JCSLK #81 Jesus and the Seven Sealed Scroll Revelation 6&7

 

JCSLK 81 Jesus and the Seven Sealed Scroll

Revelation 6&7

Introduction: 

Persecution and Purpose

From Abel’s murder by Cain to Pharaoh’s killing of the firstborn, to the final Tribulation, the people of the Book, true saints of the Old and New Testament, have been under attack. Theologically speaking we understand why. This world by God’s sovereign will is controlled or at least greatly influenced by Satan, whom the Bible titles the “Ruler of This World” and the “Prince and Power of the Air.”

Lucifer, Satan, the Devil rebelled against God and was throw from heaven with His angels to his own kingdom of earth. Satan hates all things of God, but especially His nation of Israel and His institution the church. These he actively and constantly seeks to destroy or corrupt. Now, he has not and never will succeed, but He will never stop. At times it may even seem that the Devil is winning, the people of God losing, but it is only for a short season. Such a season is what we see in the book of the Apocalypse, the Unveiling of The Coming King. This will be the last season and it will be the worst of Satan’s attempts to destroy God’s heritage.

Something else is also true. Yes, God’s people are a people of persecution, but they are also a people of purpose. What Satan doesn’t understand and cannot ever understand is that God’s people, his true people, will always rise above the pressure and fulfill their purpose in God.

In Revelation Chapter 6, the Seven Sealed Scroll is opened and the last Tribulation of God’s people begins, but as we will see that tribulation does not stop God’s people from being faithful and fruitful in this last season of sorrow.

But before we can come to the last persecution we must go back to an earlier time of trouble for God’s people, this time the nation of Israel. We find them scattered throughout the middle east and under the power of the conquering nation of Babylon and later Persia. Though they have been taken from their homeland, they have not been taken from their God and in this time of captivity an earlier prophecy of God’s plan for his people is given to the prophet Daniel. This prophecy is the keystone, the foundation to all the end time prophecies of God and we must be aware of it or else we cannot rightly understand the book of Revelation. Go to …

Foundational Revelation - Daniel 9:24-27

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Daniel’s Doubts

Background to Daniel’s Vision. Daniel began praying because he had read from the writings of Jeremiah that God had given 70 years as the time Israel would be removed from their homeland. He had read from Jeremiah 25:11, 12, which says, “when seventy years are accomplished ... I will punish the king of Babylon.” Also 2 Chronicles 36:20 says, “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:  21 To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years. 

Now 50 years later, the Babylonian king had been defeated by the Persian empire and Daniel knew it was near time for the desolations of Jerusalem also to be ended.

He begins to fast, pray and confess his sin and the sins of his people. Through he knew the prophecy of Jeremiah was soon to be fulfilled, Daniel cannot see how God could do this while Israel was still so sinful and rebellious. Why will God allow them to return to their promised land while they still do the things that brought about their captivity?

God then sends his answer by the angel Gabriel and that answer gives us God’s Plan for the Ages, not just Jeremiah’s 70 years but God’s plan for thousands of years and even into eternity. It is here in vss. 24-27 and is called the Seventy Weeks Prophecy.

Daniel is told in 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Six Purposes of God’s Plan For the Ages will occur during the 70 weeks:

(1) To finish the transgression. “Finish” (Heb. lkallē˒) means “to complete,” The kind of transgressions Daniel had been confessing for his people were to come to an end. That still has not yet happened, two and a half millenniums on and counting.

(2) To make an end of sins. Literally, to seal up. This word (as in Job 9:7; 37:7) means to bring under full restraint. Cf. the sealing of Satan’s prison to restrain him (Rev 20:1-3).

(3) To make reconciliation for iniquity. Calvary’s reconciliation will become effective for Daniel’s people when again, “in that Day” of Messiah’s second advent, they look on Him “whom they have pierced” (Zech 12:10; cf. Rev 1:7) and shall in repentance believe on Him (Jer 50:4, 5, 17-20).

(4) To bring in everlasting righteousness. This will be affected by inward moral transformation (Jer 31:33, 34).

(5) To seal up the vision and prophecy (Heb. prophet). When the people cease sinning, the disciplinary oracles of prophets will no longer be needed (Jer 31:34).

