APOCALYPSE SOON!Rev 6v1-8v1

The 7 Seals & the Sealed Saints

61I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

5When 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. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quartA of wheat for a day's wages,B and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,C and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

9When 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. 10They 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?" 11Then each 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.

12I 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, 13and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

15Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16They 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! 17For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

1st Seal : Conquest6:2 rider on a white horse. The imagery of

the four horsemen comes from Zec 1:8-17; 6:1-8

Major interpretations : Jesus Christ

c.f. Rev 19.11 - rider on white horse who is called Faithful and True and crowned with many crowns

The Spirit of Conquest Fits context better Differentiated from the Lamb who releases

him

2nd Seal : Bloodshed

6:4 another horse . . . a fiery red one. Symbolizing bloodshed and war (cf. Zec 1:8;

6:2). Its rider has the power to take peace from the earth - to make men slay each other.

Red horse - internal revolution, terrorism, civil war

Most wars now are civil wars & insurrections

Start of conflict Conflict Cont-inent Location Cumulativ

e fatalitiesFatalities in 2014

Fatalities in 2015

2011 Syrian Civil War

Asia  Syria 200,000[2]-300,000[3] 76,021[4] 2,683[5]

2013 South Sudanese Civil War

Africa  South Sudan

50,000+[6] 40,000+[6] 52[7][8]

2011 Iraqi Civil War

Asia  Iraq 35,829+[9][10]

21,073+[10][11] 1,482[9]

2001 War in Afghanistan

Asia  Afghanistan 56,000+[12] 13,766

[13][14][15][16][17] 416[18][19]

2009Boko Haram insurgency

Africa  Nigeria Cameroon

22,000+[20][25][55]

10,849[20][56][57]

684-2,484[7][58][59][60]

Conflicts with 10,000 or more deaths per year

3rd Seal : Scarcity

6:5 black horse. Symbolizing scarcity and economic failure.

6:6 "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages Famine inflated prices to 10 x normal

level. God limits the scarcity

Recent Famine Deaths

1932 Soviet Famine

7m-10m

1944 Java 2.4m1959-61 China 15m-43m1974 Bangladesh 1m1996 N.Korea 1m-3.5m1998-2004 Congo War 3.8m

4th Seal: Death

Pale horse - appearance represents the ashen features of the dead - mirroring the rider , Death

Companion – Hades ( H eb. Sheol) - the place of the dead

Death is the result of conquest, bloodshed and famine

5th Seal : The Suffering of the Saints

John sees those martyred for their faith 6:9 under the altar. In OT the blood of

sacrifices was poured out at the base of the altar (Ex 29:12; Lev 4:7).

Martyrs cry out to God that he avenge their suffering against the inhabitants of the earth. A regular term in Rev. for mankind in hostility to God (see 3:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8,12; 17:2,8).

6:11 white robe. Symbolic of purity (see 3:5,18; 4:4; 7:9,13; 19:14).

Wait until the number (of the martyrs ) . . was completed. Jewish thought -the end awaits the death of a certain no. of righteous (1 Enoch 47:4).

5th Seal : The Suffering of the Saints

Cry for vengeance is very powerful Martyrs don’t seek to revenge

themselves – cry out to God to avenge - Dt 32v35 It is mine to avenge.

And whilst God is love , merciful & forgiving – in his justice he will avenge evil.

The Church has suffered, is suffering , and will continue to suffer for her faith , and increasingly so.

5th Seal : The Suffering of the Saints

5th Seal : The Suffering of the Saints

6th Seal : Skyfall At opening of 6th seal John witnesses a cataclysmic event. Great earthquake - regular feature of divine visitation Sun turns black & Moon turns red -

Prophecy of Joel 2:31 (quoted by Peter at Pentecost) as signs of the end times 31The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

Stars fall to earth & sky recedes like a scroll Mountains and islands are moved

Referencing Is 34 which describes the day of the Lord’s vengeance 4All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

This the OT Day of the Lord - now the also the Day of the wrath of the Lamb

6th Seal : Skyfall We do know when then 6th Seal event is to take

place Mt 24 3 Disciples ask Jesus “what will be the

sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Wars & rumours of wars Famines Earthquakes

All these are the beginning of birth pains. Persecution of Christians False prophets Universal preaching of the gospel A time of great distress (tribulation)

6th Seal : Skyfall Then Mt 24 29"Immediately after the distress of

those days " `the sun will be darkened, The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

This is the 6th seal `skyfall` event immediately prior to the return of Christ

Reflection on the 6 seals Describe a world where evil is abroad -

bringing suffering on the Church and the rest of Mankind .

Evil increases in a cyclic fashion as the end approaches.

Don’t despair -the Lamb gives authority to the riders & limits their destructive scope.

God is in control - these are his judgements. e.g Romans 1 18The wrath of God is being

revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

The Indestructructable Church Rev 7

71After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 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 

The Indestructructable Church Rev 7

Just prior to the opening of the 7th seal - Jesus gives a vision to encourage the church through this suffering and distress  

Angel carrys the seal of God & restrains the 4 angels who have the power to harm the earth prior to placing a seal on the forehead of the servants of God

Reference to Ez 9.4 when a man marks the faithful remnant of Isreal with a Heb taw (in ancient script X) to avoid God’s judgement

4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, 6from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, 8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

The Indestructructable Church Rev 7

The Indestructructable Church Rev 7

Who are these ? 1. The NT church as renewed

Isreal 12 apostles 144000 = 12 x 12 x

1000 2. Faithful remnant of believing

Isreal - plainer meaning God has not rejected his people

Romans 11v1,11

The Indestructructable Church Rev 7

9After 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. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.“

The Indestructructable Church Rev 7

13Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?"

14I 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. 15Therefore,

The Indestructructable Church Rev 7

"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. 16Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.

The Indestructructable Church Rev 7

17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;

he will lead them to springs of living water.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

The Seventh Seal 8v1

81When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.