** Revelation 5 is the continuation of Revelation 4
** (Revelation 5:1)
__” …a book written within and on the backside….” ---- this sounds like a contract, including deeds, marriage contracts, rental and lease agreements, and wills.
__The inside of the scroll contained all the details of the contract, and the outside, or back, contained a summary of the document.
__ it almost certainly is a deed, the title deed of Christ Kingdom (part of that kingdom is the earth, where Christ will reign for a thousand years) (compare Jer. 32:7).
__John 18:36
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
__Isaiah 9:6–7
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
__...” sealed with seven seals” --- Romans sealed their wills 7 times on the edge at each roll, to prevent unauthorized entry.
__We are not told specifically anywhere what this book contains.
__This is one of the mysteries that will remain until we are in heaven with Him and ask Him face to face.
__ We know that the Right Hand of God is Jesus Christ, so whatever this book is, (actually the book is a scroll that is rolled up and sealed), Jesus is holding it.
__"Sealed with seven seals" just means that it is closed in completeness.
__ These seals could be opened one at a time or all at once.
__ They perhaps, if opened one at a time, could reveal a portion each time a seal is removed.
__Verses 2-4: Only one with the proper authority could “open the book”, by losing or removing its “seals” (Isaiah. 29:11).
__ “Who has the right to judge the World” That is, to reveal what is hidden in the scroll and to execute what is written. “No man,” literally, “No one”, could be found among mankind or angels who had the authority to remove the “seals” and real the scroll.
** (Revelation 5:2)
"And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book, and to lose the seals thereof?"
__ “Strong angel”: The identity of this angel is uncertain, but it may refer to the angel Gabriel, whose name means “strength of God” (Daniel 8:16).
__I believe the reason a "strong angel" is mentioned here is to show that all the earthly and heavenly strength, aside from God's, cannot open this book or these seals.
__The "loud voice" is as if the angel is calling out to see who will come forth to open the book.
**Revelation 5:3
"And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon."
__ “In heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth”: A common biblical expression denoting the entire universe and not intended to teach 3 precise divisions.
__There are some things that man cannot do. This one statement here shows that Jesus was, and is, no mere man.
__ This says regardless of where he is located, man does not possess the power to open this book. There are some things, like judgment, that are reserved for Jesus to do.
__scroll is closed by seven seals that are opened one by one to indicate events that will occur before and during Christ’s second coming.
__the Rapture will occur after the seven seals have been opened.
__Matthew 24:3
“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’”
*First four seals are the four horsemen of the Apocalypse
__Because the first four of the seals of Revelation and their meaning for earth’s inhabitants are presented metaphorically as messengers riding different-colored horses, they are commonly referred to as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.
__The word apocalypse comes from the Greek word apokálypsis, meaning “disclosure” or “revelation.” So the phrase “the four horsemen of the Apocalypse” means the four horsemen of the book of Revelation.
**First seal: a white horse
__As the first seal was opened, the apostle John wrote: “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer” (Revelation 6:2).
__the man on the white horse in this chapter is not Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ has not yet returned in this chapter
__It began in the first century (Galatians 1:6; Jude 1:3-4) and will intensify prior to Christ’s return via the efforts of a man identified in Scripture as “the man of sin,” “the Antichrist” and “a beast” (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 John 2:18; Revelation 13:11).
**Second seal: a red horse
__When the second seal opened, John noted: “Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword” (Revelation 6:4).
__This parallels Christ’s explanation that people would “hear of wars and rumors of wars” and that “nation will rise against nation” (Matthew 24:6-7).
**Third seal: a black horse
__As for the third seal, John said, “So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine’” (Revelation 6:5-6).
__This was a graphic depiction of Christ’s teaching that “there will be famines” prior to His return (Matthew 24:7).
**Fourth seal: a pale horse
__Describing the fourth horse, John penned: “So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:8).
__This description pictures the “pestilences” or disease epidemics Jesus said would come to earth’s inhabitants prior to His return (Matthew 24:7).
__The events pictured by the first four seals—religious deception, war, famine and pestilences—have already been occurring. Listed as signs of Christ’s second coming and “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8), these frightening events will intensify at the time of the end.
**Fifth seal: tribulation
__ “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
__ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’
__Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (Revelation 6:9-11).
__Jesus said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved [alive]; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matt 24:21-22).
__The fifth seal represents Satan’s anger, which will be directed against mankind and especially against God’s people.
__Revelation 12:12 says, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
**Sixth seal: cosmic disturbances
__Describing what he saw when the sixth seal opened, John wrote: “And behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
__And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place” (Revelation 6:12-14).
__The prophet Joel had described this as “a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness” and a time when “the sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. … The heavens and earth will shake” (Joel 2:2; Joel 3:15-16).
__“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Revelation 6:15-17).
**The seventh seal: the wrath and mercy of God
__The seventh seal, which includes seven trumpets, begins in Revelation 8. This seal, which is also called the Day of the Lord, is the predominant theme of the book of Revelation.
__It represents both “the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16), which Christ will bring upon mankind because of disobedience to God’s laws, and the mercy of God, which will eventually come through the return of Jesus Christ to this earth to establish the Kingdom of God.
__Prior to the beginning of the seventh seal, God is going to seal a group of 144,000 people (representing the 12 tribes of Israel) and a great multitude (Revelation 7:3-4, 9).
__Descendants from 12 of the tribes of the ancient Israelites will be included in the 144,000—not just Jews, who are primarily of the tribe of Judah.
__ It is also important to note that another very large group of people— “a great multitude which no one could number”—from all nations will also be sealed (verse 9).
__The Greek word sphragizo, translated “sealed,” has the meaning of stamping or marking for security. __This same word is used by Paul in Ephesians 1:13 to describe Christians who were “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” and in Ephesians 4:30 to describe Christians who were “sealed for the day of redemption.”
__God’s faithful people are thus going to be protected from the punishments soon to come upon the rest of mankind, people who are in rebellion against God.
__As the seventh seal begins, seven trumpets, representing a series of punishments, prepare to sound (Revelation 8:6).
__ By the time of the fifth trumpet, the punishment will be so severe that “men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them [temporarily]” (Revelation 9:6).
__During the sixth trumpet, a third of mankind will be killed (verse 18).
__The mercy of God soon follows when the seventh trumpet sounds to announce that “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” (Revelation 11:15).
__Although there will still be “seven last plagues,” also called “bowls full of the wrath of God,” until “the wrath of God is complete” (Revelation15:1 and 7), events on earth are now destined to improve.
__When Christ returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Kingdom of God will be established and 1,000 years of peace and prosperity will begin.
