"Revelation" (Part 2 of 3) Lesson 141

Lesson 141: “REVELATI0N” (part 2 of 3)

Chapter 6: Beginning in chapter six there is no mention of the Church meaning the Church has been taken out (raptured) preceding the tribulation. For you who believe the Church will ‘see’ the tribulation, I suggest Revelation 3:10 may support this, however, it states plainly “I will also keep you from the hour of trial”. So the rapture and the start of the tribulation could be simultaneous. For you who hold to a mid-tribulation rapture I suggest these are the tribulation saints saved during the tribulation (Rev. 7:13-14).

Christ is speaking in Revelation 6 the same message He spoke to His disciples in Matthew 24. “Take heed that no man deceives you”. The white horse and rider that John described represents the false Christ; a counterfeit the true Christ and His second coming described in Revelation 19:11-16 where the REAL Christ wields a sharp two-edged sword. The false Christ carries a bow with no arrows indicating the future world begins with a time of peace soon followed by destruction (1 Thess. 5:3). The second seal breaks out a red horse representing war on earth. The third seal is a black horse, the symbol of famine in other scripture (Jer. 4:28, Lam. 4:8-9). Famine is the aftermath of war and a major cause of death in the tribulation. The opening of the fourth seal shows a pale (sickly) horse, corpse-like, signifying death. One fourth of the world’s population will die from disease (pestilence). The fact that hell follows the pale horse indicates that those who die are un-saved.

With the opening of the fifth seal, John sees souls of the Tribulation saints under the altar. These were not saved before the tribulation began but received Him as a result of the faithful witness in chapter seven. This makes it clear that the un-saved (still living) will have ONE last opportunity for salvation before judgment. When the sixth seal is opened the wrath of God’s displeasure of the persecuted saints is shown with a violent earthquake. A professor once stated, “in the last 14,000 years earthquakes have caused a loss of 13,000,000 lives and the worst is yet to come” Great fear will grip humans but instead of turning to God they will try to hide in the rocks but there is no place to hide. The world will know this is judgment from Christ and will be fully aware that they are in the tribulation.

Chapter 7: The angels hold back all action on earth until God’s servants received His seal in their foreheads. The 144,000 represent 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel just as Jesus prayed in John 17:11. This group is the same as in Revelation 6:9.

Chapter 8: The opening of the seventh seal is a most important event noted by the ‘silence’ in Heaven. The seven trumpets are included under the seventh seal and the seven bowls are included under the seventh trumpet. The seventh seal is most important because it actually includes all events from 8:1-19:10. The offering in Heaven corresponds to the custom of offering incense on the altar in both temple and tabernacle. The censer would hold the coals and a separate vessel would carry the incense which was to be poured on the coals at the altar. The resulting smoke was symbolic of prayers ascending before God. The events in verses 6-12 should be taken as literal and the tragic results are also literal. Verse 13, the eagle, announces that the remaining three trumpets would bring more severe devastation than the first four.

Chapter 9: As the fifth trumpet sounds, God’s judgment on the earth increases. The ‘star’, representing Satan being cast out of Heaven, falls to the earth. He uses his key to release the demons in the abyss to come out and afflict the earth. These could be demons that appeared in the form of locusts or actual locusts under the awesome supernatural power of Satan. The sixth trumpet sounds the final military conflict with the release of four angels bound by the Euphrates River. These are clearly demons as holy angels are not bound. They kill 1/3 of the world’s population. The number of the army (200 million) seems to be literal since John ‘heard the number’ and obviously could not count 200 million on the spot. Some take the description of the army to be modern armed vehicles such as tanks. However, since we do not know the time of the end, then we do not know the type of artillery that the world will be using at that future time. I choose to believe John saw what he described. At any rate the judgment grows, showing God’s power and still no evidence was given John that there would be a change of heart of humanity.

