The Revelation: Who Will Be Able to Stand
Revelation 6, Revelation 7, Revelation 8, Revelation 9
Introduction
We have just celebrated the magnificent scenes from Revelation 4 and 5, so the next chapter should be about victory, right?
Not so fast! The world is indeed a mess and we get introduced to four horsemen!
Revelation 1 – Jesus
Revelation 2-3 – Church
Revelation 4-5 – Worship
Only when we know Jesus, love the church and enter into worship, can we then confront the evils in our world.
And we see this scenario coming to a head sometime soon, as we look at what’s being written, and listen to what’s being said, about all the viruses that have occurred and the coronavirus that presently is, along with all the violence that is happing in our streets and around the world, and the economic devastation that is happening as a result of this, people are scared, and everyone sort of has the sense of impending doom. It’s like the world knows that a killer storm is on its way, and fear is beginning to set in as they can sense the destruction that it will bring.
The Tribulational Period
Time element during the rapture, the tribulation of the world begins while the saints are at the Marriage Feast. This is a seven-year span.
- Titles of the tribulation: The Tribulation Matthew 24: 1-31
- The Day of Trouble: Daniel 21
- The Over Spread of Abomination: Daniel 9:27
- The Indignation: Isaiah 26:20, 34:2
- End of the World Matthew
- The Hour of His Judgment: Rev. 14 7) The Great Day of His Wrath: Rev 6: 17
- The Seventh Week: Daniel 9
- Time of the End: Daniel 12:9
- Time of Jacobs Trouble: Jeremiah 30:7
- The Day of Gods Vengeance: Isaiah 34:8, Isaiah 63:31-6
- The purpose of the tribulation: Prepare Israel for her Messiah Ezekiel 20:38 and pour out judgment upon unrighteousness
- Mark of Tribulation: 666 this mark is the number of man (means incomplete)
- This mark will be necessary to trade
- This mark invokes God’s wrath.
- This mark will seal a person’s future Rev 14:9-11
- 144,000 of the tribulation: The 12 Tribes of Israel Rev 7:4-8
- They are servants of God
- They have a special message
- They have a special place
- The Two Witnesses– most theologians believe they might be Enoch & Elijah, or Moses & Elijah. They have a special anointing Rev. 11: 1-6 They have limited time Rev 11:3-7, cannot be killed during the time of their ministry after their season of ministry they will be killed. The Spirit resurrects them from death Rev 11:11, 12. It’s going to be about 3 1/2 years for their ministry. They are instrumental and play a major part in the 144,000 being saved.
- The action of the Tribulation Revelations 6-19
- A seven-year time period
- Going to start out in a peaceful period.
- The Antichrist appears as a world leader and will make a seven-year peace treaty among the nations Going to present himself as God
Breaking of the 7 Seals Revelation 6:1-17, Revelation 8:1-5
- 1st Seal 6:1-3 White Horse Rider (Peace) Antichrist Gives the appearance of Good w/ enticing words
- there are those who confuse this rider on the white horse with Jesus, which shouldn’t surprise us, because of what the Apostle Paul says in
- 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 about Satan and those he sends. “For Satan, himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
- But there exist pronounced differences between the two, that is, between this white rider and Jesus Christ.
- Following this white rider is war, famine, and death, whereas those that follow Jesus are the host of heaven, the church.
- The white rider carries a bow, whereas Jesus’s weapon is His word. Further, the bow contains no arrows, which means that it will be a bloodless victory, that is, He comes bringing peace, through the threat of violence, which will be both political and religious to a part of the world that has known little if any peace, and that is the mid-east, and more specifically, Israel.
- He will come assuming the guise or the appearance of Christ but opposes all that Jesus Christ and the Bible stands for. He will bring his own anti-Christ standards while doing away with biblical standards, or we could say the doctrine of demons.
- 2nd seal 6:34 Red Horse- Blood Shed or war
- It says that power was given to him to take away the peace brought by the first seal rider, the Antichrist. In other words, whatever restraint existed up to this point that has been preserving peace, God has given this rider the power to remove it.
