The seven seals were sequential, as are the trumpets and the bowls of God's wrath. The sixth seals have already happened, but the seven trumpets and seven bowls of God's wrath have not.
The First Seal: Conquest
"Trajan was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared by the Senate
optimus princeps ("best ruler"), Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death (
Trajan - Wikipedia)."
The Second Seal: Civil War
“After the overthrow of the Severan dynasty [AD 235], for the rest of the 3rd century, Rome was ruled by a series of generals, coming into power through frequent civil wars which devastated the empire (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_of_the_Third_Century).”
The Third Seal: Recession
“Internally, the empire faced hyperinflation caused by years of coinage devaluation. This had started earlier under the Severan emperors [AD 193–235] who enlarged the army by one quarter, and doubled the base pay of legionaries. As each of the short-lived emperors took power, they needed ways to raise money quickly to pay the military's "accession bonus" and the easiest way to do so was by inflating the coinage severely, a process made possible by debasing the coinage with bronze and copper.
“This resulted in runaway rises in prices, and by the time Diocletian came to power, the old coinage of the Roman Empire had nearly collapsed.
"Some taxes were collected in kind and values often were notional, in bullion or bronze coinage. Real values continued to be figured in gold coinage, but the silver coin, the denarius, used for 300 years, was gone (1 pound of gold = 40 gold aurei = 1,000 denarii = 4,000 sestertii). This currency had almost no value by the end of the third century, and trade was carried out without retail coinage (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_of_the_Third_Century).”
The Fourth Seal: Death
“From AD 249 to AD 262, the Plague of Cyprian devastated the Roman Empire so much so that some cities, such as the city of Alexandria, experienced a 62% decline in population. These plagues greatly hindered the Roman Empire's ability to ward off barbarian invasions but also factored into problems such as famine, with many farms becoming abandoned and unproductive (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_of_the_Third_Century).”
The Fifth Seal: Martyrs
“The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding that they comply with traditional religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice to the gods. The persecution varied in intensity across the empire—weakest in Gaul and Britain, where only the first edict was applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution).”
The Sixth Seal: Terror
Total lunar eclipse: January 26, 362 (
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/0301-0400/LE0362-01-26T.gif). This eclipse was part of a lunar tetrad and was visible all around the Mediterranean.
“The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a pair of severe earthquakes that shook the Galilee and nearby regions on May 18 and 19. The maximum perceived intensity for the events was estimated to be VII (
Very strong) on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale. The earthquakes occurred on the portion of the Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/363_Galilee_earthquake).”
Total solar eclipse: June 16, 364 (
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/0301-0400/364-06-16.gif). Also visible all around the Mediterranean.
“The 365 Crete earthquake occurred at about sunrise on 21 July 365 in the Eastern Mediterranean, with an assumed epicentre near Crete. Geologists today estimate the undersea earthquake to have been a magnitude 8.5 or higher. It caused widespread destruction in the central and southern Diocese of Macedonia (modern Greece), Africa Proconsularis (northern Libya), Egypt, Cyprus, Sicily, and Hispania (Spain). On Crete, nearly all towns were destroyed.
“The earthquake was followed by a tsunami which devastated the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, particularly Libya, Alexandria, and the Nile Delta, killing thousands and hurling ships 3 km (1.9 mi) inland. The quake left a deep impression on the late antique mind, and numerous writers of the time referred to the event in their works (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/365_Crete_earthquake).”
“The Edict of Thessalonica, issued on 27 February AD 380 by three reigning Roman emperors, made the catholicism of Nicene Christians in the Great Church the state church of the Roman Empire. It condemned other Christian creeds such as Arianism as heresies of ‘foolish madmen,’ and authorized their punishment (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Thessalonica).”
The sixth seal brought the Roman Empire to its knees as it cried out for a true state religion.
The Seventh Seal: Trumpets
Silence in heaven for about half an hour is an indefinite length of time here on Earth.
"But do not let this one
fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day (2 Pe. 3:8).”
We know that the seven trumpets have not occurred yet because the rapture of the church will take place at the seventh trumpet, and that has not occurred yet. Also, the times of the Gentiles, the abomination of desolation, and the death, resurrection, and ascension of the two witnesses have not occurred yet, either. These will take place around the same time as the sixth trumpet, which makes up the 2nd woe (Rev. 11:14) with them.
"Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal
must put on immortality. But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting (1 Co. 15:51–55)?'"
"Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will no longer be a delay, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He announced to His servants the prophets (Rev. 10:5–7)."
"Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
Death, where are your thorns?
Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion will be hidden from My sight (Hos. 13:14)."
"Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever (Rev. 11:15).'"
The seven bowls of God's wrath follow after the seven trumpets.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him (1 Th. 5:9–10)."
The great tribulation will follow the trampling underfoot of Jerusalem by the nations (times of the Gentiles) for 3 1/2 years (42 months) before the abomination of desolation is set up on the temple mount and the two witnesses are killed (Rev. 11:1–14).
"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will
again (Mat. 24:21)."
It's a post-trib rapture.
God bless,
Mike