REVELATION 6-8 REVELATION REFRESHER SERIES PART 32021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Revelation 6-8 Revelation Refresher Series Part 3

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021.

Well, as we look at Revelation chapters 6 through 8 this evening, I want to start out backing up a little bit, kind of get us caught up to where we are. And so I'm going to first look at Revelation chapter 1 and consider again this outline of the book of Revelation that the Lord gives to John in Revelation chapter 1 verse 19. And there the Lord tells John to write down three things. He says,

Number one, the things that he had seen. Number two, the things which are. And then number three, the things which will take place. And so here we have these three points that really serve as an outline of the book of Revelation. The things that John saw was the vision of Jesus recorded in Revelation chapter 1.

And then the things which are is the present church age. It's where we live today in chapters 2 and 3 as Jesus addresses us.

seven churches by letter, sending through John to each of the churches, and ministers to the church in the church age, and serve as the most important chapters of the book of Revelation for us today. And so I would encourage you to spend some time evaluating and considering what the Lord says in those chapters once again.

But then in chapters 4 through 22, we have the record of the things that are to come, the things that will take place after this. And what are those things? Well, those things which must take place, we can start out with the rapture of the church. We talked about that a little bit last week in looking at chapters 4 and 5. And so the rapture of the church is what we're looking forward to and really next up as far as major prophetic events on the agenda of the Lord.

Well, then we'll be looking at the seven years of tribulation, and that's what we'll be starting in tonight here in chapter 6 and working our way through in chapters 6 through 18 over the next several weeks.

Then the return of Jesus Christ is still yet to come, even after the rapture of the church. It's when Jesus actually sets foot on earth, on the Mount of Olives. It splits in two, and he establishes his kingdom for a thousand years. And so that gives us the 1,000-year reign of Christ, also known as the millennium, still to come, still yet to be fulfilled, and has not taken place yet. Well, then there will be one last final rebellion of Satan,

There will be a great white throne judgment and then enters eternity with a new Jerusalem, a new heavens, and a new earth. And all of that is in store for us still in the years to come and in the chapters to come here in Revelation chapters 4 through 22. Well, last week as we looked at chapters 4 and 5, we left off in chapter 5 with this heavenly scene of the throne of God and in the hand of God was this

scroll that was sealed with seven seals. And this scroll that is sealed with seven seals is very important as we head into the passages tonight, because now this scroll is going to be opened.

These seals are going to be broken one at a time. And as the seals are broken, judgment is being poured out upon the earth. And events are happening as God will describe here in Revelation chapter 6 and Revelation chapter 8. And so as we head into chapter 6, this is what we're looking at. The scroll with seven seals and each seal being broken as this scroll is broken.

unrolled or opened up. Now, what the scroll is, we talked a little bit about it last week. There's a good variety of opinions. And if you want to dig into these things to a much greater degree, I would encourage you to check out the resources and the work of Chuck Missler.

He has a Bible study through the book of Revelation, and he is a very technical guy, and he goes into great depth in a lot of these things. And so you can spend a lot of time considering those things with him working through the book of Revelation.

But for us this evening, we're going to look at Revelation chapter 6. Here's an outline of Revelation chapter 6, and really it's an outline of the opening of these first six seals. The key verse is there in verse 1. Now, I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "'Come and see.'"

This scene is unveiling before John. The Lord wants him to see these things. The Lord wants him to record these things so that you and I would get a glimpse of them. Again, back in chapter 1 verse 19, the Lord tells John, write these things down. I

I want you to capture these things because my people, my followers, they need to know about these things. They need to have an understanding, not perfect and complete with every question answered, but they need to have an understanding of what is to come for this world and in the Lord's plans. And so the first seal is opened, and summarizing that, we refer to it as the Antichrist coming forth to conquer.

And then the sixth seal is opened, or sorry, the second seal is opened, and peace is taken from the earth. The third seal is opened, and then famine, worldwide famine, hits the earth. The fourth seal is opened, and a fourth of the earth dies at that point. Then the fifth seal is opened, and there's a scene in heaven where the martyrs are comforted by God.

And then finally, the sixth seal is opened, and there is a unfolding of catastrophic events that take place on the earth. So that's the quick overview. Let's talk about these seals a little bit more. Looking at verse 1 and 2 for the first seal. Let me read verses 1 and 2 to you. It says,

This is the beginning of the famous four horsemen of the apocalypse.

There's the first four seals here, each have a horse and a rider attached to it. And so as the seal is broken, now here comes forth, not out of the seal, but you know, the events are happening as the seals are broken. And so here comes forth a white horse. And this first horseman who's on the white horse, it tells us he has a bow, but no arrow.

He conquers, but without battle. He has a crown, speaking of authority or power, but he goes forth to conquer and he begins to rule the earth. Now, again, as we look at this, the quick summary of what we're looking at here is the Antichrist coming onto the scene. Now, why is it that we would understand this as the Antichrist? Well, Antichrist

details of that are more than we have time for this evening. But again, it goes back to the 70 weeks of Daniel. And if you want to dig into these things further, you need to spend some time in Daniel chapter 9. In Daniel chapter 9 verse 24, the Lord tells Daniel, 70 weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city.

