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The
Seven Seals
The story of the
mysterious book sealed with seven seals is the
first apocalyptic prophecy in Revelation. This
story not only “stacks” on top of the
matrix established by Daniel with perfect
harmony, but also adds new information to the
matrix, which other prophecies in Revelation will
use. Revelation 4-6 is to the book of Revelation
what Daniel 2 is to the book of Daniel. Both
prophecies establish a foundational sequence of
events on which other prophecies build. It is
also important to know that Revelation 4-6
amplifies certain events recorded in Daniel 7-9.
The story of the seven
seals has several purposes. First, it establishes
order. Each seal is opened in chronological order.
The first seal was broken in 1798 and the last
seal will be broken at the end of the millennium.
Next, the information written in the book sealed
with seven seals ultimately resolves two problems
that began before Earth was created. I conclude,
from the evidence presented in Revelation and
elsewhere in the Bible that sin began with two
clever arguments, which Lucifer brought against
the Father and the Son. First, Lucifer claimed
that God was not a God of love. Second, He
claimed that God used His incredible powers (omnipotence,
omniscience and omnipresence) to selfishly
maintain control over the universe. Lucifer
claimed that God did not offer freedom to His
subjects. Lucifer argued that God loved authority
and power, and Lucifer summed up God’s
tyranny with this evil taunt to the angels,
“It’s obey God and live or disobey God
and die.”
We should not
underestimate the power and sophistry of the
devil’s arguments, because they deceived a
third of Heaven’s sinless angels. When the
seventh seal is opened, and the contents of the
book are exposed, God will prove that Lucifer’s
first assertion was nothing but a malicious lie.
Moreover, God will absolutely prove that Lucifer’s
arguments were cleverly disguised to hide his
evil motives to gain what belonged to Jesus. The
second problem, which the unsealed book will
resolve, centers on the humility of God. When the
book is unsealed at the end of the thousand
years, the universe will finally understand that,
if necessary, Jesus was willing to lay down His
life forever, so fallen man might have the
possibility of salvation.
Because the Father
foreknew the rise of sin and the hatred that
Lucifer would eventually have for Christ and His
followers, He created a simple, but profound,
means to dispel all of Lucifer’s lies before
Lucifer was created. He wrote a complete account
of every created being. He wrote a complete
history of life in a book, which contains a
complete account of every created being. If this
book were opened prematurely, the argument could
be made that God manipulated events to occur
according to His will. Therefore, the Father
sealed the book so that nothing in it could be
exposed. Then, the Father commissioned certain
angels to serve as recording angels. These angels
record everything that is said and done by every
living being. In the end, the sealed book will be
opened and compared with the records of the
angels. Amazingly, the two records will prove to
be identical! This astounding evidence will
exonerate God of all of Lucifer’s charges.
God will prove that He foreknew the outcome of
everything before anything was created. More
importantly, God will prove that He did not
manipulate the decision making power of anyone.
His creatures have the power of choice and they
are free to obey or rebel against His authority.
Last, God will prove that He does not use His
awesome powers of omniscience, omnipotence or
omnipresence to maintain the throne. Rather, He
uses these unlimited powers to insure that the
rule of love is eternally enduring. Faith in God
always make perfect sense when scene in reverse.
The
144,000
The opening of the fourth
seal marks the commencement of the Great
Tribulation. Just before the global earthquake
that marks the beginning of the Great
Tribulation, God will select 144,000 people on
earth to do a special work for Him. God will
choose and empower these people, like Noah before
the flood, and Moses at the time of the Exodus,
to speak for Him. These people will be located
all over the world and they will be selected from
every religious group. In an effort to save the
maximum number of people, God will have “believing
brothers” speaking to their biological
brothers. The awesome power of God will rest on
the 144,000, and even though they will have
little or no communication with each other, they
will proclaim the same terms and conditions of
salvation in the clearest of words. Contrary to
what most Christians believe, these people will
not be biological Jews that suddenly convert to
Christianity after a supposedly secret rapture.
According to Scripture, these people will be Jews
in God’s sight – that is according to
the redefinition of Israel that occurs
through Jesus. (James 1:1; 2:1; Romans 2:28, 29;
Ephesians 2; Galatians 3; Romans 9-11; Revelation
2:9; 3:9) A numberless multitude from all
kindreds, tongues and nations will hear the 144,000,
receive their testimony and be saved.
The
Seven Trumpets
The Great Tribulation
will begin with a global earthquake followed by
four civilization threatening judgments in quick
succession. (Revelation 8:2-12) A quarter of
Earth’s population will perish within a few
weeks. These horrific events will stun and
overwhelm the survivors. Because the current
religions of our world are highly antagonistic
towards each other, it is almost impossible for
people from different religions to discuss the
subject of God. The Moslem cannot
understand the Christian’s belief in Jesus.
The Jew cannot understand the Catholic mass or
the need for Mary’s intercession. The
Protestant does not understand the enlightenment
of Buddhism, etc. We live in a world that has
many views about God, and it is impossible for
one man to prove the superiority of his God over
that of another man. To make matters worse, there
is a great diversity of thought about God within
each religious system, and this keeps the world
deeply fractured. Can a Catholic, Moslem, Jew,
Mormon and Baptist worship the same God together?
If so, what would the properties of such a God
be?
Jesus
will soon awaken the world to the reality of His
sovereign authority and dominion as well as the
authority of His 144,000 servants (both men and
women). He will shatter the religious views of
the world with a series of awesome judgments
including a meteoric firestorm of burning hail
that burns up a third of the trees on Earth, and
two civilizations threatening asteroid impacts
causing darkness to cover the world for a period
of time. These four judgments will destroy more
than 1.5 billion people in a few weeks. By
showing His authority with overwhelming
destructive force, Jesus will gain man’s
full attention and temporarily subdue the ongoing
hatred, conflicts and wars between nations. When
Jesus initiates these four judgments, everyone on
Earth will realize that Almighty God is angry.
The seven trumpets of Revelation are seven
judgments of mercy that will befall Earth, so
that Jesus may gain our attention and speak to us
with one voice through His servants. The 144,000
will present the terms and conditions for
salvation; and the gospel of Christ will separate
the people of Earth into two camps – the
sheep and the goats.
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