Chapter 5 – The Seven
Seals
Read Chapter 4 –
chapter 8:5
After the letters
to the seven churches, we begin to see John’s vision of a great tribulation and
hope. We go from the present time of John’s day with the seven churches (note
this is not the Dispensationalist view of the letters) to the future. I think
at this point we should be mindful that like Jonah, we as the church have been
given a warning to prepare and now we will begin to see what we are preparing
for. When it will happen may well be in the clues of scripture that we have
been given though I remind the reader that Jesus told us quite plainly that
no-one would know the hour and the day. So again, why give us these visions and
clues? Because God wants us to know what God is up to! Why else send Jonah to
Nineveh! Chapter 4 opens with the view through an open door. Doors are very
symbolic in the scriptures. Jesus said knock and it shall be opened for you. John
is told to “come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.” We
note in this statement that he is given a heads up that he will soon see what
the events are that will transpire at some future time. For John and all the
early Christians they believed that these events were imminent. As time passed
and they had not transpired then they began to look to the future. Arguably
some of these events may well have happened in the past as the Preterist
believe and some may continually happen as the Idealists believe while many may
still be in some distant future as the Dispensationalists believe. Clearly the
two things that we see in John’s vision from this point through the end of the
text tell us is that there is judgment and there is hope for creation.
John paints for us
a beautiful but frightful picture of heaven itself. God sits on the throne and
John describes God not in a human form but in the form of precious jewels,
jasper and carnelian, precious gems of John’s day. John describes God as full
of color, looking like a rainbow. John’s description of God reminds us of the
Psalmist in 104:2 who says God is wrapped in light as a garment and in 1
Timothy 6:16 where God is described as dwelling in unapproachable light, whom
no one has ever seen or can see. Surrounding God are 24 Elders on their
thrones. John might be creating imagery that points back to the 24 Elders
established in the Levites for caring for the Holiest of Holies found in 1
Chronicles 24 or it may flow with the image of 1 Kings 22:19 and Isaiah 24:23
of the host of heaven sitting around God. Dispensationalist thought suggests
that they are the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve Apostles of Jesus,
symbolizing the Nation of Israel and the Christian church as one combined
group. Among the throne we also see four living creatures described as having
eyes on both sides of their head, with six wings and never ceasing in praise to
God. Ezekiel had a similar vision of these creatures (see Ezek. 1:6, 10, 22,
26) except that in Ezekiel’s vision each creature had four heads, one of an ox,
one of a lion, one of a human and one of an eagle. Irenaeus in 170 AD suggested
that they represent the best of the Kingdom. The Lion represents the Son of
God, the Ox symbolizes the Priesthood and servant ministry, the Human face
represents the incarnation of God in Jesus and the Eagle the Holy Spirit.
Whatever you may decide, it is interesting that Ezekiel and John both have a
similar view of the throne in heaven.
In the ancient world,
everything written was done using a scroll. So it makes sense that in John’s
vision the scroll would contain the instructions for the coming events.
Interestingly to me is that in John’s day, the Roman world used a scroll sealed
by seven individuals as a final written will. Only in the presence of the seven
original folks or their representatives could the will be opened and read. In
the vision the scroll is sealed with seven seals and yet there appears to be no
one worthy to break the seals. John weeps that there appears to be no one
within the Kingdom of Heaven with the power and authority to break the seals.
What we now see is
a great image of Christ. A lamb, with the marks of its recent slaughter still
visible. This image reminds us of Jesus in the Upper Room with the Disciples
after the resurrection. A lamb with seven horns and seven eyes which John
describes as the seven spirits of God sent out into the earth. A parallel to
this is Zechariah who in his vision is given imagery of the seven eyes of God
that are sent out into the world to see all and know all. Seven is a complete
number representing power and authority. Note John’s vision of the Lamb and the
praise that is given comes from the saints (those who have been martyred for
God), the angels, and every creature in heaven, on earth and under the earth
providing a connection with those living and dead. What a great connection to
the entire Kingdom of God. Here we begin the judgment phase of the future (or
past).
