The
Seven Seals
Seals 4,5,6,7
Begin Text:
Today, we will examine the
meaning and the timing of the last three seals.
Let’s begin by looking
at the diagram of the seven seals and I want you
to specifically notice how the breaking of each
seal produces a brighter revelation of all that
Jesus is.
You may wondering, “Why
is the revelation of Jesus necessary? Why is this
such an important matter to the Father? Here’s
why:
Relationships Between the
First Six Seals
Start
Finish
1798
1844
The Great Tribulation
1800
--The Salvation
of Jesus
-------------------------------------------- The
Glory of Jesus --
--The Teachings of Jesus
------------------------------ The faith of Jesus
—
-- The Judgment Bar of Jesus ----- The Authority
of Jesus --
1
2 3
Six Campaigns
4 5
6
White Red Black
Pale
Martyrs J esus
Horse Horse Horse
Horse
Appears
An Almighty God humbled Himself to the lowest
point. He came to Earth as a child of very poor
parents. He came to a nation whose leaders were
arrogant and ignorant of Truth. He was willing to
live among sinners as one of us. He was willing
to obey imperfect human parents as well as His
Father in Heaven. He was will to be tempted by
Lucifer and tested with extreme suffering. He was
will to cease to exist for the redemption of
sinners. He was willing to die so that the Father’s
government could be exonerated from Lucifer’s
lies…
Jesus willingly did all these things (and
much more), and He successfully fulfilled the
Father’s will in these matters, therefore,
the Father has determined that the whole universe
should know who Jesus really is – that Jesus
is identical to the Father in every way.
Jesus is not a lesser God or a subordinate God,
even though He does not sit on the throne or
dwell in unapproachable light. The Father wants
the whole universe to fully know that Jesus is
an eternal God that has every attribute and every
power that He has.
This disclosure of Jesus
proves that the Father is just as humble as
Jesus. The Father is not worried about losing
His preeminent position once the universe knows
that Jesus is just as powerful and glorious as He
is. The Father is not worried now that Jesus,
since 1798, has Sovereign power and rules over
the universe. By giving Jesus full control of
everything, the Father has demonstrated that
Jesus is equal to Himself.
Actually, by revealing all
that Jesus is to the universe, the Father is
proving that He only sits upon the throne of the
universe because Jesus and the Holy Spirit
surrendered their divine prerogatives to Him.
What loving Gods!
What humble Gods!
So, when the seventh and
final seal is broken, the revelation of Jesus
will be complete. This event will occur at the
end of the 1,000 years! I’ll demonstrate
this later on.
One more thing: From an
earthy point of view, Jesus is the “most
hated” of all Gods because he claims to be
the Son of God and He claims that all other
testimonies about God are lies. In other words,
Jesus says that His testimony is true and all
others are false. (John 14:6)
When you realize that 75% of
the world is not Christian, the revealing of all
that Jesus is – that He is the only Savior of
mankind – this revealing will not be easy to
swallow. But, the Father had determined that the
final generation will hear and consider the
gospel of Jesus Christ because the testimony of
Jesus contains the truth about the will and ways
of God the Father.
Quick overview of the
seven seals….
Seal 1 -- The
first seal was broken in 1798 and a new
revelation of Jesus began in spiritual darkness:
The Christian church had taught for more than a
thousand years that salvation comes through the
church. Not so says the Holy Spirit:
Salvation comes through faith in Jesus alone!
“Sola Jesus”
“Sola Scriptura”
Seal 2 – The
second seal was broken in 1800 and a greater
revelation of Jesus began. The teachings of Jesus
became known through the translation and
distribution of the Bible. This process has
produced a variety of Christian denominations.
Since 1800, there has been a fracturing of
Protestantism as each church group found
something new about Jesus.
In God’s sight, the
fracturing of Protestantism is both valuable and
necessary because the fracturing allows new ideas
about Jesus to continue to occur. When it comes
to doctrine, religious systems hate the word
“new.” Fracturing also explains how the
Earth helped the woman in Revelation 12. God set
apart a new nation offering religious freedom
because religious freedom permits religious
discovery to occur!
Seal 3 – The third seal was broken in
1844 and a greater revelation of Jesus occurred.
Christians discovered that Jesus began cleansing
Heaven’s temple that year. Because Jesus
lived on Earth as one of us, Jesus has been
appointed the judge of mankind (John 5:22) and at
the present time, He is conducting a pre-Advent
judgment by reviewing the books of record and
judging the dead. The judgment of the living will
commence with the breaking of the next seal.
Seal 4 – A
powerful and authoritative revelation of Jesus
Christ is about to occur. When Jesus releases His
wrath against this world, people are going to
hear from the 144,000 that Jesus rules in Heaven
as Sovereign God. At the present time, the world
does not know this truth. In fact, only a few
Christians know!