There he announces to Daniel there are 70 weeks or 70 periods of seven, 70 groups of seven. And in this case, not 70 groups of seven days, but 70 groups of seven years. And that is clear there in Daniel chapter 9 as you look it over. Now, as we think about these 70 weeks, we can follow the passage there in Daniel chapter 9 and understand that

Almost all of these weeks have been fulfilled, and there is one week that is left. And so it's often referred to the 70th week of Daniel. As we begin to talk about the tribulation period, it's a seven-year tribulation period. It is the same as that 70th week of Daniel. And so in this prophecy to Daniel, the Lord unfolds, look, this is all the things that I'm going to do.

I'm going to bring an end to iniquity. I'm going to bring in everlasting righteousness. I'm going to seal up all vision and prophecy and anoint the most holy. All of these things that are on God's to-do list, he is still working these things out. We're still watching them unfold. And God says all of that is going to take place within this 70 days.

period of 70 weeks, you know, 70 groups of these seven-year periods. And 69 of those weeks have been fulfilled and were fulfilled all the way up to the coming of Jesus the first time when he rode into Jerusalem. And so that has been fulfilled, but then it seems like God has pushed pause on that timeline. So those 69 weeks were fulfilled consecutively and successively, and

Since the command to go and rebuild Jerusalem all the way until the appearing of Jesus or the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. But then it paused. And the next seven year period didn't begin immediately right then, but will begin here at this point in the opening of the first seal. When the Antichrist comes on the scene.

Because the 70th week of Daniel begins, it tells us in Daniel 9, verse 27, with a covenant.

It talks about this Antichrist, this man who will come on the scene, and he will confirm a covenant with many for one week. So that last week, that final week, begins with this covenant, this seven-year period. And so the tribulation begins, oftentimes kind of the shortcut in our minds to think about the beginning of the tribulation. We think about the rapture of the church is the beginning of the tribulation.

And there's some reasons that we kind of generalize it in that way, but it's not technically accurate. The beginning of the tribulation is really the Antichrist covenant with Israel. In fact, there could be some time that passes between the rapture of the church and the covenant with Israel. It doesn't have to be, you know, on that same day. It might be on that same day. It might be as soon as he signs that covenant, then boom, we're out of here. And

Or it might be that the church is raptured and the Antichrist comes on the scene, brings stability to the world. And so maybe some days or weeks or months have passed. And then the tribulation begins with this covenant. Again, you can look at Daniel chapter 9 verse 27 for that confirming the covenant that begins that final week of Daniel.

And so here the Antichrist comes on the scene, and he goes out conquering, and to conquer, it says in verse 2. But again, the writer here has a bow, but specifically it tells us he has a bow and he's out to conquer, but it doesn't specify that he has any arrows.

And at this time, the Antichrist, as he comes on the scene, he's not conquering yet. There will be battles. The Antichrist will fight, and we'll see that shortly. But at first, he comes on the scene with peace. Daniel chapter 11, also talking about and dealing with the end times and the Antichrist, talks about him coming in peaceably to seize the kingdom by intrigue. That's Daniel chapter 11, verse 21.

The word intrigue, it means to plot craftily or underhandedly. The idea is he comes in sneakily. He makes peace...

He kind of says the right things to the right people to get them to buy into what it is that he wants to accomplish so that he can have world power. And as he does that, he's tricking the people into giving him the power and authority that he seeks. And so as he comes in, it's going to be the illusion of the answer to everything.

It's going to be a short season of peace as the Antichrist comes forth on this white horse, seemingly, you know, the one to rescue the world and to bring hope to a world that is hurting and searching for answers. But then the second seal is broken, and that brings us to verse 3 and 4. And now the second horseman comes out. This time it's a fiery red horse.

Not a white horse, you know, the idea, the picture of peace there that comes, but now we're going to be looking at war. Verse 3 and 4 says, And so here is the second horseman of the apocalypse comes out.

It's a fiery red horse. It is red, picturing, of course, the shedding of blood that will take place, and he is granted authority to take peace from the earth. He is going to remove the illusion of peace established by the Antichrist. And so there's going to be a season of peace as the Antichrist steps into power, but then that will come to an end at the opening of the second seal.

Now, as we look at these things, there's some interesting questions to ask about the timing and the time period that is happening here. Because, well, if the first seal is opened, how long is this time of peace?

We often refer to the tribulation period as the first three and a half years are good and the last three and a half years are bad. And that's the great tribulation, the last three and a half years. And certainly it is divided in scripture and referred to. Some things are specific to the first half and some things are specific to the second half.

So it's possible that the first seal is opened and the second seal doesn't actually happen until three and a half years in. And then that's when everything begins to fall apart.

But as I take in the totality of what the scripture has to say about this final seven year period, I don't view it that way. I don't know that it is three and a half years until the second seal. Because again, in the book of Daniel, you can see as the Lord is describing the battles that will take place in the struggle for control.

And so the picture that I see is that the Antichrist comes on the scene. He gets most everybody on board. And so he has this immediate rush of power. But there's a few holdouts. There's a few nations that are not on board and will not surrender and submit to his government over them. And so there's going to be some resistance there.

And at first, he's not going to deal with it. At first, there's just going to be that season of peace. But then comes the strife and the struggle. And there's going to now be battles between these nations that will not submit to the Antichrist and be part of that kingdom.