We are introduced
in the first four seals with the four horseman of the Apocalypse. We first met
them in Ezekiel (14:21) and Zechariah (6: 1-7). In Ezekiel they are the four
acts of the sword, famine, wild animals and pestilence to bring judgment into
the world. In Zechariah they are the four winds (note the connection to Rev 7: 1-2)
of God. It was thought in ancient times that winds that flowed directionally
were ok, i.e. northerly, westerly, etc. but winds that flowed diagonally
brought havoc and destruction. Here in the Western world we do not get the wind
reference well except maybe those of us on the East Coast during Hurricane and
Northeaster seasons.
The first seal is
opened and out rides a white horse. There is much discussion about who this is.
Later in Revelation we will see Jesus riding a white horse in judgment of the
world as he conquers the forces of evil. Conquering heroes often rode white horses
into the towns they had conquered so this imagery would have been widely
recognized in John’s day. Dispensationalists tend to think this figure is the
Anti-Christ who comes in the image of Christ bringing not victory but the wrath
of God. The second seal is opened and out rides a red horse. Almost universally
this rider is recognized as bringing war, destroying all human relationships.
Preterist believe this was accomplished with the destruction of the Temple in
70 AD and the disbursement of the people of Israel. The third seal is broken
and out rides a black horse. Again there is almost universal agreement that
this horse represents hardship, poverty and famine. Famines were a reality in
John’s day in many parts of the world just as they are a reality today in our
modern world. The fourth seal unleashes the pale green horse. Its rider is
given a name, Death. It is believed by the Preterist that this represents the
death to Christians throughout the world of John’s day, while idealist believe
it represents death throughout time and Dispensationalist believe that this is
a future prediction that will destroy ¼ of the world. In fact verse 8 clearly
indicates this rider will kill the ¼ of the earth through pestilence, famine
and wild animals. Note the similarity to Ezekiel’s judgment in 14:2. Truthfully,
we have not met a historical time of great death that killed off ¼ of the
world. We have seen millions die during great famines and over the course of
the 19th and 20th century 700 million died of
Tuberculosis. The world population at the time was around 107 billion. Even in
John’s day, great volumes of death centered on war, famine and illness were
prevalent.
Now that we have
met the Horsemen of the Apocalypse we can move on to the rest of John’s
Revelation. Seal number five is opened and we see a picture of the martyred
saints. Remember that in John’s time there were literally hundreds if not
thousands who went to their death for their faith. We have stories of
unspeakable tragedy to the early Christians by the Roman people under Nero and
other Caesarean leaders. So we see them crying out for justice. Note the last
verse (verse 11) says that there will be a period of rest for those already
martyred to wait for those that are going to be killed before the end will come.
At the time of the writing there was still plenty of persecution going on in
Rome against the Christians and many more were martyred between 70 AD and 305
AD when Constantine comes to power. Dispensationalists believe that this speaks
to a time in the future when there will be martyrs in a final tribulation
period yet to come. This was the promise that Jesus made to the disciples in
Matthew 24: 9 that folks would be persecuted for believing in Him.
With the opening
of the six seal, we see the judgment phase preparation. This seal unleashes a
great earthquake, the moon becoming like blood or stars falling to the sky. To
the first century Jew, this would be catastrophic in that they understand that
order is preserved as long as the heavens (Stars, Sun, Planet) stays in place. This
prophecy connects to the Day of the Lord in the Old Testament Prophets (see
Amos 8:8-9; Ezekiel 38:19; Isaiah 13:10 and Joel 2:31). In verse 15 and 16 we
see a reference to hiding in the caves and among the rocks. The first instinct
is to hide when sin is present and one is in the presence of the Lord is
imminent. Remember Adam and Eve hiding from God after the eating of the fruit.
