- Mar 16, 2004
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I've long believed that Revelations is a remarkably simple book to understand. Romans, Hebrews and certainly the Old Testament prophets were all challenges, taking years for me to actually unravel, by comparison Revelations is a snap. A couple of things before I get started, first of all, this exposition is a scenario that is based on a chronological order. In other words the narrative is a successive series of future events, predicted by the Apostle John sometime before 70 AD. I'm not interested in defending my views along those lines, just being up front about it. I believe in a mid to post tribulation rapture which I regard as a minor point of doctrine not significantly effecting a serious exposition of the text, I'm not interested in defending that view in this thread either. I'm simply looking for anyone interested in doing an actual exposition of the text.
I'm going to show you what I hope will lead to a fuller examination of this testimony. I'll start with the primary events, the seals, trumpets and vials of wrath.
Seals
The Tribulation begins with the opening of the first seal, the white rider with a bow. This conquest isn't a military strike although it might follow one. This is more like Napoleon Bonaparte or Adolf Hitler and their parades. Once he has assumed power things change quickly, the red rider has a sword and takes peace from the earth. The contrast here seems to be the bow vs. the sword, a ballistic weapon vs. an infantry weapon. This Antichrist guy, the little horn, rises to power, he uproots three big horns:
Then something very interesting in heaven happens, the martyrs beneath the altar complaining that they were killed. The sixth seal is sounds strangely like a nuclear war, the stars falling from the heavens, sky receding like a scroll. Then the population is underground, I suspect in bunkers and whatever basement they can find. By far the strangest thing for me has always been that they know this is from the Lamb. The only explanation I can come up with for this is the martyrs (witnesses) told them this was predicted. The seventh seal basically introduces the trumpets.
The trumpet don't start sounding until almost half way through the tribulation. The whole time the Antichrist is preaching, 'let us cast his chains asunder', exalting himself above everything that is called God (god). Oh and by the way, the 144,000 Jews are living somewhere on earth, I suspect in the Sinai and the Antichrist can't touch them which probably has this lunatic chewing on rugs.
Trumpets
Fast forward almost three and a half years, we've all prayed the Lord's prayer, 'thy kingdom come, they will be done', at the end of the trumpets this prayer comes true. The two witnesses in Jerusalem have been preaching and driving everybody crazy. One attempt after another was made on their lives and the had the plagues of Moses and other defenses. What you have to understand about the trumpet blasts is that they are basically a deconstruction of the original creation. When the Spirit was hovering over the waters the earth was covered in water and clouds. According to modern science it was a reducing (hydrogen rich) atmosphere, super heated vents had the waters boiling like a cauldron, inside of six days the land, sea and atmosphere is reconstructed to create the biosphere we inhabit. With the sounding of the trumpets this is systematically, but not totally destroyed.
If you do not find this part of the discussion disturbing your not paying attention:
What you have to realize here is that the prayers of the saints are essentially the reason for the judgment. God has been hearing those prayers, the injustice, the bloody violence, the outrage, the patient hope of justice. You have heard about someone being incensed, well, this is what it's like when God is incensed.
The first trumpet is sounded, hail and fire mixed with blood destroy 1/3 of the vegetation of the earth. The second trumpet indicates a 'blazing mountain', I assume some kind of a meteorite, turning the sea to blood and destroying 1/3 of the sea life and ships. The third trumpet is called wormwood, a poison, it poisons a third of the fresh water resources. The fourth seal strike the atmosphere and reduces lite from the heavens again by 1/3, that's the blunt of the eighth chapter.
Personally I think the the next two trumpet blasts are by far the most interesting. The stars from heaven and the opening of the abyss are obviously a demonic host. The sixth trumpet are the four angles have apparently kept some semblance of peace by keeping certain powers separated. These defending angels are removed and the demonic host is released. The battle at it's core has always been spiritual, just as God exposes sin in our lives to bring us to repentance he brings out the spiritual evil that has held this earth for so long.
Forgive me a long quote but this is important:
This is only half way through the tribulation, according to heaven the kingdoms of earth have become the kingdom of God. Meanwhile back on earth the Antichrist has pulled out all the stops, now decapitating anyone who will not bow the knee and accept the mark. After all of this they are still running wild, this goes on for another three and a half years. The whole time he is telling them they can win, even against God. Even the devil is cast down to the earth and their rage is unprecedented, the vials of wrath are the final wave of judgment, after that they are done.
I'm going to hold off here, I want to hear from you. Tell me about the vials of wrath.
Grace and peace,
Mark
I'm going to show you what I hope will lead to a fuller examination of this testimony. I'll start with the primary events, the seals, trumpets and vials of wrath.
