare the apocryphal Tobit 12:15, "I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One." Compare Luk 1:19, "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God." stood--Greek, "stand." seven trumpets--These come in during the time while the martyrs rest until their fellow servants also, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled; for it is the inhabiters of the earth on whom the judgments fall, on whom also the martyrs prayed that they should fall (Rev 6:10). All the ungodly, and not merely some one portion of them, are meant, all the opponents and obstacles in the way of the kingdom of Christ and His saints, as is proved by Rev 11:15, Rev 11:18, end, at the close of the seven trumpets. The Revelation becomes more special only as it advances farther (Rev. 13:1-18; Rev 16:10; Rev 17:18). By the seven trumpets the world kingdoms are overturned to make way for Christ's universal kingdom. The first four are connected together; and the last three, which alone have Woe, woe, woe (Rev 8:7-13).

We have already seen what occurred upon opening six of the seals; we now come to the opening of the seventh, which introduced the sounding of the seven trumpets; and a direful scene now opens. Most expositors agree that the seven seals represent the interval between the apostle's time and the reign of Constantine, but that the seven trumpets are designed to represent the rise of antichrist, some time after the empire became Christian. In this chapter we have, I. The preface, or prelude, to the sounding of the trumpets (Rev 8:1-6). II. The sounding of four of the trumpets (Rev 8:7, etc.).

8:2-6 This scene of preparation in heaven introduces the seven trumpets of judgment and continues the theme of God’s receiving and answering prayer (5:8; 6:9-11). 8:2 The dramatic sounding of trumpets by angels heralds an approaching end (see Isa 27:13; Zech 9:14; Matt 24:31; 1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thes 4:16).