The sixth seal belongs to the very end, when the Millennium (the thousand-year kingdom) begins, so we set it aside for now. The seventh seal follows directly after the seven church ages, and Revelation 10 shows what happens while it is open.
The half hour
We are in the last of the seven church ages, Laodicea. When it ends, the covenant (karaar), the seven-year agreement, is made. This begins the seventieth "seven", the final seven years, which runs to the Lord's coming: three and a half years, then the great tribulation for the last three and a half. Between the covenant and the rapture there is a short interval:
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
— Revelation 8:1
"About" means it is not exactly thirty minutes. Heaven has been full of worship, the creatures crying day and night that he "was, and is, and is to come". Those words belong to the time before he comes, so they stop when the covenant is made.
The Lord stands and the thunders speak
In Revelation 10 a mighty figure descends, clothed with a cloud, his face like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. In his hand is the little book, open: the scroll, now with all seven seals broken. He is the One who sat on the throne, on the seat of mercy, so that people could receive mercy and grace in the age of grace. Now he rises and stands with one foot on the sea and one on the land, for the earth is his footstool. Heaven is silent so that he may speak.
He reads with a cry like a lion's roar, and seven thunders utter their voices. A roar carries no words, and most hear only that. But John heard words in the thunders, and was about to write them when he was told to seal them up. They must stay hidden until the half hour begins.
The seven thunders are seven people, like John the Baptist, a voice crying in the wilderness who brought a message. As the Lord appointed twelve apostles at the beginning, so in the last time he appoints seven, in different parts of the world. The words reach them, and they pass them on like loudspeakers.
They will not announce themselves; they will seem ordinary people teaching the word. Counterfeits may come too, for Satan imitates, so we must learn to test what is true. Anyone who claims now to know the words of the seven thunders, and points to a verse as proof, is wrong, for they are not written in Scripture. Do not trust such people.
The secret in the scroll
In Eden God set cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the tree of life, so that man would not live for ever but die. The remedy for that curse is in the scroll sealed with seven seals. Jesus won the right to open it, for he never sinned yet bore the penalty of sin, death. Because he died in our place, we may enter eternal life alive, without dying.
This way is not written in our Bibles. It will be revealed through the seven thunders, and only those who receive it can be taken up in the rapture. Earlier believers who did not understand simply died and went to the Lord. But if we are left below, the great tribulation awaits, with severe persecution and hunger.
No more delay
The figure swears by him who lives for ever that there will be no more delay (Revelation 10:5–6). Daniel saw the same figure and was told that the power of the holy people would be shattered in three and a half years (Daniel 12:6–7). Now the seventieth "seven" has begun, and the great tribulation is near.
In the days of the seventh angel, the Laodicean age, when he is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be finished (Revelation 10:7). This is the rapture trumpet, not one of the seven trumpets. The mystery is that of Romans 11:25: Israel is hardened in part until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, keeping the Law but rejecting Jesus until the age of grace ends. Then the hardening ends, and they will believe in crowds, with the Spirit falling on them like the latter rain, as at Pentecost. The seven years are set aside for Israel.
John eats the little book, sweet as honey in his mouth but bitter in his stomach, and is told to prophesy again to many peoples, nations, languages and kings. As John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah, the seven will come in the spirit of the apostle John, with spiritual messages like those of his Gospel. They will be sweet to hear but hard to act on.
Preparing through prayer and the altar's fire
The message to Laodicea names three things: white raiment, which is salvation; gold tried in the fire, which is faith that passes through trials; and eyesalve, which is sight to understand the prophecies of what is coming. They prepare us to receive the message of the seven thunders.
In Revelation 8:2–6 an angel offers incense with the prayers of all the saints, and the smoke goes up before God. Near the rapture our prayers matter greatly, and the rapture calls for fasting and prayer; so we fast and pray on the seventh of the month. The angel then fills the censer with fire from the altar and casts it on the earth. This is like the coal that touched Isaiah's lips, taking away his iniquity (Isaiah 6:5–7). It means atonement. We repent before baptism, and at baptism our sins are forgiven. With atonement even the penalty of sin, death, does not come on us.
The fire falls on those who hear the seven thunders and prepare, and completes their final preparation. But if we remain unclean it does nothing: we must bring ourselves to the point where only what is beyond our reach is lacking.
Takeaway
The seventh seal is a time to prepare for being taken up alive. We should seek the three things named to Laodicea, pray and fast, and learn to test every message. Then, when the seven thunders speak and the altar's fire falls, we will be ready.