The First Four Trumpets of Revelation

⁶ Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

⁸ The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. ⁹ A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.

¹² The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

The trumpets that follow the seals in Revelation show the judgment on unbelievers because of their hardened hearts. These judgments show God’s sovereignty and glory over the affairs of humanity and the world. The judgments primary purpose is not to cause repentance among the “earth dwellers,” although that will happen to a small extent, but punish because of the people’s irreversible hardened and unrepentant hearts. Revelation 8:3-5 serves as a link from the seals, particularly the prayer in Revelation 6:10, to the punishment of the world in the trumpets. The trumpets start a new cycle of judgments, with six trumpets that lead up the seventh trumpet of final judgment. In this way, the trumpets recapitulate what the seals portrayed.

Verse 7 is patterned after the Exodus plague of hail and fire in Egypt. The language is very similar: “There was hail and fire flashing…” (Exodus 9:24); “hail and fire” (Revelation 8:7). In Exodus 9 and Revelation 8 the hail is sent against three parts of earth: land/earth, field/grass, and trees. The first trumpet is different from Exodus in that only a third of all the land and trees are harmed. The punishment is limited, but it is applied across the world. In Revelation the fire does the damage, while in Exodus it is the hail that struck down. The blood mixed with the hail and fire reminds us of the plague of blood in the Nile.

If we recall Revelation 1:1, the visions “signify” or show what is to take place. Signify in this sense means to show by signs, symbols, which figuratively represent the reality of what is and will happen. Because of this symbolic nature of the images, the first trumpet may indicate famines. In Exodus the famine caused by the hail and fire was not total. The wheat was spared (Exodus 9:32). Ezekiel 5 also tells of a famine that is divided into thirds. Fire in Ezekiel 5 is a metaphor for famine.

Verses 8-9 show the second trumpet. It continues the theme of the first trumpet. A great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. The mountain can be a metaphor for a kingdom. Revelation 14:1, 19:9, and 21:10 illustrate this. Fire in Revelation is symbolic of judgment. This symbolizes the judgment of an evil kingdom. We see the symbolism elsewhere in Revelation 18:20-21. There a mighty stone was thrown into the sea and that stone is identified as Babylon. Jeremiah 51:25 says it is against Babylon and describes it as a “destroying mountain.” God will make Babylon a “burnt mountain.” Thus the burning mountain is not a volcano, nuclear missile, asteroid, or meteorite. It refers to a wicked kingdom, which is identified as “Babylon” in Revelation, the “great city.” Babylon sets the world order in the evil world. The disasters in Revelation have the backdrop of Old Testament imagery, which contain figurative descriptions.

The judgment is inflicted on the sea. Only a third of the see is harmed, showing again the limited nature of the judgment. The sea turning to blood once again looks back to the plagues of Egypt with the Nile turning to blood. Once again this refers to famine conditions, where a third of the sea life was destroyed. Sea faring commerce is harmed too. This anticipates the complete destruction of Babylon, which is the source of maritime business.


Verses 10-11, the third trumpet continues the famine judgment with bitter, undrinkable water. Again, this alludes to Exodus 7:20-25. There is a a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch. Previously in Revelation, stars represented angelic beings. These angels act as representatives of kingdoms and people of the world. First represents judgment. Also, the plague on the waters in Egypt can be thought of as a judgment on heavenly beings, such as the gods of Egypt, which includes the Nile god. The star also can represent the angel of Babylon, as seen in Isaiah 14:12-15. In that passage, the king and nation of Babylon is judged because Babylon’s guardian angel, “Day Star, son of Dawn,” has fallen from heaven. The earthly power of Babylon is behind these passages in Revelation 8:8, and 10.

The star is called wormwood. Wormwood is bitter herb. Wormwood in water becomes poisonous when consumed over a long period of time. Jeremiah 9:15 and 23:15 is an Old Testament passage to which Revelation alludes. There the false prophets pollute the nation of Israel with false gods, so God pollutes the waters of Israel with wormwood. Babylon of Revelation is great city that pollutes the world with its lures and pleasures and God judges the world as a result by polluting the waters and springs of the earth.

Verse 12, the forth trumpet afflicts the sun, moon, and stars. This is not a full and final judgment because only a third of the sun, moon, and stars are affected. But this judgment anticipates the final judgment. This judgment is alludes to Exodus 10:21, where God caused darkness in Egypt. This Exodus judgment of darkness was an apologetic against the sun god of Ra, of which Pharaoh was viewed as an incarnation. This judgment therefore can be viewed as a punishment of idolaters (in both revelation and Exodus). In fact, early Jewish tradition viewed the plague of darkness as having symbolic significance. They viewed the darkness as a punishment on the Egyptians for their idolatry.

Also, the sun, moon, and stars are Old Testament symbols for Israel. Joseph dreamed where the sun, moon, and stars bowed to him, which stood for his family. Further, the imagery of the sun, moon, and stars has a New Covenant aspect to them where stars represent angels and Christ. The dragon in Revelation 12 sweeps away a third of the stars, which could refer to Satan’s deception of the angels and the “earth dwellers.” This judgment then is directed at the idolaters inside and outside the church.

Background of the Trumpets in Revelation

Before examining the trumpet section in Revelation, I will examine some of the biblical tapestry behind the images of the trumpets. The trumpet section alludes to the imagery of other trumpets in scripture, and the plagues of Exodus when God was bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. The first five trumpets strongly allude to particular plagues in Exodus. The table below shows the similarity between the trumpet judgments and the Exodus plagues.

Trumpet	Exodus Plague
1. (8:7) Hail, fire, blood	Exodus 9:22-25 Hail, fire
2. (8:8-9) Sea turned to blood	Exodus 7:20-25 Nile turned to blood
3. (8:10-11) Rivers made bitter
4. (8:12) 1/3 light darkened	Exodus 10:21-23 Darkness
5. (9:1-11) Demon locusts	Exodus 10:12-15 Locusts

The correspondence of the trumpets with the plagues is not exact, as are all the other allusions in Revelation to the Old Testament. However, the allusions are strong enough that they provide a backdrop that can give us insight in the trumpet judgments of Revelation.

The purpose of the Exodus plagues was to glorify God’s majesty and power through Pharaoh’s hardened heart. This was accomplished by God’s judgments, which hardened Pharaoh’s resolve to refuse to let Israel go. Over and over the plagues showed how Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods were impotent against the power and majesty of Yahweh. This included the sun god, Ra, whom Yahweh showed was ineffectual when Moses stretch out his hand and God brought darkness on the land for three days. Further, the plagues were primarily judgments against the hardened heart of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Only in the secondary case were the plagues meant to be a warning to bring about repentance to the nonbeliever. There were a few Egyptians who repented and joined Israel, but the vast majority did not repent.