- This rider is the seal rider of strife, violence, assault, division, abuse, anger, hate, uprising, murder, insurrection, war, and bloodshed. He divides race against race, class against class, neighbor against neighbor, employee against employer, spouse against spouse, children against parents, religion against religion, and nation against nation.
- This rider is war, and he’ll take peace from the earth.
- there have always been violence and wars, and they’re always will be, and they will only get worse, thus softening up a world that’ll accept anybody who’ll bring a little peace, which is what the Antichrist will bring. But with the arrival of this second rider, all hope of peace is smashed.
- The problem is, and why so many will accept the Antichrist’s peace is because humanity believes it can find peace on their own, that they don’t need God, unfortunately, their way leads only to everlasting death and separation from God.
- 3rd Seal 6:5-6 Black Horse- Famine; Result of War
- The color of the horse and its rider is black signifying suffering and mourning. It’s the sorrow and mourning that the world will experience through this coming worldwide famine.
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- Famine always follows war. Further, withholding food is often a technique of war, making food a weapon. Food is withheld, fields are burned, and those needed to till and harvest the crops are either dead or have been away at war. So after any war, there’s always some sort of famine.
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- To understand the seriousness of this famine is to understand the meaning of the words.
- A denarius at that time represented a day’s wage. So for a day’s wage, a person could buy only enough for themselves or their family. And so if someone is lucky enough to find work, the money they earn will only be enough to pay for their food, which begs the question, “How will they provide for the other necessities of life, like a roof over their head, and utilities?”
- The voice goes on to say, “Don’t harm the oil or the wine.” Oil and wine are often associated with the rich. They were luxury items in the ancient world.
- While the famine is worldwide, it’s not universal, that is, it will mainly affect the poor and middle class. Imagine walking into a grocery store and having only enough for a loaf of bread and some milk only to find them in short supply while there’s plenty of butter, jam, and liquor.
- Let’s glimpse at the coronavirus shutdown and panic buying that set in. Gone were toilet paper and paper towels, soap, meats, milk, eggs, bread, cereal, fruits, and vegetables, or the necessities. But in great supply were ice crème, candies, liquor, energy drinks, and the other non-essentials.
- To put this into perspective, “As famine unfolds, antisocial behavior – hoarding, crime, etc. – increased, social arrangements erode, people see or abandon their assets, and out-migration accelerates. In the midst of all these malnutrition rates soar, infectious diseases spread, and people die in unusual numbers.”
- Therefore, as we look at this scale in his hands, it would seem that while it is meant to weigh out the money for the food, it would also seem that it is unfairly balanced favoring the rich over the poor.
- 4th Seal 6:7-8 Pale Horse- Death; follower of death and hell 1/4 population
- The imagery is startling beyond imagination. The color of the horse is a pale green. It’s the color of decay and looks like a corpse in the advanced stage of corruption. And if that wasn’t enough, following this rider, in its wake, is hell itself.
- But what is even more telling is that this last word for death is the Greek word for “pestilence,” which back then meant death. And this fits into what we know about the aftermath of warfare. First comes famine, which is followed closely by pestilence and disease.
- The question isn’t when infectious diseases are going to be wiped out, but rather it’s where will the next new plague will appear.
- Many of the bacteria that caused infectious diseases, and that were once thought by doctors and scientists as being eradicated or under control, are making dangerous and fatal comebacks because they’ve made themselves resistant to the drugs and antibodies developed to combat them. What about spirituality in our lives?
- 5th Seal 6:9-11 Christian Martyrs- those who were slain for not receiving the Mark in Tribulation
- These are faithful people who were martyred because of their witness.
- They ask a very good question: “How long until you put an end to this ugliness?”
- Psalm 74:10-11 NIV How long will the enemy mock you, God? Will the foe revile your name forever 11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!”
- Habakkuk 1:1-5 1The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received. ²How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? ³Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. ⁴Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. ⁵”Look at the nations and watch- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
- Only when we know Jesus, love the church, and enter into worship, can we then confront the evils in our world.
