Commentary

• the churches do not end, there is no cliffhanger.
• churches 1-7 are contemporary to seals 1-7 and trumpets 1-7
• the seals and trumpets end with a cliffhanger:
  • the 6th Seal describes that the sun becomes black, the moon becomes as blood. From OT scripture we can learn that:
    • Joel 2:1-11 when the sun and moon go dark, the Day of the Lord has come.
    • the Seals end with “there is silence in heaven”. When Jesus is in heaven, there is always worship and singing going on, so when it is silent, Jesus must have left Heaven. He is on his way to Earth to reap the harvest and claim dominion over Earth.
    • the Trumpets end with rejoicing of the elders, the wrath of God, judgement of the nations and the Temple opening. We know from 1 Cor 15:52 that at the last Trump the dead are raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. In addition, in 1 Th 4:16, Paul mentions that the Lord comes down with a shout (a Trumpet), the dead shall rise first, and we, who remain, shall be caught up and meet the Lord in the air.
    • The end of the Seals and the end of the Trumpets converge to the same event, just observed from a different point of view.
  • The Churches and Seals have a start in history but do not end. The nature of the Churches can be applied to churches in history and today. The Seals follow a similar pattern: for example the corruption of the Churches is still visible today.
  • The Trumpets have a defined beginning and a defined end and can be applied to events of history.