Unsealing the Deal - Part 1

     The book of Revelation begins by reviewing the final signs of this present age that we are living in. Then it covers the Last Day of God’s prophetic great Week of 1,000-year Days. You may know the final 1,000-year time period as Christ’s millennial reign. It is also known as the Day of the Lord, the Day of Redemption, and the Day of Judgment. This last book highlights the first 3-1/2 years of that Day. This relatively short time is known as the wrath of that Day and God’s vengeance against evil.
      The book closes with an ominous warning: “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18-19).
          We don’t believe that the severity of these plagues applies to the situation of those sincere believers from the past who were trying to understand the Lord’s return and telling people about it, for they were seeing through a glass darkly through no fault of their own. They weren’t deliberately adding or subtracting in order to deceive. But as God brings more revelation as the appointed time draws nearer, we must be careful not to let our traditions make His Word of no effect. This is why we must use Revelation as the standard by which we honestly evaluate our man-made end-time views.
       Rev. 6 describes the seals as they were set in place in God’s prophetic plan of redemption. They are not in our future. Rather, they are in our present. How do we know this? Because the seals are the same as the signs of this age—the time of the Church—that Jesus described in the Olivet Discourse. That is, the signs that we would see after His ascension. They are the consequences of the people of the world choosing to reject God as the Almighty God and Creator, and rejecting the Son of God as the Savior.
         Psalm 2 records mankind’s choice. “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us’ ” (vs. 1-3). God’s response is to give them what they have chosen: the consequences of the lawlessness of Satan’s kingdom of darkness.
         Scripture describes God’s response as His righteous judgment. Jesus described it as the tribulation, the great tribulation, the beginnings of sorrows, and the tribulation of those days. The Greek wording literally refers to the feminine distress of birth pains. More on that later.
      End-Time Lesson: In response to the disciples’ question concerning Jesus’ prophecy of the Temple’s destruction and what would follow, Jesus answered them by identifying the signs of this present age (Mt. 24:4-9) and what would signal His return (Mt. 24:29). Here in Revelation, John identifies them as the prophetic seals.
        Sign #1: Many deceivers would come in His name to deceive them, bringing false religions and religious wars. This compares to the conquerors in the first seal in Rev. 6:1-2.
          Sign #2: Warfare, conflict, and ethnic cleansing. This compares to the conflict on the earth in the second seal of Rev. 6:3-4.
         Sign #3: Famine and lack. This compares to the poverty and scarcity in the third seal of Rev. 6:4-6.
        Sign #4: Pestilence and earthquakes. This compares to the pestilence, plagues, and death of Rev. 6:7-8. Sign #5: Persecution. This compares to the martyrs of the Church in Rev. 6:8-11. 
            The final sign, the 6th sign, shall bring total celestial darkness over the whole earth at one time. This compares to the cosmic disturbances of the 6th seal in Rev. 6:12-17, what Scripture refers to as the shaking of the heavens and the earth. I think we can all agree that we have seen the first five signs throughout the history of the Church, including our present time. But have we seen the 6th sign yet? What does that tell us? Stay tuned!
            By the way, the Revelation does reveal a 7th seal in another chapter, but Jesus didn’t mention it in His Olivet teaching on the signs of this age because it happens after He comes again. Something else has to happen first. Stay tuned!