There are three sets of seven judgments in the Book of Revelation—seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls. There is, however, a rather strange difference between the seals and the other two sets of judgments. Each of the seals is opened by the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Each of the trumpet and bowl judgments is activated by angels.

The determination of who could open the seals begins in Revelation 5, where the question is asked, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” (Revelation 5:2). The answer came quickly:  “And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it” (Revelation 5:3).

John wept with concern that no one was qualified to open the scroll and loose its seals, but then one of the twenty-four elders also looking on told him, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” He was naming the Lord Jesus Christ, as the narrative continues to identify Him and His qualifications in that chapter.

In Chapter 6, then, we see that He opens six of the seals in due course, and then, the seventh one at the beginning of chapter 8 to introduce the seven trumpet judgments handed out by angels. Chapter 7, like chapter 12 and others, is a sidebar-like narrative of developments along the chronological pathway of judgments that were to come. The three sets of judgments appear to be the backbone of the seven-year period, and are fleshed out, so to speak, with these sidebar narratives.

However, the seal judgments are different, so highlighted by the fact that the Lamb of God is the one who opens each of the seals. The four horsemen and the subsequent descriptions of the wrath of God appear to be an overview of the remainder of the specific judgments. It is as if the Lord is giving His authority to the angels who hand out the trumpet and bowl judgments, the details of what has been captioned in the six seals with the seventy activating the specific judgments.

Let’s look at those seals as they are opened.

The first one’s opening is described by John like this:

“Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer” (Revelation 6:1-2).

This person on the white horse, a symbolic picture, no doubt, is the central character in the unfolding drama of the Book of Revelation. He is identified in Daniel 9:26-27 as the one with heritage links to ancient Rome, and who would “confirm a covenant with many” to begin a seven-year tailspin of events and judgments leading to the physical return of Christ to reign on the earth for a thousand years. Daniel foretold it like this:

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.

“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”

This matter of abominations and desolations is wheat Jesus was referring to in Matthew 24:15+16:

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

There is no indication whatsoever that Titus and his troops were interested in anything but getting at the gold between the stones of the temple, in which case they left not one stone upon another, just as Jesus predict4ed in Matthew 24:1-2. There are those who that Titus fulfilled that prophecy of Daniel and Jesus, but sit will not come about until the Antichrist enters the holy place and declares himself God at the mid-point of the seven years of tribulation.

Earlier Daniel had been told that seventy years of judgment had been allocated for Israel, and this passage tells us that sixty-nine of those years were finished at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. (An initial period of seven weeks occurred prior to these sixty-two noted here.)

It was a strange way of counting weeks of years instead of days, but it calculates out that way. One more week of years, or seven years, was uncounted and it appears the seven-year, or one week, for which the covenant covered is this lagging seven years.

It is important to note that this “prince” who has kinship with the Romans who destroyed the city of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 A.D. is the one who will apparently instigate the covenant’s confirmation, which is yet future. We will refer to this again.

When the Lord opens that first seal, a white horse is seen, and the person on it has a bow but no arrows. When that person confirms the covenant, essentially a peace agreement with Israel, he heads right out to sell his peace treaty as the champion of peace. The “many” who confirmed the covenant with him were members of the United Nations, no doubt. His goal, however, is to complete the mission of a New World Order that would usher in a one-world government.

It is interesting that the man is “given a crown,” not one earned by him. However, when Christ appears on His white horse at the end of the seven years, He has on His head “many crown.” (The original King James Version calls them diadems, and that caused me to miss the significance of it for many years) The question is, where did Jesus get all those crowns? Of course, it was when the raptured saints, represented by the twenty-four elders, were given those crowns at the rewards ceremony recorded in Revelation 1, and they laid them at the feet of the Lord Jesus! That is one more piece of evidence in favor of the pre-tribulation rapture position.

When Daniel, looking ahead, foretold of a beast having four heads, he identified those heads as successive reigning kingdoms ruling the world. The beast that John saw, rising up out of the sea, had seven heads, but the seventh was not yet formed. It was for the future. Daniel’s fourth head, or kingdom, was the one in which John lived. Two such kingdoms came before Daniel’s time, Assyria and Egypt.

Revelation 17:8 further identifies that seventh head of the beast John saw: “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.” The coming one-world government is the kingdom represented by that seventh head which was not yet formed in John’s vision.

The man on the white horse, who links back to the sixth head of the beast, Rome, is going forth “conquering and to conquer” in his goal of establishing that world government. He is identified with the beast, but strictly speaking, he is not the beast, though many say that he is so, even at the first appearance in Revelation 13:1-2.