The Exodus plagues are a type for the trumpets. There are differences between the plagues and the trumpets. The plagues were localized to Egypt, but with a few exceptions, applied everywhere to Egypt. The trumpets, in contrast, are worldwide, not restricted to a particular province. However, the first five trumpet judgment, while world wide, are restricted to a third of the earth, sea, or whatever its effects are applied to, while the plagues applied to the whole of Egypt (except where the Israelites lived).

Trumpets are found elsewhere in the Bible. In the New Testament (Matthew 24:30-31; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) trumpets indicate the end-time coming of Christ. In Exodus, trumpets indicate refers to judgment. In Revelation, judgments reflect the Kingly power of Christ that came from his resurrection, ascension and coronation in heaven. Trumpets also announce alarms for battle (Judges 7:16-22; Jeremiah 4:5-21; 42:14; 51:27; Ezekiel 7:14; Hosea 8:1; Joel 2:1; Zephaniah 1:16).

The prime example of seven trumpets in the Old Testament is the fall of Jericho (Joshua 6). With Jericho, seven priests carried seven trumpets, while other priests carried the Ark of the Covenant. For six days the priests blew the trumpets to Harold the impending doom of Jericho and the victor of Israel. In Revelation there are seven angels dressed in priestly robes (see the description of the angels in Revelation 15:5-6). Priests represent God’s authority, along with the ark (which is seen in Revelation 8:3-5, and identified in Revelation 11:19).

The Old Testament background, particularly where Revelation draws must of the allusions to Exodus and Joshua, we see two major points for the trumpets. The first is that the purpose of the trumpets in Revelation is judgment on the unbelievers (“the earth dwellers”). Trumpets primarily are not for warning and calling to repentance, although that does happen, but not on a large scale. Secondly, the first six trumpets in Revelation chapters 8 through 9 are punishments that are preliminary to the final judgment. This has the same thrust as the trumpets at Jericho.

The placement of the trumpets in Revelation after the chapter 7 military census of the 144,000 provides the imagery of God’s army going to war, but it’s not the typical way people think that wars are won. The war is won through the suffering and even the martyrdom of the saints. The saints pray that God will judge the enemies of Christ and God fights for them. The trumpet section of Revelation recapitulates the seals of chapters 6 and 7. The seals focused on the trials the believers must pass through. The trumpets, in contrast, emphasize the answer to prayer for judgment on the unbelievers inside and outside the church.

Transition, The Golden Censer

² Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. ³ And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, ⁴ and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:2-5, ESV)

We are in the second of four visions John records in Revelation. The first vision started in chapter 1, followed by the letters to the seven churches. The second vision is recorded in chapters 4 and 5, followed by Christ being given the scroll with the seven seals. In Revelation 8:1 the seventh seal was broken and now we move on to the seven trumpets. The seven trumpets, along with the seven seals, are part of the "aftermath" of the vision in chapters 4 and 5. After the seven trumpets will come seven histories, followed by the seven bowls, which will conclude this vision sequence.

Verse 1 of chapter 8 is the formal conclusion of the seals. Verse 2 starts the trumpets, however, there is an interesting interruption of the trumpets. G.K. Beale in The Book of Revelation notes this as a structural interlocking of the last seal with the trumpets. In a way, verses 3-5 are an interlocking bridge from the seals to the trumpets.

Who the seven angels are we don’t know. There are seven well-known archangels of Jewish apocalyptic literature. The definite article translated as “the” in the ESV would seem to indicate that. Trivia question, who are they? Enoch 20:1-7 and 40:9 says: Uriel (presides over clamor and terror), Raphael (presides over the spirits of men), Raguel (who inflicts punishments), Michael (presides over human virtual and commands nations), Sarakiel (presides over naughty children), Gabriel (presides over all that is powerful), Phenuel (presides over repentance and those who inherit eternal life). Whether John actually sees these angels as stated in the Jewish apocalypses, or this is even an allusion to them, I can’t say. Another interesting possibility for the angels is that these are associated with the seven churches. However, there is probably more affinity of angels being used by God for judgment and that seems to be the use here (see Exodus 12:23; Psalm 78:47-48).

The interruption of the trumpets in Revelation 8:3-5 is to pick up and conclude the description of the final judgment in Revelation 6:12-17 and 8:1. The reason this fits with the final judgment are the close parallels it has with Revelation 6:12 (earthquakes), 11:19; 16:18; and the context of Revelation 8:2-5 and 15:2-4, all of which are final judgments.

Another angel came to the alter. This alter is the same alter where the souls of the slain saints are under. We can infer this with the prayers added to the incense in the censer and the prayers of the slain souls under the alter in Revelation 5:8 and 6:9. Here we can see the prayers of all the saints means that the slain souls stands for more than just the saints that were literally murdered. The angel is unspecified. It could be “The Angel of the Presence” in Isaiah 63:9. It could also be Christ as in Revelation 10:1 and 14:14. This angel carried carries a golden censer (like one pictured on the upper left).

The smoke of the incense rises before God indicates that the prayers of Revelation 6:10 is now being formally presented to God. The angel is representing the saints as he presents the prayers. The angels were also representatives to the churches in Revelation 1:20 and following. The angels are acting according to God’s will and desires. Thus the angels are carrying out God’s prior decision, which is consistent with the saints make their appeal directly to God in Revelation 6:10. The “much incense” rose before God is a metaphor that God accepted the prayers.

Incense in both the Old Testament and New Testament is always associated with sacrifices. Incense was added to the offering to make it pleasing to God. Thus associated with the saints’ prayer is the idea that the saints sacrificially gave their lives in remaining faithful to Christ. Revelation 7 tells us how the saints were able to remain faithful; God sealed them, so they were under God’s sovereign protection and had their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Verse 5 indicates, by God’s judgment, the acknowledgment and acceptance of the prayers. The angel throws the censer to the earth, which is followed by, “peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.” As mentioned, this fits with other end time judgments, indicating this is the last judgment.

Revelation 7 -- Interlude and the Seventh Seal

¹ After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. ² Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, ³ saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴ And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

...

⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 7:1-4, 9-12, ESV)

In the previous post we saw the final judgment. Keep in mind the question of the last verse in chapter 6: “for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?” This chapter will answer that question. In order to answer that question, chapter 7 takes us back to history prior to the unleashing of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (the first four seals). Some might object that this makes Revelation chaotic in its portrayal of history. But we need to remember that that God sees everything in the universe in the “eternal now”. The ordering of the images in the vision need not reflect a strict temporal ordering, but rather may reflect other logical orderings or sequences. Thus when Revelation 7:1 says, “After this…”, it refers to the next part of the vision, but that vision does not necessarily imply the next sequence in time after what was shown in the previous vision. We will need to look for clues when, temporally speaking, this vision segment takes place.