But, a “rider named
Death” will change all this. As Almighty
God, Jesus will justifiably send death and
destruction to deal with global degeneracy and
decadence. Jesus will use wrath to get the
attention of the whole world – thus the rulership
and authority of Jesus will be revealed when the
fourth seal is broken.
If you really want to
understand how hardheaded the human race is when
it comes to religion, consider this: A global
Tribulation is the only way to get mankind to
thoughtfully consider the truth about God.
How can I say this? The Bible tells us that a
loving God is purposeful and deliberate in all
His actions. And, the book of Revelation tells us
what an infinitely wise God has to do in order to
put His truth before mankind. The drama told in
Revelation’s story tells us how arrogant and
ignorant we really are!
Seal 5 – When
the fifth seal is broken, millions of people will
die as martyrs for Christ. Why does God permit so
many of His people to die as martyrs? The blood
of martyrs can speak more clearly than words. In
other words, during the time of the fifth seal,
most everyone will have taken a position on whom
they will worship: The Lamb (Jesus) or the
lamb-like beast (Lucifer). A few people will be
in the valley of decision. In order to get these
few people to consider the importance of
worshiping Jesus, Jesus will sacrifice millions
of His children. The blood of martyrs is a
testimony that cannot be silenced. This drama
that will unfold during the Great Tribulation…
Listen carefully: A martyr’s
faith will be given when a martyr’s faith is
needed. The bottom line in the fifth seal is that
the love of Jesus will be powerfully demonstrated
through the faithfulness of His saints.
Seal 6 – The
sixth revelation of Jesus occurs at the
Second Coming. When Jesus appears with the
Father at the Second Coming, the whole universe
will behold the awesome glory of Jesus that has
been hidden from view since the dawn of time. Words
cannot describe the amazing glory that will
attend Jesus on that day.
Matthew 26:63 “But
Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to
him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living
God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of
God.’
Matthew 26:64 “Yes,
it is as you say,” Jesus replied. ‘But
I say to all of you: In the future you will see
the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’”
The Father will come with
the Son at the Second Coming and the Holy Spirit
will be here too, sealed within the hearts and
minds of the saints!
Seal 7 – The
seventh revelation of Jesus occurs at the end of
the 1,000 years. At that time, everyone who has
ever lived on Earth will be alive and summoned to
appear before the great white throne to behold
the full and complete divinity of Jesus --- that
Jesus is fully God and that Jesus was willing to
cease to exist so that every sinner might have
access to eternal life.
Everyone will behold that
Jesus is from everlasting to everlasting, the
Alpha and the Omega. The universe will behold the
love, the character and faithful work of Jesus
--- how He rescued repentant sinners from the
penalty of sin and how He exonerated the Father’s
government from Lucifer’s lies.
After showing the world
the story of sin and salvation on a giant
panoramic screen in the sky, all of God’s
children will kneel before Jesus confessing that
he is fully God – equal in every way with
the Most High Father – and the ways of the
Godhead are eternal, righteous and true.
After watching the Plan of
Salvation story, everyone will marvel at the love
of the Godhead. They will bow before a Jesus who
willingly submitted His divine “rights”
to the Father for the sake of having a large
family. (We examined the Trinity and their
subjugation of powers to each other in our last
study.) The point here is that at the end of sin’s
drama the whole story cannot be summed up! The
love and heart of the Godhead is just too big!
The best the angels and the
redeemed can do is sing endless praises to the
Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
Ok, the breaking of each
seal chronologically moves everyone in the
universe toward a brighter and bigger
understanding of who Jesus really is. Now you
know why the last book in the Bible is called
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ!”
Here’s a thought that I
want you to carefully consider: Most people think
the book of Revelation is scary and foreboding
--- they have heard about
the beast that has seven heads and the mark of
the beast
--- they have heard about
persecution and Armageddon
--- they have heard about
Babylon and the great harlot
--- but what they haven’t
heard about is the Revelation of Jesus Christ!
Here’s why: The
intended meaning of Revelation cannot be
determined without the four rules that come from
the book of Daniel – the book of Daniel was
sealed up until the appointed time of the end.
This means the intended meaning of Daniel and
Revelation could not be known until the appointed
time of the end!
After addressing the seven
churches of Revelation that confront all
Christians, the apocalyptic portion of the book
of Revelation begins with the seven seals because
the seven seals are the first thing a person
needs to understand about the end-time story! The
seven seals explain the revelation of Jesus!
If the seven seals are not
properly understood, there is no revelation of
Jesus! If the revealing of Jesus (all that he is)
isn’t first understood, the rest of
Revelation’s story becomes scary and
foreboding – a depressing and scary scenario
about the end-times.
