In this series of messages, we want to see the prophecy of the four "sevens" in the Bible. In the first message, we saw the prophecy of the first "seven"—the last week of the seventy weeks recorded in Daniel 9. In the second message, we saw the prophecy of the second "seven"—of the seven seals. In this message we want to see the prophecy of the third "seven"—of the seven trumpets.
The seven trumpets are the entire contents of the seventh seal (Rev. 8:1-2). In other words, the seven trumpets equal the seventh seal.
The seven trumpets are the answer to the prayer of the martyred saints in the fifth seal (Rev. 6:9-11). In the fifth seal, the martyred saints under the altar are crying, "How long, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:10). Immediately after their prayer is the sixth seal, which is the shaking of the earth and heaven (Rev. 6:12-17). The supernatural calamity of the sixth seal will affect the earth and the heaven—the sun, the moon, and the stars. God's shaking of the earth and the heaven will be a warning to men to consider their ways. They have to repent and come back to God.
Immediately following the sixth seal are the seven trumpets, the contents of the seventh seal, which are the answer to the prayer of the martyred saints. Their prayer in Revelation 6:10 is also referred to in two portions of the New Testament—Luke 18:7-8 and Revelation 8:3-5. These saints are crying to God for the avenging of their blood, which they shed for God's purpose and for God's testimony. After their prayer, God begins to judge the earth in the sixth seal to make it an unsuitable place in which to live. Then He answers their prayer with the seven trumpets of the seventh seal. Now we need to consider the scene in heaven after the opening of the seventh seal in Revelation 8:3-5.
The prayers of the saints in Revelation 8:4 must be for the judgment of the earth, which opposes God's economy, and the answer to the saints' prayers is the execution of God's judgment upon the earth by the seven trumpets that follow.