Now we come to a
pause. Chapter seven begins with angels holding back the four winds which are synonymous
with the Four Horseman. In each of the judgments in John’s Revelation there
will be a pause before the final judgment is put into place. Is this a resting
point, what we might call the calm before the storm? Likely this is a time of
preparation before the actual events will transpire. But we have a pause. In
this case for the servants of God that have to be marked or sealed. We have
this elaborate list from John of 144,000. Pay close attention to the tribes
listed for they are not the twelve tribes of Israel. Now there has been great
discussion about who the 144,000 are. Certain denominations believe this is the
elect that gets into heaven. That however is contrary to what we heard in
chapter 5 and 6. Some believe that this is 144,000 of Christian and Jewish
believers who will witness to the world during the coming tribulation. Some
believe that this is a complete number and cannot be taken literally but rather
means a large group of faithful Christians. Some Dispensationalists believe
that this refers to the Jews alone and that the age of the Gentile is over. What
we do know is that servants of God will be marked. Has this happened in the
past? Not to our knowledge unless we view this as an Idealist who would say
that when we profess Christ we are marked.
Verse 9 says there
is a multitude from every nation who have come out of the great ordeal. Does
this mean that what John is seeing is that there will be a great group of
witnesses that are martyred during the time of tribulation? Did John see the
immediate future which did result as I said before in many going to their
deaths or is John looking into our future? Only God knows the answer which will
be revealed in its time. This is a good place to talk about the Rapture of the
church.
The Rapture of the Church
Prior to this
great tribulation some (Dispensationalist) believe that the church will be
taken up into the clouds with Jesus in order to avoid this terrible time. They
believe that it is clear in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:
50-54. This is the basis on the popular book series, Left Behind. But
let us examine it in scripture and then using scripture, tradition, experience
and reason, the four points of the quadrilateral to understand it.
NRS 1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers
and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do
who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 15
For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who
are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have
died. 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the
archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive,
who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the
Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
NRS 1 Corinthians 15:50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this:
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable
inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We
will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For
this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put
on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on
imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that
is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
1 Thessalonians is written by Paul
to offer an explanation to the challenge that has infiltrated the church. False
preaching has convinced many that the church has already been taken from the
world and judgment has already happened. Paul is responding to that false
teaching. Paul throughout his Epistle’s continually talks about the imminent
return of Christ but not before the church walks through a time of great
tribulation (Parousia). This letter to the Thessalonian church was likely
written before John’s Revelation, around 52 AD. Paul clearly here and in 1
Corinthians is describing the coming of Second Christ when Christ comes for
final judgment. There is no reference to the church being removed in John’s
Revelation. But let’s say for a moment that there is such disagreement and
ambiguity and that we cannot clearly see the timing of the church raised up to
Christ. When we look at the traditions of the church we clearly see that though
there was disagreement about Postmillennial and Amillennial views of the return
of Christ but Premillennialism doesn’t surface until the 16th
century and so is the newest of End of Times theories. Rapture surfaces with
John Nelson Darby in 1830 and though it is widely accepted today it has not
stood the test of scripture and time. So what then of the experience of the
Holy Spirit within the church? Again we have a wide disagreement across the
world between the three understandings of John’s Revelation with
Dispensationalism being primarily an American view of John’s writing. Finally
using reason, the last point of the Quadrilateral, I point to two challenges to
Darby’s theory. One that Paul throughout his writings speaks to the tribulation
that every Christian will walk through prior to Christ’s return. It permeates his
entire thinking and skews his view on marriage and family because of his
concern about loyalty to God throughout that trial period. Second, when has God
ever removed us from trials of faith especially when there are still souls to
be won to Christ? Why would God remove the church and depend on folks of little
faith or no faith to suddenly step up and become the leaders of this new church
of the tribulation period. Granted some will probably get it as times become
tough but do you put partial understanding when you could have scholarly
leaders?
Finally the
seventh seal is broken. We have ½ hour pause of silence in heaven. What does
this mean? Is it as I said earlier the calm before the storm? Or is it the
preparation of the end? Angels have been given seven trumpets. Trumpets have
been used throughout the Biblical text to represent the proclamation or
presence of God (Exod. 19:16; Isa 27:13, Joel 2:1). So hold your breath and
here we go.
Twelve Tribes
Of Israel by birth, order According to John
Reuben Judah
Simeon Reuben
Levi Gad
Judah Asher
Dan (not
in John’s list) Naphtali
Napthali Manassah (Son of Joseph)
Gad Simeon
Asher Levi
Issachar Issachar
Zebulun Zebulun
Joseph Joseph
Benjamin Benjamin
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