Seven Seals of Revelation 6-8Seven Seals of Revelation 6-8Christ Shields His Afflicted People

Comparison of John and EzekielComparison of John and Ezekiel

John knew that Ezekiel had also received a scroll

Ezekiel 2:8-10; It was full of “lamentation, mourning and woe.”

Comparison of 7 Churches and 7 Comparison of 7 Churches and 7 SealsSeals

Like the 7 Churches, God is trying to show “his servants what must soon take place” Rev. 1:1

However, as in Daniel He puts a stress on different aspects of history in each excerpt – and the problems of the 7 churches aren’t exactly the same as the the 7 seals

Connection with Chapter 5Connection with Chapter 5

Everything in Rev. 6 & 7 - builds off of Rev. 5– Lamb is worthy to open the scroll– Lamb is worthy of praise and

honor•Conquered death and was

resurrected

– Lamb is on the right hand of God the Almighty

Time Period of 7 SealsTime Period of 7 Seals

Rev. 6, 7 covers ascension of Jesus to 2nd coming– Rev. 4-5 inauguration imagery

•Christ at the right hand of the Father

6:15-17 Jesus 2nd coming events

No Content of SealsNo Content of Seals

Chapter 6 does not describe the content of the 7 sealsDescribes results on earth of the

breaking the seals Contents of the scroll not revealed

Until all 7 seals are brokenBreaking of the 7 seals is preliminary to

the events of the end

Seals and Covenant Seals and Covenant ImageryImageryDeut. 28 Blessings and curses

of the covenant – OT covenant, basis of relationship

with God– Curses

• war, famine, pestilence, wild beasts• 4 severe judgments or destroyers

used by God

Lev. 26:21-26Lev. 26:21-26

21 "Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.

23 "And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.

Lev. 26Lev. 26

25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

Reason for CursesReason for Curses

If the people repented, returned to the covenant– Curses stopped, blessings come

The first four seals are the consequence of the church rejecting the gospel– God’s purpose is for repentance

and return to Him

Synoptic ApocalypseSynoptic Apocalypse

Seals in Rev. 6, 7 parallels Matt. 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13– See Stefanovic p. 224– Events in Synoptic apocalypse are historical– In context of “the end is near”– Seals 1-4 fits Matt. 24:5-14– Seal 5 fits Matt. 24:15-22– Seal 6 fits Matt. 24:23-31 second coming of

Christ– Seal 7 is after 2nd coming

““ComeCome”” “Come” in first four seals

– Imperative form, you must come– Rev. 22:20 Come Lord Jesus

5th seal, How long?– Urgency

6th seal, Jesus has come– Current event taking place

7th seal, Silence– Time indeed has come, arrived, for the

end

First Seal – White HorseFirst Seal – White Horse

Rider had a bow and a crown

Conquered much

6:1,2

First Seal – White HorseFirst Seal – White Horse

Like church of Ephesus, Jesus knew that the church would start out well – preaching in the all the world – Acts 1:8

White – righteousness and character of Christ

Bow and a CrownBow and a Crown

Bow and a crown– Hab. 3:8-9 God on a horse with a

bow– Bow, the gospel brings judgment,

division •Matt 10:34-39

– Crown of victory•Winner of the contest

Second Seal – Red HorseSecond Seal – Red Horse

Took peace from the earth

Gave permission to kill each other

Had a great sword

22ndnd Seal, Rev. 6:3-4 Seal, Rev. 6:3-4

Persecution in the Roman Empire Consequences of preaching the gospel

– Wherever the gospel is preached and accepted, persecution follows

– Matt. 24:9-10 tribulation, death, you will be hated

Fiery-red horse– Red is color of blood and persecution– Rev. 17 Prostitute rides a red beast

• Drunk with the blood of the saints

Second Seal – Red HorseSecond Seal – Red Horse

After 313 AD – the Christian church began not to be persecuted, but to persecute

Wars between Christians lasted from the time of Constantine to World War I

Second Seal – Red HorseSecond Seal – Red Horse

Lev. 26:6-8God promised

peace to His people if they obeyed His commands

1st and 2nd century AD – pax Romana

Third Seal – Black HorseThird Seal – Black Horse

Pair of scalesPrices for

wheat, barley, oil and wine

33rdrd Seal, Rev. 6:5-6 Seal, Rev. 6:5-6

Middle Ages, spiritual decline and compromiseBeginning of Papal RomeBy year 600 most false teachings of

Christian church in place Black horse

Black, color of darknessAbsence of gospel, Matt 4:16, John 1:5, 3:19

Third Seal – Black HorseThird Seal – Black Horse

Wheat, barley, oil and wine were staple foods in those times

Barley was cheaper than wheat usually, important for the poor

Oil – essential for cookingWine (juice) – a solution for drinking

water from old wells

Quart of WheatQuart of Wheat

Quart of wheat, 3 quarts of barley– Scarcity, time of famine– A denarius – a days wage– Ordinary times a denarius bought 12-

15xs as much food Word of God is bread of life, Matt.