Because of that “same as” identification, Bible prophecy teachers make a telling mistake, in my opinion. They assume that the person, the Antichrist, suffers a mortal wound, dies, then rises again in three days to emulate Christ and thereby deceive the people. The truth is that those left behind at the Rapture will not have been prepared for such an event, and God says, “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie…” (2 Thessalonians 2:11).

However, there is no Scripture that supports any part of that scenario. The Scripture says, “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast” (Revelation 13:8). One of his heads is mortally wounded. How many heads does the Antichrist have? No, the only head that could be the one meant is that sixth head, Rome of old, the kingdom that ruled the world when John lived. The first five heads, or kingdoms, had long ago faded into history, and that seventh head was not yet formed. So, the kingdom of Rome died, but out of the shadows of history there comes one who is scripturally and historically linked to that regime and who will be the central figure for its resurrection as the seventh head of the beast.

Note this in Revelation 17:10-11:

“There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.”

The Antichrist will work behind the open frontage of government entity, but will soon tire of that and will shut down that New World Order and its one-world government and take over completely—the eighth head of the beast, truly personified.

No doubt but what this is the time, halfway through the seven years of the tribulation period, when “…in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering” (Daniel 9:27) “…and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

There we have the continuity of the man on the white horse, “conquering and to conquer” as he completes his role in the end-time scenario. (The “perdition” he is headed for, along with his false prophet, also alluded to in Revelation 17:9, is to burn forever and ever in the lake of fire, according to Revelation 19:20.)

In order to have a one-world government there must not be any nation states having their own sovereignty. The prophetic purpose of God is for that to happen, as Scripture reveals. The Rapture event will effectively end America’s sovereignty, if not so already, and in the working of a time-table that only God could accomplish, the Gog-Magog war will eliminate Russia, Iran (Persia) and the other Islamic nations joining with them.

Without much thinking on it over the years, like others, perhaps, I read about the seven seals and assumed each horseman came out, did his thing, then faded back into the shadows in favor of the next one to appear. That actually makes no sense, for once the seven years begins, it opens with the sudden destruction that accompanies the disappearance of millions of believers in the Rapture. Absolute terror will rule the world at that time. The riders on the symbolic red, black and pale horses, representing warfare, starvation and desolation, and death, will continue, wall-to-wall, for the remainder of the tribulation period.

In that first three and one-half years, the Antichrist will be busy eliminating the sovereignty of individual nations and organizing them into ten regions of the world, the ten toes of Daniel’s statue in his dream. The Jews will be rebuilding their temple and reinstating its sacrifices. As revealed in Revelation 7, God will ordain 144,000 Jewish missionaries wo will lead millions to believe in the Messiah, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, as Matthew 24:14 declares: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” This means Israel will have recognized Jesus as their true Messiah, just as Zechariah 12:10 declares:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

The two witnesses, quite possibly Moses and Elijah, will be on hand for that half of the time as vivid reminders in Jerusalem of God’s ultimate coming judgment.

When the man of sin enters the temple, cancels the covenant and shuts down the sacrifices and offerings at midpoint of the seven years, death and destruction will reign with fury. The mark of the beast will be fully activated and worship of any other than that man of sin will not be tolerated. In Revelation 12 we are told in a sidebar narrative how Satan is cast out of heaven and is like a raging red dragon. As a spirit, he has no body of his own, so he will indwell the Antichrist, and in that mode he will enter the temple and declare himself God. It is just as he envisioned in Isaiah 14:13-14:

“For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’”

The fifth seal opened to reveal the many martyrs who will be losing their lives over the seven-year period. Notable are those described in Revelation 7:9-17.

The sixth seal, then, summarizes the massive upheavals and destruction in the physical heavens and earth, especially during that last half of the time.

The opening of the seventh seal merely gives authority for the sounding of those trumpet judgments, as recorded in Revelation 8.

As a tag to this analysis of these seals, we should consider what might be the “times and seasons” for the beginning of such things. To the Thessalonians, Paul wrote, “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4).

With no need of embellishment, the evidence of major uncertainties and difficult times approaching brings us to a vivid realization that we must make sure our sins are forgiven and our salvation is secure in the Lord.

Contact email: wegetmercy@gmail.com  

The mindset of those outspoken critics of Christians, as well as those who think their plans for mankind have no equal nor any overpowering contradiction by any God who might show up are well on their way of “going from bad to worse.”

In a previous article a thought came to mind that needs to be expanded upon. The thought was this: Some people do not know what they don’t know. The expanded thought would fall into line like this: Many people do not realize they don’t know what they don’t know; others think there is nothing they don’t know; still others do not care that they don’t know what they don’t know; and others do not want to know what they don’t know.
An ancient philosopher has surmised that “wisdom is knowing how little we know.” (It keeps you humble and willing to learn.) And I may as well add that someone else has observed that about 2 per cent of people really think, about 3 per cent think they are thinkers, and the other 95 per cent likely would die if they had to think!  In other words, people are like lemmings—they just follow the crowd, right off the cliff!

