Revelation 6 (The 7-Year Tribulation Period)

Rev Mar’s Oct 4 sermon text and slides can be downloaded here:

Revelation – The First Four Seals

1. Introduction
2. Rapture and the Heavenly Vision, Revelation Chapter 4.

1. John hears the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ (a voice as of a trumpet, Revelation 1:10) call him, “Come up hither.” And immediately John is in the presence of the Lord upon His heavenly throne. The summon of the Lord to John is an allusion of the Rapture because when the Rapture happens, the trumpet of God is sounded. John is taken as a type of the church being called to heaven. After this, the church is no longer mentioned during the 7-year Tribulation here on earth.
2. Picture of Praise The four living creatures sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.” (4:8) This praise is similar to the praise of angels when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up in Isaiah 6:1-4. The apostle John in his Gospel said that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus and he spoke of Him. (John 12:41)
3. And when the four living creatures give glory and honor to the Lord, the 24 elders fall down and cast their crowns before the throne saying, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.  (4:11)
4. Heavenly Vision and the Scroll with 7 Seals, Revelation Chapter 5

1. One sat on the throne with right hand holding a scroll sealed with 7 seals.
2. Nobody but nobody has the authority/right to take the scroll and loose the seals.
3. Except the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is the rod out of the stem of Jesse and Branch shall grow out of its roots. This is the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. But instead of the Lion of the tribe of Judah appearing, There appeared a Lamb as it had been slain. This is the Lord Jesus Christ who took the scroll.
4. Then the four living creatures and the 24 elders and 10,000 x 10,000 x1,000 x 1,000 angels said with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” Then all creatures in heaven, on earth and under the earth said, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.“ (Revelation 5:13-14)
5. Revelation Chapter 6 – Start of the Tribulation
6. Introduction to the rest of the Book of Revelation
7. Timeline – The Last Days

1. The three major divisions of the Book of Revelation: things which John has seen (chapter 1); the things which are (chapters 2 and 3); the things which shall be hereafter (chapters 4-22)
2. We are in this present Church Age. This Age of the Church will end at the time of the Rapture. Shortly thereafter, the 7-year Tribulation period starts. Tribulation is also known as Jacob’s Trouble or Daniel’s 70^th week. 
3. At the end of the Tribulation period, the Lord Jesus Christ will come physically and visibly and seize satan shackle him into the bottomless pit and the beast (antichrist) and the false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.  The remnant Israel will finally receive Jesus as their Messiah, saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” All of Israel shall be saved.
4. The Lord establishes His millennial kingdom ended with the final war of the Lord and freed satan and deceived nations. The great white throne judgment follows and all the unrighteous and cohorts of satan are all cast into the lake of fir. 
5. The Lord creates the new heavens and new earth and the Lord Jesus continues to reign unto eternity in righteousness nad justice.
6. The Book of Revelation and Daniel’s 70 weeks.

1. Prophecy of 70 Weeks (Daniel chapter 9) is a prophecy given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel in response to Daniel’s prayer for God to act on behalf of his people and city (i.e. Jerusalem). 70 weeks is weeks of years or 1 week of Daniel is = 7 years.
2. Daniel 9:24-27: Important Factors of the Prophecy
3. The seventy weeks (1 week = 7 years) is divided into three divisions: from the issuance of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem = 7 weeks. From the time Jerusalem is rebuilt to the cutting off of the Messiah is 62 weeks or a total of 69 weeks of years. The last week or 70^th week is still unfulfilled to this time. This is the Tribulation period or Jacob’s trouble.
4. There two different princes mentioned and are not to be interchanged. First, the one named Messiah the Prince (the Son of man, v. 25). The second is the prince that shall come (the antichrist, v. 26) John 5:43  Jesus said, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”
5. After 69 weeks, in the 70^th week, in the last week will, the prince that shall come, the antichrist, will confirm the covenant for 1 week or 7 years with the nation Israel and many other nations. However, in the middle of the week, the antichrist will break his covenant and he will cause the Jewish sacrifice to cease and precipitate upon the Jewish nation a time of wrath and desolation until the end of the 70^th week (v. 27).
6. There is an interval between the 69^th week and the 70^th week of unknown length of time. This is the Church Age. The Lord Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God but it was rejected and the Messiah, the Son of David who reign in the kingdom of God. Because the kingdom of God was rejected, the Lord visited the Gentiles to take a people of them for His name (Ats 15:14) until the fulness of the Gentiles is come in and Rapture follows. (Romans 11:25)
7. Then the Lord will deal with Israel again and this will be the Tribulation period, a time of the vengeance of God (Isaiah 61:1-2). It is also called Jacob’s trouble Jeremiah 30:7). It is at this time when a third of Israel is sent into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. “They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” (Zechariah 13:9) And all Israel will be saved. (Romans 11:26)
8. The Interval (Church Age) Daniel’s 70 weeks, Daniel 9:24-27

