In this
chapter the scroll with the 7 seals needed to be broken. The breaking of these seals is known as The
Great Tribulation”. We see 6 of the 7
seals broken by the Lamb, Jesus. They
were broken in heaven, but its effects will be on earth. The 4 horses mentioned are the 4 Horsemen of
The Apocalypse. See Matt. 24 for signs
of the end of the age. All these
horsemen are symbolic of the different events which will take place in the end
times.
John
saw the Lame break the first seal and heard one of the creatures say
“Come”. Then John saw a white horse
and the one sitting on it had a bow. He
was given a crown and went out conquering. (Rev.
6:1-2) The crown indicates that he
was given authority to conquer all who oppose him. He wants to conquer the world and have
complete domination over it. He is most
likely the Antichrist, since he is an imitator of Christ who will also return
on a white horse in Rev. 19.
The
Lamb broke the second seal and John heard the second creature say,
“Come”. Then John saw a red horse
and the one sitting was given a great sword.
He was granted to take peace from the earth. Men will slay one another. (Rev. 6:3-4) This seal releases terrible warfare that will
break out in the end times. There will
be violence and death and there will be no peace on earth.
The
Lamb broke the third seal and John heard the third creature say,
“Come”. John saw a black horse
and the one sitting on it had a pair of scales in his hand. Then he heard a voice 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.” (Rev. 6:5-6) Black is symbolic of famine. A denarius is a day’s wages. This rider indicates prices of food will be out
of sight from the normal. There will not
be enough food so it will be very expensive and some may starve. This is probably the result of the wars from
the second horseman.
Then
John saw the Lamb break the fourth seal and with it he saw an ashen
horse or a pale horse. The one
sitting on it had the name of Death and Hades was following. (Hades is a temporary place when unrighteous
souls are held until the end when they will be thrown into to Lake of
Fire.) Authority over ¼ of the earth was
given to him to kill with the sword and with famine and with pestilence and by
wild beasts. Many will die by the sword
because of wars and murder and many more will die for lack of food. Many will die because of diseases and attacks
from wide animals. There are about 6
billion on the earth today with 7 ½ billion being projected in 20 years. A fourth of the population – 1 ½ - 2 billion
- will die in a short period of time resulting in war and famine, disease and
wild animals.
Do
these verses frighten you?
What
frightens you in today’s world?
Is it
threats of war or terrorism?
Is it
rising fuel and food prices?
How
will you prepare your children for the future?
Remember
as you read this our Redeemer still holds everything together. He rules with love in catastrophe as well as
in peace.
Then
the fifth seal was broken and John saw the altar of the souls who were
slain because of the Word of God. The
souls cried out, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and
true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” - Rev.
6:9. Each of the souls were given a
white robe and told to wait a little longer, because people on earth will kill
more of God’s people. Then the time will
come and God will act. (Rev. 6:9-11) They were the faithful followers of Christ
who paid the ultimate sacrifice for Him with their lives during the Tribulation. They never denied the truth of God and were a
testimony for Him. These martyrs are
kept close to God. They died violent
deaths and wanted justice.
What
prayer are you waiting for God to answer? He has a purpose for His waiting, but He will
answer in His own timing.
Many
believe that Christians will be taken up to heaven before the Tribulation
begins. (1 Thess. 4:14; 1 Thess. 2:1).
This is called the “rapture” although this word doesn’t exist in the
Bible. Rapture means “caught up” and
occurs in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and Rev. 19. There are several beliefs about the rapture:
A-Tribulation – no
literal tribulation period
Post Tribulation – means
after the tribulation
Mid-Tribulation – Jesus
will return for the church age believers in the middle of the 7 year
tribulation period
Partial Rapture –
Spirit filled believers will be raptured before the tribulation and carnal
believers afterward.
Pre-Tribulation –
Jesus will get His people before the tribulation and then return to earth to
set up His Kingdom for 1,000 years.
Remember
no one knows when the end will come. (Matt. 24:36-51)
After
the rapture there will be many people who will wake up and realize they were
left behind. They will repent and turn
to Jesus for salvation. But the world
will be different – no religious freedom, preaching of the gospel will not be
permitted, many people will be killed because of their new found belief in
God. They will be martyrs. God will be waiting for people to repent, but
for many there will be no repentance.
They will acknowledge that the judgments are from, but they will not
repent. So while you have an opportunity
to avoid these terrible times, repent and believe in the gospel.
Then
the sixth seal was broken and there was a great earthquake; the sun
became black and the moon became like blood; the starts fell; the sky was split
apart; and every mountain and island moved out of their places. (Rev. 6:12-14). These are signs that something BIG is
about to happen and soon. These six signs
are designed to get man’s attention. No
one can deny that the Great God of heaven is coming with His wrath.
Then
everyone from kings to slaves hid themselves in caves in fear. They were so frighten they called for the
mountains and rocks to fall on them and kill them and even hide them so they
would not have to face God’s judgment. “For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can
stand?” (Rev. 6:15-17) No one can stand up against the wrath of God!
If God
is full of love, how can He have so much wrath? God is holy and He wants us to be holy. His wrath is His holy desire for justice and
for righteousness to prevail.
Are you
terrified now? Reading
Revelation is eye opening and all the more reason to repent of your sins and
confess that Jesus is Lord. God promises
believers will not suffer the Great Tribulation. If you are not a believer when Jesus returns,
you will see all these things that John has written about. I know you don’t want to be here on earth
when these things happen. So get on your
knees and surrender to Jesus Christ. See
the bottom of this blog page for helpful steps on “How To Be Saved”. Don’t put if off. He is coming soon!
Next time
we will study Revelation 7. Before the
seventh seal is broken, we will see the 144,000 sealed – 12,000 from each of
the 12 tribes of Israel – indicating they belong to God. Hope to see you here after the Christmas
break.
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