Either way, as you think about this, if it happens, you know, a couple months later or three and a half years later, as I was considering this this week, I began to think, you know, the devil must be the most frustrated being in all of creation. I mean, you probably have some frustrating days. You have some challenging days and things, but nobody is more frustrated than the devil because he so desperately wants to have his way.

but his plans are always ruined or worse, used against him.

And then here comes his main guy. It's essentially, you know, God gives him the opportunity to raise up this Antichrist. And here's his best chance to rule the world and to have everything he's always wanted. And so he brings forth the Antichrist on the scene. We'll see later on in Revelation chapter 12, this guy is fueled by the power of Satan or the power of the dragon.

And still, even with his best guy, with all of his power on the scene there in the world, he must be so frustrated because the world will not submit to him.

Some will, and so he gets those people on board, but there's this resistance. And so now there's going to be battles. There's going to be wars that begin to take place here during the tribulation period. So you have the Antichrist on the scene, you have the resistance and the battles that will take place, and then

The third seal is opened in verses 5 and 6. And here comes the third horseman of the apocalypse. It's a rider on a black horse. Verse 5 and 6 says this,

And so here the pronouncement is given as this third horse comes out that there is going to be famine.

this writer has a pair of scales in his hands. And the scales speak to us about the idea of rations and scarcity. You know, you're going to be measuring out the portions. Everything is going to be closely calculated. In times of abundance, you know, you don't have to use scales and measure and try to figure out how to ration. But in times of great scarcity, oh, you have to measure every ounce. You have to figure out, you know, how things are going to last.

And it gives us an indication of how severe this famine is going to be. Again, this famine is not going to be like what we have today. We do see famines and droughts hit local places and different regions around the earth. But this will be something that the whole world is experiencing.

And it's going to be so severe in verse 6, it says, a quart of wheat for a denarius. Now, I don't know when the last time, you know, you pulled out a quart of wheat and just began to eat it. So you might not be familiar with, you know, the concept of a quart of wheat. But essentially, this is the idea of the resources that you need to make bread. And a denarius was the one day's wage for a common worker, for a standard worker.

And so just try to think this through a little bit and picture this kind of famine. If you go to the grocery store right now and you think that bread is expensive, imagine paying a full day's wages for a loaf of bread. In California right now, the minimum wage is $14 an hour. So you do the math here, $14 an hour for eight hours, you get $114 a

That is the picture of the severity of the famine that will be going on. And so it is definitely going to be very unpleasant for those who are seeking to survive. And yet at the same time, in verse 6, it says, Now, oil and wine, here it gives us the indication that there will still be the luxuries for the wealthy.

There's going to be further events that happen in the midst of the tribulation that will impact everybody more to the same degree. But it seems that there will be, for most people, great scarcity, but there's going to be kind of the select few that are still well off. There's still those luxuries for the wealthy.

And so this worldwide famine hits here in verses 5 and 6. But now we get to the fourth horseman, the pale horse. In verse 7 and 8, it says this. So I looked and behold a pale horse and the name of him who sat on it was Death.

Here in the fourth seal, there is a great death that comes upon the earth. Now, this death could be happening, you know, a variety of ways. It could be the result of the wars and the famines in the opening seals that just came before this.

or this could be a special event where, you know, the Lord opens the seal and then a quarter of the earth just dropped dead. You remember the account back in the reign of Hezekiah where the Assyrian army was camped out overnight, but in one night the Lord, the angel of the Lord went through and just wiped out, I think it was like 186,000 of the soldiers or something to that degree. And so the

It could be an event like that as well, and not just the counting up or the accumulation of deaths from the seal two and three.

But we don't know for sure, but this is going to be a massive amount of death that takes place. And so, you know, we kind of maybe feel like we're a little bit familiar with that, having dealt with COVID over the past year, 2020 now and 2021, and still seeing those things. But the kind of death that we're talking about here, the scale of this death, is something that the world has never seen. And so,

I want to just walk you through a little bit of calculations, and hopefully you don't mind a little bit of math tonight to help you kind of picture what it is that is happening here on the earth during this time.

Right now, currently, in January 2021, the population of the earth, of course, this is not an exact number, but it's almost 8 billion people, about 7,837,087,000. It's changing every moment, every second. But that's a rough estimate. If you look at world population, you can kind of understand that figure.

Now, if you think about the people on earth right now, as if the tribulation period was, you know, about to happen tomorrow, well, before that, we would believe that the rapture of the church would take place.

Now, we want to subtract then the rapture of the church out of that population to be able to have an accurate number to work with. Now, of course, we don't know exactly how many Christians are on the earth, but roughly worldwide, statistics show about 32% of the world claims to be Christian. Now, of course, everybody who claims to be Christian is not Christian.

not actually born again and ready to enter into eternity with the Lord. In fact, as you look at Revelations chapter 2 and 3, as Jesus addresses the churches, we mentioned this last week, that it indicates there are churches that think they're all good, but they're actually going to miss out on the rapture of the church because they're completely off and they're not right with the Lord. They don't know the Lord.