1. The Church Age is between the Messiah cutoff or die by crucifixion and Rapture.  Church Interval is of undetermined length.
2. Some reasons why there is an interval:

1. The kingdom has not yet been restored to Israel;
2. Lk 4:18-21; Isaiah 61:1   The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 

Isa 61:2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God;

3. According to the Lord Jesus, only the first half of Isaiah 61:2 is fulfilled. This first half of the verse refers to the time present when the grace of the Lord is operational and everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is saved by grace. The second half of the verse refers to the Tribulation period when the Lord will pour out His wrath upon the unbelieving here on earth. The time gap between the first half of the verse and the second half off the verse is the Church Age. But when the church age is ended by the rapture comes the second half of the verse or the day of vengeance of our God unto everyone who does not believe in the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
4. The Tribulation is described in several parts of the Bible:

1. Jer 30:7  Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
2. Daniel 12:1b  “…and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
3. Mat 24:2  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
4. Revelation Chapter 6.
5. Introduction.
6. The Seven Seal Judgments

2.  In Revelation chapter 5, Jesus received a scroll sealed with 7 seals. Each of the seven seals represents a specific judgment and they will be poured out sequentially on earth. The first four seals (aka four horsemen of the Apocalypse) follow the sequence of events described as the birth pains in Matthew 24 and they take place during the first half of the Tribulation. The 5^th goes up to the 2^nd half of the Tribulation while the 6^th and 7^th occur during the second half. Then judgments further intensify as upon a woman with child. The scene now shifts from heaven to earth. This is where the tribulation events occur until the Lord Jesus returns.
3. The First Seal – The White Horse. False Peace. Rev 6:1  “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 

Rev 6:2  And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” 

1. The rider of the white horse has a crown (stefanos) won as a prize. Christ wears many royal crowns (diadema, diadems). The rider has a bow; Jesus carries a sword (19:15). Christ returns at the end of the Tribulation, not at its beginning. 
2. He had a bow with no arrows. He has no military might but he might be a good negotiator for a false peace. This may be referring to the antichrist who established with Israel and many nations a deceptive peace and people will have a false sense of peace. In 1 Thessalonians after the rapture of the in chapter 4, people will say “Peace and Safety” but when the antichrist breaks his part of the covenant, the Bible says, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.  The increasing lawlessness by the spirit of the antichrist will make the world desperate for someone like the antichrist who can give a deceptive peace. But only Jesus, (Isaiah 9:6-7), the Prince of peace who can give true peace and whose increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. 
3. Second Seal – The Red Horse, World War. Rev 6:3  And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, “Come and see.”

Rev 6:4  And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

1. Red horse, suggests carnage, pagdanak ng dugo, giyera. The rider has a great sword and was granted to take away that deceptive peace from the earth. will plunge the world into warfare. Jesus predicted kingdom against kingdom but nations against nation (ethnos, tribe, race). There will be race against race, black versus white, Shi’ites against Shi’ites and Sunni against Sunni. We have learned to kill one another. 
2. Norwegian Academy of Sciences came up with the following information. From 3650 BC to present:

1. There were 14, 351 wars
2. There were 292 year of peace
3. There were 3.6 billion killed

2. All that is happening will be under control by the Lord. Peopke think that wars reflect the wrath  of humanity or the wrath of satan, but these wars during the tribulation express God’s wrath poured out on the world.
3. Antichrist will initially portray himself as the champion of peace  and will bring peace to the MIDDLE East. He will enter into a peace treaty with Israel posing as their defender. His desire for dominance will provoke a rebellion. The antichrist will destroy all his enemies throughout the second half of the Tribulation period.
4. The Third Seal – the Black Horse, Famine. Rev 6:5  And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 

Rev 6:6  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 

1. The color black is associated with famine. (Lamentations 5:10  Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.)
2. The pair of scales in the hand of the rider pictures the rationing that will result from the famine. Severity of the famine is seen in the example: A quart of wheat is barely enough to sustain a person for one day. The average worker’s salary will barely provide enough food for himself for each day and not enough to feeed his family. People are told not to waste basic food whih will become priceless.
3. Famine comes after a war because men were in the warfront and nobody tilled the land. There would be scarcity of food. Food supplies could be contaminated by nuclear fallout. We have had the Chernobyl and Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.
4. Even before the war, there are 800 million chronically malnourished people. 1 out of 9 people die because of malnutrition more than AIDS, TB and malaria together. 
5. When Christians are raptured, there would be no Christian assistance and humanitarian aid from World Vision or Operation Blessing.
6. The Fourth Seal – the Pale Green (Chloro) Horse, Death. Rev 6:7  And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 

Rev 6:8  And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. 

1. The rider is death and hell followed closely. Power was given to them over a fourth part to kill with sword, hunger and with death and with beasts of the earth. Fourth part of present population of 7.8 B = 1.95B
2. Diseases causing pandemics have been sourced from rats (bubonic plague). The most likely ecological reservoirs for SARS- (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) – CoV-2 are bats, Rhinolophus bat (Horseshoe Bat). It is believed that the virus jumped the species barrier to humans from another intermediate animal host. This intermediate animal host could be a domestic food animal, a wild animal, or a domesticated wild animal which has not yet been identified. Current scientific evidence suggests that dromedary camels are a major reservoir host for MERS- (Middle East respiratory syndrome) CoV. Other like Foot and mouth disease from pigs, variant CJD – the human form of mad cow disease.
3. All these are going to happen. But you do not have to go through these. Come to Jesus; return to Him from your wayward life.
4. Jesus is the answer to all these troubles of this world:

1. WHITE HORSE -WORLDWIDE DECEPTION but JESUS is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.
2. RED HORSE -WORLD WAR but JESUS is the PRINCE OF PEACE. (John 6:33)
3. BLACK HORSE – WORLDWIDE FAMINE but JESUS said, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. HE THAT SHALL COME SHALL NOT HUNGER AND HE THAT SHALL BELIEVE SHALL NOT THIRST. (John 6:35)
4. PALE HORSE – WORLDWIDE DEATH (PANDEMIC) but JESUS said, I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME THOUGH HE WERE DEAD YET HE SHALL LIVE. AND WHOSOEVER LIVETH AND BELIEVETH IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE. (JOHN 11:25-26)

2. YOU NEED NOT GO THROUGH THE TRIBULATION. THE LORD JESUS HAS PROVIDED A WAY OUT. TURN AWAY FROM YOUR SINS, ASK FORGIVENESS FROM JESUS, COMMIT YOUR ALL TO HIM AND FOLLOW HIM ALL THE WAY. BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE WORD OF GOD, I’M TELLING YOU, JESUS WILL TAKE YOU OUT OF THIS WORLD IN A RAPTURE. JESUS SAID. “BECAUSE THOU HAST KEPT THE WORD OF MY PATIENCE, I ALSO WILL KEEP THEE FROM THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION, WHICH SHALL COME UPON ALL THE WORLD, TO TRY THEM THAT DWELL UPON THE EARTH.” (REV 3:10)
3. WE ARE NOT WAITING FOR THE ANTICHRIST. WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE BLESSED HOPE AND THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF OUR GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR US, THAT HE MIGHT REDEEM US FROM ALL INIQUITY, AND PURIFY UNTO HIMSELF A PECULIAR PEOPLE, ZEALOUS OF GOOD WORKS. (TITUS 2:13-14)

THE Lord’s Message: 10/4/2020