This segment is not a seal being broken; rather it is an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals. An interlude usually provides an explanation for further elaboration of the events immediately preceding or surrounding it. There are four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. The imagery of the four corners is that the angels are surveying the entire earth. The function of these angels is to hold back the four winds. If we recall that the four horsemen of Revelation 6:1-8 has its Old Testament background in Zechariah 6:1-8, then we would also note that the four groups of horses in Zechariah are identified as the four winds of heaven (Zechariah 6:5). This means this interlude takes us back to prior to the first seal being broken. Remember, this interlude is a parenthesis that is going to provide further explanation of the previous events in chapter 6.

The purpose of these four angels is identified by a fifth angel that is ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of God. The servants of God are to be sealed before the earth is harmed. The seal will protect God’s servants during the persecutions and trials they will need to endure. What exactly is the nature of this seal? Ezekiel 9 provides the best background for divine sealing. In Ezekiel, God commands an angel to mark genuine believers and instructs another angel to slay the unfaithful Israelites. The mark on the believers will prevent them from suffering harm from the coming wrath of God, which will be inflicted by the Babylonians on the unfaithful Israelites. Ezekiel 9 speaks of a physical protection. The seal provides protection to the saints in Revelation is evident from Revelation 9:4, where the demonic powers are told not to harm those who have the seal of God on their foreheads. However, Revelation does not concern itself so much with physical protection of the saints, but rather with the spiritual protection. This spiritual protection is the protection of the believer’s faith and salvation from various sufferings and persecutions that they will have inflicted upon them.

The sealing enables the believers to respond in faith to the trials that come their way. These trails then become the very vehicles by which their faith is strengthened. From the first four seals (the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) we see that believers and unbelievers suffer similar physical afflictions. The trails purify the believer’s faith, however, those same trials harden the unbelievers against God. The seal is closely related to the salvation of the saints. Revelation 14:1-4 tells about the saints that are sealed have the names of Christ and the Father written upon their heads. The Lamb has purchased all of these who bear the names on their forehead.

The seals also indicate that God owns the servants of God. It was a common practice in the ancient world to mark slaves to indicate who owned them. This seal, therefore, is a seal given to all believers. In this, we can infer that the 144,000 in the next few verses (4-8) also refers to the “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.”

This sealing probably occurred before the foundation of the world. It probably refers to the divine decree to seal all those who believe all throughout the inter-advent age. This decree will be fulfilled when each person believes in Christ.

The seal is God’s sign of sovereign authority over the believers. It indicates God’s protection over them. The seal empowers the believers to remain loyal to Christ and to persevere in their faith. While the believer may face loss of their physical life, the seal protects them from loosing their spiritual life. The seal grants them eternal life. The seal also protects the believers from the final Day of Judgment. The Lamb of God has endured the wrath of God so that the true believers will persevere and overcome and be able to stand before God at the last day.

While John does not explicitly say this, the seal may be best identified with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guarantees spiritual protection. This is seen in 2 Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13, and 4:30).

The seal is applied to 144,000. Since we have seen symbolic numbers before, it is very likely this too is symbolic. What does this number represent? There are a number of ways to look at it, but the one I think that fits with the context of Revelation is noting that 144,000 is equal to 12 times 12 times 1000. Where have we seen two 12’s before? We saw that with the 24 elders before the throne. We noted that it represents 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles, representing both the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints. The same thing is going on with the 144,000. It includes the idea of 12 tribes, 12 apostles, times 1000 (a large number). It is numbered off with 12,000 coming from each tribe of Israel – however this is not a usual order of tribes found in the Old Testament. Judah is listed first, and that is understandable given Christ comes from the Tribe of Judah and is the priestly king. The other tribes are not listed in the usual way, in that some tribes are replaced with other tribes in the listing.

The listing of the tribes is done in the fashion of a census in the Old Testament. The purpose of a census was to prepare for war. Here God’s people are prepared for war. It is an ironic war in which victory is achieved through the apparent defeat by tribulation and death, in which the army overcomes, just as Christ achieved victory through his death on the cross.

Right after the census John sees an untold number, myriads upon myriads of people that cannot be numbered, who wear white robes and bear palm branches in their hands, a sign of victory. These countless people answer the question at the end of chapter 6, who can stand before the throne at the last day? These are the ones, who come out of the great tribulation, whose robes have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and thereby have been made white and pure. By implication, all of these people have been sealed with the seal of God. The seal has been applied to their foreheads. Chapter 7 closes with the refrain:

¹⁵ “Therefore they are before the throne of God,and serve him day and night in his temple;and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. ¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;the sun shall not strike them,nor any scorching heat. ¹⁷ For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,and he will guide them to springs of living water,and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:15-17, ESV)

The seventh seal is broken in Revelation 8:1. Often this is thought to be an empty seal, in which the trumpets form the contents of the seal. However, this is really not the case. In Jewish literature there was the concept of a "pimeval silence" at the end of history in which all the people die and just prior to the final judgment. There is also the response, or anticipated response to the judgment where “all the earth” stand in silent awe. There is an aspect of this silence over the judgment of God in Romans 3:19: “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” (ESV). So the seventh seal follows the sixth in that it is the response of silence to the final judgment of God.

The Fifth and Sixth Seals

⁹ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. ¹⁰ They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

¹² When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, ¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. ¹⁴ The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave [5] and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:9-17, ESV)

The previous post looked at the first four broken seals in Revelation 6. We now will look at the next two seals. Albrecht Dürer illustrates these two seal being broken in the woodcut illustration above (from Pasquale Iannetti Art Gallery). Click on either the link or the picture to see the full size image.

The pattern is changed in the fifth seal from the previous four. No longer do the living creatures that surround the throne say come. Neither is the focus on earth, but our attention is drawn back into heaven. Underneath the alter are the souls of those who had been slain. These appear to be believers from the New Testament and beyond, because they were slain for the witness they bore, and the implication is their witness was their faithfulness to Christ, who is the faithful witness in chapter 1. In fact, this seal carries on what was developed in the first three chapters of Revelation. These souls are the ones who overcame in chapters 2-3, and are given white robes. These souls can in fact stand for all Christians who remained faithful and overcame and enter into heaven. “Slain” in this sense is a metaphor to stand for all saints who suffer for the sake of their faith. This suffering primarily refers to believers who conquer temptations, sin, and the pressure to compromise and suffer as a result but are faithful to the end (“The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” – Revelation 2:26-29, ESV). Furthermore, all who have united themselves with Christ become identified with the suffering Lamb that was slain; the slain Lamb becomes the symbol that identifies them and they are identified as being slain.