There are individuals within those churches who, you know, will be able to overcome and, of course, will be included. There's the faithful church Philadelphia that will be included in the rapture. But there are many who claim to be Christian. So that 32% is a high estimate.

that there's most likely less. Now, we don't know what God will do. Maybe there will be a revival that hits the world and that number will change. But just kind of working with the numbers as we understand them for the moment to give us an idea of what we're talking about here. If the rapture of the church happens right now, and all 32% who claim to be Christian are caught up to be with the Lord, that'll be about 2.5 billion people

that would be raptured from the earth. And that would mean that, well, just over 5 billion people would be entering into Revelation 6, verse 1, the coming Antichrist and the scene that follows. The tribulation population would begin then with 5,329,000,000 people. And so when we get to the opening of the fourth seal,

assuming a similar population during that time, then we take 25% of that. One-fourth of 5.3 billion is 1.3 billion. And so here you have, in this seal, 1.3 billion people dying.

The remaining population is now under 4 billion. And if you go back to the top, right, that's almost half of our current population. So we're talking about a huge, drastic, massive change in population like the world has never seen. 1.3 billion people dying today.

in a short period of time, in a seven-year period, that's nothing like that has ever happened in all of history except for perhaps the flood. And so this is going to be something that is really important

remarkable in a negative way, right? Really astounding and shaking. Now, again, these numbers, they're a little bit hard for us to picture. 1.3 billion people, how do you picture that many people dying? But a little bit of comparison might help us to visualize these things a little bit. And so if you'll allow me to consider these things a little bit further, it might be appropriate to help and consider the

that occurred during World War I in comparison to this fourth seal. It's estimated that 40 million people died as a result of World War I. Now, this is a total population count or a total death count, including soldiers, including things that were related to the war, like famine, war crimes, massacres, suicide, genocide, you know, all the things related to war, war crimes,

Some very smart people that do math that I don't understand. They estimate about 40 million people died during World War I.

Well, of course, then came World War II, and that was a much bigger war in the sense of deaths, and there was 118 million estimated deaths. Now, these are the highest estimations, and so if you want to look it up, you can kind of look at, and they have lists of all of these different wars and the deaths and the smallest deaths.

estimation, the highest estimation. So just kind of as a point of reference, I'm looking at the highest estimation, and 118 million is still just a fraction of what we're talking about in the one-fourth of the earth being killed in the opening of the fourth seal.

But there was something even higher than the 118 million on the list of wars and things that brought death upon the earth, and that was the colonization of the Americas. And so the coming in of people into the Americas and the death of the Native Americans and all of the things that took place then, again, from war but also from disease, it's estimated that

The high estimation is 138 million people died as a result of that. So, vast difference, right? From World War I, World War II, even the colonization of the Americas. If you look at all those and you compare them to the fourth seal, they don't measure up. And even if you add them all together, they don't come close. They're not even a worthwhile percentage of America.

the fourth seal. In fact, I took it a step further and I looked at this list of 114 wars and all of the estimations, took all of the highest estimations and added them up. So the last, you know, couple thousand years of wars, 114 major wars with all of these things combined add up to 577 million. It's a

of what will take place in the opening of the fourth seal. So just try to think that through. Let that kind of settle in for a moment. At the opening of the fourth seal, there will be twice as many people who die as have ever died through all wars for the last 2,000 years. I mean, that is a radical idea and concept like nothing we could imagine or really understand.

And so the amount of death is going to be devastating. And so as we talk about the tribulation period, again, we talk about, you know, the time of peace, but it seems short-lived. And then immediately there's just going to be this devastation with wars, with famine, and then with this massive death that takes place.

Well, after the fourth seal is opened, then of course comes the fifth seal. And so heading back into the outline here of Revelation chapter 6, now we're looking at seal number 5. And here we see a scene where the martyrs are comforted in the throne room of God. Verse 9 says,

And so here...

This time the seal opening doesn't have something to do with what's happening in earth, but here instead John sees this group of people who are martyrs for the Lord. It says in verse 6 that they were killed for their testimony which they held. They were killed as a result of the word of God.

Now, this group of martyrs, there's a little bit of discussion to be had over what time frame this group of martyrs presents. Is this those who have been martyred throughout all history? And, you know, the text would allow for that, that it's all those who had died in their faithfulness to the Lord, and they were standing before the throne of God and saying, how long until justice prevails? And

And as you understand, the whole tribulation period is the wrath of God being poured out upon the earth for sin. It would make sense that there is this group of people who, you know, they died unjustly representing the Lord. And now they're, you know, watching unfold this judgment upon the earth that dealt with them so harshly. And so it's possible that we're looking at a group of martyrs that are from all time.

It's also possible, however, that we're looking at a group of martyrs that is just from the tribulation period. In fact, that

great number that we saw, a fourth of the earth in verse 7 and 8. It could be that many of them, the death that happens is the result of persecution against believers. And so they are now martyrs and before the throne of God and saying, when will justice be done for our death and our faithfulness to you, Lord? And the Lord's reply to them was, rest a little bit longer. The end is not yet.

God will bring justice to every injustice.

He will deal with every wrong that is done and make things right in that way. But it is still a little bit longer. The rest of the tribulation is going to unfold and there will be more added to their number, it says. They have other brethren who will be killed like them, who will be martyrs for their faith. And so once that is completed, then of course the end will be.

Well, that brings us to the sixth seal in verses 12 through 17. And here we see many cataclysmic events. There's a lot of things that happen, and it's on a scale that is hard for us to really picture and fully understand. Jumping into verse 12, it says,

And the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it was rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. Verse 15, and the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.

