The Seventh Seal, 
Chapter 8

The action of sealing the blessed interrupts the disasters that befall the Earth as a result of the great earthquake that occurs with the opening of the Sixth Seal. As seen from the view of a person on Earth, there is no time gap between the Sixth and Seventh Seal, but in Heaven there is time to seal all the blessed and time to mark the solemnity of the occasion, "there was silence in heaven as it were for half an hour" (Revelation 8:1).

Each of the first four angels affects one third of its domain.  The number is not meant to be a precise count, but rather an indication that a large number is involved.
 
 

The First Angel


This angel governs the fires that will accompany the great earthquake: Volcanic eruptions, explosions of fuel supplies and explosives, fires started by lightning strikes.  These fires occur throughout the world on all portions of dry land.
 
 

The Second Angel

This angel governs the destruction that occurs in and on the oceans.  Volcanoes and landslides throw debris into the sea.  Glaciers melt and crash into the ocean. Huge waves engulf the ships, the islands, and low coastal areas.  The change in temperature and all the violence brings death to many of the creatures of the sea. The "blood" spoken of is in part true blood, in part chemical spills, especially petroleum products which are the 'blood' of the machine age.

An alternate interpretation suggests that the events described here have already occurred. The words "a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea" suggest a hot, conically shaped object plunging from the sky.  The capsules which returned the Lunar Astronauts in the Apollo missions had a cone-like shape and were exposed to searing heat as they reentered the atmosphere. Their splashdowns were worldwide news. Since the late 1960s we have seen many great oil spills upon the oceans which have killed enormous numbers of fish and other wildlife.  In addition, we have seen the depletion of life in the sea through over-fishing, other forms of pollution, the bacterial onslaught of the 'red tide', and climate irregularities.
 

The Third Angel

This angel governs the destruction that occurs to fresh water areas.  The septic and water purification systems of the world will be ruined and the drinking water will be contaminated. The term "wormwood" is to be understood in a similar way as the term "blood" with the second angel, but with this aspect of septic pollution included in the mix.
 

The Fourth Angel


The Sun, Moon and Stars lose one third of their shine.  This does not mean that they are dimmed, but that the length of a day has been shortened by 'one third'.  That is, the 24 hour day is shortened by 8 hours to 16 hours.  Of course, the numbers we find in Revelation are not always precise, but rather approximations.  In this case what is indicated is the increased speed of rotation of the Earth.