Revelation 7:11-14

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11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: “Amen! Praise and glory  and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” 13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ~ Revelation 7:11-14

We return to that scene in heaven where two specific groups are being highlighted, the 144,000 Jews and the innumerable host who believed in the Lord Jesus through the witness of the 144,000.

In v.11 we read, "All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God."

This verse begins with the word "all" accentuating the fact that in heaven no one will be distracted from their hearts desire. And, what will be our hearts desire in heaven?, you ask. Our worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. That which we love, we worship. And, that which we worship, we love.

But, the angels did not experience salvation like the others around this throne. Yet, they are worshipping. It makes sense for those whose sins are forgiven to fall down and worship the Lord but for the angels to do so is different. These angels didn't choose the rebellion of Satan and do not even need salvation. Not that any fallen angel can be redeemed. And, these angels are very curious about our salvation, because it is something they can’t explain. 

In Ephesians 3, we are reminded that the Lord saved us so that He could make known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places His manifold wisdom. His saving work the angels can not experience, but they’re fascinated by it, puts God’s power on display. They have never experienced and never will experience salvation, but they love to praise God for it.

So, there is an immense crowd in the presence of God, wearing white robes of righteousness, celebrating God for the salvation He has provided through the cross of His Son. This elicits the praise of all present and this impacts the angels to the point that they marvel and worship God.

In v.12 we read, "saying: Amen! Praise and glory  and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

The content of the angels praise was birthed out of our story with the Lord Jesus. Ad, there are certain things about our story with Him that perhaps we would like to forget, but God forbid that we do that. Our best moments with Him come out of our most horrible moments. It is in these most horrible moments that our understanding of Him is framed up best. The praise of these who came out of the Great Tribulation is the product of the persecution and trouble that they experienced at the hands of wicked men and Satan.

These unworthy sinners who had missed the rapture due to their unbelief, they have been the recipients of God’s marvelous mercy, even after they had rejected Him so many times before. And they’re not second-class citizens in heaven, either. He takes them right to the throne and they mingle with the holy angels. These redeemed sinners, now in heaven, stimulate the praise of heaven. What a mystery!

The word “amen” in v.12, means “let it be.” It is an affirmation, so let it be that blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be given to our God forever and ever. Let it be. Did you notice that these words total in the number seven? These words are seven because the number seven represents the wholeness of God. The choice of all around the throne to give to God blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might brings to completion the plan of God. And, we are at our our best when we are most pleased with God.

In v.13 we read, "Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?"

The scene is worship because that’s the occupation of heavenly beings. They worshiped in Revelation 5, before the seals were opened, before the judgment began. And now they’re worshiping again as the judgment comes to an end. This is a mounting crescendo of praise coming in response to what they once anticipated and now have seen. And they stand on the brink of the seventh seal and the final explosion of judgment that comes in the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments that are to follow.

So, in v.13, one of the elders representing the church asks this question. He’s not asking for his own information, he knows the answer. He knows who this group is. He’s a heavenly being now, he’s a glorified believer. He has experienced full resurrection and translation and is like the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows even as he is known, this representative of the church. This elder asks this question in order to make sure the Apostle John knows who they are. The point is this: there will be people getting saved during the tribulation. 

John responds in v.14 which reads, "I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

So, here we are presented those who have come out of the great tribulation. The Greek word translated "who have come out of," literally means, “who are coming out.” It is a present, continuous, durative participle. It shows a prolonged process, the ones who are coming out. This group keeps accumulating as people keep dying. It therefore doesn’t lend itself to describing the rapture. A rapture is in the moment. In the twinkling of an eye, in a split second, in an instant everybody goes up. This is not that, this is a continual process, prolonged, going on of people coming out over the years from the persecution and the death that is occurring.

The end of v.14 reads, "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 

While the primary emphasis earlier on the white robes is celebration, and joy, there is also the idea of righteousness and purity and here that is the emphasis, these are white robes because they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. But, blood doesn’t get anything clean, it stains and has to be cleaned. But, here is a precious paradox. His blood doesn’t stain, His blood cleanses every stain. The Bible declares we couldn’t be redeemed by the blood of bulls and goats, but by the blood of Jesus Christ we have been redeemed.

Hunger makes food precious; thirst makes water precious; and poverty makes riches precious. Sin makes the blood of Jesus Christ precious. When the Lord Jesus went to Calvary’s Cross, He willingly traded His flawless life for ours. Our lives were riddled with guilt and shame, and yet the stench and filth of our sins was instantly traded for a robe of purest white. We gained the opportunity to have our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life by trusting in His shed blood for our eternal redemption.

