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The Year 1800

The year 1800 appears to resolve the question of timing. The first seal was broken in 1798. Remember, the first rule of apocalyptic prophecy requires that the second seal must be broken after the first seal. When the Holy Spirit ‘rode out” of Heaven’s temple, He immediately began a campaign to translate and distribute the Bible (the sword of truth) throughout the world. The Holy Spirit motivated Protestants to form numerous Bible Societies in Europe and the United States. During the early 1800’s, Protestants gave sacrificially and generously toward the translation and distribution of the Bible because they knew their victory over the Church of Rome came through the exaltation of Bible truth, specifically, the assurance of salvation through faith in Jesus. Because the Bible became increasingly accessible, laymen began to study the “Good Book,” and as they investigated the Bible, they began to understand for themselves Rome’s deep apostasy.

Prior to the fall of the papacy in 1798, few people owned a Bible in Europe. This was either due to the expense, or in some countries, the Church forbade the possession of a Bible through laws enforced by the state. Today, this text seems so foreign. Even the Church of Rome now publishes Bibles, albeit in the archaic Douay Version. What produced this marvelous translation from a few Bibles to the sudden appearance of many Bibles following 1800? I can find no better reason than the opening of the second seal. From 1800 to 1844, the Bible (or portions of it) was translated into approximately 112 translations. By 1944, the number of translations exceeds 1,500. As people began to read the Bible, various ideas about the teachings of Jesus occurred. Because nineteenth century Protestants were a diverse group of people from many nations of Europe and the United States, Protestantism fractured into several distinctive denominations after 1798 under the leadership of various godly people.

The Holy Spirit was sent on a campaign to translate and distribute Bibles in the second seal, because there is no other authoritative source on the teachings of Jesus. For 200 years, the Bible has been progressing throughout the world, one book at a time. The Bible tells us what sin is and it presents our true condition and position before God. Soon, a time is coming when Bible truth will cause men to slay one another! Without going into a lot of detail at this point, it will happen in the following manner: The opening of the fourth seal will initiate the Great Tribulation. God will send a series of destructive judgments, and during the first, thirty to sixty days of the Great Tribulation, more than a billion people will perish! The nations and religions of the world will respond to God’s horrific judgments by immediately establishing a crisis government. With a broad range of powers. The purpose of the crisis government will be to appease God so that His judgments will cease. This crisis government (called Babylon in Revelation) will have no choice but to mandate the worship of God, by outlawing immoral behavior and imposing laws that have religious significance. The 144,000 will appear in every nation including Moslem, Hindu and atheist nations like India, China and Russia, and they will begin preaching from the book of Revelation. In this context, the purpose for translating and distributing the Bible during the past 200 years will suddenly mature. Because the Bible is in every nation, it will become the object of global controversy. The Holy Spirit will work mighty miracles through the 144,000 to confirm their testimony, but unfortunately, many of the teachings of Jesus are contrary to the established religions of the world. Thus, the testimony of Jesus will inflame the passions of evil people as it did when Jesus taught on Earth, and if evildoers killed the Master for His testimony, then they will certainly kill His servants.

The horrific judgments of Jesus are designed to open the eyes and ears of all religions. By shattering the religious paradigms and prejudices of people everywhere, the 144,000 will be able to present the authority and demands of Jesus so that people in every religious system will be able to thoughtfully consider what the Bible says. Because of prejudice, this has not been possible. Billions of people will begin to look into the Bible to verify the claims of the 144,000. People will want to know what Jesus is doing and why He sent the judgments. The whole world will examine and intensely study the books of Daniel and Revelation. The result will be an enormous controversy. People who are sincere and honest will embrace the teachings of Jesus and submit to the laws of our Creator. People who are rebellious and wicked will reject the teachings of Jesus and rebel against Him. The Bible will separate the sheep from the goats in every religion and cause men to kill one another!  During the fifth trumpet, the devil will physically appear masquerading as Almighty God. He will move quickly to deceive the wicked and set up his kingdom. His forces will kill millions of saints who obey the Word of God. This bloodshed is described in the fifth seal. The Bible says,  “When he [the Lamb] opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.” (Revelation 6:9, insertion and italics mine) Did you notice why the saints were slain?