But…. When the
revealing of Jesus is properly understood in the
seven seals, the rest of Revelation’s story
becomes a powerful drama revealing how wonderful
Jesus is and how horrible sin really is.
Man’s greatest problem
is sin.
God’s greatest problem
is sin.
And only Jesus can resolve
both problems!
Revelation’s story was
written in advance because God wants the final
generation to understand how Jesus is going to
bring an end to the sin problem! The father
predetermined long ago that at the end of sin’s
drama, during the judgment of the living, Jesus
would bring about a certain sequence of events
that will cause every honest person on Earth to
consider the curse of sin and need of a Savior.
This is a truth that the
world will soon experience.
The book of Revelation
explains the revelation of Jesus because mankind
desperately needs a Savior – but most of the
world’s population does not understand their
need of a Savior! And, to make matters worse, you
can’t convince most people of their need of
a Savior because of arrogance and ignorance.
So, Jesus will impose His
wrath on mankind (when He breaks the fourth seal)
and His 144,000 servants will inform the world of
His truth. And, one of the most interesting
developments in Revelation’s story is that Jesus
will use the opposing efforts and forces of evil
men and Lucifer to press home man’s need
of a Savior! This explains why the behavior of
the wicked is given so much attention in the book
of Revelation.
Let me say this again: Jesus
will use the behavior of wicked man and angels to
bring about such desperate circumstances that
every honest person will realize His need of
Jesus and His Savior!
The point here is that Jesus
will deliberately impose His wrath on the whole
Earth to get a global response from the leaders
of the world. The 144,000 will be empowered at
this point in time to present the everlasting
gospel and the opposing efforts and forces of
wicked people and Lucifer will put honest hearted
people in a situation where they will be able to
realize their need of a Savior! How clever!
God News! A numberless
multitude will discover their need for Jesus,
and they will accept his generous terms and
conditions for salvation, and they will rejoice
to know and receive Jesus as their Savior –
persecution notwithstanding.
Fifth Seal
Now that we have completed
our overview of the seven seals, Let’s
examine the fifth seal…
Revelation 6:9 When
he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar
the souls of those who had been slain because of
the word of God and the testimony they had
maintained.
Revelation 6:10
They called out in a loud voice, “How long,
Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge
the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our
blood?”
Revelation 6:11 Then
each one of them was given a white robe, and they
were told to wait a little longer, until the
number of their fellow servants and brothers who
were to be killed as they had been was completed.
What is the fifth seal all
about?
1. When the
fourth seal is broken, the Great Tribulation
begins. About three years later, the fifth seal
is broken open and there will be a great
slaughter of the saints. Their slaughter
coincides with the sixth trumpet.
“…. I saw under
the altar the souls of those who had been slain
because of the word of God [that is, they were
faithful in obeying the Word of God] and the
testimony they had maintained [that is, they
would not surrender nor capitulate].”
What does this language mean
--- “souls under the altar that had
been slain?”
Some people use this text to
demonstrate that when martyrs die for Jesus, they
go to Heaven and live under the altar. They say,
“John heard them speaking, so these martyrs
must be alive.” If this text was the only
text on the topic of what happens after death,
that might be true. But, look at this text:
Genesis 4:9 Then
the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your
brother Abel?” “I don’t know,”
he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Genesis 4:10 The
Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your
brother’s blood cries out to me from
the ground.”
Did Abel’s blood
audibly speak? No. The Lord used personification
in the first chapter of the Bible to describe the
justice that Abel’s innocent blood demanded
and the same is true in the last chapters of the
Bible. The innocent blood of martyr’s cries
out for justice – from beneath the altar of
burnt offering in Heaven.
Personification is a
literary device. It is used to speak forcibly
with few words. When an inanimate object is given
the properties of a human being this is
person-ification. Personification enables an
inanimate object to identify with human feeling.
In this particular case, the blood of martyrs cry
out for justice!
“How long, Sovereign Lord,
holy and true, until you judge the wicked actions
of the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our
blood?”
Since the souls of the
martyrs were seen under the alter, let’s
examine 4 texts that concern the Altar of Burnt
Offering.
Many people say the Altar of
Burnt Offering is not seen in Heaven’s
temple. This is not true. In fact, the Altar of
Burnt Offering is the altar where these souls are
crying out! How do we know this? Look at these
Old Testament references and notice where the
blood of sacrifices was put:
Leviticus 8:15 “Moses
slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood,
and with his finger he put it on all the horns of
the alter to purify the alter. He poured out the
rest of the blood at the base of the altar.
So he consecrated it to make atonement for it.”
Exodus 29:12 “Take
some of the bull’s blood and put it on the
horns of the altar with your finger, and pour
out the rest of it at the base of the altar.”