The slain souls are underneath the alter. The words “slain” and “alter” identify a sacrificial nature of the soul’s suffering. There are at least a couple of different kinds of alters. This alter seems to refer to the golden alter of incense which was near the holy of holies. Revelation 8:3-5; 9:13 identifies this as the golden alter. The sacrificial blood of the Day of Atonement was poured out on this alter. Incense was burned on this alter. The slain are underneath the alter. This is because the alter in the Temple is viewed as the throne of God. The saints being under the alter means they are under the protection of God even though they were slain because of persecution. But, the persecution and death come as a result of the first four seals, which is ultimately under God’s responsibility. For the saints, God sends persecution to test and to purify the faith of the believers. Those who persevere to the end sacrifice themselves on the heavenly alter, in a similar fashion as Christ sacrificed himself on the cross.

The saints cry out, “how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” This is not a cry for personal revenge, but they call for God to uphold his character. They prefix their cry with, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true.” God is asked to demonstrate his sovereignty, his holiness, and the standard of truth by fulfilling his promises to punish the wicked. The phrase, “those who dwell on the earth” is used to describe unbelievers (see Revelation 3:10 and 6:17). The cry of the saints to, “avenge our blood” is not a cry for personal revenge, but that God would demonstrate to the whole world they are right and the evildoers are wrong. This is demonstrated in heavenly court where God overturns the wrong verdict of the earthly courts when God judges the ones who persecuted the ones where were slain.

God answers their request in two ways. First God gives the saints white robes. The white robes do not represent glorified bodies. The saints will get that at the final resurrection on Christ’s return. The white robes represent purity from their faith in Christ, which results in perseverance and their faith being purified in tribulation. The saints did not earn their white robes from their faithfulness. Rather, the white robes are the result of the not-guilty verdict of God through the death of his Son on the cross. In this, God is also announcing that the guilty verdict rendered by the “earth dwellers” is overturned. The robe then is an assurance to the saints that God will openly declare the earth dwellers as guilty and punish them for persecuting the saints.

The second way that God answers their cry is that he tells them “to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete….” Implicitly, God is saying that the judgment will come. The time is not ready yet, God has determined the number of saints to be added to the number under the alter. The final judgment will begin when all that God has decreed to suffer will finally fulfill their destiny. The word “killed” in verse 11 is to be taken figuratively to all believers who persevere. There is an irony to the overcomers. The ones who overcome are ironically the ones, in the view of the earth dwellers, to have been defeated, just as Christ appeared to be defeated on the cross. Instead, the defeat of the saints is tuned into victory in which they overcome in heaven. God’s implicit promise to judge gives the basis for the saints to rest. They rest on the assurance of God’s promise.

The fifth seal, as with seals one through four, occur throughout the inter-advent age. Ever since Christ’s first advent, believers have been suffering for Christ even to the point of martyrdom. These five seals go throughout history from Christ’s first advent to his second in parallel. Christ’s gospel and kingdom will advance. As a result, suffering and persecution arises from the gospel. Believers suffer, persevere, and overcome in heaven and receive their white robes. All of this occurs throughout the age between the two advents.The answer to the slain ones’ cry from under the alter comes in verses 12-17. Most people, when they initially come to this passage, see this as the final judgment. Only some kinds of “futurist dispensational” commentators don’t see this as the final judgment. But the final judgment is clear from the standard Old Testament imagery for the description of the dissolution of the universe.

One of the clearest Old Testament parallels is Isaiah 34:4, which Revelation 6:13-14a closely resembles:

Isaiah 34:4		Revelation 6:13-14a
All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.		and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

The heavens are split like a scroll is split and the two halves are rolled up. Taken with other Old Testament passages this appears to be the final, universal judgment. This can be seen in Isaiah 24. The language may be metaphoric, but the intent of the passage is the last judgment for the following reasons:

(1) The words, “for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” implies a legal pronouncement. The similarities to Revelation 20:11-15 are very striking and point to the same event. In both places the skies vanished like a scroll or fled away.

(2) The sixth seal answers the cry of the slain ones under the alter in the fifth seal. This makes sense that it’s the final judgment where the saints are vindicated.

(3) The words of Revelation 6:17 parallels with the other final judgment scenes in Revelation.

(4) The language of this section shows totality of the judgment. All the stars fall (verses a third in Revelation 8:12, or one or a few stars falling from heaven to earth in 8:10; 9:1, and 12:4).

The language is universal. It is not limited to a region, such as the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, nor to some activity to a then future Israel in the “tribulation”. This is the final judgment.

But wait – we’re only at chapter 6 of the book of Revelation and we’re at the final judgment! What is going on? How can that be? The answer is answering the question of how we are to view the structure of the book. Is Revelation a continual temporal sequence of events in future history? That is one possibility. Another possibility is that God is giving John several cyclic snapshots of history. Each of these snapshots presents a particular view or emphasis of the history between the advents of Christ. The technical name for these cyclic snapshots is recapitulation. I personally think that recapitulation best fits the literary structure of Revelation. The recapitulation view has been the dominant view of Revelation throughout church history until rather recently.

The reaction of the “earth dwellers” to the final judgment is extreme, showing how desperate their situation is. Of the ways to die, being buried alive is not one of the ways I’d choose for my exit. It is a terrible way to die – but that is more endurable to the earth dwellers than the wrath of the Lamb. That is an image, the wrath of the Lamb. We usually think of lambs being gentle and meek, the contrast with this image is very different.

The contrast of the earth dwellers, who cannot stand before God, is very different for the slain ones, the elders, and others in heaven who wear the white robes. They stand before God in purity and righteousness that they won from the Lamb who was slain on their behalf.

Revelation 6 -- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

¹ Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” ² And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

³ When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:1-8, ESV)

We are in the second vision of Revelation. The first vision started in Revelation chapter 1 with the heavenly vision of Christ. After the vision of Christ the messages were delivered to the seven churches, which represent all the churches throughout the inter-advent age. The second vision began in Revelation chapter 4. John is taken to the great throne room of heaven with the four creatures and the twenty-four elders worshiping God. The one who sits on the throne holds a scroll sealed with seven seals. Christ is the only one worthy to take the scroll. He takes the scroll and breaks the seven seals of the scroll. The first four seals bring out four horsemen. This passage has been the subject of literature and art for centuries. At the upper left is Albrecht Durer’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This is a woodcut image made by Durer around 1498. It is the most famous of his sixteen images he made of the Apocalypse.

There are four houses: A white horse, a red horse, a black horse, and a pale horse. Associated with the horses are conquering (white), war (red), famine (black), and death (pale). This passage alludes to several other scriptures. One is from Zechariah 6:1-8, another is Zechariah 1:8-15. In these passages, there are four groups of horses of different color that God sends to patrol the earth and punish the nations that are oppressing God’s people. God raises those nations to discipline his people, but when those nations inflict more punishment on Israel than they should have, God then punishes them because of his great love for Israel. The horses in Revelation and in Zechariah are very similar in color, with the most notable exception in the descriptions being that Zechariah has groups of horses (with Zechariah 6 having the horses pulling chariots), while Revelation has four individual horses, each with a different color.