- The Protection of the Persecuted-Don’t miss this truth; these two seals are all about the workings of God Himself. We get a picture of souls under the altar.
- those souls who are under the altar have literally offered their lives up for our Lord. Their blood was broken and spilled out because of their faith in Christ so now, in heaven; they are afforded a special place. God has a special place for everyone who is faithful until death. They are under the altar & under God’s providential hand.
- What they endured – We know they were killed or martyred for their faith, but Verse 9 uses a very graphic term to punctuate just exactly what they endured. KJV uses the word “slain”. HCSB uses the word ‘slaughtered’ which is a picture word for us today. These guys were massacred, beheaded, torn apart, and even butchered for one reason; they trusted in Christ. We get upset when someone gets our seat at church, what would happen if persecution were to really come?
- What they want –their cry is to the Lord saying, “Lord How long will you wait” not to get vengeance for them but vindication for Him. Even as these saints of God are under the altars because of their sacrifice, they want evil to be dealt with so that God & His righteousness can be seen, celebrated, and enjoyed by all. Their honorable and righteous desire is for Satan and Sin to be judged and for the Savior to rule on high. And once again we see God’s grace. He gave them a white robe. What a beautiful picture! Remember Jesus desires to present His bride pure, chaste, and spotless.
- The Penalty of the Prosecuted – With the breaking of the 6th seal, our attention is redirected from the persecuted to the prosecuted. We see a rise in the level of the judgment of God upon the earth and its remaining inhabitants. The first thing we notice is that the planet, the firmament, starts falling apart.
- 6th seal 6:12-17 Wrath of God Begins
- While the first five seals will result from human activity God used to accomplish His purposes, at this point He begins direct intervention (Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the distress of those days “‘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.’;
- Luke 21:25 There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. The events described in this seal unleash the seventh, which contains the trumpet judgments (chapters eight, nine; 11:15) and the bowl judgments (chapter 16).
- Fall of creation – Verses 13 & 14 give a clear picture of what can happen in the aftermath of multiple nuclear events. The sun, stars, moon, and more shake & fall. Please remember that the first readers of this Revelation were the Jewish people and to them, this passage would have been unnerving. The order of the universe was the divine guarantee of God’s unchanging faithfulness. This picture spoke of the chaos coming. Yet to the child of God, it is simply one more expression of God’s heartbeat to restore all creation to her original form.
- * One final thought on the fracturing & falling of creation; nothing will be spared. The prophet, in Jeremiah 4:24 I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying., what a picture. The love of God for His people and the anger of God at sin and wickedness collide & even those things thought to be unshakeable are shaken. They are shaken to the degree that the arrogant, prideful, and self-reliant, are impacted.
- 7fli Seal 8:1-5 Silence in Heaven
7 Trumpets Revelation 8:1-12, Revelation 9:1-18, 11:13-19
- 1st Trumpet 8:7 (3rd of the trees, grass, vegetation burned)
- 2nd Trumpet 8:8-9 (meteor cast to the earth, destroys 1/3d margin of life, ships, ocean)
- 3rd Trumpet 8:10-11 (meteor contaminates waters/rivers poison 1/3rd part of life
- 4th Trumpet 8:12 (beginning of the end 1/3d part of the sun, moon, stars darkened
- 5th Trumpet 9:1-12 (Scorpions are loosed among men to torment them for five months)
- 6th Trumpet 9:13-18 (200 million demons led by 4 angelic demons slay 1/3d of mankind by fire, smoke, brimstone)
- 7th Trumpet 11:13-19 (The Kingdom of the World is consumed by Gods Kingdom)
Conclusion
- Prayer for Today
- Father, Give me an eternal perspective.
Lord Help me to live today, and the week to come, knowing that we have very little time to serve You on this planet. Teach me to live each day to its fullest, knowing it could be my last chance to serve You before You take me home. Remind me, especially when this life has many more unexpected pains and sorrows than I am prepared for, that the suffering is but a moment, but Your glory is forever, and You have made Your glory mine.