Revelation 7:9-10

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9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” ~ Revelation 7:9-10

We return to Revelation 7 and we find ourselves in a time when the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit has been taken away with the Rapture of the Church. And, sin runs absolutely unchecked and wild. We are now observing what it will be like on earth during the time of the rise of the Antichrist. For three and a half years the people of the earth will not know him as the Antichrist, but in the middle of this seven year period, he will reveal himself to be the opposite of what everyone was led to think of him.

At the end of Revelation 6 the question is asked, "Who will be able to stand during the wrath of the Lamb?" And, in our last blog and podcast, we considered the first group who will be able to do so, the 144,000 Jews who choose to believe in the Lord Jesus as their Messiah during the middle of the seventieth seven when they realize that this man whom they thought was their Messiah did not truly fit the bill.

Think of it, the world in the first century heard the gospel and were radically changed because of 12 Jewish apostles. They turned the world upside down. Imagine 144,000 sharing the gospel throughout the world. The group that we are introduced to today, will be the Gentiles who will trust in the Lord Jesus during the seventieth seven of Daniel 9:27 because of the witness of these 144,000. This was promised to Abram in Genesis 12. God has always placed His saving power on display through Israel in order that He might reach the nations of the world. 

Israel was never ever called His people to be an end in themselves. They thought that but it wasn’t God’s plan. God didn’t save them as an end; He saved them as a means to reach the world. So, during the second half of the seventieth seven or the Tribulation, there will be worldwide preaching of the gospel. This is true for all of God's children, including you and me. He saved us to give us His message to give to others will listen with willing hearts.

In v.9 of today's text we read, "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands."

And, notice that these described in today's text are standing.  They are not seated. This indicates they are not the church. Because the 24 elders are seated in heaven. These are the ones who are washed with blood during the tribulation.

This is a group of people whose number could not be counted. This group is so big it is beyond counting. And, they come from every nation, and all tribes, and people, and language. Those four things speak about descent, language, and race. And, "They were wearing white robes, and were holding palm branches in their hands."

The only other people we see in the book of Revelation who are dressed like this are found way back in Revelation 6:9 which reads, “And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained.”

Like those in Revelation 6:9, these believers had been clothed in Christ's righteousness and they had been martyred, as well. And, they have palm branches in their hands. In their culture, palm branches were associated with celebrations. To the ancients, the palm tree was the perfect tree because it had so many uses. And whenever there was a time of joy or a time of triumph or a time of celebration, palm branches became prominent. 

In v.10 we read, "And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

Note those two words “our God” which denotes that the God of the Bible has become their God, and they’re now worshiping Him. They have had a change of heart. This is quite encouraging because currently we live in a world which seems to be resoundingly rejecting God. And, notice that the action of heaven is that of praise. 

The day is coming when by God’s grace and mercy the gospel will triumph across the world. And the promise of salvation to the nations of the earth will come to pass. It’ll be the best of times during the worst of times. But that’s just like God, who in the midst of wrath remembers mercy, in the midst of judgment remembers grace.

The Lord Jesus told us in Matthew 24 that during the tribulation "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. And then the end shall come." Of course, He is speaking of the tribulation period when in the midst o famine, destruction, death and persecution, the gospel will have its greatest impact. And then the end will come. When the worst of times are happening on this earth, the gospel will flourish. And, God uses yielded lives in all periods of time to take the gospel to those who are willing to listen. Let us not miss one of these appointments today. The power is in the gospel.

Revelation 7:4-8

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4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. 5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, 6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000. ~ Revelation 7:4-8

We return to our study of the first group who will be able to stand during the releasing of the wrath of God during the seventieth seven of Daniel 9:27. It is clear that this group is Israel and only Israel! These are the well-known 144,000 Jews of the last days.

In this list of the tribes of Israel, two of the tribes, Ephraim and Dan, are not mentioned. Though Ephraim is not named, his brother-tribe, Manasseh is included. Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph, the next to the youngest of Jacob's sons. Because of Joseph's role in the history of Israel, and his preservation of the nation in Egypt, his two sons were adopted by Jacob to be given an inheritance with the rest of Joseph's brothers. When it came time to divide up the land, Levi was left out because he was called to be the priestly tribe. Ephraim actually does appear here under the name "Joseph." So Manasseh and Joseph are really Manasseh and Ephraim.

The tribe of Dan is not included here because they are the tribe that introduced apostasy into Israel. The closing chapters of Judges give an account of the way the tribe of Dan led Israel into apostasy, involving homosexuality and idol worship. This was in line with Jacob's prediction concerning Dan in Genesis 49:17. There Jacob predicts the future of his twelve sons and he says, "Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heel so that its rider tumbles backward." Interestingly, during the millennium, according to Ezekiel 48, Dan will have a portion in the distribution of the land.