Leviticus 4:18 “He
is to put some of the blood on the horns of the
altar that is before the Lord in the Tent of
Meeting. The rest of the blood he shall pour
out at the base of the altar of burnt offering
at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.”
Leviticus 9:9 “His
sons brought the blood to him, and he dipped his
finger into the blood and put it on the
horns of the altar; the rest of the blood he
poured out at the base of the altar.”
In the wilderness temple, the
blood of animal sacrifices was poured into a
container that was kept at the base of the
Altar of Burnt Offering. (Animals were not
sacrificed nor was blood poured out at the base
of the Altar of Incense.) When the container at
the base of the altar became full, the blood was
removed and buried in the ground.
The language, “I saw
under the alter the souls of those who had
been slain because of the word of God and the
testimony they maintained.” Indicates three
things:
1. These martyrs
are sacrifices - this is the reason their
souls are represented as being under the altar
(of Burnt Offering) because that is the only
place where the blood of sacrifices was stored.
2. These martyrs
die after the fourth seal is broken. In other
words, this passage in Revelation is not concerned
with martyrs who died through the centuries.
These saints have not yet died. They will be
martyred when the fifth seal is broken because
they will take a bold and defiant stand against
the demands of Babylon at that time. They would
rather die than to disobey God and this is why
they are killed: “…. Because of the
word of God and the testimony (of Jesus) they had
maintained.”
3. Those who die
under the fifth seal will be given the grace and
faith necessary to take such a bold stand. This
uncommon courage, this holy boldness will come as
an enabling gift from Jesus. Jesus grants a
martyrs faith when a martyrs faith is needed. What
a Savior!
Sixth Trumpet Timing
The fifth seal will be
broken when the sixth trumpet sounds. In brief,
when the sixth trumpet sounds, the devil will be
allowed to kill a third of mankind. He will do
this eliminate opposition to the establishment of
his theocratic government. Many non-religious
wicked people who remain in opposition to the
devil’s power grab and a large number of
saints will perish.
Revelation 9:13 The
sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a
voice coming from the horns of the golden altar
that is before God.
Revelation 9:14 It
said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
“Release the four angels who are bound at
the great river Euphrates.”
Revelation 9:15 And
the four angels who had been kept ready for this
very hour and day and month and year were
released to kill a third of mankind.
During the sixth trumpet,
the final call for salvation will be given:
Revelation 18:4 Then
I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come
out of her (the harlot], my people, so that you
will not share in her sins, so that you will not
receive her plagues;
Revelation 18:5 for
her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has
remembered her crimes.
Revelation 18:6 Give
back to her (the torture) as she has given; pay
her back double (200%) for what she has done. Mix
her a double portion from her own cup.”
At this time, John heard
another voice from heaven say:
Revelation 14:13
“Then I heard a voice from heaven say,
“Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the
Spirit, “They will rest from their labor,
for their deeds will follow them.”
Seals: Today
4
5 Many Martyrs 6
------------X----------I--------------------I-----------------------I
--1,000 Years >
Trumpets:
1234------5------6-----------7
Bowls:
7 First Plagues
1234567
7 Last Plagues
Martyrdom will bring rest to
the weary saints from the suffering and travail
of the Great Tribulation and those who die a
martyr’s death under the fifth seal will be
specifically blessed. These martyrs will sleep
through the seven last plagues and they will be
resurrected shortly before Jesus appears in a special
resurrection to see Jesus appear!
Every martyr will be
resurrected shortly before the Second Coming to
behold the victory of Jesus over His enemies.
Look at these two texts:
Daniel 12:12 “Blessed
is the one who waits for and reaches the end of
the 1,335 days.”
Revelation 14:13 says,
“….blessed are those who die in the
Lord from now on.”
So what is this promised
blessing?
Revelation 20:4 “…
And I saw the souls of those who had been
beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and
because of the word of God. They had not
worshiped the beast or his image and had not
received his mark on their foreheads or their
hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ
a thousand years.”
One of the greatest
blessings human beings can receive is to behold
the victorious appearing of Jesus in the clouds
of glory. This display of Jesus’ victory and
glory will never happen again for never again
will God have a planet in rebellion. Those who
are resurrected at the Second Coming will see a
revelation of Jesus Christ that has never
occurred! (Sixth seal)
The martyrs will be
resurrected just before the Second Coming to see
“the Paul Harvey” – the rest of
the story and they will behold with their own
eyes the destruction of God’s enemies! What
a reward for remaining faithful!
Let’s review the fifth
seal:
Revelation 6:9 When
he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the
souls of those who had been slain because of the
word of God and the testimony [of Jesus] they had
maintained.
