Note: I used many sources to study this book, one of my favorites is Revelation: God’s Word for the Biblically-Inept by Daymond Duck and some out of different study bibles.
Title: The Six Seals
Theme:
Text: Rev 6:1-17
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:26 AV)
Beginning with chapter 6-18 we will see a description of this 7 year period or as refered to here the 70th week.
Period also known as the Tribulation
1. Holy Spirit will restrain evil no longer
2. The true church will be gone out of this world. End of Rev 3
3. The activities of Satan will increase since he knows he only has a short
time. 4. Men will be rampant with their true intent 5. God's judgement will be shown
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals,
Last week we looked at Johns search for one to open up the scroll with the seven seals. We said that the book was probably the title deed of Christ to the earth and contained the judgements by God to retake the earth.
Why did we say that Christ was worthy to open the seal? 1) he redeemed it by his blood 2) he created it 3) he conquered death.
and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
Here we see the mentioning of the four beasts.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (Matthew 24:15 AV)
Resemblences of the first four seals as in scripture
And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. (Zechariah 6:1-3 AV)
For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? (Ezekiel 14:21 AV)
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:5-8 AV)
Judgements:
7 Seals 6-7
7 Trumpets 8-11
7 Bowls 15-16
When the church is gone as in the days of Noah and Lot then God’s judgement will be poured out by Christ. John 5:22-23 Christ the judger
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
Who is this person on the white horse? Christ Rev 19:11 or the antichrist?
white is the symbol of righteousness but it is also the symbol of ? peace. When the antichrist comes it will be under a promise of peace. A promise of togetherness.
Note: we see some easy avenues to this with the United Nations or other organizations that gather all the nations under one roof.
White horse is the spirit of the antichrist
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (1 John 2:18 AV)
Notice that the antichrist comes into power without conquest but is probably voted in. The crown given him is a gift.
3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
What do you think the red horse represents? war and violent death. God allowed this in bringing his wrath upon the world.
Strange that it will break the bond of peace. Some say it is communism
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. {A measure: the word choenix signifieth a measure containing one wine quart, and the twelfth part of a quart}
What does the black horse represent? Great famine. It cost a days wage just to eat food.
As we know denarious was a days wage. Worldwide war is usually followed by worldwide famine.
oil and wine are luxuries of the rich. It seems that this was more important at this point.
For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. (Jeremiah 4:28 AV)
Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? {ordinance: Heb. observation} {mournfully: Heb. in black} (Malachi 3:14 AV)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. {unto them: or, to him}
Here we see what seems to be the worse of all of judgements. war, famine, death, plagues, disease, and evil beasts. One-fourth of the human race killed
Death-physical
Hell-spiritual
With all the starvation and hunger in the world it would not be hard to see how this could occur. Even with the biological war fare.
Man many times will cause God’s judgements and the only reason they don’t is because God is holding them back.
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Who is this? Those who were martyred for the word. Remember God said vengeance is mine saith the Lord. He will take care of them.
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
They cry out for justice and vengeance. Why? Ps 94:1-3 because of God's promise
Accept Christ now and miss the torture it will be to accept him later.1
And white robes were given unto every one of them;
This shows God's acceptance
and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Just be patient and God's plan will work. A little season. Jesus often spoke of seasons when referring to his coming.
God is waiting on the last one in the tribulation to accept him. There will be some. Those who did not know or understand the gospel.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 some will be deceived who knew the gospel and stayed.
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. {untimely figs: or, green figs}
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. (Joel 2:30-31 AV)
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: (Acts 2:20 AV)
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Some say this could easily refer to an nuclear event. Stars could be missiles or meteors.
Here we see the mighty effects of this judgement. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Is 24:1-13 mass panic
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
What do the people do? They still cry out to mother earth to kill them and save them from the wrath of Jesus. They know who he is but don’t want to accept him. 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Day of wrath Zephaniah 1:14-16 Daniel 9:20-27