In Matthew 24:14, the Lord Jesus said, "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." 

The gospel has always been the same in every age. It is the story of God sending a Savior to die for the sins of man. Whether it is told by means of Old Testament symbols or whether it is during the early days of the church, the gospel is has always been the same.

The phrase "of the kingdom" in Matthew 24:14 indicates the specific application of the gospel to Israel. John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus both introduced to Israel the messianic kingdom, long promised by the prophets. You see, when the Lord Jesus walked the earth, He announced Himself to be Israel's King, but not the kind of King the Jews expected. His kingdom has always been about providing a personal relationship with God through His sacrifice on the cross. 

The Lord Jesus deliberately fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, "Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." 

This prophecy was fulfilled on the day when the Lord Jesus rode a donkey down the side of the Mount of Olives and was greeted by the people as the promised King of the Jews. This group of 144,000 select men from Israel, will fulfill the word of the Lord Jesus that this "gospel of the kingdom" will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the final judgments of God will come. This group will proclaim the gospel during this seven-year period. This enlightened group will preach the gospel throughout the earth as the judgments of God will be on display. This teaches us, among many things, that in the midst of judgment, there is always mercy. 

In Malachi 3:16-17 we read, “16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.”

The first tribe named in Revelation 7:4 is Judah. But Judah wasn’t the firstborn; Reuben was the firstborn. Judah is named first, though he’s not the firstborn, because according to 1 Chronicles 5:1, Reuben lost his birthright because he sexually defiled his own father’s bed.

Then in v.7, Levi is included, even though in the Old Testament they were never given a territory. The Levites are mentioned because the tribe of Dan is left out due to their idolatry, as mentioned before. In Deuteronomy 29:18-21, we learn that anyone who brings idolatry into Israel will have his name blotted out. 

Interestingly, in the millennial listing of the tribes in Ezekiel 48, Dan is included. God’s grace will triumph on Dan’s behalf, but Dan will not be protected through the seventieth seven of Daniel 9:27 because of their idolatry. But, no Jew knows the tribe from which he descended because the records have all been lost and destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. But God does. And, I find it amazing how Israel still has a tribal heritage, they just don’t know what it is, but God does. 

So, it is clear that God is not finished with Israel. History has been unable to blot out the Jew. Genocide has failed to remove him because God is true to His word. The Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless all families of the earth through Abraham. 

It is quite instructive that according to Deuteronomy 7:7-9, “7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

And, in Zechariah 12:7-10 we read, "7 The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. 8 On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son." 

By the way, back in v.3 the mark that will be put on the foreheads of these Jews is mentioned also in in Ezekiel 9:4. The Hebrew word used is the word tav, which was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The design of the tav is a dalet and a nun. These two Hebrew letters, at first glance, looks like a person kneeling before the Judge. And, Dans name means judged.

In the ancient Greek text, the Greek equivalent to Dan looks like a cross. This will be the mark that will be set on their heads at that time of judgment. In this seventieth seven of Daniel 9:27, the believing Jews will be protected by the sign of the cross on their foreheads. And, as the Apostle Paul guarantees in Romans 11:26, "And in this way, all of Israel will be saved." Simply amazing! 

Revelation 7:1-3

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1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” ~ Revelation 7:1-3

In the final verse in Revelation 6 the question is asked, "Who is able to stand during the lamb's wrath?" That question is answered in Revelation 7 which introduces us to two groups who are able to stand during the seventieth seven of Daniel 9:27, the seven year period of time many referred to as the Tribulation.

The very small nation of Israel receives an has always received enormous attention in the world's media, far beyond what its size would warrant. The only explanation for this extraordinary fact is that Israel has a special purpose in the program of God. Israel was on center stage in the Old Testament. Everything centered around this little nation which came from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Even when we come to the Gospels in the New Testament, Israel is still the focus of attention. The perseverance of this seemingly insignificant country adds great argument to God's existence.

As we have noted before, the next prophetic event that the world will experience is the rapture of the church which is described in detail in 1 Thessalonians 4. It is a stunning event wherein God suddenly removes from the earth a great host of people. You can imagine what an effect that will have on all of  those left. That is how the long-predicted "last days" will start. After that, God begins a program of judgment in which Israel is at the center yet again.

Having seen six of the seven seals opened in Revelation 6, before the seventh seal is opened, God declares an intermission wherein He takes us back to the beginning of the judgments to see another aspect of His working during that time. In today's text God highlights a special group of Jews who will be able to stand during the wrath of the Lamb.

In v.1 we read, "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree."