Revelation 6:10 They
called out in a loud voice, “How long,
Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge
the [wicked actions of the] inhabitants of the
earth and avenge our [innocent] blood?”
Revelation 6:11 Then
each one was given a white robe, and they were
told to wait a little longer, until the number of
their fellow servants and brothers who were to be
killed as they had been was completed.
Did you notice: “….
Until the number to be killed… was
completed.”
This phrase tells us that
God has already determined the number of saints
that he will allow to be sacrificed. If the
Father was willing to sacrifice Jesus for the
salvation of one person [and we but faintly
appreciate all that Jesus really is], how many
human beings do you think God would be willing to
sacrifice for the salvation of one more person?
In God’s economy, the martyrdom of 10,000
people for the salvation of one person is a
reasonable exchange – because God has the
power of life.
God doesn’t have
control over our will. The power of choice is
ours! So, He is prepared to make a great
sacrifice so that, if possible, we will make the
right choice. This is one reason why He
sacrificed a large number of saints.
Also, did you notice that
both prophets and saints will be killed during
the fifth seal?
“…they were told
to wait a little longer until the number of their
fellow servants and brothers who were to be
killed as they had been was completed.”
The servants’ mentions
here are the 144,000.
Revelation 7:3 “Do
not harm the land or the sea or the trees until
we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants
of our God.”
Revelation 7:4 then
I heard the number of those who were sealed:
144,000 from all the tribes Israel.”
Revelation 10:7 But
in the days when the seventh angel is about to
sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be
accomplished, just as he announced to his
servants the prophets.”
The apostle John keeps a
careful distinction between servants and non-servants
throughout the book of Revelation. Notice this
text:
Revelation 16:4 The
third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and
springs of water, and they became blood.
Revelation 16:5 Then
I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
“You are just in these judgments, you who
are and who were, the Holy One, because you have
so judged;
Revelation 16:6 for
they have shed the blood of your saints
and prophets, and you have given them blood
to drink as they deserve.”
Look also at this text:
Revelation 18:24
“In her [the great whore] was found the
blood of prophets and of the saints, and
of all who have been killed on the earth.”
The point here is twofold.
First, a Great Injustice is coming upon the
saints and the 144,000 will be killed because of
the Word of God and the testimony they maintain.
The maddening wine [the
intoxicating doctrines] of false religion will
cause the leaders of the world to act
irrationally after the fourth seal is broken.
Insanity will rule the day.
A spirit of confusion and anxiety will overtake
the world. When religious and political leaders
behold the sudden destruction of 25% of mankind,
they will go bezerk in their efforts to appease
God because they do not know God nor His plans.
In their misguided efforts
to appease God, the 144,000 and the saints will
become objects of hatred because they will refuse
to obey the decrees and laws of Babylon. Religious
and political leaders will arrogantly and
ignorantly interpret this defiance as behavior
offensive to God.
The defiance of the 144,000
and the saints will perplex world leaders because
they ignorantly think that God’s wrath will
return unless everyone obeys the laws of Babylon.
Therefore, they will persecute the people of God
and think they are doing God a service! How
twisted is this?
Jesus said:
John 16:1 “All
this I have told you so that you will not go
astray.
John 16:2 They
will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a
time is coming when anyone who kills you will
think he is offering a service to God.
John 16:3 They
will do such things because they have not known
the Father or me.”
Remember this, God has
already determined the number of souls that he
will permit to die as sacrifices for the gospel
of Jesus.
Revelation 13:10
If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity
he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the
sword, with the sword he will be killed. This
calls for patent endurance and faithfulness on
the part of the saints.”
Finally, what are the
primary purposes for human sacrifices during the
fifth seal? I can think of two:
1. The death of
a martyr is a matter of choice – the martyr
chooses to die rather than to submit. This
defiance is the most powerful testimony that a
person can offer.
Jesus will enable a large
number of His people to die as martyrs because
their humble but powerful testimony will
influence the hearts and minds of those few
people who haven’t made up their minds.
If Paul’s heart was
touched by Stephen’s martyrdom, we don’t
know. However, we do know that Paul was converted
on the road to Damascus. He later wrote:
1 Timothy 1:13 “Even
though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor
and a violet man, I was shown mercy because I
acted in ignorance and unbelief.”
The point here is that many
will persecute God’s people out of ignorance
and unbelief. But, participating in the death of
a good and honest person will be a point of
torment through which the Holy Spirit can do some
work.
We haven’t studied the
Two Witnesses at this point, but I just want to
say that the Holy Spirit will be tormenting
people to receive Jesus as their Savior!
Revelation 14:11
“…. There is no rest day or night
for those who worship the beast and his image, or
for anyone who receives the mark of the beast.”
Eventually, the Holy Spirit
will conclude His work. Every decision will have
been made.
