The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance. II Peter 3:9
I am very thankful that God was patient with me, and that His wrath did not descend suddenly upon me like a rain of fire when I was least prepared. As a matter of fact, I think God is infinitely patient and willing to wait for all who would come to repentance, as Peter says above.
However, I also believe that there will come a time when the wrath of God will come suddenly upon the Earth, and He has left us a road map in the Bible to understand those times. Thus He has impressed on the heart of man a desire to understand apocalyptic prophecy, as you can see this year with the almost ridiculous media focus on the Mayan calendar and the writings of Nostradamus.
My interest in understanding the Bible and particularly the book of Revelation was piqued a few years ago when my father passed away and the western financial system was poised at the brink of destruction (it still is by the way).
I must have read the book of Revelation five times that winter, pouring over verses and cross-referencing to Old Testament passages and related prophetic quotes in the Gospels. I did all this without reading commentaries because I desperately needed to understand what I said I believed, the unvarnished truth of the Bible. One thing that stood out to me was the opening of the seals in Revelation chapter 6, which restrain the final judgement of God upon the Earth. But first a little background.
The Purpose of Prophecy
The purpose of the prophecies in the Book of Revelation is not different from other Bible prophecies. As a matter of fact, many of the Old Testament prophecies contain references to God's final judgement and the establishment of His eternal kingdom. Biblical prophecy is intended to:
- Warn us of coming judgement
- Encourage us to persevere and seek God
- Help us to understand the events as they unfold
The Seven Seals
I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:1-5
The book of God's final judgement and the coming Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is sealed with seven seals. John wept that no one was found worthy to open the book and break its seals. I'm sure he wept because he was not found worthy, and because he wanted the book to be opened. He had seen his fellow Christians mercilessly martyred at the hands of Jewish zealots and Roman emperors. He had seen and heard of the debauchery of the Babylonian world system. Even King David prayed often for God to bring judgement on his adversaries.
But God is incredibly patient. The seven seals will not be broken until the Righteous One is ready, and each seal has a recognizable "signature". Let me help you recognize these signatures.
The first four seals represent the "four spirits of heaven" (see Zechariah 6) which are sent from God to patrol the earth. They represent the dominant power on earth, each in succession. After these four eras of human history, the great tribulation and the rain of hailstones from heaven precede the breaking of the seventh seal, which allows the final judgements to be proclaimed.
The First Seal - The Emperors
Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Revelation 6:1
Looking forward in the vision, the apostle John sees four successive horsemen. The first is riding a white horse and goes to conquer. This seal has already been broken; the rider was the emperor of Rome.
The Second Seal - The Barbarians
When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
This second seal is also broken; its signature was the end of "Pax Romana", the peace of the Roman Empire. In Palestine and across the middle east, the sword of Islam replaced the bow of the Roman Emperor. In Europe, the swift swordsmen of the north brought chaos and the dark ages to that continent.
The Third Seal - The Merchants
When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
The third seal is also broken; its signature was the dawn of the Age of Reason and the subsequent birth of America. Note that many interpreters of this chapter see the four horsemen as future harbingers of apocalyptic doom, with the black horse representing famine. But it is very apparent to me that this era is marked by mercantilism and materialism, not by famine.
There is this amazing reference in Zechariah 6:8 saying "those that have gone to the land of the north have appeased My wrath in the land of the north." The chariots drawn by black horses are the ones that went to the land of the north. Putting that together with the order of the seals in Revelation, it appears to me that this refers to the rebirth of the Church and the role that the Protestant reformers would play in establishing America, which has been used mightily by God for the last two centuries.
This is where we are now, and I'm praying that the next seal remain unbroken for as long as possible.
The Fourth Seal - The Reign of Death
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
As would naturally follow the collapse of the global economy, all manner of death will occur. We got a preview of that with the "Great War" and its aftermath in Europe. However, this death is not only the death of men, which has been prevalent in the past. This death is a systemic, final death of civilization, after which basically nothing is left but plant life in one fourth of the earth. The color of the horse is actually the Greek word "chloros" which is consistently translated as "green" in reference to grass or plants in other passages of the New Testament, including the Book of Revelation.
The signature of this seal is the complete lack of order. This is not an imperial war of conquest, or tribal warfare. It is as if creation itself is rising up against mankind. It is the complete collapse of the world system and the subsequent death of a significant part of the world population. This collapse will carry with it a worldwide madness that leads to the Great Tribulation behind the fifth seal.
The Fifth Seal - The Great Tribulation
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
This sad chapter of human history will mean the death of most (if not all) Christians alive on the earth at the time. This genocide will remove the restraining force (II Thessalonians 2:7) of the Holy Spirit from the earth and open the door for God's final judgement. The outcry of those slain in Heaven will last only a "little while" until the Lamb of God opens the sixth seal with an earthquake and the sound of a mighty wind.
The Sixth Seal - The Wrath of God
I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
This sixth seal will reveal the wrath of God to mankind, and this day of wrath will only be cut short so that those elected by God can be sealed with a sign on their foreheads. But God is patient and waiting for any who would still repent.
The Seventh Seal - Silence
Before the seventh seal is broken the heavens are stilled and the elect children of every tribe are sealed with the mark of God on their foreheads. In another beautifully symmetrical relationship with creation and the Sabbath rest, the seventh seal brings a time of rest and worship. But this worship service is bigger and better than every other worship service ever held on earth combined.
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,
“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Rev. 7:9-12
And now, all rise for a long moment of silence as the Judge enters the room. The Lamb of God who was slain from the foundation of the earth, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the Lamb of God who is worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and glory and honor and praise - opens the seventh and final seal. There is a collective "gasp" in the heavens as the seven angels are given their trumpets and the prayers of the saints arise as incense before the throne of God.
The Rest of the Story
Quite truthfully I don't have a strong conviction about what happens next because the scroll hasn't been opened and we only have very symbolic language describing it. There are seven trumpet blasts announcing disasters and woes to come upon the earth. Even after these disasters and woes those who are alive refuse to repent (Rev. 9:20). The seventh and final trumpet blast (Rev. 11:15) is followed by another awesome worship service in heaven.
Then the beast and the false prophet (the antichrist) who comes after are released (Rev. 13). The beast rules for 42 months, after which the false prophet is given dominion for a time. Then comes the harvest (i.e. the "rapture") in which Christ gathers His elect from the four winds of heaven and the four corners of earth (Rev. 14:14, II Thessalonians 4:16, Mark 13:26). Note that the harvest gathering of the elect comes after the antichrist is revealed, which is probably different than you have heard.
Now that the harvest gathering is finished, God freely pours out His seven bowls of wrath upon the earth. Those who are left now can only blaspheme God (Rev. 16:21). Babylon (the world system) is overthrown and there is another tremendous worship service (Rev. 19:1), which is really the beginning of the GLORIOUS WEDDING CEREMONY of the Bride (those who followed Christ) and the Lamb.
The beast and the false prophet are cast in the lake of fire; the dragon is bound and his army is destroyed by the Word of God (the sword that comes from His mouth). The Bride and the Lamb have a thousand year "honeymoon" on earth until the final judgement of the world before the great white throne of God (Rev. 20:11). The creation itself (heaven and earth) flees from the presence of God. Then the eternal home of the Bride and the Lamb is revealed, which is a sight we can "only imagine". Now I recommend you click the link to this wonderful song by Mercy Me and see if you will not jump up and down and shout praise to God!!
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Rev 21:3
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