(6) To anoint the most Holy. Most commentators feel that this refers to a renewed Temple, anointed like the Tabernacle (and Temple in the OT) of old. - Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary: Old Testament, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), Da 9:24.

So what kind of time period is the word week describing? It comes from the Hebrew word shabuwa` which means seven, or a period of seven (days or years), heptad, a week. In this case it is a week of years so 70 weeks is 490 years. It is broken down in weeks because it begins with one week, 7 years to rebuild the wall and it ends with the last week, the tribulation of the book of Revelation. Beside God really likes the number 7.

Daniel’s Timeline Seventy Weeks

This plan for the ages has a starting point in vs. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

When the Persian king granted Nehemiah the right to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem God’s program to reclaim his people, the nation of Israel began.

Timeline

Restoration of Israel 538-424 BC From command to rebuild Neh 2:1-8 445 BC	7 Weeks to rebuild the wall	Nehemiah receives permission to rebuild the wall. 49 years	Start of God's Countdown
Unto Messiah  30 AD	62 Weeks	434 years       Jesus Revealed 483 years	Four Centuries Between Testaments
Messiah cut off after 69th week   City Destroyed in 70AD		Jesus Crucified	Church Age
He shall confirm the covenant for 1 week Daniel 9:27	1 Week	Begin of Tribulation 7 Years	Great
Oblation to cease, The abomination of desolation Daniel 9:27		Midpoint 3 1/2 years	Tribulation
		Jesus Returns	Second Coming

 

We are even told when the Messiah would be revealed. Seven weeks and three score and two weeks. 7+ 62 is 69 weeks or 483 years. This prophecy is probably why the wise men, the magi, from the east came looking for One born King of the Jews. Daniel wrote this prophecy in Persia and as a seer for the Babylonians and the Persians his writing would be recorded and preserved.

The full revelation of Jesus the Messiah took place at the Triumphal Entry as foretold in Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

If we do the math and track the years, we would find that the triumphal entry was exactly 483 years after the proclamation given by Artaxerxes the King of Persia to Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. 483 years down even to the exact month.

One more thing we are told in Daniel’s 70 Week Prophecy is when the Messiah would die or be cut off. In vs. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. We are not given an exact time just that it would be after the 69th week, the 7 weeks for the wall to be rebuilt and the 62 weeks for Messiah to be revealed. We know from the Gospels that it was only one week after Zechariah 9:9 was fulfilled that Jesus was crucified, cut off.

Next in Daniel’s prophecy we are told that that “the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” This is a prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans that took place in 70 AD.

The reference to the prince who is to come is the “he” in vs. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: One 7-year time period. This is the last last week of Daniel’s 70 year prophecy. The last week we see revealed in Revelation. This prince who is to come is the Antichrist. He comes from the same people or same kingdom who destroyed the temple in AD 70 and he signs a covenant with Israel. That covenant begins the final week of Daniel prophecy.

There is one final event of the 70-week prophecy and that is the midst, the middle, of the week “ and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate.  Here the Antichrist, the Beast of the Book of Revelation, will cause the sacrifice and offering in the rebuilt Temple to cease. This will occur 3 ½ years after the covenant is signed, in the middle of the 7-year Tribulation.

Daniels’s time was a time of oppression for God’s captive people and Daniel prayed and God gave a prophecy of hope. In Matthew 24 once again God’s people are oppressed this time by the Roman Empire and now Jesus retells and reinforces Daniel’s prophecy.

Further Reinforcement - Matthew 24:1-3

Matthew 24:1–3 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

The Disciple’s Dilemma – the Temple destroyed before the Messiah returns

The Disciples ask Jesus when will the Temple be destroyed and what will be the sign of His return and the end of the world. Once more God’s people are confronted with a seemingly hopeless situation but God has a plan. Just like Daniel’s answer it is not an easy prophecy, but it also ends with the promise of the Messiah return, this time leading the army of Heaven, coming back as a conquering hero to save His People.

Matthew 24:4–31 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

For sake of time I’m going to just leave Mat 24 right there. We can see that it is an expansion of Daniel’s 70th Week, for Jesus makes the connection himself and this prophecy began with the Disciples questions about the destruction of the Temple, which Daniel had prophesied.