Chapter 10: The seventh angel does not sound a trumpet here but delivers a powerful promise that when he is “ready to blow his trumpet, God’s secret will be finished” (10:7). This secret will be the ‘why’ a holy God could love a sinful world enough to send His Son to die for us. We believers figured out this ‘mystery’ by believing the prophets and the Word of God and accepting Christ on faith. The little scroll (the Word of God) tasted sweeter than honey (Ps. 19:9-10) to John as it does to all believers but will be bitter to unbelievers when it brings divine judgment on them.

Chapter 11: Verses 1-2 are self explanatory. Many opinions of who the ‘two witnesses’ are have surfaced over the years, including that they are Moses, Elijah and or Enoch. I don’t believe we have ever heard or seen these witnesses names and they are just who God says they are, “my two witnesses” (11:3), backed up by scripture in Zechariah 4:3, 11, 14. The angel didn’t give Zechariah their names either. The witnesses will deliver a final warning and have supernatural powers that include ‘staying alive’ to finish telling their message. Again, people reject the message and even rejoice at the witnesses’ death, perhaps believing they are the beast/antichrist. At their resurrection a great earthquake occurred bringing in the seventh trumpet which includes the seven bowls of judgment (1 Cor. 15:52, Matthew 24:31).

Chapter 12: The word ‘sign’ is used for the first time in Revelation meaning not an actual person but a symbol of something. The woman symbolized Israel (Gen. 37:9-11); the stars in the crown relate to the twelve sons of Jacob, the sun refers to Israel’s future glory. The symbol is not referring to Mary, mother of Jesus, but to Israel as the source of Jesus Christ. The ‘about to give birth’ in some sense may be the birth of Christ, but it seems more likely it is the emerging nation of Israel from its suffering prior to the second coming. The dragon (Dan. 7:7-8) represents Satan’s control over world empires in the tribulation. The child of course is Christ and the flight is Israel at the beginning of the tribulation as described in Mark 13:14 and Matthew 24:16. After Satan was cast out of heaven the first time (Isa. 14:12-15) he still had access to heaven as the accuser of the saints (John 1:6, Rev. 12:10). This time Michael wins and those in heaven rejoiced but the earth was warned because Satan had come down full of fury because his time was short.

Chapter 13: It has always been Satan’s purpose to receive worship due to God alone (Isa. 14:14). Revelation 13 is Satan’s final form of counterfeit religion in which he assumes the place of God; the first beast assumes the role of king of kings substitute for Christ and the second beast, referred to as the false prophet, assumes the counterfeit role of the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit causes Christians to worship God, and the false prophet causes people to worship Satan). The powers of the beasts come from Satan (2 Thess. 2:9) and will perform all kinds of counterfeit miracles. The need to buy and sell would force each person to decide whether to worship the beast and ‘eat’ or bear the penalty which is to be killed for the sake of Christ. Countless attempts have been made to identify the number 666. Although hundreds of explanations have been offered, it is not clear to whom it refers. Revelation 13:18 says this takes more wisdom than I have but will conclude that 666 is 111 short of 777 which is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perfect completion. Probably it is best to leave this puzzle unsolved.

Chapter 14: There are two meanings for Mount Zion in the scriptures. One is the earthly site in Jerusalem and the other is the heavenly Jerusalem. The Lamb will not be on earth in the midst of the tribulation so this is a scene in the heavenly Jerusalem described by the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 12:22-24. There are both similarities and differences between these 144,000 and the 144,000 in chapter seven. Scholars disagree on whether they are the same or not. The significance I see is that they are all praising God. The first angel carries the final offer to reject the antichrist and hold to the gospel of Christ to the entire world. To all of you who have wondered how ‘we’ could reach all the people tucked away in remote parts of the world (Mark 13:10), the first angel gives you the answer. The second angel announces the fall of Babylon (more in chapters 17 & 18). The third angel announces doom on the worshipers of the antichrist. Verses 12-13 are encouragement and promises to believers who will die believers in the tribulation. Now comes the time to harvest the earth (Matt. 13:39). The Son of man will send out His angels and they will separate the evil people from the good (Matt. 13:49) and the evil will be trampled and burned (Matt. 13:50).