Compare Nahum 1:6; Mal. 3:2; Luke 21:36. With this searching question the present scene comes to a close. Each of the six seals that have been opened shows a different phase of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, and each helps to demonstrate before the onlooking universe the righteousness of God (see on Rev. 5:13). Now there is a pause in the opening of the seals, for a question must be answered. Thus far in the portrayal of the terrible events that precede the second advent, no indication has been given that anyone survives them. Hence the dramatic question, “Who shall be able to stand?”Chapter 7 breaks the sequence of the seals in order to present an answer.