Revelation 11:10
”The inhabitants of the earth will gloat
over them [the death of the Two Witnesses] and
will celebrate by sending each other gifts,
because these two prophets had tormented those
who live on the earth.”
The Holy Spirit is going to
torment everyone with “a whole lot of
trouble” until they either accept Jesus or
the Two Witnesses are killed. Jesus can read our
hearts and minds and He knows how to judge. This
is how Jesus could pray for those who crucified
Him: “Father forgive them, for they don’t
know what they are doing…”
When the Great Tribulation
begins and religious and political leaders set up
a crisis government to appease God, the
persecution of the saints will begin. Later on,
the persecution will become deadly. A time is
coming when millions of innocent saints will be
killed in the name of God because they defiled
the laws of Babylon. In other words, wicked
people will kill innocent people just like Cain
killed Abel and they will think that they are
doing God a service!
The ultimate deception
occurs when right becomes wrong and wrong becomes
right.
Sixth Seal
The sixth seal is the
Second Coming. When this seal is broken, a
glorious revelation of Jesus breaks out over the
whole Earth! Let’s examine the Second Coming
from three points of view:
1. Revelation 6:
6th seal – The glory of Jesus
revealed
2. Revelation
19: 144,000 – Victory over the enemies of
love and truth
3. Revelation
16: 7th Bowl – Restitution
extracted from the wicked
1. The Glory
of Jesus Revealed
Revelation 6:12 I
watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a
great earthquake. The sun turned black like
sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon
turned blood red,
Revelation 6:13 and
the stars in the sky [meteorites] fell to earth,
as late figs drop form a fig tree when shaken by
a strong wind.
Revelation 6:14 The
sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every
mountain and island was removed from its place.
Revelation 6:15 The
kings of the earth, the princes, the generals,
the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free
man hid in caves among the rocks of the
mountains.
Revelation 6:16 They
called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall
on us and hide us from the face of him who sits
on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb [who
sits beside Him]!
Revelation 6:17 For
the great day of their wrath has come, and
who can stand?”
Now that we have this
descriptive scene in mind, let’s look at the
same scene from another point of view!
This is a good example of repetition and
enlargement.
2. The
victory of Jesus over the enemies of love and
truth
Revelation 19:11
I saw heaven standing open and there before me
was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful
and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
Revelation 19:12
His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head
are many crowns. He has a name written on him
that no one knows but he himself.
Revelation 19:13
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his
name is the Word of God.
Revelation 19:14
The armies of heaven were following him, riding
on white horses and dresses in fine linen, white
and clean.
Revelation 19:15
Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which
to strike down the nations. “He will rule
with an iron scepter.” He treats the
winepress of the fury of the wrath of God
Almighty.
Revelation 19:16
On his robe and on his thigh he has this name
written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 19:17
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried
in a loud voice to all the birds flying in
midair, “Come, gather together for a great
supper of God,
Revelation 19:18
so that you may eat the flesh of all people, free
and slave, small and great.”
Revelation 19:19
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth
and their armies gathered together to make war
against the rider of the horse and his army.
Revelation 19:20
But the [composite] beast was captured, and with
him the false prophet [the lamb-like beast] who
had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf.
With these signs he had deluded those who had
received the mark of the beast and worshiped his
image. The two of them were thrown alive into
the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Revelation 19:21
The rest of them [the wicked] were killed with
the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider
on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves
on their flesh.
Not a soul will be left
standing. Now that we have this scene in mind,
there’s one more point of view that we need
to examine. Repetition and enlargement produces a
dimension that would be otherwise impossible!
3. Restitution
Extracted from the Wicked
Revelation 16:17
The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the
air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from
the throne, saying, “It is done!”
Revelation 16:18
Then came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals
of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake
like it has ever occurred since man has been on
earth, so tremendous was the quake.
Revelation 16:19
The great city split into three parts, and the
cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered
Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled
with the wine of the fury of his wrath.
Revelation 16:20
Every island fled away and the mountains could
not be found.
Revelation 16:21
From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred
pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on
account of the plague of hail, because the plague
was so terrible.
Earth will be left desolate
of life when Jesus gets through with His enemies.
Again, notice how the sixth
seal aligns with Revelation 19 and Revelation 16.
1. Revelation 6:
6th Seal -- The glory of Jesus
revealed
2. Revelation
19: 144,000 -- Victory over the
enemies of love and truth
3. Revelation
16: 7th Bowl -- Restitution
extracted from the wicked
The Seventh Seal
We now come to the last
seal. After this seal is broken open, then the
contents of the book can be presented to the
universe.
Revelation 8:1 When
he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in
heaven for about half an hour.