Most of the book of the Revelation is symbolic. The "four corners of the earth," for instance, stands for the four directions of the earth: north, south, east and west. And, there are four angels holding back the four winds of the earth. Winds are a symbol of devastation and destructive power in the Bible. This is a picture of God's judgment that is about to fall on the earth.

The land or the earth, is used frequently as a symbol for Israel throughout the Old Testament. Israel is viewed as a nation with stability because it had God as its head. It has structure, order, and foundation, and so it is depicted as "land." But the sea is used many places in Scripture to describe the Gentile nations which had no inner stability because there was no recognition of the authority of God there. They worshipped idols and held to pagan concepts which rendered them unstable and uncertain in their conduct of human affairs. 

Trees are used in the Bible to describe people. In Psalm 1:3 we read, "That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers." Trees are symbols of influential people of authority, who stand out from the crowd like tall trees in a forest.

These four angels are identifiable as the first four of the seven angels that will blow their trumpets in succeeding chapters. If we carefully compare what happens under the judgments of the seven angels we will see that the first four affect the land, the sea and the trees. At this point they are told to hold back until a very important group of individuals are sealed by God.

In v.2-3 of today's text we read, "2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

We do not have to guess at what the seal of God is, because believers today are also sealed by God. In Ephesians 4:30 we read, "You were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." The presence of the Spirit of God in every individual Christian is the unmistakable mark of God's ownership. 

This indicates that this group will be sealed by the Holy Spirit due to their conversion to Christ. The seal is placed upon their forehead which indicates the Spirit is especially related to their minds. Notice that these people are specifically called the "servants of our God." They serve with the willingness to give up themselves for the sake and benefit of others. We are told exactly who these are in v.4-8 and that will be our topic of conversation tomorrow.

Before we conclude, a remnant is a surviving trace or vestige and often refers to a small surviving group of people. In the Bible God has always had a remnant of believers who remain true to Him no matter what. Someone once said, "A remnant is what is left of a community after it undergoes a catastrophe." This definition certainly applies to this group of Jews mentioned in Revelation 7. 

Think of it, Israel is a nation which has been persecuted for 2000 years, most recently in the horrible Holocaust where up to 6 million Jews were savagely murdered. Remnant is a two-sided word. In the first instance it speaks of disaster and loss. Israel as a people will not emerge unscathed from the scrutiny and outpouring of divine judgment. But there is promise in it too. It will not be a total catastrophe, for there will be a divinely preserved remnant. 

In the Old Testament some passages refer to the total destruction of a nation, when God brings judgment on the people, however, He does not destroy the faithful with the wicked, but leaves a remnant. The existence of a remnant is evidence of God existence. The remnant are the real people of God. The remnant concept is found in all periods of redemptive history where catastrophe threatens the continuity of God’s purposes. 

The concept of the remnant has its roots in the Book of Deuteronomy where Moses warned the people of Israel that they would be scattered among the nations. But God also promised that He would bring the people back from captivity and establish them again in the land of their fathers. This concept was picked up by the prophets, who spoke of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. And, Revelation 7 speaks of yet another remnant whose hearts have been captured by the God who created them and who will recreate them.

Revelation 6:15-17

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15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” ~ Revelation 6:15-17

After all that takes place after the opening of the sixth seal, the great earthquake, the sun turning black, the moon turning blood red, the stars falling out of the sky, the heavens receding like a scroll, and every mountain and island removed from its place, fear will grip all the unsaved upon the earth. 

The mind does something interesting when we experience fear. The brain tries to find the quickest way out of the discomfort. But, the problem is we can not escape our court date with the truth. The truth is we were all conceived sinful. And, as a result the penalty for that which separates us from all that is true and good must be paid or we will pay the penalty for our sinfulness for eternity.

In v.15-16 we read, "15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!"

Notice that in v.15, all of humanity is broken down into seven groups: the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, the slave, and, the free. They will be certain that all of these cataclysmic happenings are the expression of their separation from God. And, His wrath will be poured out upon all humanity. No one will escape. And, in the final analysis, it will be a payment that will be final and full.

No one will be able to hide from God. No one will escape the horror of the inequity of our sinfulness. No one will be able to capitalize on race or status. And, all who have not received the free payment for their sinful condition will experience such terror as described in today's text. This will happen because they refuse to believe in the Lord Jesus and receive His free gift of forgiveness. 

Deceived totally by the devil, the unsaved will reach a point where they will not be able to believe. They will be defined by unbiblical fear to the point that they are driven away from all that is true and good. They will sadly feel at home with isolated darkness, but, darkness is not a place anyone would consider home. Isolated, and all alone, there will be no one present with the unsaved in eternity. This aloneness will not warrant relationship with anyone, and they will experience an eternity of closing in of the madness. This is where unbiblical fear leads.