In Matthew 24, Jesus expands Daniels’s prophecy and shows Himself as the fulfillment, the ultimate end and purpose of that revelation. He is the Messiah what will return. He is the Son of man who will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The disciple’s dilemma of the destruction of their Temple and the return of their Lord is resolved by Jesus who sits with them now and explains what is to come. Jesus, the Master, the Rabbi, the Messiah, the Son of God is the answer to all their fears and questions.

Now let’s move to Revelation 6 and the final time of Jacob’s trouble, the tribulation what will be the last for God’s people Israel and the greatest expansion of Daniel’s 70th Week.

Final Revelation - Revelation 6-7

Revelation 6:1–17 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see

John’s Despair

On the isle of Patmos, John’s endures his own dark night of the soul. The last apostle and the churches of Jesus must have been in despair under Rome’s persecution, but Jesus once again comes with words that will comfort his people.

As it was with Daniel in Persia and the disciples on the Mount of Olives, this prophecy shows a dark and horrific time to come, yet it ends with a glorious vision of Jesus’ return, the establishment of His Kingdom and the ushering in of eternity. It is the most detailed and beautiful revelation ever given in scripture. Made even more poignant by the contrast of all the horror and tribulation that has gone before it.

In Revelation 6, John sees the Lamb begin to open the seven sealed scroll, one seal at a time. This scroll is the final revelation of God’s plan for the ages, His final redemption of His people Israel. What John sees in visions, we read as the Book of Revelation and all of that future prophecy is found in the scroll held in the hand of the Lamb Slain, The Lion of Judah, the only One worthy to take the scroll from the hand of God the Father, break the seals and open the scroll.

The Seven Seals - Revelation 6

Each separate seal marked another section of the scroll. Each seal in turn had to be broken before the rest of the scroll could be unrolled and read.

The scroll contains all the final revelation of Jesus and they occur consecutively, with the final 7th seal containing the rest of the prophecies. The seventh seal reveals the seven trumpets and after the seventh trumpet is sounded it reveals the seven vials or bowls. The seventh seal contains the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments, just as a final chapter in a book may contain the climax and epilogue of the story.

The First Four Seals: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Revelation 6:2-7

1st Seal - Vs. 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

The first seal is the rider of the white horse. This is the Antichrist, who will imitate Jesus the conquering, returning King. This is symbolized by his riding a white horse, as Jesus will do when He returns as King. The antichrist will use war to gain power and then by bringing a false peace to Israel and the world will gain power over all the world. The signing of that false peace covenant begins the great tribulation.

2nd Seal Vs. 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

The rider of the 2nd horse the blood red colored horse represents widespread war, this the tool used by the Antichrist to begin his rise to power.

3rd Seal – Vs. 5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

The 3rd seal reveals the 3rd horseman of the apocalypse, the rider on the black horse. This symbolizes that which always follows war and the conquering of other nations, famine, scarcity and pandemics. And also like all wars the hurt and suffering is worse upon the poor and is ignored by the rich. A measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny is understood as a days wage for a days’ worth of wheat or rye bread. But olive oil or wine that is not affected at all because that is for the rich and they have it stored in their larders and cellars.

4th Seal – Vs. 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The fourth seal is the rider on a pale horse, this word pale in the Greek is the word for the color of a corpse. This is the death which follows war, famine and pestilence, the other horsemen of the apocalypse.

5th Seal – Vs 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

The fifth seal is the persecution and martyrdom of the saints on the earth. This would be all those who were not believers at the rapture but because they had heard the Gospel before or the after the rapture, they become believers but must now endure until the end.

6th Seal – Vss. 12-17 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The sixth seal is a great earthquake, the first of many natural catastrophes and disasters that will occur during the Tribulation. These will destroy the infrastructure of all the world nations and ultimately bring all man’s civilizations and kingdoms to an end.

7th Seal – contains the seven trumpets and opens the next series of judgments and tribulation.

The breaking of the seals and the opening of the scroll in Revelation is an expansion of the Olivet Discourse back in Matthew 24.

