Book of Revelation Part 5 Opening The Six Seals

But with that, let's begin. Now we've spoken about Revelation chapter 6 and the opening of the six seals, a little bit of review on that, and then we'll move forward. We talked about the horses and their riders. We saw some of that symbolism in Zechariah chapter 1 and verse 8, and the symbolism of the horses in that particular context. We also spoke about the riders in Revelation chapter 6. And so, in the white horse, we mentioned that it was a discussion of Christ, a reference to Christ. Revelation 19, 11 through 15, made the following points. The rider was seen when John sees the heavens open, and that is a huge clue in terms of who the rider is. Also, the one who sat on him was called faithful and true. And by the way, Eric, and Eric, I hope I'm saying your name right, Fuge, at any rate, if I'm not, you can, you know, send me an email with the diacritical mark. But he has a great book here. I hope you can see that on the book of Revelation. And when you get an opportunity, grab a copy of it. It's concise, very easy to understand. And unlike some commentaries on Revelation, he does a great job of making things simple, and at the same time, getting to the depth and the heart of what the book is talking about. So, I appreciate that and the comments that he's made in the book. But as we said, the rider is seen when John sees the heavens open. The one who sat on him was called faithful and true. And in the message to the church at Laodicea, Christ is called a faithful and true witness, Revelation 3 and verse 14. In righteousness, the Bible says he judges and makes war, and the rider of the white horse went forth conquering and to conquer, as we see in Revelation 6. And in Isaiah 11, 3 through 4, it speaks of his judgment that was not by sight or by hearsay, but with righteousness. And he judges and decides with equity and fairness. Now, righteousness would also be the belt of his loins. His eyes were like a flame of fire. That's from Revelation 1, verses 14 and 18. And on his head were many crowns. And that indicates that he was the conqueror of all the nations, just as he said in Revelation chapter 2, verses 26 through 27, which basically is from the second Psalm. But he says, he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel, as I also have received from my father. And so, he's indicating that he has conquered the nations. And we see that in Revelation chapter 11 and verse 15, where the Bible says, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And so, that indicates that he is the conqueror of all these nations that Satan once offered him. You know, if you bow down and worship me, I will give you all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus says, no, I got a better way to do that than to acknowledge you as an object of worship. And so, he conquers them as we see in the book of Revelation and is named the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He had a name written that no one knew but himself. Revelation 3.12, his robe was dipped in blood. His name was called the Word of God. And we see that in John 1 and verse 1 as well. Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it, he should strike the nations and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. Again, a reference back to Psalm 2. And he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of the Almighty God. He has on his robe and on his thigh, a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. First Timothy chapter 6 and verse 15, mentions the fact that in his own time, he would show who was the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Now, the second reference we have to the horse is the fiery red horse. And he was granted to take peace from the earth. This is the fulfillment. And when we look at these judgments and the opening of the seals, you can see that what the writer is doing is referring back to the judgments that God would pronounce upon Israel in the book of Leviticus, also in Deuteronomy chapter 28. And you can see basically the pattern as laid out there in each of these examples or scenarios in Revelation chapter 6. So in Leviticus 26 and 17, he says, I will set my face against you and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you and you shall flee when no one pursues you. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant. So these are the curses that God would bring upon Israel as a result of their disobedience, of their rebelling against him and refusing to obey the covenant as they had agreed when he gave it to him, when they said all the things that you have said, we will do. So what he promises to do to them is to scatter them among the nations, to draw out the sword after them. And then this is what we see taking place. And so in verse four, it says another horse fiery red went out and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth and that people should kill one another. And there was given to him a great sword. I think I talked about in some of the previous lessons, these four categories of judgment that God would bring on Israel. And of course, one was the sword. One was the wild beast. One was severe famine. And what was the other one? I think it was death and hunger, et cetera. I can't think of it at the moment, but I've got it here in the lesson, so I'll give it to you. But at any rate, the pestilence, I think, is the other. But he said in the text in Leviticus, if you look at the plagues and the vengeance that was promised against Israel, these are, again, those things that are mentioned in the seals. And in verse 17, and I'm just going to walk down Leviticus 26 a little bit so you can see them, all of them are laid out. So if you look at the plagues that he mentions, and each time he says he's going to bring these seven plagues on them. But in verse 17, he talked about war and bloodshed, and that's what we're seeing here in the text in verse four. But also he says that it would be famine. That's mentioned in verses 19 through 20, also in Deuteronomy 28, 16, and 17. He was going to bring the wild beast on them, Deuteronomy 28, 6, as well as Leviticus 26, 22. And then the sword, which is verse 25, and Deuteronomy 28, 22, and 26, with death and sickness. The pestilence, which is found in verse 26, hunger and scarcity. That, again, is Deuteronomy 28, 24 as well. And then drought, verses 53 through 57. And this is where you have the horrific situation of, you know, people eating their children, particularly both men and women, from that perspective. But we see notable in one of the examples where a woman ate her child, when we look at the book of Revelation to see what things, or rather in Josephus' history, when