But, there is a fear that is healthy. It is the type of fear that directs us back to the Lord. In fact, we read in Proverbs 9:10 that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The Bible uses the word fear at least 300 times in reference to God. Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous.

We can not have a biblical understanding of sin until we understand the holiness of God. When we see God for who He really is, we would never think of trying to solve our sin problem ourselves. Biblical fear realizes we can trust God and run to Him. And, when we do, we discover the embrace of the loving of the loving Father.

In Genesis 42:18, Joseph wins his brothers' trust when he declares he is a God-fearing man. According to Exodus 18:21, Moses chose leaders to help him on the basis that they feared God and wouldn't take bribes. Leviticus 19:14,32 cites the fear of God as a reason to treat the vulnerable well. 

In Matthew 10:28 the Lord Jesus states this stronger than anyone when he says, "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell." 

And then, in 2 Corinthians 7:1, Paul urges us to work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

But, for those whose choose not to fear the Lord, the great day of His wrath will come, and no unforgiven person will be able to withstand it. You see, someone has to pay the penalty for that which separates us from God and we can't. We do not have the moral constitution to measure up to the truth. But, the penalty the Lord Jesus paid was enough for all who willingly receive His free gift. The difference is the Lord Jesus is the perfect God-man, and His perfect life and sacrifice will always be sufficient.

When the Lord Jesus came to earth for the first time He did not come to judge or to condemn the world. He came to offer the free gift of pardon. But, when He returns, He will come to judge the unwilling, the unmoved, and the ungodly. It is my prayer that you will be found trusting in Him, clothed in His righteousness alone, on that day when He returns.

Revelation 6:12-14

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12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. ~ Revelation 6:12-14

We return to our study of the book of the Revelation, and we jump back into our study of the seven seals in Revelation 6. With the opening of the first seal, false peace and prosperity was introduced to the world. With the opening of the second seal, there was worldwide war. With the opening of the third, there was famine. The fourth seal introduced pestilences and other natural disasters. The fifth seal introduced us to the prayers of the martyred saints. Theirs was a prayer for the end of evil. This brings us to the opening of the sixth seal.

In v.12 we read, "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red."

With the opening of the sixth seal, the world has been filled with false peace, ongoing distrust and violence. And now, a great earthquake shakes the entire universe. There have always been earthquakes. They come now and then, here and there. Even in the first half of this seven year period of time that is called the Tribulation. But this isn’t just describing any old earthquake. 

The Greek word used here is seismos from which we get the English word seismograph, which is an instrument to measure shaking. It means a quaking, a shaking, but the word “earth” is not here. It would have been better to translate it, “And there was a great shaking.” Because, frankly, it isn’t just the earth that is shaking. 

In the remainder of v.12-13 we read, "The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind."

The sun, and then the moon, and then the stars careening out of the sky, and then the sky splitting apart like a scroll. This is a shaking more than an earthquake. This is seismos in the universe.

Earthquakes are frightening. They create phobias, because man has always counted on a stable universe. He always counts on dawn and darkness, on the cycle of the rotation of the earth and the seasons as it moves in orbit.

The sun will become black as sackcloth which was what people wore to funerals. Sackcloth was a rough garment that was worn by someone who was mourning. This shaking will be so enormous that it blackens the sun. 

The earth’s solid crust is traversed with a complex network of faults, with all resting on a plastic mantle. And, the vast network of unstable earthquake belts around the world suddenly will slip and fracture on a global basis, and a gigantic earthquake will ensue. This is evidently and naturally accompanied by tremendous volcanic eruptions spewing vast quantities of dust and steam and gases into the upper atmosphere. It is probably these that will cause the sun to be darkened and the moon to appear blood red.

This will be a total eclipse. The blackened sun, of course, then will hide the moon because it only reflects the sun. When this begins to happen, it will affect everything. There will be no daylight. All the cycles by which animals function, plants function, humans function will be thrown into total chaos.

Then, the stars will fall out of the sky. This will probably be a meteor shower. The stars moving out of their orbits will result in the collapsing of the universe. The earth then will plummet with fiery balls coming out of the sky. 

In v.14 we read, "The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."

The sky will be literally ripped apart. And every mountain and island will be moved out of their places. This sequence fits exactly with the sequence in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, as does Joel 2. The result of the sixth seal is fear. In fact, when all of this happens, we are told by the Lord Jesus in Luke 23, people will pray for the mountains to fall on them. This will be a prayer for suicide. They will be so afraid that they would rather die than face the wrath of the Lamb.