This connection between Revelation 6:1-8 and Zechariah 1 and 6 seem to indicate God’s ongoing discipline of his people and simultaneous punishment of non-believers who persecute his people. Four judgments are also stated in Ezekiel 14:12-23. These judgments are caused by nations being unfaithful to God. The purpose of God’s retribution is to punish the nations for their sin but also to purify God’s remnant people by testing their faith. In Revelation we can see analogous application of judgments. Persevering believers will be purified. However, those who demonstrate their disloyalty to Christ by compromising with idolatry will be judged in these tribulations. Ezekiel also refers back to Leviticus 26:18-28. In Leviticus, God says he will bless Israel if it repents of idolatry. God issues warning judgments which will cause the true Israelites to repent and draw near to God, while the apostates will be punished and draw away from God.

God may have been drawing on John’s background in scripture and using these Old Testament passages as a backdrop to the four horsemen. The four horsemen of Revelation 6, as well as the rest of chapter 6, also have a strong allusion to the Olivet Discourse Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 13:7-9, 24-25; Matthew 24:6-8; Luke 21:9-12, 25-26). The Olivet Discourse is where Jesus gave his discussion about the future. It was prompted by the disciples earlier when they were leaving the Temple commented how huge and impressive it was. Jesus took the disciples down the Kidron Valley and up on the Mount of Olives. There Jesus told them the temple would be destroyed, talked about various things that would happen throughout time prior to his coming again, and talked about the end of the age. As each horse is examined, along with the other seals, we’ll look at the discourse.

As Christ breaks each of the seals, one of the four living creatures thunders out, “Come!” The first horse is a white horse. This is an enigmatic symbol where respected scholars debate with vast disagreement. We’ll look at the other horses first, because the meaning of these is more obvious.

The second horse is red. The rider was granted to take peace away from the earth. He carries a great sword. Clearly this horse and rider bring war to the world. When we look at the Olivet Discourse, Christ says, “when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.” From the discourse we see this is an activity that occurs throughout the age before Christ returns.

The third horse is black. The rider has a pair of scales. This horseman is indicative of famine. The scales were used to ration food during times of famine. A voice from the center of the four creatures speaks. The only one mentioned that sits in the center is God, and thus implies that God is even the ruler of famines. The voice says, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” A denarius was a day’s wage for most people. A quart of wheat is not much for a family. While we use barely today in soups and in other things, barely was a much lower grade of grain, used chiefly to feed cattle. The prices for these items have been inflated from eight to sixteen times their normal price. Commentators speculate about the meaning of, “do not harm the oil and wine.” It is possible that not all items will be hit hard in a famine, that some things will be available. Others see this as luxury items and that the rich will find ways to enjoy their lives even during times of famine.

When we look at the Olivet Discourse, Christ says, “…there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.” In other words, famines will reoccur throughout the inter-advent age.

The forth horse is pale. The Greek word is “chloros”. Our words “chlorine” “chloroform” come from this word. It is a pale yellow-green, sickly color. The riders are called “Death” and “Hades”. In Revelation chapter 1, we see that Christ has the keys to death and hades. They are given authority to kill a quarter of the people. It is not a full judgment, but a partial one. They inflict a four-fold pestilence on the earth. Four-fold pestilence is symbolic of a full judgment that is seen in the Old Testament – but is not complete given that it is a quarter of humanity affected. Again, from the Olivet Discourse, these judgments occur throughout the church age until the coming of Christ.

As I indicated, there is much debate about the first horse. Commentators, well-respected commentators will identify that horseman as Christ to anti-Christ! You can’t get further poles apart than that!

For those who think the first horseman is Christ, they see it is a white horse. White in the Bible is almost always good. Further, the rider is wearing a crown and Christ wears a crown. Finally the rider conquers; conquering in the Bible is usually a good thing, such as conquering evil. Those who think the rider is the anti-Christ see that Jesus forewarned about imposters coming with the appearance of the Messiah, “Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.” (Mark 13:6, ESV). There is another view, that the rider is not Christ, but the rider is a good rider (because the symbolism of white and crown). Jesus says, “the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.” This rider is seen to represent the gospel going forth to all nations, conquering Satan. As the gospel goes forth, opposition to the gospel will arise in the form of the other horsemen. Personally, I see this last option, the gospel going forth conquering the nations, as the reality behind the symbolism of the white horse of the first seal.

Are these four seals and horsemen sequential occurrences in history? Reading the imagery in Zechariah, those horsemen are going about the earth concurrently. The Olivet Discourse also indicates these events occur concurrently. Each of these things will happen at various times at different places on the earth.

In the next post we’ll examine more of the seals of Revelation.

Revelation 4 and 5

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 begins the second vision. The vision of chapters 4 and 5 sets the foundation for all that follows up through chapter 16. Here is what is contained in the second vision:

Chapter 5 – The Lamb is given a scroll with seven seals.
Chapter 6 – The seals with their judgments are broken.
Chapter 8 – The Angels blow trumpets that will unleash judgments.
Chapter 12 – There are seven symbolic histories.
Chapter 15 – The angels pour our seven bowls of God’s wrath.

This is the scene of the Heavenly Throne Room.

Revelation 4:1 starts with, “after this,” which indicates John is seeing another vision after seeing the first vision of the seven churches. John sees an open door to Heaven. This was promised to the church in Philadelphia, an open door to Heaven that cannot be shut. The first voice he hears is like a sounding trumpet; this is Christ’s voice. He says, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” John says, “Immediately I was in the Spirit,” indicating John is seeing another vision. He sees a throne in Heaven with one sitting on the throne:

(Revelation 4:2-6 NASB) Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. {3} And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. {4} And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. {5} And from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; {6} and before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. …

Jewels are used to describe the one who sits on the throne. Jasper is thought to be a diamond or something like a diamond. It is brilliant, dazzling, and represents God’s glory. Sardis is green and represents the rainbow. This means God’s judgments will be tempered with mercy, in remembrance of the Noahic Covenant. It also indicates that the recreation has started. Just as the rainbow with Noah indicated the start of the recreation of the world after the flood, so it indicates now that the new creation has begun.

There are 24 elders and four living creatures. This is a marvelous scene of worship. Many of the churches were under persecution. They must have been comforted in what John saw, that there is a throne in heaven. There is one who is seated upon it, who made all things and rules all things. God rules over all events.

There are many things that are mysterious and awesome. While many things are mysterious, there are allusions to the Old Testament prophets.

Isaiah 6: Isaiah’s call as a prophet:

(Isaiah 6:1-4 NASB) “In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. {2} Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. {3} And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." {4} And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.”

This passage in Revelation chapter 4 inspired Reginald Heber, an Anglican Minister, to write “Holy, Holy Holy” in 1826:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the
darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Another allusion is:

(Ezekiel 1:4-11 NASB) And as I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire. {5} And within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. {6} Each of them had four faces and four wings. {7} And their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf's hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. {8} Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, {9} their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. {10} As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man, all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. {11} Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.