Do you remember Rule One
that says that each apocalyptic prophecy has a
beginning point in time and an ending point in
time and the elements within the prophecy must
occur in the order given?
Ok, here’s a problem
for some people. The sixth seal is located in
Revelation 6, but the seventh seal is located in
Revelation 8:1. The problem is that Revelation 7
is between Revelation 6 and 8. What does one do
about this? The first eight verses in Revelation
7 concern the 144,000. Are they sealed AFTER the
Second Coming?
No! Actually, a new
apocalyptic prophecy begins because the
chronological order established in Revelation 6
is broken. The 144,000 are NOT selected and
sealed after the Second Coming; they are selected
and sealed prior to the breaking open the 4th
seal.
So, according to Rule 1,
Revelation 7:1-8:1 is another apocalyptic
prophecy. There are three prophetic elements in
this prophecy. Consider their location in time
and their alignment with other prophetic elements
in the chart below:
Rule One Produces This
Chart:
Today Seal
Martyrdom Second
Coming
Revelation 6:1-17 ---X--------4----------------------------5------------------6—1000
Years
Revelation 7:1-8:1
A--------------------------------------------------------B-------------7
Revelation 8:2-9:21
*1234--------------5------6-------------7
A=The Selection and empower
of the 144,000
B=A numberless group of
saints gathered around the Throne after Second
Coming
7=The breaking of the
seventh seal
*1234=The seven trumpets
Ok, Look at the second line
above and find the letter A. The letter
represents the selection and sealing of the
144,000. This process is described in Revelation
7:1-8 and it happens before the 4th
seal is broken. Now, look again at the second
line and find the letter B. The letter B
represents a glorious gathering of those who went
through the Great Tribulation. As we will see,
this numberless multitude gathers around Jesus
AFTER the Second Coming. Now, look again at the
second line above and find the number 7 at the
end of the line. The “7” represents the
breaking of the seventh seal which occurs at the
end of the 1,000 years.
Now that you have seen where
these elements belong with respect to each other
and timing, let’s read Revelation 7:9 and
onward to prove that “B” occurs AFTER
the Second Coming. Once we do this, we can then
prove that Revelation 8:1, the 7th
seal, has to happen AFTER the Second Coming
because chronological order is not broken!
Revelation 7:9 After
this I looked and there before me was a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation,
tribe, people and language, standing before
the throne and in front of the Lamb. They
were wearing white robes and were holding palm
branches in their hands….
Revelation 7:13
Then one of the elders asked me, “These in
white robes—who are they, and where did they
come from?”
Revelation 7:14 I
answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said,
“These are they who have come out of the
great tribulation; they have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb….
Revelation 7:15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God and serve
him day and night in his temple; and he who sits
on the throne will spread his tent over them….
Revelation 7:16 Never
again will they hunger; never again will they
thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, or any
scorching heat….
Revelation 7:17 For
the Lamb at the center of the throne will be
their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of
living waters. And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes.”
Revelation 8:1 When
he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in
heaven for half an hour.
Since the sixth seal is the
Second Coming, the seventh seal has to occur
AFTER the Second Coming, in fact, it has to occur
AFTER the numberless multitude assemble around
the throne. The only place in the Bible where the
Book of Life is opened up is found in Revelation
20:12. This verse occurs at the end of the 1,000
years:
Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing
before the throne, and books [plural] were
opened. Another book was opened, which is the
book of life. The dead were judged according
to what they had done as recorded in the books
[of record].
At this point in time,
everyone that has ever lived on Earth will be
alive. Jesus will break open the seventh seal and
the Book of Life will be opened. What is the
result?
1. Everyone will
see that the Father has perfect foreknowledge. (Books
of records, recorded in real time will prove to
be identical to the Book of Life that was written
and sealed up before any life was created.)
2. Everyone will
clearly see that the Father foreknew the rise and
cost of sin, but He will not, under any
circumstances, use His perfect foreknowledge to
manipulate the power of choice given to His
subjects. Everyone will behold and admit that the
power of choice was theirs to exercise, as they
deemed best.
3. Everyone will
realize that because we have been given the power
of choice, we are responsible for our actions and
our eternal destiny.
4. Everyone will
admit that the Father has been more than fair,
more than generous and perfectly righteous in
dealing with the sin problem. The whole universe
will be overwhelmed with all that Jesus did to
resolve the problem of sin once everyone sees and
understands the big picture.
5. Everyone will
behold that Lucifer was nothing more than a
self-seeking liar and he justly deserves the
penalty that is about to be executed upon him.
6. The wicked
will acknowledge that Christ’s judgment of
them is righteous and true.
7. Every knee
will bow admitting that there is no more excuse
for sin. Never. Thus, the primary purposes of the
seven seals will be served. Everyone will know
who Jesus really is – throughout the rest of
eternity!
