“ ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth’ ” (Revelation 5:9, 10, NKJV).
“…The book of Revelation will move forward chronologically in narrative fashion in some chapters, then go back over the same time frame again in other chapters, adding to the total story of the book…Based on the chronology of the story of the seven churches of chapters 2 and 3, the seven seals in chapter 6, and the seven trumpets in chapters 8 and 9, you will notice that each of the stories covers much of the same time periods, but with additional information and different emphases.
John continues to fill in the details of the story of the Christian Church, as it unfolds in each era. When you reach chapters 12–14, you are introduced to the drama of the great controversy between Christ and Satan during the nearly 2,000 years of the Christian era. Chapter 12 describes the fight between Christ and Satan over the Christian Church through the Dark Ages. Chapter 13 describes the protagonists and proxies of this fight between Christ and Satan over much of the same time period, but with a description of how, at the end, the earth-beast will coerce the world to follow the sea-beast. Chapter 14 details what the Christians will be proclaiming at the end-time and what kind of people they are then. Much recapitulation of material occurs throughout this section. One must simply be patient and work out the chronology of the activities of God on behalf of His people from Pentecost to the Second Coming, as you read through the book.
Victorinus of Pettau, who died circa A.D. 304, is thought to have introduced the principle of recapitulation as a literary form in the book of Revelation. It has been followed ever since, with some modifications. (From pg. 286-7. “…From a heavenly perspective, past, present, and future belong together. John is free to range back and forth over the chronological events to portray what leads to the end.”
When John states in 4:1, “after this I looked, and, behold a door was open in heaven…and immediately I was in the spirit…” he is simply saying, AFTER the first vision, I saw the second one. This “after this” phrase would not necessarily imply that everything after the first vision was completely AFTER the first vision. He is seeing the visions one after the other, without regard to chronological time. There are many examples of this in Revelation, see if you can find them?
- Testimonies Vol. 8, 302.1-3 This passage from the Spirit of Prophecy was brought up with respect to the idea of chronology, see the phrase in bold print. This phrase and paragraph appears 5 or 6 times in her writings, in relation to Revelation. What are the “solemn messages” and what does “given in their order mean?”
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Revelation 1:1-3. {8T 301.5}
The solemn messages that have been given in their order in the Revelation are to occupy the first place in the minds of God’s people. Nothing else is to be allowed to engross our attention. {8T 302.1}
The phrase, “solemn messages,” would seem to apply to a host of messages, possibly all the messages in the book of Revelation. I think there is a distinction between messages and chapters. For example, one would wish to present the Three Angel’s Message “in order,” not out of order, they wouldn’t make sense otherwise. Why would you present the story of the Seven Churches “out of order,” it wouldn’t make sense? Yet, our evangelical Revelation commentators attest to the fact that the churches can be presented in any order, there is NO time sequence for them, they are just cities on the Roman Postal Road John happen to name in his prophecy.
More particular, in the immediate context of 8T 302.3, the next paragraph seems to imply what order the churches should be taken into consideration. She goes on to discuss the last three churches, in order. Is that what she meant? And, in view of our acceptance of the Recapitulation theory, it would surely be important to keep the messages in order. What are your thoughts?
- Is Revelation 4 & 5 a description of the Pre-Advent or Investigative Judgment? A whole book has been written by Alberto Treiyer, Ph.D., an Adventist theologian from Argentina.
Uriah Smith states, “Now when John tells us that a door was open in heaven, (4:1) and in the apartment thus disclosed to view he sees the antitype of the candlestick of the earthly sanctuary, it is good prod that he is looking into the first apartment of the sanctuary above.” Pg. 411.
Furthermore, regarding 11:19, Smith states, “the temple is opened, and the second apartment of the sanctuary is entered. We know it is the holy of holies that is here opened, for the ark is seen’ and in that apartment alone the ark was deposited. This took place at the end of the 2300 days, when the sanctuary was to be cleansed. (Daniel 8:14). At that time the prophetic periods ended and the seventh angel began to sound. Since 1844, the people of God have seen by faith the open door in heaven, and the ark of God’s testament within. They are endeavoring to keep every precept of the holy law written upon the table deposited there…”pg. 546-7.