(Ezekiel 10:1-14 NASB) Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them. {2} And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, "Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim, and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." And he entered in my sight. {3} Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. {4} Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. {5} Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks. {6} And it came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim," he entered and stood beside a wheel. {7} Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. {8} And the cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings. {9} Then I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a Tarshish stone. {10} And as for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. {11} When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went. {12} And their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. {13} The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. {14} And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

Most striking is the description of the four living creatures. In Revelation one is like a man, one like an ox, one like a lion, one like an eagle. In Ezekiel, the four living creatures have four faces, each face being one of the faces of the creatures. Also, the throne in Ezekiel has wheels. The temple had been destroyed, the presence of God moves, so the wheels are appropriate. The vision in Ezekiel seems to be centered on the earthly Temple, but in Revelation this is the heavenly temple or throne room.

There is something like a sea of glass at Mount Sinai:

(Exodus 24:9-10 NASB) Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, {10} and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

The sea of glass could be the laver of Solomon's Temple, and/or also represent the "congealed" Red Sea when Israel crossed. A stormy sea was thought to represent evil, and a peaceful sea is God's dominion over the evil sea (as Christ had dominion over the storm in the Sea of Galilee).

Who are the elders? Why 24? The elders could be angels, humans, or represent humans. These could be angels that represent human, representing the twelve tribes (the Old Testament church) and the twelve apostles (the New Testament church). So the elders seem to represent the entire redeemed of humanity from the Old Testament through the New Testament age and beyond.

In the Old Testament there is a Divine council

(Jeremiah 23:16-18 NASB) Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the LORD. {17} "They keep saying to those who despise Me, 'The LORD has said, "You will have peace"'; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, 'Calamity will not come upon you.' {18} "But who has stood in the council of the LORD, That he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and listened?

(1 Kings 22:19-22 NASB) And Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. {20} "And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that. {21} "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' {22} "And the LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.'

(Job 1:6 NASB) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

The 24 are wearing crowns, white clothing, and sitting on thrones. All three of these things were promised to those who conquered in Revelation chapter 3.

Does this mean the church is raptured? No. The twenty-four elders is a symbolic number representing the council, the rulership, of the redeemed – not the entire redeemed itself.

What about the four living creatures? There is a correspondence with the seraphim in Isaiah chapter 6 who cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and a correspondence with Ezekiel chapter 10 to the cherubim. These are probably the same beings. On top of the Ark of the Covenant, above the mercy seat, where the cherubim. The Old Testament temple was to represent the heavenly scene.

Why four? There are the four corners of the earth, the four winds. The faces represent the whole order of animate creation.

Lion – the wild beasts.
Calf or ox – the domesticated beasts.
Eagle – the birds.
Man – Man, who is given dominion of the earth.

An aside -- there is a tradition the four Gospels, Ireanaus:
John Eagle
Matthew Man
Luke Ox
Mark Lion

What do the elders and living creatures. They sing 24-hours Holy, Holy, holy. The elders fall in worship and cast their crowns, indicating their kingship and how they owe everything to Christ.

This brings to mind another worship song by Pauline M. Mills (1963):

Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy
Thou art worthy, O Lord
To receive glory, glory and honor
Glory and honor and power
For Thou hast created, hast all things created
Thou hast created all things
And for Thy pleasure they are created
Thou artworthy, O Lord

Chapter 5.

John is seeing something in heaven that did not happen before. The scroll is given to the Lamb. The Lamb is a new identity for Christ in what he accomplished on the cross.

Some translations use “book”, others use “scroll”. The Greek word is biblion, which means writing. Some scholars say this is a codex, which is the precursor to the modern style of book. It turns out that the Christian community was the one who popularized the codex in the first century. Whether it is a codex (book) or a scroll will effect how this scene is played out in some of the minor details. If it is a scroll, the contents of the scroll cannot be read until all the seals are broken. If it is a codex, seals could be arranged in a way so that parts of the book are opened, as the seals are broken. However, with a scroll, the seals can have summary information on the contents of the scroll. Breaking a seal would reveal the summary information. It was not unusual for summary information to be placed on seals of legal Roman documents. In fact, if this is a scroll, which most commentators seem to think it is, there are two types of Roman legal documents that bear striking resemblance to this depiction in Revelation 5.

The first document is a will. A Roman will had the following characteristics:
(1) The contents of the will were summarized on the back.
(2) A will had to be witnessed and sealed by seven witnesses.
(3) Only on the death of the testator could a will be unsealed and the legal promise of the inheritance executed.
(4) A trustworthy executor would put the will into effect.

The scroll in Revelation 5 is written on both sides (an opisthograph). This was not normal, scrolls were usually written on one side.

Others have seen this taken the form of another common Roman late first century legal document, a doubly sided contract or deed. Such a document would be written on the inner pages, which were then folded and sealed with seven seals. The contents would be written on the outside in summary or in full. The document was to be unsealed when the inner contents were to be executed.

What does the scroll contained? There are various suggestions:
(1) Leon Morris, book of human destiny.
(2) The little scroll that is handed to John later, that is sweet to eat but is later sour to the stomach.
(3) Plan of judgment or redemption, the rest of the prophecy that Revelation contains.
(4) The Lamb’s Book of Life. The scroll is given to the Lamb, who is the only one worthy to open it. The Lambs Book of Life is mentioned in Revelation 13:8; 21:27, and other times mentioned as just “The Book of Life”). The Lamb, whose book this is, has died. This brings the book into effect. The will tells what’s to be done with the Lamb’s inheritance.

Opening the seals would not represent what is written in the scroll. The judgments happen before the book is open, before the contents can be read.

The lion that is also the lamb. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah goes back to Genesis 49:

(Genesis 49:8-10 NASB) "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's sons shall bow down to you. {9} "Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? {10} "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

This depicts the power and royalty of Judah. Christ is the root of David:

(Isaiah 11:1-2 NASB) Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. {2} And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

(Isaiah 11:10 NASB) Then it will come about in that day that the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.

When Judah was carried off into captivity, the Davidic king was no longer. But God promises there will be a shoot that will grow off the stump. Christ is not just the branch of David, but also the root of David. Christ is the source of David.

John is told that the conquering lion is worthy, but John turns to see the conquered Lamb. When Christ takes the scroll, the 24 elders and living creatures fall down and worship. Note the harps and incense in the description, these indicate worship. The incense represents the prayers of the saints.

The song in Revelation 5:9-10 follows the Exodus theme.

This brings the initial vision of the second vision to a close. This vision sets the stage for Revelation 6-16.

Structure of Revelation

There are many ways to outline Revelation. I will give one outline below. This outline is structured on the four visions of Revelation. Many commentators see sevenfold structures throughout Revelation, such as seven judgments. One (Beale) sees seven interlocking judgments, where the ending of one series of judgments introduces the beginning of the next series.