Here as we see these events unfold, again, they're massive events. They're events that, again, the world has never seen these kind of events before. The great earthquake that takes place is likely not just, you know, limited to Southern California. It's likely to be a great earthquake that takes place in the

but it's quite literally the earthquake, right? The whole earth will be impacted and affected by this quake. It's going to be something massive. And perhaps, you know, as we have seen, you know, there's earthquakes in the ocean and then the tsunamis come. Perhaps, you know, there is that kind of devastation. It doesn't get into the details, but there's a great earthquake. The sun becomes black as sackcloth and the moon becomes like blood, right?

Now, as I shared before, there's a quote from David Guzik where he says it's best to picture, I'm sorry, it's best to regard these pictures as real but poetic. And so the moon doesn't literally turn into, you know, a huge giant drop of blood, but it's probably describing the poetic, you know, view of what is happening. And so the sun becoming black is,

might not be the sun actually turning black, but just the sun being blocked by all of the debris in the atmosphere. And so the idea of the moon being like blood, again, it might be the way that it's viewed from earth as there is all of these things that are happening.

The stars of heaven falling to the earth is probably a poetic way, not a literal star that we see out in the sky hitting the earth, but meteors coming down and pelting the earth.

But the picture here is, he describes it like a fig tree that's late in season and you shake it and all these figs drop. So we're not talking about one meteor or maybe even not a massive meteor, but just tons of meteors hitting the earth and causing some damage. Now,

There is some calculations that you can do, and I'm not suggesting that you have to do a lot of math, but if you just do some searching online and you search for meteorite activity or meteorite, oh man, the term is escaping me at the moment, but you can look at some things that calculate meteorite

Different meteor sizes, and you can kind of actually choose, okay, I want this size, and what if it hits in this place, and what kind of damage would there be, what would be within the radius of damage, and there's some things like that that you can do. There's some URLs that I could give you, but they're kind of weird to pronounce sometimes.

in a situation like this. So just message me later if you want those, and I'll send you over a link where you can kind of like just, you know, put in some data and see the effects upon the earth. But the damage of meteors is not just, you know, the earth, you know, has a hole in it now, but there's heat damage, there's wind damage, there's earthquake damage. As a result, there's a lot of different things that happen when a meteor strikes the earth. Well,

Then it talks about in verse 15, the kings of the earth. Now, as I mentioned before, the famine hit, you know, mostly the common people, but there was still luxuries for the wealthy. But now nobody is excluded. And so it makes sure to outline everybody, the kings, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, as well as the slaves and the free, they hid themselves in the caves.

And what's interesting about this passage is they know exactly what is happening here. They're calling for the mountains and rocks to hide them because they need to be hidden from the wrath of the Lamb. They understand at this point, this is the wrath of God. And what's interesting about this, there's a few more verses throughout the book of Revelation that are similar where it talks about the people's reaction here on earth.

And what's interesting is you look at those other passages, it tells us that as much as they were suffering and as much as, you know, they understood what was going on, they would still refuse to repent and turn from their sin. And so really the book of Revelation, it highlights for us a lot of different things. It highlights for us the sovereignty of God as he, you know, brings about these things and pours out his wrath upon the earth.

It also highlights, although it might not be super, you know, the first thing you think about, it highlights the mercy of God because he is measuring things out. As you look at seal number four and a fourth of the earth die. I mean, it's a massive number. We looked at it, but it's only a fourth. It's not a half and it's not everyone, right? It's not God just losing his temper and just letting it all go, but it's measured because he's bringing about mercy.

as little judgment as possible to give as much opportunity for repentance as possible. And so the book of Revelation highlights for us the sovereignty of God, the mercy of God in his metering out judgment and wrath in, you know, the specific quantities that are necessary to

But the book of Revelation also highlights for us the wickedness or rebellion of humanity and how wicked our hearts are that even when we know the truth, we know the reasons, we're feeling the consequences, we collectively, without the change of, you know, the work of God in our hearts, we are insistent upon our sin.

And we deserve all of this judgment that is being poured out. It's only by the grace of God that we will be delivered from the wrath of God. We deserve this judgment. And really this whole period proves that humanity deserves this kind of judgment as they refuse to repent. And as all of these things are happening and these massive worldwide events are going on,

They call out in verse 17, the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand? Who is able to stand in the midst of all of this calamity? Well, we actually find out the answer to that as we head now into chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7, as we go forward into this chapter now, you can look at Revelation chapter 7 as kind of a parenthetical chapter.

that it fits here as far as the account is being given, but also it might not necessarily be limited to just this moment in between seal six and seal seven. I mean, up to this point, we've been looking in succession. Here's seal one, then seal two,

We got to seal six, now you would think seal seven, but here the Lord kind of zooms out for a moment and says, pause that. If you were making a movie, it's kind of like you cut to another scene and it gives a little bit more background, a little bit more information to fill in the account of what's happening in the primary storyline. And so this is kind of the idea of what's going on here. John's given this extra insight that helps us to understand the events that are going on a little bit better.

So the key verse here in chapter 7 is verse 4. It says, And so one of the things that we'll see here in chapter 7 is the famous 144,000. Looking at the outline here, verses 1 through 3 gives us the picture of four angels who are holding the four winds from reaching the earth.

Then we have the sealing of the 144,000 in verses 4 through 8. Then we see a great multitude before the throne in verses 9 through 12. And finally, verses 13 through 17, we have the explanation. These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. And so walking through these things, first we have the four angels who are holding the four winds here in verses 1 through 3.