we see what took place there. And so you have in verse 33, the scattering among the nations, which is also stated in Deuteronomy 28, 32, enslavement. And of course, the ravishing of the women. All of this was a result of Israel's idolatry and their refusal to obey the true and living God. And so in all of these, the Lord is using these opportunities to fight against the people who are breaking his covenant. Now, in the third seal, you have the rider on the black horse. And verse 5 says, when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living preacher say, come and see. So I looked, and behold, a black horse. And he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. The black horse represents a crashing or imploding of the economy. Christ spoke of the famines in Matthew 24 and verse 7. He also spoke of a great famine, or at least in the book of Acts, there was a great famine mentioned in the days of Claudius Caesar. Let's go over and take a look at that real quick. Verse 27, it says, and in those days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the spirit that there was going to be, or about to be, a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Now, interestingly, there's our word mellow that's used in that text. And of course, this text says it was about to be, and it says it happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. So it happened in that historical timeframe in the first century. And then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Jerusalem. So the church was involved in helping that situation in terms of the famine that was taking place. And you can also see references to that in Josephus Wars, book 5, chapter 12, section 3, and also in book 6, chapter 3, and section 3. Now, the incident that we mentioned with this woman whose name was Mary, by the way, ain't her own child as was prophesied in the curses that are found in Leviticus 26 and 29, Deuteronomy 28, 53 through 57. God had prophesied that. And that had happened actually several times in Israel's history when they were in war with some of these other nations, especially like the one with the Chaldeans, the same thing happened. So, you know, God had prophesied that they would do that. And so this lady cooked half of her child or cooked her child, and then she ate half of it. And when, you know, the soldiers and others came in, you know, they, you know, people were looking for anyone who had anything to eat during the time of this famine, and they smelled this very putrid smell. And she brought out the other half of her child and just basically freaked them out totally as a result of that. But that was how severe the famine had become in Jerusalem and those things that happened that were fulfilling the prophecies that God had made. When we look in Ezekiel chapter 14, again, we can see these four. So this brings us to the fourth seal and the rider of the pale horse, which was death, and the Bible says Hades followed him. And looking at this text in Ezekiel, it says, for thus says the Lord, how much more shall it be when I say or send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword and the famine, the wild beast, the pestilence to cut off man and beast from it. The very judgments of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 were the means by which God would bring death to many in Israel. And even though, and this is mentioned, I guess, about three or four times in the chapter, he says, even though, you know, righteous men like Noah and Daniel and Job lived in it, they could not avert the judgments that were coming on Israel at the time. And that was for the Babylonian captivity, but in the same manner, because of their refusal to repent, they could not avert the judgments that were coming on them in the time of Jerusalem's fall. Now, in the opening of the fifth seal, we move beyond the horses and we see the souls that were under the altar in verse nine. So he says, 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 testimony, which they held. And they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Then a white robe was given to each of them. And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants and of their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed. Now, in the opening of this seal, from my understanding, we once again go back to an explicit temple reference because it talks about the souls that are under the altar. The judgments above also refer to temple events because all of the judgments of God are executed from his throne in the temple. And in first Peter four 17, the Bible says that the time for the judgment had come and that it would begin at the house of God. Of course, from that perspective, you can see the house of God involved, but also God judges from his throne. And of course, his throne was in the temple. So we have the temple reference here. These souls under the altar had been slain for the word of God. And obviously, they are the martyred saints slain for their faithful allegiance to Christ and for the preaching of the gospel that they are under the altar shows how closely guarded and protected they were by God, even though they had been slain as martyrs. And then they cry out with a loud voice saying how long Oh, Lord, holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Now, this one cry for help reveals so much about the writing of the book of Revelation, they are told to rest a little while longer. And this shows that the events of Revelation were presently unfolding at this time. And it also shows that those who martyred these who were under the altar, those who marked the saints were yet alive on the land. So we can't take the book of Revelation and put it into our future. Because here are the souls under the altar crying out, how long Oh, Lord, will you not avenge our blood, these were the people who actually kill them, the people who actually put them to death. And yet those people were still living at the time, the book of Revelation was written, and therefore shows that these events were yet unfolding. It also shows that those who martyred this, excuse me, as we said, those who martyred the saints were still alive. But it also proves that the earth spoken of the use of the term earth many times in the book of Revelation is a reference to Palestine. It's a reference to the land that surrounded Judea, etc. Now what they cry out for is vengeance for their blood, which was shared. According to Revelation six, and verse 11, Jesus had promised to judge and to take vengeance on those who both murdered the prophets, and those that he would send to them. Wise men, prophets and scribes, when we turn back to the book of Matthew, beginning at around verse 32. He says, fill up then the measure of your father's guilt. Now he had just told them about their being hypocrites, because they said to him, after he talked about their building the tombs of the prophets and adorning the monuments of the righteous. And then they were saying, if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Therefore, you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. And thus he says, fill up then the measure of your father's guilt. He's talking about filling up their cup of iniquity. So fill up the measure of your father's guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of Gehenna? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill. These are the martyrs that we're talking about in Revelation chapter six. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city. That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Now watch this statement, assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. So these martyrs that we find in the book of Revelation and whose blood or who's there who are crying out for vengeance for their blood that was shed are the ones who died within the generation living in the first century. It's impossible for us logically and exegetically to take the book of Revelation out of the context of the first century, especially when we are focused on the martyrs. Now notice what he said in verse 37. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you were not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate. So Jesus identified those who killed the prophets, those who murdered the ones he was sending to them, the scribes, the wise men and the prophets. He said they were those of Jerusalem. That indicates that Jerusalem was still in existence at the time. Those who actually murdered them were still alive and they were crying out for vengeance for those who had shed their blood who were yet on the earth. Very, very important point that we need to to see. And so therefore, he said that on Jerusalem, all the bloodshed would be avenged. Now, this is further proof, as we said, that the book of Revelation and that the destruction of Jerusalem was yet a future event when the book was written and that that is what the book is focused on, because as we've seen from those curses that we find in Leviticus 26 and in Deuteronomy 28, also in Deuteronomy 32, in the Song of Moses as well. But you see those things being fulfilled and unfolding in the book of Revelation. Now, for example, when you talk about vengeance, if you notice Luke chapter 18, this cry out for vengeance. Remember the widow who cried out for vengeance from the unjust judge? I want you to note just a few things about that parable. And I'm trying to check here and kind of see where my time is. In verse one of chapter 18, it says, Then he spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying there was a certain city, in a certain city, a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in the city, and she came to him saying, Get justice for me from my adversary. And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. Then the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said, and shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them? I tell you, he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? Now, here's what's important about this particular parable. It follows the conversation that Jesus had relative to the flight from Jerusalem, the judgment that he announced that would happen in that generation. So if you look back in chapter 17, you can see that when the Bible talks about the Son of Man first had to suffer and to be rejected of that generation. And that comes right on the tail end of the conversation about when the kingdom of God would appear. And Jesus said he did not appear with observation and that the kingdom of God was in their midst. But notice he talks about judgment, saying that as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. And the judgment of Lot, both of which they ate, drank, you know, sold, married, and were given in marriage, et cetera, until the day that each of those respective judgments came. Now, what's important there is he talks about the day when the Son of Man is revealed, uses the same word for the apocalypse that we find in Revelation 1 in verse 1, saying in verse 31 of chapter 17, in verse 30, even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed, when he is unveiled. In that day, he who is on the housetop, notice how he connects the day when the Son of Man is revealed with the time of the flight and those who are on the housetop who were to flee the city. He says, in that day, he who's on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise, the one who was in the field, let him not turn back. So that is the context out of which this parable for the widow who would not give up in requesting vengeance and demanding vengeance from this unjust judge, and the Lord saying that he would avenge his own elect speedily. Now, also, when you compare that in Luke 17, 30 and 31, with Luke chapter 21, verses 20 through 22, you can see that the time frame for this flight was the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. In verse 20 of Luke 21, he says, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the midst of her depart and let not those who are in the country enter her. Why? For these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. I know that hurts a lot of futurists to look at that passage and to see what the Lord is saying. And again, he says in the same context in verse 32, when he says, so likewise you, when you see all these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God has drawn near. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things or this generation will by no means take place till all these things are fulfilled. Now, with that, therefore, we can see that the time of vengeance that these souls under the altar were crying out for was in connection with the fall of Jerusalem and the time when the Lord would bring judgment on those who were their martyrs. Now, again, in Revelation chapter 18 verses 20 and verse 24, the scripture tells us that all these things were a result of the vengeance that was to be taken on those who had persecuted and martyred the apostles and prophets. In verse 20, he says of chapter 18, rejoice over her, O heaven and you apostles and prophets for God has avenged you on her. Verse 24 and in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all who were slain on the earth. And then if you look at Revelation 19 and two, it says for true and righteous are his judgments because he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication. And he has avenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her. So the Lord attributed this shedding of blood to the people who were in Jerusalem, who were yet living at the time that the book of Revelation was written. And he tells them in Revelation six and verse 11, that they were to wait just a little while longer. Now notice something else in this particular verse. In verse 11, it says, then a white robe was given to each of them. And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both. And of course, you've got this in italics, the number of, but I'm just going to read it without the italics until both their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were, was completed. Now, you know, these translators just do us a great injustice by not translating the term mellow properly in these verses. And they make it appear that this is something that has no imminency in it at all. But that is not the case because when we look more closely at the text, it shows that the word mellow is there. So let's read it from that perspective to see it. You can go to biblehub.com or anywhere online where you can look it up and you can actually see the use of the term. As a matter of fact, I think I have it somewhere, but what the text is actually telling us was that it was in a little while in which those who were being about to be killed as they were. So this was a process that was already underway that was yet going on. They weren't, they didn't just kill the martyrs at some point in the past and leave it at that. They were yet martyring them. And so this number of the martyrs or the completion of these martyrs was something that was ongoing and was about to be, was very near to being consummated at the time. Now, remember, those who were doing this were the people who were on earth at the time that the book of Revelation was written. It was before the fall of Jerusalem. And then when he says that this martyring of these saints would be completed, he uses the word plerothesin, which is an Aorist subjunctive passive. Now, you probably don't remember, but I talked about the Aorist subjunctive some time back, about a year or so ago, when we were dealing with the book, excuse me, dealing with the resurrection in first Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 49. I won't spend a lot of time there, but it's very significant because what it also indicates is that this process had already begun in the past, but yet was not completed. And that it was something that was already underway at the time the book was written. So you've got several textual clues there that indicate that we're dealing with something that was current. Now, as I close, in dealing with this little while timeframe, I want to just say a few things. Jesus spoke about this in his message in John chapters 14 through 16, when he was talking about going away to prepare a place for them, and then he would return. And his statement in John chapter 16, verses 16 through 19, really troubled the apostles, because he said it, I think about seven times, maybe in that little statement or so, that they had to question him, or at least he read their minds, and then asked them why they were troubled about it. Let me go over there and read it for you real quick. In John 16, starting in verse 16, he says, a little while. Now remember, this is the context of his going away to prepare a place and then to return. But the time space that he placed there was a little while. So in verse 16, he says, a little while, and you will not see me. And again, a little while, and you will see me because I go to the Father. Now, so that's where he was going to prepare the place to his father's house. Then some of his disciples said among themselves, what is this that he says to us? A little while, and you will not see me. And again, a little while, and you will see me, and because I go to the Father. They said, therefore, what is this that he says? A little while. We do not know what he is saying. And now Jesus knew that they desired to ask him, and he said to them, are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said? A little while, and you will not see me. And again, a little while, and you will see me. And what he talks about in between this little while was this time of the persecutions that they would endure in this little while period. So he says, most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice, and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. And then he has a discussion on the labor pangs that we see in Matthew 24 in verse 8, that we see in Romans chapter 8, in Galatians chapter 4, and in Revelation chapter 12, and many other places throughout the Old Testament that prophesied it, as well as the New Testament. And so he says, a woman when she is in labor has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being is born into the world. And so this was this period of suffering and trial that the disciples would go through. It was called a little while. Now, just a couple more passages and we're done. In 1 Peter chapter 1, Peter talks about this same little while that they were experiencing relative to the persecutions that were going on during that time. So in 1 Peter chapter 1, if we will notice beginning in verse 6, it says, in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. And this was all being done that they might be tested and found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation, the apocalypsis, or the unveiling of Jesus Christ. And again, in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 35, that quotes Deuteronomy 32 and 35, Hebrews 10 and verse 30, excuse me, that quotes Deuteronomy 32 and 35, where the Bible talks about the Lord would take vengeance and he would judge his people. It's also mentioned in verse 41 and 43 that he would avenge the blood of his servants. But in that context that speaks of Israel's last days, he talks about he would judge them. And we find that that judgment is mentioned in Hebrews 10 and verse 30. But in verse 37 of Hebrews 10, it says he who is coming will come in a very, very little while. So that shows that the events of the martyrs who were under the altar would be avenged in a very short time. They would be avenged in the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 AD. All the events of that text indicate the eminence and the nearness of it. And when we talk about the sixth seal on next week, we'll get more into that to show you correlations from it. Well, that's the message this morning. I hope that it was edifying for you, that you gained a few points here and there regarding Revelation chapter six. So now let me go back and just look at all the people who have