The First Six Seals Opened. Access to man's future begins. THE SEALS ARE THE THINGS WHICH PREVENT MAN FROM ACCESSING HIS FUTURE. THEY ARE OBSTACLES TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND MUST BE REMOVED. NOTHING SAYS THAT THE FIRST SIX SEALS ARE READ JUST THAT THEY ARE OPENED. THE FIRST FIVE APPEAR TO BE THINGS THAT HAVE STARTED LONG AGO AND JUST GET WORSE AS THE TIME OF THE END DRAWS NEAR. THE FIFTH ONLY HAPPENS TO GOD'S PEOPLE. THE SIXTH IS VERY ODD. WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING IS THAT AS CHRIST TEARS OFF EACH SEAL WE ARE GIVEN A VISION OF WHAT HE HAS ENDED. REMOVING EACH SEAL REPRESENTS CHRIST TERMINATING A PROBLEM.
Use this link to go back to the summary.
- First Seal =
- white horse with bow of false religion and deception
- Second Seal =
- red horse of war
- Third Seal =
- black horse of famine
- Fourth Seal =
- pale horse of death. It is not pestilence because it includes death by sword (v8). So we have all kinds of death including disease epidemics.
- Fifth Seal =
- martyrdom. No horse.
- Sixth Seal =
- Ends before the Great day of God’s wrath (Day of the Lord) begins (v17). Notice that stars rolling back like a scroll does not mean destruction of the universe. In my opinion these things climax together at the coming of Christ.
- Seventh Seal =
- Seven trumpets. The seventh seal is composed of the seven trumpets. The last three trumpets are also called woes.
- First Angel/Trumpet = the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up
- Second Angel/Trumpet = the third part of the sea became blood
- Third Angel/Trumpet = the third part of fresh water polluted
- Fourth Angel/Trumpet = daylight reduces by 1/3
- Fifth Angel/Trumpet (First woe) = smoke from bottomless pit brings unknown mutated creatures possessed by what appears to be supernatural powers that torment and kill for 5 months
- Sixth Angel/Trumpet (Second Woe) = angels from Euphrates produce munitions that kill 1/3 of men.
- Seventh Angel/Trumpet (Third Woe) = the Seventh Angel (the Day of the Lord) and the Seventh Trumpet are often treated as the same thing but the Seventh Angel does more than blow a trumpet because he also introduces plagues over a period of days. The Third Woe follows the resurrection (Revelation 11:11-14).
- First Angel/Trumpet = the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up
The question arises, if He is given the book on the Day of the Lord then how can He open the seals that initiate events which happened 3½ years or more before? My answer is that it is not possible, and that is not what the book says. What the book indicates is that removing the seal marks the end of something evil that had started before the Day of the Lord and the imagery that John sees provides details of the evil that was keeping man from his future. The seals are obstacles to be removed and God is putting an end to them through the activities of the Day of the Lord. They are not happening only when He discards the seal but by discarding the seal He is showing that they will never happen again.
FIRST FOUR SEALS
Each seal is introduced by a separate beast (creature) indicating that the beast is associated with that activity. Each beast represents something that Christians, along with all of the earth, have suffered. Now Revelation 4:7 (KJV) says And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle
. If you adopt first, second third and fourth here as the identity of the beasts (e.g. first beast means lion) then the beasts in Revelation 6 will not match the horses in the way that I understand it. In my opinion first, second third and fourth in chapter 4 are used to count and do not identify the beasts.
| scripture | Comment |
|---|---|
| [1]And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. | |
| [2]And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. {*1} | 1__man's face – deception/truth. King of truth and freedom ,truth makes you free, or deception and bondage. |
| [3]And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. | |
| [4]And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. {*2} | 2__lion – war, lions attack as an organised army. King of beasts, war and peace. |
| [5]And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. | |
| [6]And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. {*3} | 3__ox – agricultural productivity and hence prosperity/need. King of domesticated beasts. |
| [7]And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. | |
| [8]And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him{*4}. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. | 4__vulture – health and safety/death. The horse was death not pestilence as some claim. |
FIFTH SEAL martyrdom
The first four seals affect every living thing on the earth. Each one is addressed to one of the four main representations of earthly life. Now the fifth seal is more specific. It is those who died for the sake of the gospel. It is clear that this is one of the main things that prevent God's way of life on the earth i.e. when God's people are killed.
