Seven Seals

The vision of the Seven Seals is a vision given to John the Divine in the Book of Revelation, chapter 6. It follows on from chapter 5, where John sees a Lamb (representing Jesus) holding a book with seven seals on it.

As the Lamb opens four of the seals, out come the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. When the fifth seal is broken, John sees a vision of the Christian martyrs. When the sixth seal is broken, destruction reigns on the earth and causes immense suffering. When the seventh seal is broken a few chapters later, we are told there was a "silence in heaven".

The vision of the seven seals continue a pattern in the Bible and especially the rest of the Book of Revelation of visions coming in sevens. Other examples include the epistles to the seven churches of Asia, the seven trumpets and vials, the seven days of creation etc.