Again, verse 1 says,

Here as we consider the four angels holding back the four winds at the four corners of the earth, again we're looking at these things and understanding that they're describing real events but also possibly a little bit figurative and poetic in nature. So it could be that literally they're preventing the wind from moving about on the earth and that it's literal winds that are being referred to here.

But it also seems like that there's some figurative language here, and it's talking about the withholding of winds of judgment. That there is this further judgment that is coming, but that there is this pause or this delaying, this refraining of that judgment for a little bit longer. In verse 2, it tells us that these four angels were

granted authority to harm the earth and the sea. And so these four angels are authorized to bring judgment upon the earth, but

At this point, at this moment, the other angel comes on the scene and says, wait, hold off for just a second, guys. Hold up. Just give me another minute, and then you can carry out the mission that you have been given. And so they're authorized to harm, but they're holding it back. And the harm is specific in verse 2 to the earth and the sea, and then also in verse 3, the trees.

And what's interesting about that is in Revelation chapter 8, which we'll get into next week, when you have the blowing of the seven trumpets, and like the seals, as each one is sounded, then there's a specific judgment that happens upon the earth.

And the first three trumpets are related to these three things that are mentioned here in verses 2 and 3. The first trumpet strikes the earth and the trees and the grass. The second trumpet strikes the seas. And then the third trumpet strikes all of the fresh waters.

And so these four angels, you know, they're told to pause, hold back. And then as soon as they're unleashed, then this judgment unfolds on all of these things. And so there seems to be this short interlude and it's for a specific purpose. In verse three, it tells us that the purpose is the sealing of the servants of God. And it describes this seal on their foreheads.

The idea of a seal is like a signet, right? It's this identification. And so there's going to be this identification, this sealing that takes place. Now there's a similar event that happens in Ezekiel chapter 9.

And in Ezekiel chapter 9, probably similar to what we're seeing here in Revelation chapter 7, it's not a physical seal that is visible, you know, everybody line up and get the seal, but it is this figurative or spiritual seal that is happening. And so all of the servants of God, all of those who are faithful to God at this point, will be marked and will be sealed for this

particular events that are about to unfold. And it gets into more detail here in verses 4 through 8, who these people are that are sealed and how many of them there are. In verse 4, it says, So this sealing that takes place is specific to these 144,000.

There may be other believers alive at the time and they will not be sealed. This sealing is specifically for these specific 144,000. Not all believers, just the Jews. It's a specific number. It's a specific nation. Throughout history, there have been many groups who have claimed to be the 144,000.

But their claims don't hold up because as you walk through this, it's very clear. I don't think God could have made it any more clear that this is a group of descendants of Abraham. This is a group of Israelites. In verse 5, it says, well, it refers to three tribes of Israel, Judah, Reuben, and Gad.

And then in verse 6, it tells us three more tribes, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh. And then in verse 7, three more tribes, Simeon, Levi, and Issachar. And then in verse 8, three more tribes, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

God makes sure it's clear. Here's 144,000. It's 12,000 from each tribe. And so God knows who belongs to what tribe. Mankind has pretty much lost those records. There's some general ideas about families belonging to and descending from different tribes. And that's somewhat possible. But God knows exactly. And he has 12,000 from each tribe that will be sealed and protected by

during the upcoming events that are still yet to come. And so here we have a group of Jewish people who will be protected by God through the rest of the tribulation period.

Well, then in verses 9 through 12, again, the scene shifts back into heaven, and there is this great multitude before the throne. Here we have another scene of worship that is just awesome. Back in chapters 4 and 5, we see a heavenly scene, and there is worship upon worship upon worship. And now again, we see another heavenly scene, and there is worship. Verse 9 says, "...after these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number."

And to the Lamb.

It tells us also in verse 11, the angels stood around the throne and the elders of the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. And so here we have this great multitude. It tells us that nobody can number them. They're of all tribes, all nations, all peoples, and all tongues, and they're clothed in white robes.

Who is this great multitude? Well, it's described to us in the remaining verses. Verse 13 says, Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?

And so here as he sees the scene, there's all this big group of people, and then there's some other people that are part of the scene, the angels, the four living creatures, and the 24 elders are there as well. We talked about the 24 elders, that it looks like, it seems like this is a picture of the church. And so as an elder approaches John here in verse 13, he

Perhaps it's a member of the church. Maybe it's Pastor George coming in to provide some insight into the situation that is going on. And here in verse 14, John answers and says, well, I don't know. It's interesting. One of the elders asked the question. John didn't ask the question, who is this group of people? But God wants us to know who this group of people is.

So he sent over an elder, hey, go ask him who this group of people is. And John says, well, I don't know. I'm the visitor here. I'm the guest here. You tell me. You know who this group is. And he describes the group saying in verse 14, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and wash their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And so what we're looking at here is very specifically a group of people who

who have believed in Jesus. They've been washed, they've been born again, and they've come out of the great tribulation. And so perhaps this is the same group or similar group to the martyrs that we see in the opening of the fifth seal.

Perhaps this is beyond that and this is in addition to that. Now, the group has grown as more have died as a result of their faith and as a result of the calamities that are happening, but it's specifically within the timeframe of the tribulation period.