| scripture | Comment |
|---|---|
| [9]And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw {*1} under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: | 1__note that the beasts have stopped saying come and see. Up to this point the seals represent things that happen to all mankind all along and are pictured by the four living creatures. |
| [10]And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? {*2} | 2__the cry changes from come and seeto how much longer?. Formerly things were happening to the whole world but now it is specifically Christians, defined by their martyrdom, and they do not want their brothers to suffer as they did. |
| [11]And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. {*3} | 3__martyrdom; this happens to brethren (brothers in Christ) and fellowservants (servants of God). They were given their robes but wait for the resurrection. No horse indicates that the church is small, and therefore no need to travel much. |
SIXTH SEAL - Heavenly signs
The occupation (not military occupation, but occupation by the saints, many of whom will be gentiles) of Jerusalem, ending in Christ's return, will last 3½ years (Revelation 11:2) and will parallel the Two Witnesses who preach 3½ years (Revelation 11:3). This 3½ years is also called the Great Tribulation which is a term first used in Matthew 24 and repeated in Revelation 2:22 and 7:14. The point is that it precedes the Day of the Lord and establishes the conditions on the Earth leading up to that event. The sixth seal ends before the Great day of God's wrath (great day of his wrath
, Day of the Lord) begins (v17), and even before the 3½ years (the so called Great Tribulation) which is part of the Seventh Seal. This Sixth Seal does not mark the beginning of the Day of the Lord, but the imminent Great Tribulation
, or more accurately time of Jacob's trouble
, and tells us that we should seek the place of safety. This may be the event that sneaks up on Christians like a thief in the night (going to the place of safety) and happens just before the 3½ years. If we are not ready by then it is probably too late. Notice that stars rolling back like a scroll does not mean destruction of the universe or else there would be no heavens after the Sixth Seal. Just one star (which is a sun) falling to earth would destroy it, hence stars falling does not even have to be anything inanimate, but could be angels. We will get back to what this action could actually be later in the series when we deal with Revelation 12. Right now notice that there is no record of anything happening to people, so why does God bother to mention it as a whole seal, something never to occur again? The seals each represent something that Christ is ending, something critical to be removed as a destructive force in the future of man. What is He ending here?
Look at what Matthew has to say.
See also Mark 13:19-20 and Daniel 12:1 which tell us that Michael gets in the mix and that all flesh would die if God did not stop it.
Look at what Amos has to say.
We know that the Day of the Lord is supposed to have dim light all day and all night (Zechariah 14:7) so Amos is not saying that there will be no light but that it will never get bright. It will be very dark for daytime. He is also talking about darkness of events and he is saying that it will bring darkness not light. He is not saying that there will only be dark but that it will be pictured by darkness. To appreciate the seriousness of what Amos was saying in verse 19, we must understand some things about animal behaviour. Lions generally hunt only when they are hungry and they kill extremely quickly by squeezing the jugular and the prey passes out and soon dies. Another thing that I have read is that a lion will give up if the chase is long but not a bear. Apparently bears can run extremely fast for long distances.
The largest lion ever recorded was reputed to be a male living in Dublin Zoo, Ireland in 1959. It weighed 827 pounds. In contrast this is what is known of bears:
The polar bear rivals the Alaska brown bear as the world’s largest land predator. A large male polar bear may weigh up to 1,500 pounds and grow to nearly 10 feet tall, standing on its hind legs; however, a record male shot in 1960 in Alaska weighed 2,210 pounds and stood 12 feet tall. The petite females stand only up to about 8 feet tall and tip the scales at a svelte 550 pounds or less.
The National Wildlife Federation staff 13 Things You May Not Know about the Imperiled Polar BearThe National Wildlife Federation https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2011/Polar-Bear-DayFeb 28, 2011
The bear is the largest carnivore in the world that lives on land. There are many subspecies throughout the world, including the Polar bears that live in the Arctic, the grizzly in North America, the Kodiak, the Eurasian brown bear and the Siberian brown bear. Reputedly the largest polar bear was 2,209 pounds, the largest grizzly bear was 1,200 pounds, the largest Kodiak bear was 1,656 pounds and the largest black bear was 902 pounds. Clearly the bear can double the size of a lion.
Brown bears have super-strong shoulder muscles to help them dig up roots and tear apart logs to find food, giving them a distinctive shoulder hump. They will dig you out. I have gathered that the speed of a male is 30 MPH and it can cover over 100 yards in 6 seconds! Bears can climb extremely fast, sometimes faster than they run. Recent news clips on TV will show that you cannot escape a bear by climbing a tree.
A bear will catch you and when a bear catches prey, it just grabs the prey and starts eating it alive. Death from snakebite is similarly dreadful. It is usually slow and very painful. Amos shows that you do not want to be there.