Smith does not mention specifically that the Pre-Advent Judgment takes place in either of these two quotes, though he might somewhere else in the book. I haven’t read the entire thing today. But he does connect 4:1 with the Holy Place and 11:19 with the Most Holy Place.
In his 2nd Volume of God Cares, pg. 170-172, C. Mervyn Maxwell suggests that Rev. 4 & 5 and Daniel 7:9-14 describe two different things. Rev. 4 & 5 is NOT a judgment scene but that Daniel 7:9-14 IS a judgment scene and suggests that the Daniel passage relates to God and Jesus moving into the Most Holy Place at the end of the 2300 years in 1844 to begin the judgment.
“Christ’s ascension to heaven was the signal that His followers were to receive the promised blessing. For this they were to wait before they entered upon their work. When Christ passed within the heavenly gates, He was enthroned amidst the adoration of the angels. As soon as this ceremony was completed, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in rich currents, and Christ was indeed glorified, even with the glory which He had with the Father from all eternity. The Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven’s communication that the Redeemer’s inauguration was accomplished. According to His promise He had sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to His followers as a token that He had, as priest and king, received all authority in heaven and on earth, and was the Anointed One over His people.”[1]
- Someone
asked me how we know the churches, or for that matter, the seals and trumpets,
represent time periods? We do not have
prophetic times assigned to them like we do the 1260 year and 2300 year
prophecies.
- That the churches, seals, and trumpets are discussed or opened sequentially should alert us to the possibility that time is involved. There is no indication that they happen all at once.
There were more than seven churches in Asia Minor. Jesus had John use these seven churches to depict something in the future about the church in different times from Pentecost to the Second Coming. See Uriah Smith, D&R, pgs, 343, 344, 361-364.
Jesus opens the first seal (6:1) and a white horse comes out, conquering and to conquer. How much time does that take? Knowing what the horse represents is also a clue to the activities of the “horse” and how long it might take it to “conquer.” Then, the second seal is opened, (etc.) and there is again activity of the horse for some period of time.
- The
seven trumpets contain two time prophecies, one in the 5th, and one
in the 6th. So, there is a
known element of time in at least two of the trumpets. And, it takes time for mountains to be thrown
into the sea and affect 1/3 of life in the sea.
Knowing what the symbols mean will help describe the time it takes to
complete the trumpet sounding.
- The fact that modern evangelical scholarship sees no time periods in the stories of the heptads suggests that they would see no prophetic use for them. For many, the seven churches story relates to the first century and has instructions for the actual seven churches only. Many historicist interpreters PRIOR to the SDA church view of the churches saw a prophetic meaning to the churches, the candlestick representing the church in its particular time period, in sequence over time, to the Second Coming. The stories of the seven churches, seals and trumpets have no meaning to us whatsoever if they are only given for the church of the 1st century. Revelation is a prophecy, which includes the seven churches, seals and trumpets. Concluding that these ARE NOT prophecies goes against the statement of Jesus who showed these things to John of “which must shortly come to pass.” (1:1) and the “things which must be hereafter.” (4:1) See also 9:12 as a hint on the time period of the woes.
What does opening the seal mean? Christ, who has proven worthy in chapter 5, to open the seals and deal with their contents, begins to open the seals one by one in chapter 6. That each seal is opened in sequence, indicates the possibility of something happening successively over time. Remember that as the seals are opened in symbolic fashion, they are descriptive of some literal event, person or situation on the earth. Literal things happen as described by the opening of the symbolic seals. From my commentary: pg. 324. “The opening of the seals, sequentially, is symbolic of the opening of the book and the revealing of its contents. The idea of an open book, as opposed to a closed or sealed book, suggests that we are to become privy to its contents and understand its material. The idea of seven seals being broken sequentially alerts us that a sequence of historical events is unfolding here, just as the story of the seven churches symbolically tells us the sequential history of the church. The scroll is completely open to view by everyone at the great white throne judgment.”
- What are the contents of the seals? Here is an explanation from the Spirit of Prophecy.
EGW—“We ask John what he saw and heard in the vision at Patmos, and he answers: ‘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. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.’
