Revelation 8:2

“The seven angels who stand before God” are introduced as familiar figures (cf. Lueken 36 f., R.J. 319 f.); they belonged to pre-Christian Judaism (Tob 12:15, “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and go in before the glory of the Holy One”), and are associated with trumpets (1 Thessalonians 4:16). According to the Targ. on 2 Chronicles 33:13 when Manasseh prayed, all the angels who superintend the entrance of prayers went and closed every approach, to prevent his petition reaching heaven; in Chag. 13 b the prayers of the righteous are offered by Sandalphon (cf. Longfellow's Sandalphon, and contrast Hebrews 7:25). This septet of distinguished angels belongs to the circle of ideas behind Revelation 1:4; Revelation 4:5; Revelation 5:6; but the author as usual prefers vividness and variety to homogeneity. He uses them for minatory purposes, assigning to “another angel” their characteristic function (Revelation 8:3) in Jewish tradition. The alteration of figure at this point is deliberate. The certainty of divine decrees is suggested by the figure of seals; but now that the prophet is describing the promulgation of the actual events presaged in the book of Doom, he, like the author of 4 Esdras (? cf. Lat. of Revelation 5:4), employs the figure of angels with trumpets of hostile summons and shattering alarm. The final series (ver 15 16.) in which these decrees are executed, is aptly described under the figure of bowls or vials drenching the earth with their bitter contents (cf. Bovon, Nouv. Test. Théol. ii. 503). The trumpet, as a signal for war, is naturally associated with scenes of judgment (reff.). “ Power, whether spiritual or physical, is the meaning of the trumpet, and so, well used by Handel in his approaches to the Deity” (E. Fitzgerald's Letters, i. 92). Trumpet to lip, the angels now stand ready. They are set in motion by a significant interlude (Revelation 8:3-5).