Two More Essential Doctrines in Protestant America

Even though the doctrine of salvation through faith in Jesus was rediscovered by Luther around 1515, Protestantism was not set free to proclaim it until 1798. After the Church of Rome fell, Protestantism became a significant Christian force in the world. When the meaning of salvation through faith in Jesus is separated from the larger body of Jesus’ teachings, the assurance of salvation becomes a “theological fantasy,” which may be wonderful to believe, but practically worthless for dealing with the temptations and trails of the human experience. To keep the first essential doctrine on track, Jesus broke the second seal in Europe and the Unites States. The translation, printing and distribution of the Bible were necessary so that the teachings of Jesus could be rediscovered. Because the Bible is a treasure trove of 66 books, it takes considerable time and effort to become familiar with its gems of truth. Because the Holy Spirit has been commissioned to guide us into all truth (John 16:13), He gives the Word of God a special attraction. The Bible draws to itself everyone who wants to know God.

When Protestant settlers first came to America from Europe, they brought the first of five essential doctrines – salvation through faith in Jesus. During the nineteenth century, two more of the five essential teachings of Jesus took rook in America. These two doctrines were “soul sleep” and “the obligation of the Ten Commandments.” Although mainstream Protestantism in Europe and the Unites States did not embrace these two doctrines, many people incorporated these doctrines in their beliefs, and the teachings of Jesus became a little brighter. The rejection of soul sleep and the obligatory nature of the Ten Commandments by mainstream Protestants brings up a point which I have mentioned before: Truth is always true, regardless of who believes it or rejects it, and the fulfillment of prophecy reveals who had the truth!

Dr. Edward White (1819-1898), a Congregationalist minister in Britain, can be credited with uncovering the doctrine of soul sleep. His discovery began with the rejection of John Calvin’s (1509-1564) view of predestination. Calvin taught that only a predetermined number of people could be saved and the rest were doomed to suffer in eternal hell. Dr. White argued that God alone is immortal (1 Timothy 6:15,16), and therefore, the soul of man cannot be immortal. Since the soul is subject to death, the souls of sinners cannot be tormented forever. A few Protestants accepted White’s views, and the doctrine of “soul sleep” was added to the “fringe” of Protestantism’s theological fabric.

Note: The basic idea behind soul sleep is that when a person dies, he is not judged nor does he go to his eternal reward. Instead, when a person dies, his soul “sleeps,” that is, there is no awareness or intelligence. The dead await the judgment bar of Christ. (Hebrews 9:27) The dead will rise in one of two resurrections. When Jesus appears at the Second Coming, the righteous dead will be resurrected to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17) and the wicked that are living at that time will be slain by the Lord. (Revelation 19:19-21) At the end of the thousand years of Revelation 20, the wicked dead of all ages will be resurrected to meet their Maker in a great white throne judgment scene. (Revelation 20:12) After the wicked are sentenced for their cruelty to man and rebellion against God, they will be punished with fire and eventually annihilated because the soul is mortal. (Ezekiel 18:4) Protestantism, in general, has rejected this doctrine even though this doctrine is one of the five essential doctrines needed to understand the book of Revelation. Most Protestants today believe, as Catholics do, that at death, people either go to Heaven (or paradise) for eternity or they burn in Hell for eternity.

Another essential doctrine took root in the United States during the nineteenth century. The doctrine of the perpetuity of the Ten Commandments also came from England. This doctrine teaches that God requires man to obey His Ten Commandments, including the observance of the seventh day Sabbath (the fourth commandment, unlike the other nine commandments, seems contradictory to the doctrine of salvation through faith in Jesus. In 1664, Stephen Mumford, a member of the Bell Lane Seventh Day Baptist Church in London, came to Rhode Island. Because he could not find any Seventh Day Baptists, he worshiped with Sunday keeping Baptists for a while. Eventually, five Baptist families adopted Mumford’s view that the Ten Commandments were obligatory and the Seventh Day Baptist church in the Unites States began in 1671. By 1802, there were twenty churches with two thousand members in the United States. Increasing numbers of immigrants were arriving in America each month. Because Bibles were available and affordable and the Baptist name was a respected Protestant denomination, interest in the seventh day Sabbath continued to grow. However, Sunday keeping Baptists were strongly opposed (and remain opposed) to the idea that Jesus requires mankind to observe His fourth commandment.