There are four major visions. These are introduced with the words that John is in the Spirit:

Vision 1: (Revelation 1:10 NASB) “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, …” The Son of Man is the object of this vision, Jesus appearing in glory.

Vision 2: (Revelation 4:2 NASB) “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.” The Lamb is taking his reign in heaven.

Vision 3: (Revelation 17:3 NASB) “And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.” Judgment of the prostitute Babylon.

Vision 4: (Revelation 21:10 NASB) “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, …” The glory of the Bride of Christ.

In the first three visions there is an aftermath of the vision. In the fourth and final vision there is no aftermath.

There are four elements in each vision:

(1) A voice introduces the vision. The first two voices are from Christ, the second two are from angels.

(2) John refers to himself as being in the Spirit in each of these visions.

(3) There is some indication of what John is going to see. In vision 1 John is told to write what he sees and what will take place hereafter in a book. Vision 2 John is told Christ will show what must take place after this. Vision 3 John is told he will be shown the judgment of the great prostitute. Vision 4 John is told, “"Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

(4) John falls in worship in each of the visions (except in vision 2, where John does not mention himself, but mention the 24 elders fall and worship).

Outline:

Prologue	1:1-8
Vision 1	The Heavenly Vision (1:9-20).
	The Messages to the Seven Churches (2-3).
Vision 2	God's Throne Room (4-5).
	Opening of the seven seals (6:1-8:1).
		Seal 1: White Horse of Conquest.
		Seal 2: Red Horse of Slaughter.
		Seal 3: Black Horse of Famine.
		Seal 4: Pale Horse of Death.
		Seal 5: The Cry of the Martyrs.
		Seal 6: Cosmic Disturbances.
		Interlude: Protection for the Saints.
		The 144,000.
		The Great Multitude.
		Seal 7: Silence in Heaven.
	The Seven Trumpets (8:2-11:19)
		Trumpet 1: Hail and Fire.
		Trumpet 2: Blood.
		Trumpet 3: Bitter Water.
		Trumpet 4: Darkness.
		Trumpet 5: Locusts.
		Trumpet 6: Conquering Army.
		Interlude: The Witness of the Saints.
		The Little Scroll Given to John.
		Two Witnesses.
		Trumpet 7: God's Temple Opened.
	Seven Symbolic Histories (12:1-14:20)
		Introduction of the Characters.
		History 1: The Dragon.
		History 2: The Woman.
		History 3: The Sea Beast.
		History 4: The False Prophet (Earth Beast).
		History 5: The 144,000
		History 6: Three Angelic Proclaimers
		Interlude: Relief for the Saints.
		History 7: The Appearing of the Son of Man.
	The Seven Bowls (15:1-16:21)
		Bowl 1: Dry Land
		Bowl 2: Sea
		Bowl 3: Fresh Water
		Bowl 4: Sky
		Bowl 5: Darkness
		Bowl 6: Great River
		Interlude: Promise for the Church
		Bowl 7: Earth Utterly Shaken.
Vision 3	The Judgment of Babylon (17:1-19:10)
		Introduction of Characters
		Message 1: Destruction of Babylon.
		Message 2: Announcing Babylon's Fall.
		Message 3: Warning Saints to Come Out.
		Message 4: The Kings of the Earth.
		Message 5: The Merchants.
		Message 6: The Seafaring Men.
		Interlude: Promise for the Saints
		Message 7: Final Message of Destruction.
		Sevenfold Joy in Heaven.
	Christ Appearing in the Final Battle (19:11-21)
		Description of the White Horse.
		Angelic Message of Destruction.
		Promise for the Saints.
		Final Judgment of Beast and False Prophet.
	The Judgments (20:1-21:8)
		Angel with the Key to the Abyss.
		Preliminary Judgment.
		Promise for the Saints.
		Final Judgment of Opponents and Satan.
		Great White Throne.
		Divine Judgment.
		Promise for the Saints.
		Exhaustive Judgment.
Vision 4	The New Jerusalem (21:9-22:5)
Epilogue	22:6-21

In addition to this outline, there are thematic "reflective" structures, known as chiasms, where topics are introduced and then resolved in the opposite order of introduction. This is discussed in Poythress, The Returning King (pp. 64-65), and in detail in Beale, The Book of Revelation (pp. 130-132).

Rapture Messages to Loved Ones

I enjoy reading the Riddleblog, in one of his latest entries, Kim Riddlebarger writes about a website that will send your mail (real snailmail) to loved ones after the Rapture. This website, as far as I can tell, is a serious website. The people running it give their word they will deliver your hard copy messages to loved ones left behind in the Rapture. How do they do this? After all, they too could be caught up in the Rapture. Well, they won't. They are atheists who don't believe that the Rapture will occur, but if, to their surprise, the Rapture does occur, they will deliver the messages you've given to them. They say there is no chance they'll become Christians, and they will live lifestyles quite apart from Christ -- that is unless the Rapture occurs, then they will opt for plan B, which is to become Christians, and also deliver the messages.

At first I laughed at this. A couple of enterprising computer atheist geeks, making some money and providing a service to some of the Christian community. Quite humorous. But, as I thought about this, the more troubled I became. How hard their hearts are, but also how this teaching of one segment of the Christian Evangelical community can be misleading.

What do you think about this? What do you think about the "Secret Rapture" of the church? There are other views, that there will not be a invisible rapture of the church seven years prior to Christ's Second Coming. This class will explore this in the up-coming weeks.

Message to the Seven Churches

The vision of Christ John has in the first chapter of Revelation defines what the entire church needs to persevere. As Christ gives his exhortations to the individual churches, pay attention to the description of Christ at the start of each message to the church.

Each of the messages has a triad to it:
(1) There is a reminder of what the church is through God.
(2) Each church has problems.
(3) Each church is given promises that give hope and motivate them.

There is even a more detailed structure to the triad, which expands to seven elements. Not all seven churches will have all the details of the seven elements.
(1) The address to the angel of the church.
(2) Christ’s self description which is oriented to what the church needs.
(3) A commendation to the church where it is faithful at some point.
(4) A condemnation, or rebuke, or some point of infidelity noted about the church.
(5) A duty is given with a warning of judgment or an encouragement.
(6) An exhortation to discern the truth of the preceding message to the church.
(7) An exhortation and promise of a reward to the church if it is faithful.

The seven-fold pattern is not followed for all churches. Also the order will vary. A summary set of tables is shown below (this is broken into several tables because the blog format will not permit one continuous table).

