Episode 60 – All Hell’s Gonna Break Loose

          Welcome back everyone to Part 4 of our new series “Deciphering Revelation! Today we’re looking at Revelation Chapters 6 & 7, the Seven Seals and the 144,000 who are sealed. It’s important to say right at the beginning of this part that we’re taking a look at Revelation from the eclectic or modern idealist view. The order of the visions John received and recorded in the book of Revelation are not a chronological order of events. Historists view them this way and try to link them with history to create a timeline, and Futurists look at them chronologically too, but as we go through, we’ll point out why it we say the visions aren’t chronological.  

          That’s right the visions are not chronological, and neither are these three cycles of judgement in Revelation. They cover the same time frame – the last days – that time period between Jesus’ ascension and His second coming. We are in the “last days” right now. In this episode we’re going to take a look at the first cycle of God’s judgement on unbelievers. 

          We are. We’re already in the time period lots of people refer to as the “Great Tribulation.” Today we’ll talk about the seal judgments, next week the trumpet judgements, and later the bowl judgements. I want to reiterate it’s important to know these cycle judgement don’t line up end-to-end chronologically.

          The judgements these seals represent is already underway. It started back in John’s time! Some people with a futurist view believe the “great tribulation” starts sometime in the future with the first seal opening. But John made it clear that He was already under persecution – he considered himself a partner in it, along with the churches of that time who were already under persecution too; so this isn’t some opening of future seals bringing judgement and tribulation. It’s already begun. 

          We say it all the time – nowhere in the Bible are God’s people promised they won’t go through this! We won’t suffer eternal punishment in hell, but the Church will suffer trial and tribulation until Jesus comes back. Which may be a long time.

          Or not! People have thought it was close to the very end over and over throughout history! But we have no idea how long it will be! You’re right, though … the Church will go through The Great Tribulation (as it’s referred to). The purpose of the book of Revelation is to comfort the Church in it’s struggle against evil; to remind them that God sees their hardship, and that He will avenge their blood and bring justice. 

          These three cycles of judgement (the seals, trumpets and bowls) are told from different perspectives and with increasing intensity – like birth pains as Jesus tells His disciples in the Olivet discourse (found in Matthew 24), when they asked Him for signs of His second coming. We’re going to read part of that now and another part later because it corresponds to what Jesus says in this part of Revelation.

          Right. In His Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus said, ““See that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. So, here in Revelation, Jesus is explaining it further. Let’s get started. Why don’t you read Revelation 6:1-8 for us.

          “Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. 3When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. 5When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quarta of wheat for a denarius,b and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!” 7When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

          The first thing to notice is that we’re still in the throne room of God where we left off from in Chapter 5 with Jesus as the only One worthy to open the seals because with His blood he redeemed His people from every tribe, language, people and nation, reconciling them to God. He’s with the four living creatures, which are angels. Worship is going on, and then Jesus begins to open the seals. 

          The first four seals opened contain colored horses, each with riders. These harken back to the imagery from the vision in Zechariah 6:1-8 where 4 colored horses and chariots are sent out by God “to the four winds of heaven” (remember, 4 means creation) so they’re going throughout all the earth, bringing judgement on God’s enemies. Here in Revelation, these four horses are God’s judgment on the wicked – those who oppose His rule as well as those persecuting His Church. The horses and riders represent (in order): Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. Let’s talk about them.

          The first rider is often thought of as Jesus taking the Gospel out to the nations. Although He is pictured riding a white horse in Revelation 19, this rider is one of God’s agents for judgement. 

          And in Revelation 19, Christ is wearing many crowns (not just one) and has a sword (the sword of His mouth). Also remember, Jesus is the One opening the seals that unleash these four horses. 

          White horses were often used as symbols of conquest in the ancient world.[1] When interpreting the Bible we have to keep in mind that it would have made sense to those it was written to at that time. A rider carrying a bow would have been a familiar to the people of John’s time, since the Parthians (who were enemies of the Roman Empire) carried bows. These people wouldn’t have thought of this rider as Jesus. They would’ve envisioned a Parthian rider on a white horse that symbolized ‘conquest’.

          Right. Let’s take a step back a moment and think about the hearers of John’s letter back in his day. The Roman Empire was in charge and seemed invincible. They were enemies of Christ’s Church. The Church was persecuted for refusing to call Ceasar “Lord”. The went without food because they refused to join the trade guilds and participate in sinful practices that went against God’s Word. They were willing to stand for what they believed regardless of being put in prison, or even in the face of death. So John’s letter of Jesus’ revelation had to be comforting to them thinking of the Parthians – one of their oppressors’ most formidable enemies, riding in on a white horse and conquering their oppressors.

          It had to be comforting!

           For us, the rider on the white horse symbolizes various realms wanting conquest of the earth, and with conquest comes war, famine and death. 