Fear is a powerful emotion. It takes control sometimes of the will and makes people behave in ways that are inexplicable. The Lord Jesus said in Luke 21:26, “Men will faint from fear.” The word “faint” appears only in Luke 21:26, and it literally means to breathe out the last breath. When that day comes, there will be such fear that people will be scared to death. Some will die on the spot. They will die from sheer terror, because they will realize they have fallen into the hands of the living God.

Revelation 6:9-11

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9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. ~ Revelation 6:9-11

Today, we return to our study of the book of the Revelation. We currently live during the Age of God's Grace, but the time of God's grace will soon come to an end. As the Scriptures urges us, "Today is the day of salvation." I trust you have trusted in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. Otherwise, you will have to pay the penalty for that which separates you from God. And that penalty is quite hefty ... separation from all that is good for eternity.

In today's text we come back to our study of the seven-year period of time that many have wrongly called the Tribulation. It is most accurately called the seventieth seven of Daniel 9 and the time of Jacob’s trouble with reference to Israel’s role in it.

In v.9 we read, "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained." 

The altar mentioned here in v.9 has not appeared in the book of the Revelation until now. It will be confirmed by later references in this book, that we are viewing the great temple in heaven, the temple which Moses saw when he was on Mt. Sinai. He was shown a pattern which he was to copy. He was ordered to copy it exactly as it was shown to him. The tabernacle that Moses was given included a brazen altar, a laver in the outer court, a Holy Place with certain furniture, and a Holy of Holies, all reflecting the heavenly temple that Moses had seen.

We learn from other Scriptures that these symbolize the ultimate dwelling place of God which is man himself! Man is the dwelling place of God. Imagine that. When we come to the end of Revelation we will see that fulfilled. These symbols are given to us as a tremendously significant explanation of the psychological makeup of our humanity: body, soul and spirit, just as the tabernacle consisted of an Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies.

This group of martyrs seen in today's text, is clearly identified with the great multitude in Revelation 7. John, the Apostle, saw a great crowd which no man could number, from every tribe, nation, and language of earth, standing before the throne, all having been killed for their testimony of the living Lord Jesus Christ. This group belongs to that multitude as well, for they are given a white robe and told to wait until their brethren would also be killed. This indicates that these martyrs and those killed later who make up the great multitude, all enter heaven at the same time. This is God's way of expressing the transference from time into the conditions of eternity, where past and future are eclipsed and only the instantaneous now exists.

In v.10 we read, "They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 

These prayers are not personal vendettas, they’re not thirsts for personal revenge. These prayers are the desire for the end of sin. Their holy desire is for the destruction of Satan, the Antichrist and the false prophet and all who followed them. This prayer is the sign that sin has reached its zenith and unsaved man is slaughtering those who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus. 

This seven-year period, identified in the book of Daniel as seven years, will be the time when God will unleash His judgment and wrath on the earth like never before. And, the Lord Jesus Christ not only will judge the ungodly, but He will take back the earth and the universe for His own possession.

The first four seals occur during the first three-and-a-half years of this seven year period of time. A careful study of the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24 reveals this. With the opening of this fifth seal, the second half of the seven year period of time is about to begin. Again, the pulse of this prayer from the martyrs is vengeance, but the vengeance doesn’t come in the fifth seal; only the prayers does. 

In 2 Thessalonians 2:4 we read, “When the man of lawlessness is revealed he opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship. He takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” 

At this point, the Anti-christ will not be a political leader as before. He will not be a world deliverer, nor will he be a savior. At the mid-point of the seventieth seven, the Antichrist will proclaim himself to be god and he will sit in the newly built temple in Jerusalem. 

In v.11 we read, "Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been."

These white robes which will be given to these martyrs is a sign of holiness and righteousness. The Greek term used here gives clear evidence that these robes will be dazzling white robes of dignity and honor. So, the Lord Jesus will give them honor and dignity and righteousness and holiness to clothe them. Their souls will be pure and righteous because they, during the first half of the seventieth seven, believed on the Lord Jesus as their Savior.

My friends, I trust that you have trusted in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin. If you have not, let me encourage you to bow your head right now and tell God that you are a sinner and that you need His help and invite His Son into your life. 

Revelation 6:7-8

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7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. ~ Revelation 6:7-8

We return today to Revelation 6 to the only one worthy enough to open the seals to the scroll. Today, we come to the fourth seal represented by a pale horse. The Apostle John uses the Greek word "chloros" translated "pale." We get our word "chlorine" from this Greek word. The word "chloros" appears several times in the New Testament in connection with grass or vegetation.

According to v.8, the rider on this pale horse was death. The combination of the two, pale and death, represents decomposition, or a corpse. And fittingly, death is followed by Hades which is just another word for the grave. Death claims the body and Hades claims the soul. 