Now examine the SIXTH SEAL - This looks like during the 3½ years but it can't be because that is part of the seventh seal. This is actually the event that signals that the 3½ years is beginning and that we should head for the place of safety. Remember that seals are things that are unwanted and have to come to an end. Why would harmless lights in the sky be a problem that Christ (remember that the strong angel in v2 could not remove it) has to personally eradicate? Part of the confusion is derived from the connection with Matthew 24 and the remainder of this paragraph will focus on that chapter. In Matthew 24:29 in the KJV it says that it happens immediately after the tribulation of those days
, however the Greek word META
translated after
can have several interpretations, but it generally means something like accompanied by
or along with
or in addition to
. Also the Greek word δέ, de
(d̮e') translated immediately
is just a conjunction like and
or but
so the Greek just says and along with
. The next problem comes from not recognising that those days
and hence their associated tribulation starts in verse 5. It covers most of man's history and ends just before the return of Christ deduced by the death of the Two Witnesses. Notice, however, that this particular event appears to starts the 3½ years because verse 21 narrows it down to mankind's worse time and there can be no worse time than the 3½ years, since that is the period immediately before Christ comes. A quick look at Matthew 24 shows that then
is used to create a sequence up to verse 15 terminated by the when
in verse 15. Then, up to verse 28, It speaks of various things related to the abomination of desolation to watch for during the period just described, that precede the return of Christ. But recall that verse 21 narrows down the period to the 3½ years. Verse 29 must be referring to this period just before Christ returns and its terrible tribulation. The conjunction in verse 29 has three possible interpretations: before, in parallel with, or after. It cannot be after because Christ would have returned, that is not a tribulation although some bad things do happen. It is not in parallel with because the period is described in some detail and although at one point ⅓ of the day is darkened it is not defined by darkness etc. That leaves before but only immediately before such that it is considered connected with the 3½ years because the longer period, dealt with up to verse 15, is now out of scope. This means that they begin almost simultaneously but not quite. So along with the 3½ year tribulation starting we have this sign.
| scripture | Comment |
|---|---|
| [4]and Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. | |
| [5]for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. | |
| [6]and ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. | |
| [7]for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. | |
| [8]All these are the beginning of sorrows. | |
| [9]then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. | |
| [10]and then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. | |
| [11]and many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. | |
| [12]and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. | |
| [13]but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. | |
| [14]and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world {*1} for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. {*2} | 1__The two witnesses do this job. 2__The problem is knowing what is to be considered as the end. |
| [15]then ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) {*3} | 3__This is the event that kills the two witnesses.The previous sequence leads to this. |
| [16]then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: | |
| [17]let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: | |
| [18]Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. | |
| [19]and woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! | |
| [20]but pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: | |
| [21]for then shall be great tribulation {*4}, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. | 4__In other words this will trigger the Day of the LORD. The Day of the Lord is the time that ends bad times (like a painful operation to end a disease) so it cannot be bad itself however the worst of times will be just before it. |
| [22]and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. {*5} | 5__Confirmation that this happens AT THE END but before Christ shortens it with the Day of the Lord. |
| [23]then {*6} if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. | 6__In that same period of time. |
| [24]for there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. | |
| [25]behold, I have told you before. | |
| [26]therefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. | |
| [27]for as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. | |
| [28]for wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. | |
| [29]immediately after the tribulation of those days {*7} shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: {*8} | 7__along withthe 3½ years of suffering not immediately after. 8__there will be a set of heavenly signs. |
| [30]and then{*9} shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. | 9__After all of this, the combined issues, the signs and the deception etc., then Christ will come. |
| [31]and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. |
From Acts (referred to below) we see that the Day of the LORD has not yet arrived when the moon becomes like blood. This is a quote from Joel 2 with focus on verses 28-31. Joel 2 shows that the actual prophecy is about events just before the day of the LORD. In the earlier verses it shows that verses 28-32 describe a reaction to events in the same chapter that occur just before the Day of the LORD.
Why only in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem? Could it be the place of safety? Joel is talking about conditions leading to the Day of the LORD and so is Acts. Acts clarifies that afterward
in Joel 2:28 is talking about the last days.
So in the last days is when He pours out His Spirit and afterwards is also when He pours out His Spirit and so they are the same. The difficulty here is to reconcile the time when the moon is said to become as blood. It happens just before the Great Tribulation and before (verse 20) but years before
the Day of the LORD although it is possible that something similar happens again just before Christ comes.
| Scripture | Comment |
|---|---|
| [12]And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; {*1}. | 1__an exceptional eclipse or more likely as Matthew 24 suggests, a general change in appearance of the moon, maybe because of adjustments to the orbit of the moon and the earth. |
| [13]And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth {*2}, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind {*3}. | 2__stars are not actually falling because just one star would destroy the Earth. It may be a meteor shower because of how the Earth and Moon are repositioned. Normal meteors pass right by or are burned up harmlessly. 3__this could be a spectacular meteor shower but then it could also be something more significant, which we will discuss later in the series. |
| [14]And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together {*4}; and every mountain {*5} and island were moved out of their places {*6}; | 4__the stars disappearing is only a perception from the Earth because of the blackness enveloping the sky like a scroll and the meteors raining down. 5__Every mountain shook but is not completely levelled yet. That happens when Christ's feet touch the Mount of Olives in Revelation 16. 6__they move but do not disappear yet, again Revelation 16. |
| [15]And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains {*7}. | 7__mountains still exist. |
| [16]And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb {*8}: | 8__the person who sits on the throne and the LAMB represent the same person, Christ as king and saviour. |
| [17]For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? {*9}. | 9__7__this is the signal that the time of God's anger/wrath is imminent. |
Acknowledgements
https://a-z-animals.com/blog/discover-the-worlds-largest-lions/
https://a-z-animals.com/blog/discover-the-largest-brown-bear-ever/