Revelation 6-7 The Seven Seals Opened

In Book 5, 

Chapter 6 - The Four Horsemen

 - So, the Lamb opens the first of the seven seals. Immediately, John sees a white horse. Its rider has a bow and is wearing a crown. He has clearly come to conquer something very important. This message is also a universal message for the church period in the morning of the gospel dispensation when the church was new and vibrant, going forth conquering and to conquer. The ministry of the Apostles and Jesus is shown here and the strong damage that was done to the Roman Empire, especially the Pagan religious system of Idol worship. People were coming out of the ignorance of idol worship and becoming Christian. An account of this is clearly seen in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. 


The Lamb opens the second seal. John sees a bright red horse. The guy riding this horse has a huge sword. At first, this doesn't seem so bad, but then we find out that he also takes peace from the Earth so that everyone will kill each other. Yikes. This message is also a universal message for the church period where the Roman Empire was cracking down on and persecuting all who would not worship the Emperors. Many lost their lives. The Bible was translated to Latin and chained to the pulpits to be interpreted only by the clergy. Many false doctrines were taught and accepted. Peace was taken from the earth as the Roman Empire launched a counter-campaign against Christianity that ended in blood for the Christians. 


Then, the Lamb opens the third seal. Out comes a black horse. Its rider has a pair of scales in his hand—the better to judge you with. This message is also a universal message for the church period where some Christians compromised with the Pagans and into Christianity was brought many false doctrines and false prophets. In this period, Christianity became the state religion and it was now acceptable to be a Christian. But at the cost of losing the true teachings of Christ and the Apostles. Therefore there was a famine, not for bread and water, but for hearing the words of the Lord. (Amos 8:8-10). 


Next, the fourth seal is opened. John sees a pale green horse whose rider is Death himself. Okay, we're officially freaked out now. Death is given authority to kill people all over the Earth. Things are not looking good. This message is also a universal message for the church period where the Man of Sin was established, the Popes. This seal shows an advancement of the persecuting power to an established state, sustained and upheld by the arm of civil power where supreme rule is given for the purpose of persecuting to the death. Such was done to Christians during the fog and confusion of the religion of the Roman Empire.


The Seals Just Keep Getting Crazier 

But it's not over yet. The Lamb goes on to open the fifth seal. John sees the souls of all the Christians who have been martyred so far. They cry out to God asking that he bring down the hammer on the people who murdered them. God tells them they're going to need to wait a little longer. He gives them some nice white robes to tide them over though. This seal shows us that the people who were killed actually were still alive in the spirit world and still able to see, feel, and had their faculties, and more importantly, their relationship with God was not broken, nor hindered, nor had their fellowship with Him ceased. In fact, quite the contrary, their request is to still get vengeance on them that had killed them. Their request was being made under an altar. It is clear that these were the very people being killed in John’s time and later, as well as even John himself was a partaker of the suffering. God’s people are in eternity but still followers of Christ! Their white robes show innocence, so the revenge they are requesting is a righteous indignation, not a desire to destroy and kill for the sake of pay back. 


The Lamb then opens the sixth seal. 

Suddenly the heavens go crazy. There's an earthquake and the sun becomes black. The moon turns to blood and the stars fall out of the sky. All the kings and rich guys and other powerful people on Earth try to run and hide from the Lamb. They're a little bit worried about what he's going to do to them. We can't say we blame them. This seal shows there will come a time, in the very end, where we will reach an awful era where nations will be drowning in fears and will pay for their actions toward the innocents of the world, namely the Christians who suffered for Christ. The sixth seal is the revenge that was prayed for by the souls under the altar in the fifth seal. 


In Chapter 7, The Elect Get Their Tickets to Heaven 

After this, John sees four angels standing at the four corners of the Earth. They're holding back the winds, and another angel tells them to make sure not to damage the Earth... at least not yet. The angel tells them that they still need to mark the foreheads of the Elect. They go through and seal 144,000 people, a remarkably small and specific number. That's 12,000 for each of the tribes of Israel (remember them from Genesis). 


Then, John sees tons of people from all over the world standing around God's throne. All these people are wearing white robes (it's the fashion in Heaven) and holding palm leaves. They praise God and the Lamb along with the elders and the angels and all the creepy-looking creatures in Heaven. One of the elders tells John that these people have been through a huge ordeal, but they made it through and that's why they're here. They won't be hungry or thirsty ever again. The Lamb is going to be their shepherd and lead them where they need to go. So things are looking pretty good for them. 


As with the end of the story of the seven churches, John is shown true worship in heaven again. The 144,000 are representative of all God’s people that had gone through great ordeals, difficulty and persecution for their faith. These people show up around God’s throne, yes even those who had died. Meanwhile, back on earth a sealing is going on. 


The sealing in the foreheads represents the taking in of doctrinal and spiritual knowledge necessary to not be swept away in the onslaught of winds of doctrine that are about to sweep so many away. The stormy winds are held back until the sealing. Then Mohammad of Mecca and the Muslim locusts will be loosed to torment them that have not been sealed. All hell is about to break loose in the Middle East and in the Roman Empire. Up to now, the Roman Empire is the theater of the Revelation. Now, the battle and the persecutions against God’s people are about to extend to the Middle East.