The Seven Angels With The Trumpets (revelation 8:2; Revelation 8:6

8:2,6 And I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God, and seven trumpets were given to them; and the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to sound the trumpets.

These seven angels, known as the angels of the presence, were the same as the archangels. Their names were Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel ( Tobit 12:1 ; Tobit 12:5 ).

That they were called the angels of the presence means two things. First, they enjoyed a special honour. In an oriental court it was only the most favoured courtiers who had the right at all times to the presence of the king; to be a courtier of the presence was a special honour. Second, although to be in the presence of the king meant special honour, even more it meant immediate readiness to be despatched on service. Both Elijah and Elisha repeatedly spoke of "the Lord God of Israel before whom I stand" ( 1 Kings 17:1 ; 1 Kings 18:15 ; 2 Kings 3:14 ; 2 Kings 5:16 ); and the phrase really means, "The Lord God of Israel whose servant I am."

The seven angels had seven trumpets. In the visions of the Old and the New Testament the trumpet is always the symbol of the intervention of God in history. All these pictures, and there are many of them, go back to the scene at Mount Sinai, when the law was given to the people. There were on the mountain thunders and lightnings and thick cloud, and a very loud trumpet blast ( Exodus 19:16 ; Exodus 19:19 ). This trumpet blast became an unchanging part of the apparatus of the Day of the Lord. In that day the great trumpet will be blown and it will summon back the exiles from every land ( Isaiah 27:13 ). On the Day of the Lord the trumpet will be blown in Zion and the alarm sounded in the holy mountain ( Joel 2:1 ). That day will be a day of trumpet and alarm ( Zephaniah 1:16 ). The Lord will blow the trumpet and go out with the whirlwind ( Zechariah 9:14 ).

This picture passed into the New Testament visions of the last day. Paul speaks of the day when the trumpet shall sound and the corruptible will put on incorruption ( 1 Corinthians 15:52-53 ). He speaks of the trumpet of God, which is to sound when Christ comes again ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ). Matthew speaks of the great sound of a trumpet when the elect are gathered in ( Matthew 24:31 ).

It would be wrong to expect God literally to blow the trumpet; but none the less the picture has symbolic truth in it. A trumpet blast can be three things:

(i) It can sound the alarm. It can waken from sleep or warn of danger; and God is always sounding his warnings in the ears of men.

(ii) It can be the fanfare which announces the arrival of royalty. It is a fitting symbol to express the invasion of time by the King of eternity.

(iii) It can be the summons to battle. God is always summoning men to take sides in the strife of truth with falsehood and to become soldiers of the King of kings.