“There in His open hand lay the book, the roll of the history of God’s providences, the prophetic history of nations and the church. Herein was contained the divine utterances, His authority, His commandments, His laws, the whole symbolic counsel of the Eternal, and the history of all ruling powers in the nations. In symbolic language was contained in that roll the influence of every nation, tongue, and people from the beginning of earth’s history to its close.” Paragraph 3…”The destiny of every nation was contained in that book.”[2]
As the text says, “no man anywhere was able to open the book…” (5:3) Only the “Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.” (5:5) Jesus is unique! (the monogenes) He died to save our sins, as the “lamb that had just been slain.” There is something in that sealed book that Jesus is now able to do by virtue of His great sacrifice for humankind. That “something” is to deal with the sin question. He is able to give grace to all the sinners in all the world who have fallen but wish to be free from sin.
The Seven Seals Revelation 6 Parousia and the Second Coming
The Seven Seals
Instead of identifying the symbolism of the horse from the Scriptures themselves, they conflate Ezekiel’s four curses (Ezekiel 14:21) with the four horses. To be certain, there are four curses called for in Ezekiel for apostasy, but they are the four main judgments that come upon Israel AS A RESULT of their apostasy.
“These curses of the covenant are described in the Old Testament in terms of “war, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts.” In Ezekiel they are referred to as God’s “four severe judgments” (Ezekiel 14:21; cf. Jer. 15:3, RSV—the “four kinds of destroyers”).” Pg. 327. Commentators make no attempt to fully describe their alleged symbolism, they just conflate the four judgments with the four horses. There is a much better explanation from the Bible. It is easy to see how evangelical interpreters like this interpretation because they see no prophetic symbolism here, which necessarily includes time periods. Why should are own brethren pick this up and obscure the clearly prophetic nature of the seals, churches and trumpets. Who or what is the horse?
The Revelation describes the church symbolically at least three ways:
- Candlestick (1:20)
- Woman (12:1)
- Horse (6:2, 4, 5, 8)
Isa. 63:11-13 11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him? 12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name? 13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
Zech. 10:3 3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
Based on the Biblical text, the horse is the church symbolically. Knowing this clears up the story of the seals so much.
The next logical question one might ask, is, who is the rider on the horse? Ask any horseperson, the horse has purpose to its activities and movement when there is a rider. Both of the above texts suggest that Jesus is the rider, as he “led them through the deep,” and hath made THEM as HIS goodly horse…” And, notice the text in the New Testament.
Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
That leads us to the next logical question, how is Jesus the rider when in the fourth horse, Death appears to be the rider?
From the commentary. “The name of him that sat on the horse was Death, and Hell followed him. We have met Death and Hell in 1:18. Death came riding, and the grave followed him closely behind. We should notice that Death and Hell were “given” power over the earth. As we shall see later, this is the historical time period of A.D. 538–1798, or the Dark Ages, and the reign of the little horn/sea beast (Daniel 7; Revelation 13). But nothing takes place on the earth except under the control of God—even the bad things. Jesus is still in control of the church, even if it is pale and sickly unto death. Through His resurrection, He now controls the keys of hell and of death (1:18). He will preserve those who trust in Him and bring them through the fiery ordeal of their very lives. Death and Hades are under Christ’s control, as terrible as they might be.”
PURPOSE OF THE HEPTADS
Purpose of the heptads (to describe in symbolic language what happens to the church in the Christian era)
THERE ARE FOUR NARRATIVES OF “SEVEN” IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. What is the function of these heptads (7’s)? The first three, churches, seals, and trumpets, describe the church’s activities during the time of probation. The fourth set, the seven last plagues, describes the wrath of God poured out on those who killed the saints under the altar in the fifth seal.
The narratives are John’s way of describing Jesus’ covenant activities with his church in the Christian era, with their attendant blessings and cursings. We understand Jesus’ activity on our behalf in studying the typology from the Old Testament. Jesus made a covenant with Abraham, ratified “with the blood of bulls and goats,” (Heb.10:4) to make of him a great nation (Genesis 12:2) and that all the families in the earth would be blessed because of him. (Genesis 12:3) “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. (Gal 3:6)
This covenant effort of Christ began more systematically with the deliverance of the Children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and their being sent on their way to the Promised Land. The very story of the Children of Israel journeying from Egypt to Canaan is a typology of the story of New Testament spiritual Israel traveling from Pentecost to the Second Coming of Christ. How they proved victorious at times and how they failed at times is a matter of record in the Old Testament. How spiritual Israel in the Christian era has proved victorious at times and how they have failed at times is a matter of record in the New Testament in the narratives of the churches, seals, and trumpets.