In the beginning of this study, I have highlighted the point that the teachings of Jesus center around five essential Bible doctrines because an understanding of these doctrines is a prerequisite for reaching the intended meaning of Revelation. Currently, most Protestants do not appreciate the importance of these five doctrines. Nevertheless, we will discover that Revelation’s story mandates an understanding of soul sleep, as well as the perpetuity of the Ten Commandments. Circumstances during the Great Tribulation will force the importance of the five essential doctrines out of obscurity, and the teachings of Jesus, which are plainly stated in the Bible, will make a lot of people very angry.

Summary

The second seal appears to have been broken around 1800. The large sword carried to Earth by the Holy Spirit represents the Bible, which contains the teachings of Jesus. The sudden formation of Bible Societies in Europe and the Unites States around the year 1800 indicates the Holy Spirit was sent on a campaign to translate and distribute the Bible throughout the world. The translation and distribution of the Bible will produce deadly consequences during the Great Tribulation. We will discover this in our study of the fifth seal.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, the Bible was flushed out of obscurity. Since that time, it has been translated into 1,500 languages and hundreds of millions of copies have been distributed all over the world. The Bible has been the best seller of all books every year since 1800. The doctrines of “salvation through faith in Jesus,” “soul sleep” and man’s obligation to observe the Ten Commandments, including the seventh day Sabbath of the fourth commandment will play crucial role during the Great Tribulation.

Seal #3 – Black Horse – 1844 – The Judgment Bar of Jesus

“When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!’” (Revelation 6:5,6)    

I believe the third seal was broken around 1844. At just the right time, the Holy Spirit, in the form of the third living creature, was sent from the throne room on a campaign to inform the world that Jesus had begun to judge the dead. The face of the third living creature is like that of a man. (Revelation 4:7) This face indicates that the Holy Spirit has an assignment requiring divine wisdom. “To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.” (Proverbs 8:4-6)

The scales in the hand of the rider indicate,  “…the court was seated and the books were opened.” (Daniel 7:10)  The breaking of the third seal marks the beginning of the judgment bar of Christ! “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10) The third seal merges soul sleep, the worthiness of Jesus, and pre-advent judgment into a comprehensive prophetic fulfillment. Of course, if a person does not understand the doctrine of souls sleep, God’s use of parallel temples, or the four rules of interpretation, the breaking of the third seal in 1844 will make very little sense.

The doctrine of parallel temples teaches that long ago, God set a date, near the end of the world, for our High Priest to begin cleansing the temple in Heaven. The temple in Heaven needs cleansing because the record of our sins has defiled it. We have discussed the prophetic precision of 1798 and 1844 at length in this book. We have closely examined the date of Jesus was found worthy to receive the Book of Life, and we have examined the breaking of the first two seals. The orderly progression of the historical matrix is unmistakable.

The cleansing of Heaven’s temple is accomplished by transferring the guilt of each person to its final destiny. After investigating the record of each dead person, Jesus decides if that person is wicked or righteous. The guilt of the sin remains on the head of the wicked person, or in the case of a righteous person, the guilt is transferred onto the head of the scapegoat. Keep in mind, the Lord’s goat (representing Jesus) provided atonement for the penalty of sin (Leviticus 16:21), whereas the scapegoat (representing Lucifer) provided atonement for sin’s presence. (Leviticus 16:22) Lucifer is the father of sin and, as such, he bears full responsibility for it. (John 8:44) The doctrine of soul sleep teaches that the dead are neither judged, nor do they go to Heaven or Hell at the time of death. We also know that the righteous dead will meet the Jesus in the air at the Second Coming (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17) and the wicked dead will be resurrected at the end of the thousand years. (Revelation 20:5,6) The unanswered question concerns timing. When are the dead judged? The answer to this question is resolved by the alignment of two essential teachings of Jesus (soul sleep and parallel temples) and the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. Daniel 8:14 tells us the judgment bar of Christ began in 1844 and the breaking of the third seal in Revelation 6:5,6 aligns with this date.