They've washed their robes. They're white. They're righteous. And so now they're in the presence of God. Now it seems likely that these people are part of the fruit of the 144,000 and the ministry that they will be doing. We'll see later on in Revelation. They're preaching the gospel. And so people will be responding to that message and

And so perhaps we see here in heaven this group that is some of the fruits of their ministry in people that have turned to the Lord. Well, it tells us in verse 15,

They're before the throne of God. They serve him day and night in his temple. And the one who sits on the throne will dwell among them. Even though they've waited so long to turn to him and believe in him, he's still going to be with them. They still get the presence of the Lord as they come out of the tribulation period.

Now, this raises some important subjects and some interesting discussions. And so I did get a question from Miss Anonymous that I want to take a moment to address. And so Miss Anonymous says,

Some of us grew up being taught that. And so the question in regards to the tribulation period is about the Holy Spirit and really in regards to the working of the Holy Spirit during that time period. Now, this is a common discussion that comes up and there is some kind of normal things that are addressed or need to be addressed in that. The question is normally asked,

From the context of, or from the teaching of 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 7. In 2 Thessalonians 2, 7, it tells us, And so as Paul is addressing and talking about end time scenarios, he's talking about the Antichrist there in 2 Thessalonians 2. He talks about the one who restrains,

is keeping the Antichrist from coming on the scene. But the one who restrains will be taken out of the way, and then the Antichrist will come to power and begin to unfold his plans. And so oftentimes in looking at 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 7, the one who restrains is referred to as the Holy Spirit.

And I'm not going to get into the full teaching of 2 Thessalonians 2.7, but it's kind of a general shortcut to refer to the Holy Spirit there in 2 Thessalonians 2.7 as the one who restrains. There's a little bit more meat and depth to get into there. But this is what happens sometimes when we kind of summarize things and then try to build other concepts on top of those things. And so let me just go back and answer the question.

Yes, the Holy Spirit will be present during the tribulation period. And the first reason to understand that is the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. He is part of the triune nature of God. He is everywhere. He is, you know, always in every place at the same time, uh,

just like the Father. And so the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. Remember, David wrote in Psalm 139, where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. Again, poetically describing the fact that the Holy Spirit is wherever anyone goes.

But the main thing to understand about the Holy Spirit being present in the tribulation period relates to chapter 7 of Revelation because salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit. You remember John chapter 3, we have that discussion of Jesus with Nicodemus where Jesus says, you must be born again. In John chapter 3 verse 5, he says, Jesus says, look, there's only one way.

To be born of water and spirit. You must be born again of the Holy Spirit. The idea of being born again, that regeneration, is a work of the Holy Spirit. And so the fact that people will be saved during the tribulation period really points to the continual and ongoing presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the tribulation period.

Now, it is definitely possible that the working of the Holy Spirit may be a little bit different than what we see now or are familiar with now, but the presence of the Holy Spirit will not change in the tribulation period. Now, in thinking about this, I think it's important to kind of elaborate, not necessarily on the question, but to kind of emphasize a couple things. First of all, I would really encourage everyone to

to make sure that you verify truth. That you don't just...

accept and receive something that someone else said, no matter how great they are, right? In Acts chapter 17, verse 11, we have the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily to find out whether the things that Paul said were actually true. And so that's a great example for us. If you have the Apostle Paul teaching, you would think, I don't have to verify that. But they were commended for searching the scriptures and making sure that is actually what the Bible teaches. Let me say it this way.

If you agree perfectly with everything I teach, then I would suggest that you aren't searching the scriptures for yourself. If you agree perfectly with everything that I teach, if we're like exactly like just point for point, line for line, everything is exactly just perfect for you, that you believe everything that I teach, I would suggest you're not searching the scriptures.

for yourself. You're not digging into those things on your own. Because even I don't agree with myself perfectly. I go back, you know, as we go through the Bible again, and I learn more, and I have different perspectives, and I understand things from different angles. And later on, as I teach them again, I perhaps teach them a little bit differently. And not, you know, in a radical departure from the gospel, but

But, you know, perspectives change and that's okay. That's part of time. And it's appropriate for us to understand that things are shared from different understandings, but we need to check the scriptures ourselves and make sure that we find out what the Bible says and come to our own conclusions about that. But there's also a lot of things that the Bible is not abundantly clear on. There's lots of room for discussion and variation in different perspectives on things.

And so again, number one, I'd say verify truth. Number two, I'd say hold opinions lightly. Hold the scripture firmly, but make sure that you hold opinions lightly.

The Bible talks about two or three witnesses confirming a matter, and the context is in matters of law for the nation of Israel, but it's a good principle for Scripture as well. You don't just take one passage and build some strong, opinionated perspective on that.

but you look and see what the whole of Scripture says. Find two or three passages that address that subject and deal with that same thing and agree in that, and then we can hold firmly to the Scripture. But a lot of bad doctrine comes from an opinionated conclusion from one passage that could be understood in a variety of ways. A lot of bad doctrine comes from

From an opinionated conclusion, from one passage, that could be understood many different ways. And we need to protect ourselves from that. And search the scriptures. There's plenty of room for you to have opinions and have thoughts and perspectives. And, well, I think it's going to happen this way and play out this way. And I think this is what, you know, it was taking place when the Lord was talking about that. No problem. But we need to be careful that we don't then build those opinions and those perspectives as doctrine.

