To fully understand the book of Revelation, you must start at the beginning, to be able to tie all the events together (see part 1, 2, and 3). In part 3, we saw the apostle John taken up, (in the spirit), to the throne room of Jehovah God Himself.
Once there, John had a Holy Spirit-induced vision that is both heavenward in place, and future-ward in time – where he sees God on the throne, accompanied by the Holy Spirit, 24 ‘elders’ seated around God’s throne, worshiping Him, and 4 angels worshiping Him as well.
We also saw that God possessed a scroll with seven seals, containing His plan for the redemption of humankind, but that it appeared that no one in heaven was worthy to open the seals, so that the plan may commence.
Finally, we examined varying biblical scholastic cases for the concept of a ‘rapture’ of the church.
In the first 3 parts of our examination of the book of Revelation, we have witnessed the ‘setting of the stage’ for the evolution of events that will comprise the timeline leading up to the end of the world as we know it. Now, we are ready for action…
Last time, we left off with the apostle John weeping, because no one was worthy to set free the scroll with the 7 seals. Today, we will investigate who is, and the meanings behind those seals. Let’s continue:
…one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. Rv. 5:5, 6. NLT
The ‘Lamb’ is none other that Jesus Christ. ‘He has won the victory,’ i.e., He overcame the forces of Satan, He emerged as the only sinless person in history, and defied death by His resurrection. In so doing, He became the guarantee for the salvation of humankind. The Son of God is the only one who is worthy to open the scroll.
The ‘Lion of Judah’ indicates that Jesus is the mightiest Warrior of one of the mightiest of the 12 tribes of Israel, also indicating His Jewish ancestry (see Gn. 49:9, 10). The ‘heir to David’s throne’ points to His fulfillment of becoming the Messiah (see 2 Sam. 7:12 – 16.).
The ‘slaughtered Lamb’ represents Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. However, now, the seven horns symbolize His Herculean power, while the ‘seven eyes’ characterizes Christ’s amalgamation with the Holy Spirit – resulting in His complete omniscience regarding all things, including the very depths of all human souls.
Jesus acts:
He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song…
“You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seal and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” Rv. 5:7 – 10. NLT
The angels and ‘every living thing’ worshiped Him as well – foretelling of Jesus’ return, when all people (even those who rejected Him) will pay Christ homage. The song itself reaffirms Jesus’ worthiness.
Now, one of the angels calls John to witness Christ’s opening of the seals, which constitute part of an ‘overview’ of a seven-year period, referred to as the ‘tribulations’ (adversities, tragedies, suffering):
As I watched, the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Then I heard one of the living beings say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” Rv. 6:1 NLT
Jesus opens the first four seals, which reveals the symbolic ‘four horsemen of the apocalypse.’
The first rider is astride a white horse – interpreted by some as the Antichrist, (counterfeit christ, man of lawlessness), who is loosed upon the earth in the beginning of the tribulations.
Apostle Paul also received a Holy Spirit-inspired vision regarding this day:
…that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed – the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. 2 Thess. 2, 3. NLT
‘That day’ is the day of God’s wrath.
[Some interpreters see this first rider as Christ Himself, but that is problematic. One: the rider is pictured with a bow; two: he is riding out to conquer; and three: he is nothing like the real Christ, who is later depicted in chapter 9.
Jesus has never been depicted in Scripture with a bow, but with a sword. Also, He does not need to go out to conquer. He has already conquered death and holds the keys to Hades (see Rv. 1:18)].
The second horseman is riding a red horse:
Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere. Rv. 6:4 NLT
(Some interpret him to be a personification of a coalition of a great army ‘from the north’ – from countries said to comprise the old Soviet Union and those populated by Islamic radicals).
The third rides a black horse, bringing with it famine, starvation, and disastrous inflation.
Finally, the fourth represents ‘death’:
…a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals. Rv. 6:8 NLT
Jesus opens the 5th seal, which is unlike the others, which consist of judgment. Instead it is a cry out for vengeance against those who have killed the saints:
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I (John) saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony.
They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?”
Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters – their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred – had joined them. Rv. 6:9 – 11. NLT
Our merciful God gives the world a little more time, to save any of those who may yet make the decision to become His children.
The sixth seal is opened, and it reveals huge cosmological events:
…there was a great earthquake. The sun became dark as black cloth, the moon became as red as blood. Then the stars fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind. The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places.
Then everyone – the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person – all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?” Rv. 6:12 – 17. NLT (See also Joel 2:30, 31; and Is. 2:19 – 21.)
Before Jesus opens the 7th seal, there is an ‘interlude’ in heaven, within the timeline of the unfolding of God’s judgments upon the unrepentant rebellious. This is the first of three interludes within the book of Revelation – where we get to witness the disposition of the saints during the various phases of John’s visions:
After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or any tree. Rv. 7:1 NLT
No wind? That would indeed require major climactic and cosmological changes.
And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea, “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.” Rv. 7:2, 3. NLT
Next in John’s vision of the interlude, he describes 144,000 Jewish followers of Christ, (12,000 from each of the 12 cited tribes of Israel) – sealed for salvation.
John continues:
After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes…shouting with a great roar,
“Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” Rv. 7:9, 10. NLT
Then one of the twenty-four elders turns to John in his vision and asks:
“Who are these clothed in white? Where did they come from?” Rv. 7:13 NLT
John replies:
“Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple.
And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Rv. 7:14 – 17. NLT
This multitude of people are interpreted by some to be all the Gentiles around the globe who have witnessed the rapture of the church, God’s defeat of Israel’s enemies, and the salvation of the Jews by Christ. Thus, they are convinced that Jesus is truly the Messiah. (See Zech. 8:23). This interpretation would require either an additional and / or mid-tribulation only ‘rapture.’
John’s vision shifts its focus back to the God’s throne room as Jesus opens the last of the seven seals:
When He (the Lamb) broke open, the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour [in awe of God’s impending judgment]. Rv. 8:1 AMP
I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets. Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold alter before the throne. Rv. 8:2, 3. NLT
We see that the seventh seal is not associated with God’s judgment. What it does is serve as a preamble to God’s ‘judgments of the trumpets,’ which heralds the coming of cataclysmic events during the tribulations. Next time…
Goodnight and God bless.