Matthew 24 – Revelation 6 the Olivet Discourse and the Seals of the Scroll

Matthew 24:5-9 Signs of the Times	Revelation 6 The Six Seals
Vs. 5 - False Christs	Vs. 2 -1st Seal Antichrist on a white horse
Vs. 6 - Wars	Vs. 3 - 2nd Seal War rides on a red horse
Vs. 7 - Famines	Vs. 5 - 3rd Seal Famine, scarcity
Vs 7 - Pestilence	Vs. 7 - 4th Seal death rides a pale horse
Vs 9 - Saints Persecuted	Vs. 9 - 5th Seal martyrs cry out
Vs. 7 - Earthquakes	Vs. 12 -  6th Seal, natural disasters

 

 You can see that they are the same prophecy and that they are both built upon the original prophecy conveyed to Daniel by Gabriel. God’s Plan for the Ages, the manner and method He will use to reclaim and finally redeem His People, Israel.

Many people look to Matthew 24 as a way of gauging how soon the Lord will return or the tribulation will start, but it does not fit. It does not belong in the church age, but in the time of Jacob’s trouble, the tribulation and it begins with the same event that Daniel, and Revelation 6 begins, with a covenant between Israel and the Antichrist, who promises peace but brings terrible tribulation.

The opening of the Scroll, for which all of heaven waited and longed for, has begun and the events, like separate acts in a script, are shocking. War, famine, pandemics, global confusion, anarchy, and utter world-wide desolation. In this terrible time, the world and Israel look to the most powerful man alive, the Antichrist, the little horn of Daniel, the beast of Revelation, to save them, but instead of salvation they find only more destruction, now delivered by the very one they thought would save them.

Perhaps that is why here in the vision, in the midst of seeing such horror and suffering, there is a pause, a parenthetical vision before the 7th seal is broken and the rest of the horrors are revealed. We are going to conclude there this morning, in a promise of hope, and in faith that God has not and will not forget His own, even when trouble and catastrophe seem their darkest and deadliest.

Go to the opening of Revelation 7…

Conclusion The Sealing of the Servants

Revelation 7, The Sealing of the 144,000 and the Great White-robed Multitude

Revelation 7:1-8 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. …

The Four Angels of Judgment Wait.

These Angels are told to wait, to hold their judgments until the Sealing of the 144,000 is finished.

These sealed ones are God’s people, named as tribes of Israel, and here are called the servants of God. Not all Jews or even all believers but those chosen, sealed, for a special service to God. During the Tribulation, these chosen ones will be God’s witnesses upon the earth proclaiming the coming of the kingdom. Like the 12 apostles during Jesus first coming, these 120,000 of the 12 tribes of Israel will be His witnesses all over the world. They will be preaching, prophesying that Jesus is coming.

And their message will be the same as was preached by John the Baptist and the Apostles during Jesus first Coming. A message that the last apostle John would recognize and would rejoice his heart. That message “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is come!” Will sound around the world from the lips of 120 thousand saved Israelites and even the angels of heaven. “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is come!” This isn’t the church preaching. The church was God’s house of witness during the church age and it is now done, its commission fulfilled. The Bride of Christ and all the saved of this age of Grace, have been called home to wait with the bridegroom. Now the task of warning and winning souls falls back to God’s people Israel, who now know that Jesus of Nazareth is and always was their Messiah.

And in our last verses we see the harvest of this last day’s revival.

The Great, White-robed Multitude - Rev 7:9-17

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

John is told that these in white robes, have come out of great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This great multitude which John says no man can number, are the harvest of the 144,000 who have been preaching during the tribulation. This vision looks from after the the rapture until the time of Jesus final return. It shows all those who are saved during the tribulation. These people of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues also have believed and have now proven their faith by the testimony of their own death for the cause of Christ. 

This innumerable multitude shows that the Jesus and the Gospel will always triumph. Millions, billions perhaps 10s of billions of people will be saved during the tribulation by the grace and power of God. Satan, even at this point in history, at his strongest, most dominating position over all the world cannot stop the Gospel, cannot mute the Good News, cannot dim the light of Grace, cannot hide the love of Jesus. God’s people will gladly lay down their lives because they know beyond any doubt, the ultimate, undeniable truth.

Satan’s kingdom is going down in defeat, and Jesus’ Kingdom is coming in victory. This is also our truth today. This our hope and our calling. I don’t need to know when He is coming back because I know He is coming back. I don’t need to know when the darkness, pain and sorrow will end because I know the light of Jesus Christ will overcome the darkness of this world.

Daniel 9, Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation was never about when, or why it was always about Him, Jesus the Coming King.

Keep working, keep believing, keep hoping, keep preaching, keep telling the world Repent for Jesus is coming.