Seals
The Tribulation begins with the opening of the first seal, the white rider with a bow. This conquest isn't a military strike although it might follow one. This is more like Napoleon Bonaparte or Adolf Hitler and their parades. Once he has assumed power things change quickly, the red rider has a sword and takes peace from the earth. The contrast here seems to be the bow vs. the sword, a ballistic weapon vs. an infantry weapon. This Antichrist guy, the little horn, rises to power, he uproots three big horns:
"While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. (Dan. 7:8)
This is what I think happens, he has some kind of devastating ballistic weapon that he can direct anywhere and destroy anything. Far from being science fiction the famous Star Wars defense was an attempt to develop a ballistic weapon that could shoot ICBMs out of the sky. If that technology did exist today it takes little imagination to see how it could be used to target just about anything and send a pulse destroying any military facility in place. His little nation takes down 3 superpowers in a day, and following his big victory there are a lot of parades and celebrations as he assumes global domination. During this time Israel enters into the covenant of death, not unlike Israels historical tendency to go down to Egypt for help. It isn't very long before the new empire descends into bloody conflict, Israel being the eye of the storm. Famine, the third horseman suggests rationing, a day's wages for a loaf of bread basically, apparently the slave trade makes a comeback. The ghastly rider, who is the fourth horseman is a chaos cocktail, this is the bloody anarchy that follows in the wake.
Then something very interesting in heaven happens, the martyrs beneath the altar complaining that they were killed. The sixth seal is sounds strangely like a nuclear war, the stars falling from the heavens, sky receding like a scroll. Then the population is underground, I suspect in bunkers and whatever basement they can find. By far the strangest thing for me has always been that they know this is from the Lamb. The only explanation I can come up with for this is the martyrs (witnesses) told them this was predicted. The seventh seal basically introduces the trumpets.
The trumpet don't start sounding until almost half way through the tribulation. The whole time the Antichrist is preaching, 'let us cast his chains asunder', exalting himself above everything that is called God (god). Oh and by the way, the 144,000 Jews are living somewhere on earth, I suspect in the Sinai and the Antichrist can't touch them which probably has this lunatic chewing on rugs.
Trumpets
Fast forward almost three and a half years, we've all prayed the Lord's prayer, 'thy kingdom come, they will be done', at the end of the trumpets this prayer comes true. The two witnesses in Jerusalem have been preaching and driving everybody crazy. One attempt after another was made on their lives and the had the plagues of Moses and other defenses. What you have to understand about the trumpet blasts is that they are basically a deconstruction of the original creation. When the Spirit was hovering over the waters the earth was covered in water and clouds. According to modern science it was a reducing (hydrogen rich) atmosphere, super heated vents had the waters boiling like a cauldron, inside of six days the land, sea and atmosphere is reconstructed to create the biosphere we inhabit. With the sounding of the trumpets this is systematically, but not totally destroyed.
If you do not find this part of the discussion disturbing your not paying attention:
And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. (Rev. 8:4,5)
What you have to realize here is that the prayers of the saints are essentially the reason for the judgment. God has been hearing those prayers, the injustice, the bloody violence, the outrage, the patient hope of justice. You have heard about someone being incensed, well, this is what it's like when God is incensed.
The first trumpet is sounded, hail and fire mixed with blood destroy 1/3 of the vegetation of the earth. The second trumpet indicates a 'blazing mountain', I assume some kind of a meteorite, turning the sea to blood and destroying 1/3 of the sea life and ships. The third trumpet is called wormwood, a poison, it poisons a third of the fresh water resources. The fourth seal strike the atmosphere and reduces lite from the heavens again by 1/3, that's the blunt of the eighth chapter.
Personally I think the the next two trumpet blasts are by far the most interesting. The stars from heaven and the opening of the abyss are obviously a demonic host. The sixth trumpet are the four angles have apparently kept some semblance of peace by keeping certain powers separated. These defending angels are removed and the demonic host is released. The battle at it's core has always been spiritual, just as God exposes sin in our lives to bring us to repentance he brings out the spiritual evil that has held this earth for so long.
Forgive me a long quote but this is important:
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenanth was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. (Rev. 11:15-19)The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
This is only half way through the tribulation, according to heaven the kingdoms of earth have become the kingdom of God. Meanwhile back on earth the Antichrist has pulled out all the stops, now decapitating anyone who will not bow the knee and accept the mark. After all of this they are still running wild, this goes on for another three and a half years. The whole time he is telling them they can win, even against God. Even the devil is cast down to the earth and their rage is unprecedented, the vials of wrath are the final wave of judgment, after that they are done.
I'm going to hold off here, I want to hear from you. Tell me about the vials of wrath.
Grace and peace,
Mark
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