Revelation 6; 8:1
[5/29/11]
Review:
Revelation 5:5) (GW) Then one of the leaders said to me, “Stop crying! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won the victory. He can open the scroll and the seven seals on it.”
6) (GW) I saw a lamb standing in the center near the throne with the four living creatures and the leaders. The lamb looked like he had been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent all over the world.
7) (GW) He took the scroll from the right hand of the one who sits on the throne.
QUESTION: What made Jesus, the very Son of God, worthy?
ANSWER: He won the victory.
QUESTION: How did He win the victory?
ANSWER: He had been slaughtered. His death on the cross won the victory. God became man and kept the Law man could not keep; He then forgave us for breaking that Law. All of this made Him worthy to open the scroll; it made Him worthy to administer judgment upon mankind. HE WALKED A MILE IN OUR SHOES!
On To This Week’s Lesson:
Revelation 6:1-17) (GW) I watched as the lamb opened the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Go!”
2) (GW) Then I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown and rode off as a warrior to win battles.
QUESTION: Who is the first horseman?
ANSWER: Some believe this horseman to be Jesus Christ.
QUESTION: Why?
ANSWER: His horse is white; he was given a crown; and he wins battles.
Revelation 19:11-16) (GW) I saw heaven standing open. There was a white horse, and its rider is named Faithful and True. With integrity he judges and wages war.
12) (GW) His eyes are flames of fire. On his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him, but only he knows what it is.
13) (GW) He wears clothes dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
14) (GW) The armies of heaven, wearing pure, white linen, follow him on white horses.
15) (GW) A sharp sword comes out of his mouth to defeat the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter and tread the winepress of the fierce anger of God Almighty.
16) (GW) On his clothes and his thigh he has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.
QUESTION: Why do think I included this passage?
ANSWER: I wanted you to see that Jesus will return on a white horse, metaphorically. And using that same metaphor, we will return with Him on white horses.
QUESTION: Does this prove that the first horseman is Jesus?
ANSWER: No, not to me.
QUESTION: Who else could it be?
ANSWER: I’m convinced that it is the Anti-Christ. He wants to convince the world that he is the one who will save them from their problems.
3) (GW) When the lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Go!”
4) (GW) A second horse went out. It was fiery red. Its rider was given the power to take peace away from the earth and to make people slaughter one another. So he was given a large sword.
QUESTION: Who is the second horseman?
ANSWER: He is War.
5) (GW) When the lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Go!” I looked, and there was a black horse, and its rider held a scale.
6) (GW) I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s pay or three quarts of barley for a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine.”
QUESTION: Who is the third horseman?
ANSWER: He is Famine. The result of war will be famine.
7) (GW) When the lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Go!”
8) (GW) I looked, and there was a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. Hell followed him. They were given power over one-fourth of the earth to kill people using wars, famines, plagues, and the wild animals on the earth.
QUESTION: Who is the fourth horseman?
ANSWER: He is Death; and Hell follows him.
QUESTION: What results from the arrival of these four horsemen?
ANSWER: One fourth of mankind will die.
NOTE: I believe the four horseman to be the Anti-Christ, War, Famine, and Death, with Hell following after Death.
ANOTHER NOTE: If the first horseman is Jesus, then the passage would be teaching that Jesus will judge the world by removing peace, thus bringing war, which results in famine, which results in massive numbers of people dying as a result of war and famine, causing many to go to Hell.
STILL ANOTHER NOTE: Either way, the results are the same. Again, I believe it’s the Anti-Christ, but if the results are the same why fight over it.
A FINAL NOTE ON THE FOUR HORSEMEN: My personal view is that the first horseman is evil, just like the other three. Therefore, I believe him to be the Anti-Christ. However, those who believe this to be Christ could make an argument that the other three horsemen are not evil, but are, in fact, righteous judgments brought upon a sinful world.
9) (GW) When the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had given about him.
10) (GW) They cried out in a loud voice, “Holy and true Master, how long before you judge and take revenge on those living on earth who shed our blood?”