Can you believe it? Christ, in his infinite mercy, revealed to his people then, and to us today, the consequences of obedience and disobedience. He did not do this to threaten us or scare us, but to let us know the CONSEQUENCES of loyalty and rebellion. This is the same Jesus that Paul quotes when he says For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23 KJV)
Paul describes in 1 & 2nd Corinthians some terrible things the Corinthian Christians were doing that Jesus did not approve of. Paul recalls for the Corinthians the story of their forbearers in the wilderness. Just because the Israelites ate manna in the wilderness and drank water from the rock, it would not save them in their rebellion against God. And, just because the Corinthians partook of the Lord’s Supper, it would not save them in their sinning and rebellion against Jesus. Paul concludes by saying, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (1Co 10:11 KJV) In other words, loving obedience to Jesus today will result in many blessings, including being with Jesus in heaven. And, being rebellious and disobedient will result in trouble and pain in this life and loss of eternal life at the end.
A review of Leviticus 26:1-13 on the blessings Israel could receive for obedience is contrasted with the cursings, 26:14-43, they could receive for their disobedience. Deuteronomy 11:13-17; 26-28; 30:15-20, describes much of the same to the Israelites in Moses’ last sermon to them. Through Moses, a type of Christ, Jesus led his people in the wilderness toward Canaan. He described to them “blessings” for their obedience and described “cursings” for their disobedience in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. With Jesus as the head of the church in the New Testament, He describes for us “blessings” for obedience through the narrative of the seven churches and describes for us “cursings” for disobedience through the narrative of the seven trumpets.
- More on the story of the seals, churches and trumpets.
How does the New Testament narrative start? The REAL sanctuary opens in heaven, with the coronation of Jesus as our High Priest and mediator in the Holy Place. No more “types and shadows,” no more lambs offered, the Real Sanctuary was now open for business. The opening of the scroll, one seal at a time, reveals the story of the church as it passes from purity to apostasy. The narrative of the Seven Churches shows Jesus’ grace to help their every need and the reward for their obedience in the life to come. When they fail, and follow after the doctrines of the Nicolaitans, Balaam and Jezebel, Jesus calls the trumpets to sound judgments on their apostasy. Look at this idea another way.
The seven seals illustrate prophetically the course of the church through the centuries, just like the history of Ancient Israel as recorded in the Torah, Judges, Kings and Chronicles. The record of Jesus dealing with the Old Testament church through its fidelity and apostasy is hugely instructive for the present day. The history of the Christian church starts in AD 31 as Jesus begins to break the seals and unroll the scroll. The narrative is painfully clear regarding spiritual Israel’s road from fidelity to apostasy over time.
As pointed out above, a knowledge of the symbolism of the horse is paramount to our understanding of the passage. Who the horse is, and who the rider is, will give us a more complete picture of the horse. The horse is the church We saw this discussed above.
The four colors represent four phases of the church as it moves from purity to apostasy.
1st seal White Horse — Pure Church (Pure Doctrine) AD 31-313
The gospel is given to the world, by testimony & by martyrdom
2nd seal Red Horse — Persecuting Church (Division of Doctrinal Beliefs) AD 313- 395 Sword of Division. Sword of Persecution begins
3rd seal Black Horse — Impure Church (Impure Doctrine) AD 395-538
The reception of truth is weighed in the balances
The bread of Life is scarce (wheat & barley is scarce)
The Holy Spirit is scarce (oil is scarce)
The Gospel is scarce. (wine is scarce)
4th seal Pale Horse — Spiritually Dying Church (Dead Doctrines) AD 538-1798
Martyrdom of believers
Death of the wicked as well
The rider is Jesus on the first three horses. Who is riding the fourth horse: Death followed by Hell. Who has the “keys of hell and death?” Jesus (Rev. 1:18). Even when Satan seems triumphant, Jesus holds the keys. He is always in control of His church, in whatever situation it finds itself.
5th seal Souls under the Altar
As the church passes through the Dark Ages, the blood of the martyrs cries out from under the altar, “how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on the that dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10). Jesus tells them it will not be long. Just as soon as all who will yet die for their faith in Him have died, he will come.
