Biff,
Im glad to see you have moved from pretrib to post, and i dont hold to barracco's historicist views, but i have found that in all the differing views there is some measure of truth. for instance one of the magor points in pretrib is the issue of Gods wrath, pretribbers insist and scripture supports that we are not the focus of Gods wrath thus we must be raptured first. The pretribbers then err in assuming that the tribulation is Gods wrath and are then thrown way off course due to this assumption. Each of the differing views has there assumptions and errors. The futurest position has its errors as well. the futerist position was created in large part to support the pretrib view. it was presumed that rev 4v1 pictured a rapture, thus we could not have prgressed past that point because we have not yet been raptured. So lets take a look at what the scriptures have to say.
We see in danial that the words were sealed well before the events of Jesus day. Understand that a seal is a restraint, it binds something.
Danial12v9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Rev 5v1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. We see here a time when no one was worthy to open the seals
5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
We see here that things have changed and the book (scroll) is now open
6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; Here we see why, christ is now worthy because of the cross.
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12 Saying 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.
So we see that the seals were opened after the cross, we may not have seen all the events yet, but the resraints have been removed. The real question is where are we now. So lets take a look at the seals. oviosly interpriting these can be difficult and it become highly speculative if your not carefull
Rev 6v1 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.
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. This one is usually interpritted as the (AC) i see it as (the holy spirit), but in either case there is scripture to show that both are here and present now. so could this one be open ? yes!!!
3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
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. This one is usually interprited to be war. Again, do i understand all the ramifications here, no, but could it be present now absolutly
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.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, 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.
Frequently interprited as famine, so could it be opened Yes.
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
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.
Personally i do see this as the events of 70 ad and the destruction of israel by rome. some would say it is the AC weather futeristic or historic. take your pick
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The 5th seal to me is the most understandable. We see a period of time in which the saints of God are persecuted for there faith in christ. with over 55 million marters to date this one should be a red flag to all of us as i see it
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Here we run into problems, we have magor catastrophic and heavenly events that we could not possably be complete nor started, so we need not move any further as the 6th seal starts the day of the lord that is completed by the 7 trumps.
So in conclusion while yes, the seals have been removed, they have not all been completed, nor can we assign a historical event to every thing under the sun (i even seen one person that tried to imply that the moon to blood referance in joel 2 was a ref to ww2) or other crasy stuff like that.