There are four forms of death that are related to this attack. First, the sword, which here is not war but murder; individual assault upon one another. It is people taking the law into their own hands and murdering other people without regard to justice or law. 

With murder comes famine or widespread starvation. The Lord Jesus spoke of such famines in Matthew 24. There would be on earth, he said, earthquakes, famines and plagues or pestilences which is the third form of death in this verse. These pestilences are endemic diseases. When civilization begins to crumble, the defenses of mankind against diseases are lost, as well. Whole populations are decimated by such pestilences. There may be a reference here to biological warfare, the willful spreading of diseases among people so that they are wiped out en masse. 

The fourth form of death will be by the wild beasts of the earth who will attack people. A "fourth of the earth" will be given over to these four forms of death, and a fourth of the population will die. There are 7.7 billion people on earth today and that would mean that almost 2 billion people will be decimated by these four forms of death. Rats are annually responsible for the loss of billions of dollars of food in America alone, and death all over the world. Rats infested with bubonic plague killed one-third of the population of Europe in the fourteenth century. Rats can carry as many as thirty-five diseases at once. And amazingly, if ninety-five percent of the rat population is exterminated in the given area, it will replace itself in less than a year. It has killed more people than all the wars of history, and it always makes its home where people dwell.

These four seal-judgments are all references to forces that are already at work among us, but they will be carried to an unprecedented extreme in that day. Thus, these four seals confirm God's announced method of making men face up to truth. He will do this by removing His leash from evil, allowing it to have its full expression. Romans 1 declares that He will "give men over" to their own evil, and will allow it unrestricted manifestation. 

These four expressions of death have been predicted by God to be His means of final judgment in a number of Old Testament passages. Jeremiah 14:12, He says, “I’m going to make an end of them by the sword, famine, and pestilence.” In this one verse, three of these four forms of death are mentioned. And then again in Jeremiah 44:13 we read, “I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem with the sword, with the famine, and with pestilence.”  

With war and famine and earthquakes, sanitation goes. No medicine, living conditions descend to a primitive level, and the rats may be the wild beasts that run wild to kill. Awesome, divine judgment. And this is only the beginning, only the beginning; far more to come.

And sadly, it isn’t even until the sixth seal that the people recognize that God is the source of this. The writer of Hebrews asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” And the answer is, we won’t. But the Lord Jesus has provided a way of escape. I trust, my friend, that you have trusted solely in the Lord Jesus as your savior. If so, you will escape this awful period of time.

Revelation 6:5-6

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5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” ~ Revelation 6:5-6

Having considered the first opened seal which produced peace and prosperity on the earth, and the second opened seal which produced war, we return to Revelation 6, and to the third seal opened.

In v.5 we read, "When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand."

The third seal represents widespread food shortage on the earth. The first part of v.5 is a repeat of v.1,3, only differing in the numbers of the seal and the creature. What is different is that the horse is black and the rider holds a pair of scales in his hand. 

In those days, the purpose of a set of scales was to weigh grain and other consumables. This scale was not a scale like we know today. Rather, it was more of a balance where an established weight would be placed on one side of the balance and the item being purchased would be placed on the other side. When both sides of the scale were hanging at the same height, the item being purchased equaled the amount of the weight on the other side. These scales symbolize food being weighed out carefully.

In v.6 we read, "Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

Food will be in such short supply that it must be rationed. Even then no one will get very much because it takes a day's wages to earn a single quart of wheat or, because it is cheaper, three quarts of barley. This would only be enough food for one person for a day. One would have to work all day long and all he would be able to earn, at best, would be enough for his own physical needs. There would be nothing for the family or for anyone else. 

Notice that the luxuries, the oil and the wine, are to not be damaged. Here, God gives a warning to be very careful with the wine and the oil, because it’s so precious. If all you have is raw wheat without any oil to mix with it, without any wine to go with it, it’s very difficult. Bare staples all of a sudden become luxuries. Oil was used for the preparation of bread, for cooking, as was the wine.

Perhaps this is not referring to famine because in the next seal, as we will see, famine is specifically mentioned as part of that judgment. The cause for this shortage will be high prices so that people will not be able to buy adequate amounts of food. This is inflation; economics out of control; panic in the marketplace! Inflation makes money worthless. That, in turn, becomes an excuse for the rigid controls over buying and selling which we find in Revelation 13:17 when, under the reign of Antichrist, the whole world will be subjected to enormously restrictive controls so that "no one can buy or sell without the mark of the beast."