4:4– Jesus himself, John 6:35-38– Famine of the truth of the Bible

Third Seal – Black HorseThird Seal – Black Horse

Lev. 26: 1-5, 10 God promised

prosperity in their crops (grape, wheat, etc.) if they obeyed His commands

This seal represents scarcity

No Harm to Oil and WineNo Harm to Oil and Wine

Do no harm to oil and wine– Oil is symbolic of Holy Spirit– Wine is symbolic of blood of Jesus

God is still working– Bible preserved

•Faithfully copied

– Attempts at reformation

Fourth Seal – Pale HorseFourth Seal – Pale Horse

Name was Death

Hades was right behind him

Killed by sword, famine, plague

Fourth Seal – Pale HorseFourth Seal – Pale Horse

After war and a leaving of God’s commands, and scarcity and famine, it is no surprise that Death follows

Historians – “Dark Ages” – 500-1500

44thth Seal, Rev. 6:7-8 Seal, Rev. 6:7-8

Christian church in Medieval period– False teachings, superstition, loss of

knowing salvation by grace– Death rides a pale horse, Hades follows– Ashen- grey color of a corpse– Rev. 1:18 Christ has keys of death and

Hades• Rev. 20:14 Death is destroyed

– Ultimate consequence of the famine of the Word of God

Given AuthorityGiven Authority

Given authority over ¼ of the earth– Under Christ’s control– ¼ of the earth

• One of the four winds, directions of the earth

– Kill with sword, famine, pestilence and beasts• 4 judgments of God against apostasy• Meant to bring reformation

Emphasis of SealsEmphasis of Seals

The emphasis of the seals is clearly on the moral decline of the church

Famine, plague, scarcity, death, war

Famine of Word of GodFamine of Word of God

Amos 8:11 – The days are coming when I will send a famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

Biggest problem of the church of 300-1500 AD = lack of knowledge of Bible

Fifth Seal – Souls Under the Fifth Seal – Souls Under the AltarAltar

Souls that had been slain for the word of God

They cried out for revengeGiven white robesTold to wait a while until the number

of their brothers would be completed

55thth Seal Rev. 6:9-11 Seal Rev. 6:9-11

God’s faithful who died for Him– Martyrs in early church– Post reformation 17th and 18th

centuries•100,000 killed in peasant’s war

– Counter reformation, inquisition by the church•Thousands persecuted, tortured, killed

for their faith

– People who die for Jesus today

Fifth Seal – Souls Under the Fifth Seal – Souls Under the AltarAltar

Daniel 7 told us that there would be a 1260 year period that there would be an anti-Christian power ruling

From 538-1798 AD nobody knows how many martyrs died at the hands of the Christian church

Plea for JusticePlea for Justice

Died because of the Word of God and their testimony– How long – before you judge - avenge

our blood?– A plea asking for justice, not revenge

The White RobesThe White Robes

Each is given a white robe– Assurance of their salvation in

Jesus– God will not forget them– God will judge – in their favor– God will judge against their (His)

enemies

Completion?Completion?

Rest for a little while– More to die for Jesus– Those made complete

•Complete in number •Complete in character – becoming

like Jesus

Fifth Seal – Souls Under the Fifth Seal – Souls Under the AltarAltar

However, God knew that the close of the 1260 years wasn’t the end of the world

The gospel still needed to be preached to all the world – Matt. 24:14

Souls Under the AltarSouls Under the Altar

Shift in focus– First four seals begin with “Come”

5th seal, souls of all of the martyrs– Beneath the altar– OT sacrificial system

• Lev. 4:7 Blood of the sacrifice poured at the base of the alter

• Blood symbolized life• Lev. 17:11-14 Blood (life) belonged to God

Sixth Seal – Great Signs in the Sixth Seal – Great Signs in the HeavensHeavens

Earthquake – Matt. 24:29Sun turned black, moon – redStars fell from the sky Sky rolled back – islands and

mountains are removedEverybody on the Earth mourns and

wants to hide from the face of God and Jesus

EarthquakeEarthquake

Nov. 1, 1755 – Lisbon, Portugal Wealthy center of Catholic church, Inquisition

had a headquarters, 40 churches, Catholic holiday – All Saints Day

2 minutes earthquake raged on, destroyed the city – 15,000 people died

Was felt in Strasbourg and Scandinavia – 1800-2600 km. Away

Earthquake encouraged much science and philosophical speculation (Voltaire, Kant, Rousseau, etc.) – world became pessimistic

Sun DarkenedSun Darkened

May 19, 1780 – in 40,000 sq. km. In New England, America – the sun disappeared behind a dark cloud for about 2-3 hours in the middle of the day

People thought the end of the world had come – spurred much Bible study

Stars Falling from the SkyStars Falling from the Sky

November 13, 1833 – eastern part of the USA – from 9 p.m – 6 a.m. a record number of meteors fell from the sky – peak at 4 a.m.

Usually 10/hour – estimated on this night 60,000/hour

Spurred the modern study of meteors

Stars Falling from the SkyStars Falling from the Sky

Frederick Douglass – famous diplomat and journalist was still a slave and wrote that it was a “gorgeous spectacle” and a “harbinger of the Son of Man”.

Significance of these EventsSignificance of these Events

Magnitude – Some of the biggest recorded

Location – Europe and America

Timing – Decline of Catholic Church

Encouraged Bible Study – Amos 8, Joel 2, Matt. 24

End of Sixth SealEnd of Sixth Seal

The Second Coming of God and Christ

Christ is the only one that is worthy to judge the church for her errors

Second ComingSecond Coming

Most people according to this prophecy won’t heed the warnings that the first 5 seals gave

They didn’t become friends with God – they are just afraid of His wrath

Question of the Sixth SealQuestion of the Sixth Seal

Who can stand on the great day of the wrath of God?

Chapter 7 answers that question