The Holy Spirit departed the throne room around 1844 on a campaign to inform the world that the judgment of the dead had begun. The scales in the hand of the rider on the horse indicate the judgment of mankind has arrived. “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14) Do not confuse the judgment of mankind with the full cup principle. In a sense, God constantly manages Earth. He passed judgment on the antediluvians in Noah’s day.  He passed judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. He passed judgment on Egypt and Pharaoh then drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Jesus passed judgment on Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day. He also passed judgment on Israel just before His death. (Matthew 23) Jesus manages the kingdoms of Earth with the full cup principle, but He began passing eternal judgment on individuals in 1844.

Remember the mysterious words written on the wall at Belsahazzar’s feast? Daniel told the Babylonian king, “…You have been weighted on the scales and found wanting.” (Daniel 5:27) God weighs the actions of nations as well as individuals. Jesus weighs our actions against our knowledge. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and does not do it, sins… If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (James 4:17; Hebrews 10:26,27)

The scales in the hand of the Holy Spirit indicate judgment has begun. We know from the doctrine of parallel temples and information in Daniel, that this judgment is not a judgment on nations, but on people. (See Daniel 7:9,10; 8:14; Hebrews 8 and 9) Perhaps in this judgment process, Jesus began with Abel, the first man to die. For the past 160 years, Jesus has been reviewing and passing judgment on each person who has died. Of course, Jesus does not need 160 years to judge the records of the dead, but the angels and the 24 elders need this time. The ongoing judgment scene in Heaven is for their benefit. In effect, the angels have been getting a “college education” on the dimensions of God’s government. They are observing and learning about God’s constitution, branches of government, grace, wisdom, mercy, and most of all, how God’s love is a perfect balance between mercy and justice. Their lectures include real-time applications of God’s mercy and justice. Every life record presented to Jesus is a unique story. They are watching the close scrutiny that Jesus applies to every record. They have never seen anything like this, and the Father predetermined long ago that all of Heaven would benefit from observing this courtroom-classroom drama. This is why the Bible states, ‘thrones were arranged and the Ancient of Days took His seat… and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him…” As billions of heavenly beings silently observe, Jesus decides who shall be saved and who must be destroyed. Because the angels understand the incalculable value of eternal life, they watch with the greatest interest. They also watch closely for another reason. People who are granted eternal life will become their rulers. The redeemed from Earth will be elevated above the angels!  (Revelation 1:6) Therefore, the angels are very curious to see who will rule over them. This is why they have to attend this convocation. Once they understand the full dimensions of God’s government and salvation, they know they have nothing to fear from the exaltation of victorious sinners from Earth. Each judicial case reveals a unique expression of God’s justice and mercy.

Will Work for Food

The commission given to the Holy Spirit at the breaking of the third seal consists of a campaign to educate the world that Jesus began to cleanse Heaven’s temple in 1844. As the Holy Spirit prepared to leave the throne room, Jesus spoke these words, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages. And do not damage the oil and the wine!” Wages! These words are a promise of wages. Wages, in the form of “good” food, is promised to those who will enter God’s service to promote this special message, and I can testify that after 15 years of endeavor, the Lord’s promise has proven faithful and true.

Rule Three of apocalyptic prophecy encourages us to look for parallel passages in the Bible to determine the intended meaning of apocalyptic prophecy, and there is a good parallel in the Old Testament concerning the use of wheat, barley, oil and wine as ages! King Solomon offered Hiram, king of Tyre, an enormous quantity of food, if his servants would gather up materials for the construction of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. “I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat [125,000 bushels], twenty thousand cors of barley [125,000 bushels], twenty thousand baths of wine [115,000 gallons] and twenty thousand baths of oil [115,000 gallons].” (2 chronicles 2:10 italics and insertion mine)  Solomon offered Hiram food because food was of greater value than silver or gold. The building of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem would be an enormous undertaking for which Solomon did not have the building materials, but he did have food. He was willing to pay Hiram’s workman with something more desirable than gold if they would do his bidding. At various times in human history, food has been the currency of choice between nations.

The parallel is that since 1844, Jesus has been offering wages to those who are willing to build up the knowledge of His heavenly temple. The Bible is a very comprehensive book and God’s ways are vast. Teachings of the Word of God, if done well, are not a simple or easy task. Again, I can testify from personal experience, that it is the most difficult assignment I have ever had. An offer of wages goes with the breaking of the third seal because Jesus wants the world to know that He is judging the dead and the judgment of the living is coming soon. Jesus wants the news spread far and wide and He is willing to pay wages “in food” to anyone willing to carry the news!