There is an issue on earth today that will make all of this worse, exponentially, and it is over-population. It took from the beginning of recorded history to the year 1850 to produce one billion people on the earth. From 1850 to 1930 the earth's population grew to two billion. 

By 1960, just 30 years later, we were at three billion. By 1975, four billion. By 1987, five billion. By 1999, six billion. Today, the population of this earth right now is 7.7 billion people and growing exponentially. This produces a lot of problems because the more people we have, the more odds of them not getting along together and going to war over lots of issues, and thus the more problem we have for famine to sustain that many people. 

Add to that the fact that all the Christians will have gone up in the Rapture before this seven year period. So, no more Samaritan's Purse, no more World Vision, no more Feed the Children. That paints a very dismal and desperate picture. 

It is increasingly clear, according to the book of the Revelation, that the Antichrist is nothing more than a false, deceptive politician. Whereas, the Lord Jesus Christ is the faithful King of the earth. The Antichrist promises peace, but delivers war. Jesus promises peace, and He will deliver peace. The Antichrist brings shortages of food, and the Lord Jesus says, "I am the bread of life. Whoever follows me and believes in me will never hunger." So the Antichrist will be everything the world says it wants. But the Lord Jesus Christ will be everything we truly need Him to be.

Revelation 6:3-4

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3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. ~ Revelation 6:3-4

Today, we take another trip into the future as we study the book of the Revelation. The focus of today's study is the opening of the second seal. Whereas, the theme of Revelation 4-5 was the worship of God and of the Lamb, Revelation 6 begins the display of the wrath of God upon the rebellious world that has rejected His free gift of salvation. Each seal will increase in intensity as we study them.

According to Revelation 4:1, the church has been raptured or taken up into heaven to be with God until the Tribulation is over. On earth, unsaved man will be the recipients of the wrath of God to its fullest. For the Jews it will be the time of Jacob’s trouble, and for the Gentiles it will be the slaughter of the world.

In Revelation 5 we were introduced to a scroll in God's hand which was taken out of His hand by the Lord Jesus Himself. According to Revelation 6:1, “He begins to break the seals.” As the first seal was broken, the events of God’s wrath begin to unfold.

Now, there are seven seals on this scroll, and, today, we come to the second of the seven seals. The first four seals out of the seven take up the first three and a half years of the period known as the seventieth seven of Daniel 9 or the tribulation. We know it will be a seven year period of time because it is identified as such in Daniel 9. The first half of this seven year period of time is also identified in Revelation as a forty-two month period of time or a three-and-a-half year period of time or a twelve hundred and sixty day period of time. 

Now, the first four seals depict horsemen. That’s where we get the term “the four horsemen of the apocalypse.” The imagery is shocking and frightening, but the first of these horsemen brings a time period of peace and prosperity as we saw that last study. But the following three bring deadly results. 

In v.3-4 we read, "When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!" 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword."

Following the peace from the opening of the first seal, the second seal is opened and a fiery red horse came forth. A careful study of the Old Testament shows us that horses are associated with triumph, power, and might. But, this fiery red horse speaks of war that is most frightening and devastating. We know it’s war, because it says he takes peace from the earth and makes people kill each other. 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 we read, "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.”

This second rider represents war, but not war between great armies. The word for kill is really the word "slaughter." This is a reference to civil war or civil anarchy where mobs of people group together to attack and destroy other peoples whom they do not like. We are seeing a demonstration of this today in what is going on in our country.

The final words of v.4 reads, "To him was given a large sword." The bow of the first horse will be replaced with a sword. This will happen at the command of God. Some say this is not the wrath of God, but it comes out of the throne in the scroll in the hand of God. This is God’s unfolding wrath. It is God who has granted this red horse, the authority and the power, to move and bring war. It was God who allowed the false peace and it is God who starts the wars. The whole earth will lose its peace and violence will break out all over the world  and seems to through the remainder of the tribulation.

We are told that since 3600 BC there have been 14,531 wars and only 292 years of what would be considered peace. This is approximately 2.6 wars per year and one year of peace out of every two decades or 36 hours of peace per month or one minute of peace every four hours. That's as good as it has ever gotten, one minute of peace every four hours. 

Well, during the tribulation period, things will change. And, it will culminate in what we could call the mother of all battles, the Battle of Armageddon. This is why this is so relevant today much more so than it was when John wrote this book. The reason is today we now have the capabilities to destroy the entire planet in one hour. 

According to the Center for Defense Information, the United States alone has an arsenal 35,000 nuclear warheads. Each warhead is equivalent to the capacity which is 35,000 times greater than the bomb that went off at Hiroshima. And that's just the United States. There are now nine nations on earth with nuclear capabilities and these weapons will factor in to the outcomes that are described in Revelation.