So, where is this thought process heading?

There are two driving forces in this universe—good and evil. God and His adversary, Satan, then, head up the two forces, and of course, God, the Sovereign of the Universe, only allows Lucifer—Satan—to do his thing as it fits in with what is God’s ultimate purpose, His own glory in the universe. The prophet Isaiah, among others, writes repeatedly of this purpose.

Thinking God’s thoughts after Him actually is the process of meditation on the Word of God. He is the one who has the true and final universal plan, so knowing His thoughts should be our goal.

One of the illustrations that came out of campus evangelism a few years ago was used to put one who said he did not believe in God in a defenseless position. A “pie graph” circle would be drawn out and was made to represent, in its enclosure, all the knowledge in the universe.

The self-identified atheist was asked what per cent of that total knowledge he thought he knew, and a “pie-piece” portion was marked off. Then, he was asked that of all the remaining knowledge in the universe, could there be the possibility that the knowledge of God existed, apart from his own knowledge?

That brings us back to the point of this article—many do not know what they don’t know, or perhaps there is a better way of saying it: People are not aware of what they don’t know.

Solomon’s wisdom comes to front and center, here. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

One of the indictments leveled upon mankind in Paul’s letter to the Roman believers was, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). It seems that “the fear of God” is of prime importance if one wants to walk in wisdom in his life, but what does that mean? Overshadowed by fear that if you make a wrong move, God will immediately punish you with vengeance? No, I am sure it means putting God first in your life is the first step of wisdom. Proverbs 3:5-6 says it plainly:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

The result of wisdom that does not begin with the fear of God is revealed in Romans 1:18-23:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”

This is called “going from bad to worse,” and it keeps on going as man turns his back on God and God gives him up to gorge himself in the lusts of his flesh, not knowing what he does not know, that his destiny is being weighed in the balance and is found wanting. Truth has a narrow, sharp edge, comparable to a razor blade that cuts painfully at times. Though intensely graphic in its revelation, there comes a time for it to be said:

“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting…” (Romans 1:24-28).

The doctrines of men have dulled the sensitive consciences of mankind, and a casual attitude about the issue of eternal life—having it or not having it—shows up in today’s culture of nonbelievers as well as believers. Foolish predictions without scriptural foundation have notably turned many believers off in regard to any expectancy of the coming of the Lord.

“Where is the promise of His coming” seems to be the unspoken turning point in many minds. At least one seems to sense that by the lack of interest in searching out the “signs of the times” and learning the truth of Bible prophecy and end-time secular events.

Satan has done substantial groundwork to dull the senses of believers to want to know the plans of God to bring this age to a close. Christians have been told for centuries that “no man can know the day or the hour of His coming,” so, that being the case, why bother with looking into it? (Even though Jesus said to watch.)

One such doctrine of man’s invention is that Satan was bound and cast into the bottomless pit when Christ was crucified. If there is laughter in the darkness of evil’s habitat, it is with an uproar at the foolishness of such a belief, for then he cannot be blamed for anything he does anywhere on earth! Some thirty years or so after Jesus was crucified, Peter wrote this, in 1 Peter 5:8:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

Promoters of that belief have made Peter out to be a liar, and if Peter lied, then so did the Holy Spirit, and so did God! No, God does not lie. The Apostle Paul also recognized the continuing activity of the devil when he wrote in Ephesians 6 that believers should “put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,” and he wrote that also about thirty or so years after the crucifixion.

That same body of doctrine maintains that all of the future prophecies of the Bible were fulfilled in the first century, at the time of the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. It appears that those who think there is nothing that they do not know have come to think that what they believe establishes the truth, but it does not work that way.

A truth is true whether or not I believe it. Paul wrote, in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, yet He abides faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” Like it or not, truth reigns supreme, and mortal men are its subjects, willingly or unwillingly.  A prior report expands on this issue, titled, “My Believing Doesn’t Make It So.” [1]

So, let’s not assume what we don’t know is not important enough to give attention to, for John 16:13 does tell us that “when the Spirit of truth has come [and He has come], He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

It is written in 1 Thessalonians 5:4, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.”  Jesus is the truth; He said so, and He cannot lie. Purposefully turning away to follow the doctrines created by men rather than the Word of God, rightly divided, is “going from bad to worse!”
End Note:

[1] (On believing)  https://www.raptureready.com/featured/lawley/lawley107.html

Contact email:  andwegetmercy@gmail.com