Today, we started unpacking Revelation 6 and the Seal Judgments. Reading Daniel 9 & 12 helps us realize how connected these two books are. Daniel really is the Revelation of the Old Testament, and Revelation is the Daniel of the New Testament. They help us understand each one in light of the other.
As I stated in class this morning, Revelation 6 gives us an overview of the entire 7 year tribulation period. It does not go into great detail about all that happens in the 7 years, but shows us the grand events that serve to guide us to the 2nd Advent, or physical return of Christ to claim his rightful throne and the kingdom promised to him by God the Father.
In Daniel’s 70th week, we know that the Abomination of Desolation being placed in the Temple is the dividing marker between the first 3 1/2 years of false peace, and the last 3 1/2 years known as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” or the “great tribulation.”
Daniel 9:27: And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Matthew 25:15-21: When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Revelation 12:6:And the woman (Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days (3 1/2 years).
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4: Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him (rapture of the Church Age saints), That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ (title of the rapture) is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (2nd Advent – physical return of Christ) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (the Antichrist); Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
We must remember that Israel believes that the Antichrist is the Messiah until he breaks his covenant with Israel and ceases all sacrifice, and then sets up the idol of himself in the Temple, and demands that Israel worship the Abomination of Desolation. Daniel 12:11: And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days (3 1/2 years + 30 days).
The daily sacrifice is eliminated 30 days before the middle of the tribulation, identified above as the moment the Abomination of Desolation is revealed (1,260 days or 3 1/2 years before the 2nd Advent). The believing Jews obey the words of Jesus, and flee into the wilderness of Judaea, to be cared for by God for the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation, as Revelation 12:6 states. The Antichrist then makes war with all those who refuse to take the mark of the beast.
Revelation 13:4-8: And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation). And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 6 outlines all of this in the form of the Seal Judgments.
1. The rider on the white horse is the false Christ AKA the Antichrist or the Beast. He comes bringing a false peace to Israel, as Daniel 9:27 states. We know that the true Messiah will come at the 2nd Advent, riding a white horse conquering and to conquer! Revelation 19:11-16
Once he is rejected by the Jews, at the midway point of the tribulation, the Antichrist seeks to destroy Israel with war, famine and death!
2. The Red Horse: Once he is rejected by the Jews, when the abomination of desolation is revealed midway through Daniel’s 70th week, he declares war on the Jews, and all who seek to help them.
3. The Black Horse / famine quickly follows the declaration of war, especially because no one will be able to buy or sell food without the mark of the beast.
4. The Pale Horse / death is always the result of war.
Seal Judgments 2 – 4 happen in rapid succession, and remain until the 2nd Advent, when Jesus returns to save Israel from annihilation.
Romans 11:25-27: For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
I am already looking forward to next Sunday, and discovering what the 5th and 6th Seal Judgments have to offer concerning the tribulation saints, and destruction of the wicked!