          That’s goes right along with what Jesus told the disciples in the Matthew 24.          It does! Next, Jesus opens another seal. This time a red horse, signifying bloodshed and warfare, with a rider who’s come to take peace from the earth “so that people would slay one another.” I think it’s important to note that this rider is given a great sword. These are not conquering nations acting outside or God’s control, or outside of His decree! 

          No, they’re not! In Matthew 10:34 Jesus says, ““Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” God is sovereignly in control of every single thing, like we always say. God is working out His decreed will through these conquering nations – people who are doing it for their own reasons, which will make them responsible for their sinfulness in those decisions, but its all going according to God’s plan. 

          This second horse sometimes is thought to be taking peace from the earth by persecuting the saints (God’s people). But the text says they’re slaying “one another.” So most commentators believe it means all wars; not just the wicked killing the righteous. 

          The next opened seal brings forth a black horse with a rider holding a pair of scales used for weighing out grain. Grain was a big commodity. In John’s time, the quart of wheat was a day’s food supply for a soldier and would cost about 1/8 of a denarius. By the time the black horse and its rider are finished their rampage, it’s going to cost a whole day’s wages just to eat that day! That’s 800% inflation! Think of the Great Depression. Barley, the food of the poor because it wasn’t as nutritious, was going to be outlandishly expensive too. Inflation of that amount does bring economic hardship – big time. 

          It does. But God is merciful and is still withholding His full wrath and judgement for a later day. 2 Peter 3 talks about God’s longsuffering – His patience while sinful men – scoffers as they’re called there – fulfill their sinful desires. There are a lot of scriptures talking about God’s longsuffering patience with sinful man.  He’s restraining His wrath – for a while. Revelation 6:3 shows God’s patience with man. He does not touch the prices of the oil or the wine. It’s not a total famine. This is an example of God’s common grace to all men – the unsaved as well as the elect.

           The people of John’s time would’ve probably connected this protecting of the wine from 92AD when Emperor Domitian ordered the vineyards cut down during a grain shortage to make room for more wheat fields. But the outcry from the people was so great, he cancelled that order. Bread or wine … which would you choose?

          Depends on the day. 

          Moving on in the text, John sees Jesus open the fourth seal bringing out a pale horse (actually a green horse according to the Greek; as in the color of sickness) and on it a rider named Death. And Hades is close behind, following.

          In Revelation 1, Jesus held the keys of death and Hades. Here is Jesus giving this horse and rider power and authority to kill through war, famine, plague, and this time also by wild beasts – but only over a fourth of the earth. This wasn’t wiping out the earth; not yet!

          In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given dominion over the earth and all its creatures. The whole earth – man and beast – were given green plants for food. There was no death. After the flood, the dread of man fell on the animals because man was given animals as food at that time. But God tells Noah that all men and all animals that take the lifeblood of a man will have to give an accounting. These beasts that are killing mankind here in Revelation are rebelling against human dominion and against God’s designed order. It seems like with the fourth horse and rider, things have definitely escalated.

          They have. From the time the Jesus opens the scroll, we see through John’s vision of the seal judgements a glimpse of the course of redemptive history, from John’s time until Jesus comes again. The judgements escalated, and the coming cycles of trumpets and then bowls will show the same – intensifying severity of judgement until Jesus comes. Although we don’t pinpoint specific things from the symbolism to specific historical events, we can see – looking all the way back to John’s time – that these things have been (and continue to) take place all around the globe.

          They do. The world does not seem to be going in a trajectory of “getting better,” and that’s something that we’ll be talking about more later because it affects some views about part of the book. 

          It does. Moving on to the fifth seal, in Revelation 6:9-11. I’ll read it: “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothersc should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”

          This is a glimpse of heaven, and we see an altar and the souls of those who’d been martyred for spreading the Gospel and standing for the Lord, are under it. In the Old Testament there were two altars – one for incense and one for sacrifices. This altar is where the blood of the slain animal was poured out as a sacrifice.

          This passage is proof that when Christians die their souls are alive and with Christ, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, awaiting the day when Jesus returns to earth. That’s when our bodies are raised and perfected and we go to live with Him in the new heavens and earth. 

          That will happen when the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowl judgements run their course. And that will happen when the last of God’s elect comes to faith. Until then, the martyrs are crying out to God, “how long until you judge and avenge our blood?” God’s people want Him to bring final justice on His (and their) enemies. They want His will “on earth as it is in heaven.”

          Paul Washer said in a sermon once that the saints will actually be cheering when the wicked are judged. Ok, next the sixth seal is opened. This section is filled with a lot of symbolism. It’s a preview of destruction that’s coming to the first heavens and earth and the second coming of Jesus. I’ll read it: “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slaved and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

          It starts with an earthquake. People of that time would have understood what a great earthquake could be like because they’d experienced them. We also see the sun is blackened, the moon turns red like blood, the stars fall from the sky, which then vanishes, and every mountain and island is moved from its place– basically devastation comes to the whole universe. 