And so I'd like to introduce you to something. I call it the sound doctrine scale. And here, the sound doctrine scale gives us a little bit of context to be able to place these things in a way to help us understand where they fit. And so there at the end, you have the Bible clearly opposes it. So if that's what's taught, then that's bad doctrine, right? The Bible clearly opposes that, so that is not sound doctrine.

Then you have a little bit further up, the Bible hints against it. So maybe it's not a clear, outright opposition or, you know, denial of something, but, you know, it seems to indicate there in the scriptures that that's not what's going to take place or that's not what is being taught. You have the middle then where the Bible doesn't address it at all, that it's not really discussed one way or the other. And so, you know, there's no real conclusion to the matter. Then you have those things that, well, the Bible kind of hints that it might be true.

And so, you know, you can look at things and understand, well, it seems to be saying this. It's not strong enough for us to say without certainty, without any question, but it seems to be indicating this. And then you have on the far end, I guess it's there, right there. It's really hard to do that in reverse, where the Bible clearly teaches it. And those are the things that we can hold to firmly. It's like standing on solid ground. But as you work your way...

Out of, you know, from that, you're on solid ground. The Bible clearly teaches this. I kind of picture it in my mind as like walking out onto a frozen lake.

and the ice is nice and solid when you first step out, and the Bible hints that it may be true, but the further you go out, the ice gets thinner and thinner, and so the Bible doesn't address it, but I have this strong opinion. Well, you're kind of on some shallow ice there, and it might crumble unexpectedly. You might not make it as far as you think, and then you go farther out on the ice, and

you know, the Bible really seems to indicate that's not, you know, the thing that is going to happen, and that's not really how it's going to be played out. And then, you know, when you try to walk on water, the Bible clearly opposes that and says the opposite of what you think and what you're saying. And so I would encourage you to kind of consider some things that you believe in this context. And so, you know, the 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 7 talks about the Holy Spirit being removed from the earth. Um...

You know, it's not that clear. It talks about he who restrains, but there's kind of a conclusion that's being come to there, and there is definitely possible explanations that don't make it exactly that. It maybe is, you know, accurate as a general summary of what's happening, but it's not exactly that to the degree that the Bible clearly teaches it. Again, it's opposite on my screen, but the Bible clearly teaches it. No, it's not exactly that. It's

Maybe that's true, but more we don't know exactly how all of that is going to unfold. And the problem begins really when you build a conclusion on a previous conclusion that's not clear. It's like you're building a house of cards.

And so you built this doctrine on a interpretation that might be true, and now you have this doctrine. And then now you build on that. Okay, well, since this is true, now I'm going to build this other doctrine. And now I have this belief that's based on this belief that might be true. And then, you know, as you start to build these things, well, the foundation can crumble very quickly. And so we need to be careful that we don't...

just take those things as facts that are not clear in the scriptures. Well, we're going to finish up in Revelation chapter 8. Now, rest assured, we're not going to go through all of chapter 8. Just looking at the first couple of verses because it's the final seal. Seal number 7 is silence in heaven. And so the final seal of the scroll is opened.

And there is silence in heaven for about a half an hour. All that worship we were just seeing, all of the things that were there in that heavenly scene, now it's all quiet for about half an hour. The four living creatures crying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, they stop. It's quiet. The 424 elders that were worshiping and praising, they're quiet. The martyrs in this multitude that was before the throne, they're quiet. This multitude of angels that was crying out, they're quiet.

And then the prayers of the saints are offered before the Lord. In verse 3, another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints before the golden altar, which was before the throne. And God's about to answer all of those prayers. The prayers for righteousness and justice upon the earth, the prayers that the saints have been offering up, it is now being brought before the Lord. And then, verse 6 says,

The seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. And so the opening of the seventh seal introduces now seven angels who are going to be sounding trumpets. And as each one sounds...

then like the seals, things are going to be happening upon the earth. And so that's where we'll leave off, and that's where we'll pick it up next Wednesday, and we'll look at the seven trumpets, and as those sound, the things that happen during the tribulation period. And so again, here is the look at the seven seals. The Antichrist comes on the scene.

Then peace is taken from the earth. Worldwide famine hits to a great degree. A quarter of the earth die in the opening of the fourth seal. The martyrs in heaven are comforted. The catastrophic events that unfold in the sixth seal are hard for us to picture. And then there's silence in heaven for 30 minutes, waiting for these angels as they prepare to sound.

And the sound is going to be sharp. The sound of the trumpet is going to be loud. And more judgment and wrath is going to be poured out upon the earth. We covered quite a bit tonight here in Revelation 6 through 8, looking at all these seven seals, looking at the judgment of God, the mercy of God, looking at the rebellion of man. And all of these things were reminded to be ready.

No matter how you interpret these things or how you look at these seals and the openings and the judgments, really the conclusion we can all come to is I don't want to be here during this time. And so it's important for us to know the Lord, to walk with the Lord, to call out to him and rely upon him. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us as we consider these things, that you would help us

to draw near to you. Lord, would you forgive us of our sin? Lord, would you help us to turn away from those things that are not of you in our lives? Lord, that we would walk with you in uprightness, in holiness. Lord, that we would desire to know you, to hear your voice, and to be led by you. Lord, we want to be fully prepared and ready for your return.

And so would you mold us and shape us? Would you draw us near to you that we might become more like you? We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.