Sunday, October 26, 2014

2.The seven seals

1. OVERVIEW OF THE TEXT

Main division of Revelation

The main divisions of Revelation are:

The seven letters in chapters 1 to 3;

The seven seals in chapters 4 to 7 and 8:1;

The seven trumpets in chapters 8 to 11

The seven wars in chapters 12 to 14

The seven plagues in chapters 15 to 19 (*)

The millennium in chapter 20

The new heaven and new earth in the last two chapters

Revelation 6

The first four seals are brief:

When the Lamb broke the first seal (6:1) John saw a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer (6:2).

When He broke the second seal a red horse went out. To him who sat on it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. (6:3-4)

When He broke the third seal John saw a black horse. He who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. Then John heard voice in the center of the four living creatures announcing high prices for wheat and barley and scarcity of oil and wine, indicating famine. (6:5-6)

When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, John saw an ashen horse. The name of the rider was Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, pestilence and by wild beasts. The fourth seal therefore seems to overlap in meaning with the bloodshed of the second seal and the famine of the third seals. (6:7-8)

The next two seals are much longer and therefore more important. When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, John saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained (6:9). They cried out with a loud voice:

How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? (6:10)

In the ancient Jewish temple there were two altars. The very large altar of burnt offering was outside the temple and the altar of incense was inside. In the ancient ceremonies the blood of the animals were poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering (Lev 4:7; 8:15; 9:9). This becomes a symbol for God’s slain people when they are represented as the souls underneath the altar. This symbol is also used in 16:6 where it is said that the people of the world “poured out” the blood of God’s people.
The souls under the altar cry out for revenge. This should not be understood as the request of God’s people, but rather like the blood of Abel that called for revenge (Gen 4:10). These people are dead—they will come to life when Jesus returns (20:4,5)
In response to their request the souls under the altar were told to wait. To each of them was given a white robe and they were told:

rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also (6:11)

The “white robes”—a sign of redemption—given to these dead saints, implies a judgment. It also implies a period of persecution, because they have to wait for the completion of their brethren who were to be killed.
The passive sentence structure (given) indicates that God gives them these white robes. In Zechariah’s visions “Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel” (Zech. 3:3). This is “the angel of the LORD” (Zech. 3:1) which is a name for Jesus in the Old Testament. Then the Angel said:

Remove the filthy garments from him. … See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes. (Zech. 3:3)

The sixth seal is catastrophic. When He broke the sixth seal there was a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth; the whole moon became like blood; the stars of the sky fell to the earth; the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places (6:12-14). But the people of the world were not scared of these natural disasters, for they hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and to the rocks:

Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (6:15-17)

This is the “great day”—the Judgment Day—the Return of Christ. The sixth seal shows the people hiding. But they will be killed at the Return of Christ (14:20 and 19:21).

144000

This is the end of chapter 6, and the seventh and last seal is only broken in 8:1. Chapter 7 is an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals. The interlude answers the question in the sixth seal;

“for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (6:17)

The first part of the interlude is the sealing of the 144,000. It starts with four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree (7:1).
Daniel saw “the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea” And four great beasts were coming up from the sea” (Dan 7:2-3). The beasts are kingdoms (Dan 7:17). The sea is explained as “the earth” (Dan 7:17). The sea and the earth in 7:1 represent therefore the peoples of the world (compare Rev. 12:12). The winds therefore are things that cause upheaval and conflict amongst the peoples of the world:

I will bring upon Elam the four winds From the four ends of heaven, And will scatter them to all these winds; And there will be no nation To which the outcasts of Elam will not go. (Jer 49:36)

The four angels holding back the four winds symbolize God holding back worldwide destruction. God created all and is continually upholding all things. Should He withdraw His Spirit of protection and care, total destruction and chaos will be the consequence.
Then another angel ascended from the rising of the sun (the east), having the seal of the living God. The rising of the sun frequently in the Bible refers to God. For example, “the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east” (Ezek. 43:2). The wise men saw the star in the east (Mat 2:2,9) and the sign of the Son of man will appear in the east (Mat 24:27-30). The angel therefore brings the seal from God. God is called the “living God” because He has life in Himself. We do not. The life we have we got from Him. Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
The angel from the east cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea (7:2):

Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we (the angels) have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads. (7:3)

144000 were sealed from the tribes of Israel (7:3)—12000 from each of the 12 tribes (7:5-8).

Innumerable Multitude

The second part of the interlude is the innumerable multitude. While the 144000 are on earth, only from Israel, and precisely numbered, this multitude is in heaven, from every nation, and innumerable(7:9). They stand before the throne and before the Lamb (7:9), apparently the answer to the question of the hiding multitude—“the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” They are clothed in white robes—similar to the white robes that slain saints received in the fifth seal. As in Revelation 5 all the angels were standing around the throne, worshipping God. One of the elders explained to John that those clothed in the white robes come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple. They will no longer hunger or thirst or suffer heat; for the Lamb will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. (7:14-17)

Final seal

Then the seals end with the last seal, which simply reads:

When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (8:1)

2. THE BOOK OF LIFE

Many books will be opened in the last judgment, one thousand years after the return of Christ (19:11-20:12). The book of life is one of these books (20:12). It contains the names of the saved (Ps. 69:28; Ph. 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:15; 21:27). It indicates who will live and who will die:

and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it (the holy city, new Jerusalem), but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (21:2, 27) And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (20:15) This is the second death, the lake of fire (20:14).

A fundamental concept, that will greatly influence the interpretation of the seals, is that the sealed book which Jesus receives in Revelation 5 is the book of life. This statement is justified as follows:

Both the sealed book and the book of life are about redemption. God’s Lamb was slain, with two consequences. The first is that He purchased for God with His blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (5:9). The second and subsequent consequence is that He is considered worthy to open the sealed book (5:9). The context indicates that the sealed book is about redemption, and therefore easily could be the book of life, which contains the names of God’s redeemed people (20:15).
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The book of life is called the book of the Lamb who has been slain (13:8; 21:27), which ties it to Revelation 5, where a slain Lamb receives a book (5:6, 9).
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Both books are opened after the return of Christ. The sealed book will only be opened after “the great day of their wrath” (6:17; 8:1), which is the return of Christ. The book of life will also only be opened in the final great judgment (20:12)—one thousand years after the return of Christ described in Revelation 19:11 and following.