When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. (Rev. 8:1-5 NIV)
This is the Day of Atonement imagery. Only a priest could offer incense in the Jewish Temple. This "angel" has a censer, incense, and is at the golden altar in the heavenly Temple. This angel is Christ. The thirty minutes of silence occurred when the priest entered the Holy of Holies. There was a sense of awe and wonderment. Early writers say Raphael is the angel over the prayers and Gabriel was seen at the altar.
Three groups will be judged on Atonement: The totally righteous - those in heaven at the Bema - Rev. 11:18. The totally unrighteous- those on earth in the tribulation. And the in-between- those who must choose- Rev. 20:4.
The earthly priest entered the Holy of Holies four times on Atonement:
1. The first time was to take fire off the altar for incense.
2. The second time was to kill the bull and place blood in a bowl.
3. The third time was to sprinkle blood in the ark seven times.
4. The fourth time he announced, "It is done." These four correlations are seen in the procedure in Revelation 8:1-5.
The first procedure is to burn incense. The priest on earth would take fire from the brass altar for the incense. Christ is offering all the prayers on the altar of all the saints. Christ is answering the prayers of the righteous to judge the earth for their blood. The church is in heaven and there is no more need for prayers to be answered. In heaven there is no prayers, just worship.
The priest on earth would offer the blood of a bull. Christ is the "lamb that was slain" who shed His blood (Rev. 5:6). Christ's blood is now in the heavenly Holy of Holies (Heb. 9:23-27). The priest placed blood on the Ark of the Covenant for atonement. The "original" Ark is in the Temple in heaven (Rev. 11:19). No man is able to go into the Temple while God is releasing certain judgments (Rev. 15:8). God is the Judge over all the earth. No other priests could enter the Holy of Holies while the High Priest was in the Holies. Jesus is our High Priest. The priest concluded atonement by announcing, "It is done." This decree is made by a voice out of the Temple (Rev. 16:17), and this decree is made at the time of the seventh angel. On Passover the priest offered the final lamb and announced, "It is finished." On Atonement he completed the service and proclaimed, "It is done."
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