The seventh seal has been broken and the scroll is now fully open. As it was broken, the wrath of God began to be unleashed upon a rebellious world. In his vision, John sees seven angels each with a trumpet to announce the different ways in which God's anger would be experienced on earth. These are like the plagues God sent to rebellious Egypt, but worse, in that they affect a third of the world. They start with 'flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm' in heaven (Revelation 11:19), and end with 'peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake' which mark the end of that series of plagues on earth (Revelation 8:5).

John's description, of what the Lord Jesus showed him, is dramatic, violent and truly awesome. Yet despite the clear evidence of God's supreme power, 'The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood – idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.' (Revelation 9:20-21). It is an episode in the world's history in which the sinful nature of humanity exudes with arrogance against God, when they might have fallen at His feet in humble contrition.

These next few chapters do not make pleasant reading, but God's people should not fear, because He is in command and will finally bring in His kingdom (Revelation 11:17). The first two trumpets announce a holocaust. Precipitation of hail, fire and blood burned up a third of world including the trees and even green grass. Something as big as a fiery mountain crashed into the sea, turning it blood-red, destroying a third of the sea creatures and a third of the ships. This is not a small local volcanic or seismic disturbance, but a catastrophic event from which there will be no escape for a third of the world's inhabitants.

It is tempting to try, and many have, to identify some of these events in Revelation with possibilities which scientists have identified as threats to planet earth, either from the eruption of earth's inner core, or from asteroid impacts. Add to those 'natural' phenomena the possibility of nuclear warfare. The fact is that we do not know how these apocalyptic scenarios will be played out, but they will happen and will be under God's hand. Jesus warned the church to expect that serious troubles and tribulations will come before the end (Matthew 24:6-14), but we are not to fear that God has lost control of the world. Quite the reverse, He will take command, giving the opportunity to repent. But we recognise that, like Pharaoh, rebellious hearts are hardened by God's warning plagues (Revelation 16:9) rather than accepting that repenting is the only safe way ahead (Isaiah 19:22). That applies to all of us now. Where the Lord is pointing out His displeasure of sin, we must repent and encourage others to do the same, while there is time.