11) (GW) Each of the souls was given a white robe. They were told to rest a little longer until all their coworkers, the other Christians, would be killed as they had been killed.
QUESTION: Who did John see when the fifths seal was opened?
ANSWER: The eternal souls of Christians who had been martyrs during the early part of the Tribulation.
QUESTION: What were these martyred saints asking God?
ANSWER: They wanted to know when God’s justice would play itself out against those who had spilled the blood of believers.
QUESTION: What was God’s response to their prayer?
ANSWER: God dressed them in white robes/His righteousness; then He told them to wait awhile longer because others still had to die a martyr’s death; i.e., become Tribulation saints.
12) (GW) I watched as the lamb opened the sixth seal. A powerful earthquake struck. The sun turned as black as sackcloth made of hair. The full moon turned as red as blood.
13) (GW) The stars fell from the sky to the earth like figs dropping from a fig tree when it is shaken by a strong wind.
14) (GW) The sky vanished like a scroll being rolled up. Every mountain and island was moved from its place.
QUESTION: What did John see when the sixth seal was opened?
ANSWER: Armageddon. A great earthquake, the sun’s light hidden and the moon turned red as blood.
QUESTION: What would cause these things?
ANSWER: God! The earthquake could have opened the earth’s crust allowing vapors to block out the sun’s light, and give the moon the appearance of becoming blood red.
QUESTION: Did John really see the stars falling to earth?
ANSWER: He probably witnessed a vision of a coming massive meteorite shower.
QUESTION: What is meant by the “sky vanished like a scroll being rolled up?
ANSWER: Hal Linsay sees this as a picture of a nuclear explosion. In my view, it’s more likely brought about as a result of the combination of a massive earthquake accompanied by a gigantic meteorite shower.
QUESTION: What does “every mountain and island was moved from its place” mean?
ANSWER: It could mean that the destruction caused by this calamity actually involved mountains and islands moving. Many commentators believe this to simply be a picture of something happening in the spirit realm.
NOTE: I’m convinced that these are actual events that take place as a result of God’s judgment. It’s something so terrible that people want to die to avoid the anger of God.
15) (GW) Then the kings of the earth, the important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and all the slaves and free people hid themselves in caves and among the rocks in the mountains.
16) (GW) They said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the lamb,
17) (GW) because the frightening day of their anger has come, and who is able to endure it?”
QUESTION: What could be the cause of men crying out to the “mountains and rocks” to fall on them?
ANSWER: Unregenerate mankind finally come to know that God is real, and that we must all answer to Him.
Revelation 8:1) (GW) When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
QUESTION: What would cause silence in the home of eternal joy?
ANSWER: I believe that the opening of the first six seals in a panoramic view of the seven years of Tribulation.
NOTE: After the church is raptured, which I believe the calling up of John represents, we will see the removing of the seals which will allow a scroll to be opened, which reveals the contents of the scroll.
Revelation 5:1) (GW) I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sits on the throne. It had writing both on the inside and on the outside. It was sealed with seven seals.
Zechariah 5:1-4) (GW) I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.
2) (GW) The angel asked me, “What do you see?” “I see a flying scroll,” I answered. “It’s 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.”
3) (GW) Then he said to me, “This is a curse that will go out all over the earth. The one side of the scroll says that every thief will be forced away. The other side of the scroll says that everyone who takes an oath will be forced away.
4) (GW) I will send out a curse, declares the LORD of Armies, and it will enter the houses of thieves and the houses of those who take oaths in my name. It will stay in their houses and destroy the timber and stone.”
QUESTION: When the seven seals are removed, and the scroll is opened, what is in that scroll?
ANSWER: I’m convinced Zechariah’s flying scroll is the same one John sees in Heaven. This scroll reveals the judgments of God that are about to be poured upon the earth.
NOTE: The judgments are so terrible, and we raptured saints will get a panoramic view of them, that when the final seal is removed, and we know that what we just seen in glimpses in about to be unveiled in fullness upon the earth, we will stand in stunned silence for a half hour.