6th seal Signs of the 2nd Coming of Jesus
The sixth seal describes the signs of nature in the Old World (Lisbon Earthquake 1755) and the New World (Dark Day of May 19, 1780; star showers, No. 13, 1833). They are signal events at the end of the Dark Ages that Jesus is about to come. We live in the time period of the 6th seal, between 6:13 and 6:14.
7th seal Silence in heaven
The seventh seal describes silence in heaven for a short period of time. We can speculate but we do not really know what this short period of time is: going to heaven in seven days and heaven is silent because everyone is on earth at the Second Coming; silence just before Jesus comes and He pronounces blessings on the faithful, or silence at the end of the Lake of Fire for those of God’s creation who rebelled and were burned up.
- The seven churches narrative begins at Pentecost as well. These are dates proposed by Stephen Haskell, one of our early evangelists.
Church Time Period in AD
Ephesus 31-100
Smyrna 100-323 Pergamum 323-538 Thyatira 538-1798
Sardis 1798-1833 Philadelphia 1833-1844
Laodicea 1844-Close of Probation
Jesus diagnoses the sins and shortcomings of God’s people in every age, and offers the remedies necessary to make them Overcomers. Every person in each age who accepts the remedy for their sins will be an Overcomer. In fact, every person in all seven church periods is called by Jesus to be overcomers. And, they CAN be overcomers (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21) in every age, solely by the grace of Jesus! Jesus “knows” the condition of His churches. He “knows” their needs. As the Great Physician, He knows their spiritually bankrupt condition. He offers every grace He possesses (chapter 1) for their salvation and for their “overcoming.” All seven churches need the grace of God. All seven churches can receive blessings for their obedience.
The seven trumpets sound the warning of coming judgments. “In the visions of the seven churches and the seven seals, the history of the Christian church was brought to the attention of all that had ears to listen. It is presented as a series of causes and effects. During the experience of the church of Pergamos, the history of the church became the history of the state as the two began forming bonds that would last for over a millennium. “Antipas,” the “faithful martyr” (Rev. 2:13), typified those that were protesting the papal usurpations. The word is a conjunction of the Greek words “against” and “fathers.” The church fathers [leaders]…were against…those who had just taken the title, “pa,” as the supposed universal father. This spiritual fornication, despised not only by Antipas, but by God Himself, called forth the Seven Trumpets.”[3]
In his excellent summary, Loren M. K. Nelson suggests that “The seven trumpets represent scourges that fall upon the nations that rejected the gospel given during each of the Christian time periods. The trumpets sound God’s own assessment of the ungodly political decisions made by man.” “The seven trumpets sound God’s judgment upon those both inside and outside the church who do not take God seriously.”[4]
James White quotes Isaiah 24:4-6 in his appreciation of the purpose of the trumpets. “The Roman Empire declined, as it arose, by conquest; but the Saracens and the Turks were the instruments by which a false religion became the scourge of an apostate church; and hence, instead of the fifth and sixth trumpets, like the former, being marked by that name alone, they are called woes. It was because the laws were transgressed, the ordinances changed, and the everlasting covenant broken, that the curse came upon the earth or the land.”
Jesus calls the judgments because of apostasy in His church. Judgments come as a result of apostasy. This is a biblical truth throughout the Old AND New Testament. Conversely, apostasy is NOT a judgment.
Rev. 6:17 asks the question, who
shall be able to stand? Rev.
7, the interlude between the sixth and seventh seals answers the question. Those who have the seal of God shall be able
to stand. (7:3) By contrast, the majority of earthlings will choose to receive
the Mark of the Beast mentioned in Rev. 13:17. I would rather have the Seal of
God than the Mark of the Beast, how about you?
[1] Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, 38, 39.
[2] 20MR MR No. 1465 True Higher Education is Obtainable Only From the Master” (20MR 197.1-3)
[3] Eugene Prewitt. http://www.bibledoc.org/revelation-class/revelation-8-to-11-and-the-seven-trumpets/
[4] Loren M. K. Nelson. Understanding the Mysteries of Daniel & Revelation. 2010. Self-published. Available through Remnant Publications. 649 E. Chicago Rd. Coldwater, MI 49036. Pg. 228.
Special thanks to Ken Matthews MD