Section	Ephesus	Smyrna	Pergamum
Christ's Description	Authority Presence	Giving life	Warrior against sin
Commendation	Doctrinal zeal	Spiritually rich	Holding fast
Condemnation	Lost first love	none	False teaching, immorality
Duty	Repent	Suffer for Christ	Repent
Promise	Tree of Life	Freedom from death	Spiritual significance

Section	Thyatira	Sardis	Philadelpha
Christ's Description	Searching heart	Source of Spirit	Opening door
Commendation	Love, service	A few faithful saints	Keeping the word
Condemnation	False teaching, immorality (Jezebel)	Spiritually dead	Little strength
Duty	Repudiate Jezebel	Awake	Continue
Promise	Rule over nations	White robe (honor)	Secure dwelling

Section	Laodicea
Christ's Description	True witness
Commendation	none
Condemnation	Worthless
Duty	Admit need; receive from Christ
Promise	Fellowship

Let’s look at the letter to the church in Ephesus in detail:

(Revelation 2:1-7 NASB) "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: {2} 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; {3} and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. {4} 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. {5} 'Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place-- unless you repent. {6} 'Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. {7} 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.'

The self description of Christ is: “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands.” Notice how this comes from the vision in chapter 1. This is both a sign of authority and Christ’s presence in the churches. Christ holds the angels (stars) of the churches in his hand and walks among the churches (the lampstands). Christ is present in the eternal and temporal church.

Christ’s commendation of the Ephesians is: “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.” These are people who have greatly endured. They have a real zeal for good doctrine.

Christ’s condemnation: “… that you have left your first love.” That is a stunning condemnation! How did the church grow cold? The Apostle Paul started the church in Ephesus, probably in the mid 50’s. Timothy was at Ephesus, according to First Letter to Timothy. Timothy was there in the late 60’s. Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila where in Ephesus during the 60’s. While there is some debate when Revelation was written, I go along with many scholars that think Revelation was written around 95/96 AD. From the late 60’s to 95, let’s say the slide went from 70 to 95 AD, that’s 25 years – basically a generation. A lot can happen in 25 years or more. What was once a great church was now a dying church. A church that dwells on the great things it did years ago is a dying church. A church, or a family, cannot rest on the faith of a previous generation.

The correction: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first.” The problem is that they have lost their first love. They are persevering, but we do not hear about their love. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 says: “constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NASB). Our labor, our works, comes from faith, love, and hope in Christ. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that without love we are nothing. The description of Christ also helps in Ephesus’ situation. They need to dwell on Christ’s presence, bask in his love for them, and renew their faith and love for Christ. Works and perseverance will come from faith and love, the type of works that is built of precious stone.

Christ exhorts the church: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This echoes out of the Synoptic Gospels when Jesus told parables. This is a warning that comes out of Isaiah 6:9-10. It is a warning of judgment and the promise of blessing that is conditioned on repentance. Christ used this as the reason why he spoke in parables. Parables were given as a judgment to blind and deafen the majority of Israel and to have a positive effect on only the remnant. Those whom God has called are that remnant that will listen and head the message.

The promise is: “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.”

This gives a taste on reading through the section of the letters to the seven churches.

The Sevens

Various numbers make their appearance in Revelation, chapter 1. Seven is the most visible explicit number, but there are other implicit numbers. Three shows up in verses 5 and 6 for the Trinity, and elsewhere in chapter 1 there are "trinity" kinds of of descriptions where things are described in triplets.

The first number seven in Revelation is used for the seven churches the book is sent to. These are seven historical churches. They are listed in order that a messenger would travel to the seven churches to read the book. The NASA photo on the left (click to enlarge) shows the location of the seven churches in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). You can see path is an "inverted V."

The seven churches were not the only churches in Asia Minor. The language of Revelation 1 seems to be to more than the seven specific churches. Drawing upon biblical knowledge, seven is a number used in the Old Testament to indicate fullness, completeness. We will see that in Revelation 1 shortly with the seven Spirits of God. Because of that, seven appears to be not only a literal number of seven historical churches, but also stands as a figurative number speaking of all the churches.

Three shows up as a description of God:

"... from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth." (Revelation 1: 4b-5a)

In this three-fold description, we see:

(1) (The Father) Him who is and who was and who is to come,
(2) (The Holy Spirit) The seven Spirits,
(3) (The Son) Jesus Christ.

These describe the Triune God: the Father, Holy Spirit, and the Son. The Father further has a triple description: who is, who was, and who is to come. This is very remeniscent of the I AM WHO I AM that God gave to Moses at the burning bush (see Exodus 3:14). This is a clear reference to Yahweh. This speaks of God who transcends time.

What are we to make of the seven Spirits? Is the Holy Spirit divided into seven parts? Clearly not. Seven refers to the completeness of the Holy Spirit, the complete work of the Holy Spirit. Seven in reference to the Holy Spirit is completely figurative, at least there is nothing we can safely identify in the literal sense for seven with the Holy Spirit.

For Jesus Christ, we see he is the basis of our grace and peace. Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth -- this is present tense. Christ is currently ruling. Christ is also the faithful witness, and John implies that because Christ was the faithful witness, we are too. We can see we will be faithful witnesses also from other passages because we are in union with Christ. Christ is the first born, meaning we will following in his path. We follow in His sufferings with our tribulation that occurs now, along with Christ's reign. This fits in the "already-but-not-yet" mentioned in a pervious post. Thus it is important to note that Christ's death and resurrection secures not only our salvation, our forgiveness of sins, but it causes us to be faithful witnesses too, to persevere and endure. We are a kingdom of priests, ruling with Christ, directly accessing God. This is great news, a great promise, a great blessing.

John sees in his first vision seven golden lampstands. One golden lampstand has seven branches, each containting an oil lamp. A lampstand is pictured on the left. The lampstand vision also alludes to Zechariah 4:2-10, where the single lampstand in Zechariah symbolizes the temple, which stands for faithful Israel, which lives not by might or power, but by the Holy Spirit.

In Zechariah, one lampstand represented God's chosen people, Israel. What are we to make out of seven lampstands in Revelation 1? Verse 20 says the lampstands stand for the seven churches. Given that the seven refers to the completeness or fullness of a thing, we can reasonably conclude that the universal church is the true Israel, that the true Israel is no longer limited to a nation, but it emcompases all peoples.

In Christ's right hand he holds seven stars. We are told the stars angels of the seven churches. In chapters 2 and 3, messages are given to the angels of the seven churches. They are held responsible for the seven churches. What are we to make of this. It is possible that the seven stars can be:

(1) heavenly beings,

(2) heavenly beling who represent the churches,

(3) human leaders or representatives of the churches (understanding one of the meanings of angel to be messenger, heavenly or human),

(4) personification of the prevailing spirit or character of the church,

(5) the eternal personification of the church.

It would not be out of character for John to use a personification for the churches. John does that in his second epistle where John personifies the church as the woman and her children. It could be that the stars are the eternal aspect of the church. Our church has a temperal, earthly aspect to it. But it also has an eternal aspect. What our church does now has eternal consequences and will carry on into eternity.