          Again, we can go back to Jesus’ words from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24: “Immediately after the tribulation 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 powers of the heavens will be shaken.30At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

          Then seven ‘types’ of people are mentioned here – kings, great ones, generals, the rich, the powerful, slaves, and free men – the number seven tells us that this judgement on humanity is complete judgement; it covers everyone who is deserving of God’s wrath and judgement. They’re hiding in caves and they’d rather have the mountains fall on them and be buried underneath rather than stand at the judgment throne of God. And they’re asking one question: This tribulation is so bad, “Who can stand?”

          And in Chapter 7 we’re told – the 144,000. Chapter 7 is referred to as an “interlude” between the sixth and seventh seal. The chapter is a flashback to answer the question the wicked have at the end of chapter 6, “Who can stand?” Let’s read 7:1-8. 

          “1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea,3saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”4And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

512,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
612,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
712,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
812,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

          These are all of God’s people, and we’ll explain how we know that in a minute. That’s who stands through the tribulation. That’s who can stand before the throne. Because it’s only the people wearing the perfect spotless robe of righteousness that Jesus gives to those who trust in Him for their salvation. They’re the ones who have with the seal of God – the Holy Spirit.  But let’s go back and unpack the imagery here.

          The first thing to notice is that at the end of Chapter 6 when the earth and the heavens are being destroyed, (or some say purified from all sin), Jesus is there and possibly God the Father on the throne because the unsaved are asking to be hidden from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. This is The Last Day. Malachi 3:2 says, “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.” In Psalm 130, the Psalmist writes, “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness …”
           No one can or will stand without having Jesus as their Savior. God’s elect are sealed before Jesus returns. That’s how we know we’re going back in time – this is a snapshot. Individuals have been being sealed through the whole Church age – throughout the whole time of the Great Tribulation. The four angels standing at the “four corners of the earth” (the #4 meaning all the earth, not meaning that the earth is flat – and it’s not true that the Church ever taught that!) have been holding back God’s wrath during these seal judgements until all of God’s elect are sealed – meaning they’ve heard and responded to the Gospel message in faith. When someone believes, they receive the Holy Spirit – their seal and guarantee of salvation. 

          The idea of being sealed is like a signet ring signifying ownership. The fact that it’s symbolically “on the forehead” is taken from Ezekiel 9:4 where God’s people who were groaning over the sinfulness of the wicked in Jerusalem were marked (probably with an X) on their foreheads and the rest were slaughtered because they were wicked. We find out later in Revelation the seal is the name of Jesus. Notice too that its God’s angels doing the work of the sealing that He commanded. God knows who He’s going to seal. People are not sealing themselves. They not choosing to get a seal, God chose.

          No. And the seal is the antithesis to the mark of the beast, which we’ll talk about later. But here in chapter 7, all are sealed sometime before Judgement Day and God will keep those He seals throughout the tribulation. Okay let’s deal with this number 144,000. 

          144,000 refers to the complete number of the people of God – people from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We’ll see this later with the 24 elders symbolizing the 12 Tribes and 12 Apostles. 144,000 is 12x12x1000 (1000 is the number of complete completion – remember the #10 signifies completion. 10x10x10) This isn’t a number (literal or symbolic) of ethnic Jews who will be saved right after Jesus comes back. If you know something about the lists of the Tribes of Israel, Jacob’s sons, you know that this list isn’t a list of all of Jacob’s (who’s also called Israel) sons. And although (for various reasons) there are other lists of Jacob’s sons that don’t always match up for specific reasons, there’s a specific reason this one doesn’t match any of the other lists.

          And it’s not a list of tribes that inherited the Promised Land.  This list starts with Judah. Judah wasn’t the oldest. This is signifying the reign of Jesus who is from the line of Judah. Then Jacob’s concubines’ sons are listed next signifying those once excluded are now included (Gentiles are now included). This list is the Universal Church (God’s people throughout all of history).

          The rest of the verses in Chapter 7 emphasize that the Gospel has gone out to the ends of the earth and brought of God’s elect from every tribe and every tongue and every nation in the Jesus’ Church. I’ll read it: “After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice: 

“Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”13Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?”

14“Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.16‘Never again will they hunger, 

and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’17For the Lamb in 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.’” 

          Again, it’s clear from verse 14 of what you read that God’s people go through the Great Tribulation. Rose, there’s one more seal to go, but we’re going to deal with that the next time, as well as descriptions of things that don’t just seem a little more intense (at least in my opinion); they seem a good bit more intense!

            We’re in the period of tribulation right now. We see the things talked about in the seal judgements happening right now! They’ve been happening all through history. How bad will it get before Jesus comes back? We have no idea. But in the next podcast we’ll be looking at the trumpet judgements. I hope you can join us!

          I hope so too! Transcripts for this podcast and our others are available at www.buzzsprout.com/ 615385. The link is in the show notes. Have a blessed day everyone!

[1] Riddleblog - Sermons on the Book of Revelation (pdf). (2001, December 9). Retrieved October 11, 2020, from http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/downloadable-sermons-on-the-bo/