Everyone will acknowledge
that sin’s penalty: immediate death by
execution is reasonable. Everyone will know that
even though God knows the future, He will not
under any circumstances interfere with our power
of choice. And at last, everyone will know that
God limits the use of His awesome powers to
ensure that the laws of love will eternally
govern the universe.
Because everyone will have
the knowledge of good and evil, and because the
seven seals have been broken, eternity is set for
endless joy. All who exalt the laws of love and
truth will live happily ever after.
Additional notes as time
permits:
Please consider what happens
at the end of the 1,000 years.
At the end of the 1,000
years, the Holy City will descend. Then, the
wicked will be resurrected to face Jesus, their
Creator and Judge, and they will stand silently
before Almighty Jesus at the White Throne
judgment. There are three things that Jesus wants
the wicked to see and understand.
1. Jesus will
open the book of records and He will carefully
take each sinner through his complete life
history (through the ministry of the Holy Spirit,
Jesus does this with all sinners simultaneously).
Jesus does this to show each sinner why He could
not save them. With surgical thoroughness and
unvarnished clarity, Jesus goes through the life
history of each sinner to show the sinner his
thoughts, his actions and his rebellion against
the Holy Spirit and even the sinner’s own
understanding of right and wrong. This review may
take a month or possibly a year, I don’t
know. What I do know is this review will be as
thorough and vivid as the judgment process that
has been taking place in Heaven since 1844. At
the end of this incredible review covering every
deed:
(a) every
condemned sinner will know why Jesus could not
grant him eternal life
(b) every
condemned sinner will know that Jesus judges the
sinner fairly, He even took into account the
sinner’s knowledge of right and wrong and
other factors that shape his perceptions of right
and wrong
(c) every sinner will
admit by this presentation of the facts (which
are beyond dispute) that as the Judge of all
mankind, Jesus was fair, generous and impartial
in making His eternal decision.
But wait, there’s more!
2. After Jesus
completes this review and disclosure to the
wicked who are still standing before His Great
White Throne, Jesus will take the Book of Life
and break open the seventh seal. When this
occurs, the sky becomes a giant screen and
everyone watch’s the panoramic movie that
presents the drama of sin’s presence in the
universe. The plan of salvation is told with
scenes that faithfully reproduce the events.
Everyone sees and understands Lucifer’s
rebellion and God’s response, they see
Lucifer in the tree and the fall of Adam and Eve,
they see the behavior of the antediluvians and
the flood in Noah’s day, they see the life
of Jesus and His death on the cross and other
dramatic elements that make up the story of sin’s
presence because the Father wants everyone inside
the Holy City (the saints) and everyone
outside the Holy City (those condemned) to see
what He foreknew before any life was created.
In other words, the Father
wrote this all down before any life was created
and sealed up the book. The Father waited for
this moment, after the wicked have been informed
on their destiny, to prove that even though He
foreknew everything that would come to pass, and
everyone who would be saved and lost, He did
nothing to prevent any of it. He freely gave
everyone, angels included, the power of choice.
The opening of this book (and the exposed
contents which everyone just watched) proves that
God Himself is obedient to the law of love that
prevents Him from manipulating anyone or any
outcome. Thus, every creature is fully
responsible for his own choices.
At the end of this half hour
movie, every knee bows before Jesus and the
Father confessing there is no one like them in
the entire universe. Their love and righteousness
is beyond reproach or suspicion. Thus, God and
His government and His handling of the sin
problem are totally exonerated by ALL of His
creatures.
3. After this,
Jesus will call the wicked to stand to receive
their sentence. Every wicked person is sentenced
to eternal death because of rebellion. Further,
every wicked person has been sentenced according
to his or her actions. During the thousand years,
the saints determined the amount of restitution
that the wicked must “pay back.” The
wicked will suffer in the fires of hell in
proportion to the amount of suffering they
imposed on others. Thus, life for life, eye for
eye, tooth for tooth, etc. will be repaid.
When each wicked person
learns what his duration in hell will be, he or
she trembles. There is no escape, no hope, and no
grace. As the devil and his demons consider they’re
lengthy suffering in the fires of hell, they rush
through the vast crowd exciting condemned felons
to stampede the Holy City. The need is obvious,
“Quick!” Get inside to save yourself!
As the throng rushes the City, fire falls from
God and restitution or “pay back”
begins. According to the golden rule, the wicked
have to suffer as they did unto others. When the
wicked are finally reduced to ashes, a new Heaven
and a new Earth will be created. The drama of sin
will close with a magnificent manifestation of
perfect justice (restitution made for all wrongs)
and perfect mercy (the sins of those submissive
to God’s authority all paid for).
End Text:
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