Hebrews 1 describes God’s supreme revelation of His Son, based on the prophetic Day Code. He is the appointed heir of all things, the brightness of God’s glory, the express image of God’s person (nature), upholding all things by the word of His power, the One who purged us of all sins, now seated at the right hand of the Father, having become so much better than the angels. He is exalted above the angels.      No wonder verse 14 describes the angels as “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation.”
         John’s vision so far has served to bring us up to date to our own time, with the exception of the final 6th sign that ends this present age. Now the Revelation vision skips ahead to give us an overview of what shall happen as the last Day, the 7th Day, is about to dawn. In other words, we’re about to get a glimpse of our near future. Chapter 7 gives us the tie-in between what has transpired since Jesus’ ascension and the end of this age, as well as the answer to the question as to who is able to stand against God’s wrath.
         We are introduced to an angel whose job includes the seal of the living God. This angel spots four other angels in charge of the four winds of the earth. The first angel loudly informs them  not to do their thing yet upon the earth because the appointed time has not yet come. “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” (Rev. 7:3).
         What is this sealing? Why is it so important? Again, we are to make the Spirit-inspired connections. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30). The Day of Redemption refers to the point in God’s timetable when those who are His are fully sanctified and perfected at the rapture (1 Thess. 5:23). It is when we are fully conformed to His image (Rom. 8:29).
            In the meantime, our regenerated, born-again spirits are sealed by the Holy Spirit so that they cannot be corrupted again by sin. This sealing is our guarantee of our future hope and heavenly calling in Christ (2 Cor. 1:22). In effect, it is His divine down payment of our future calling. “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13, emphasis added). What this tells us is that our earthly commission to preach the Gospel and make disciples is not quite done yet.
          Then John hears a cryptic clue as to the identity of the ones to be sealed. Why do I say it is cryptic?
Because it lists 12 sets of 12 thousands. Yes, you read that correctly—thousands, plural. In our Bibles, every time we read the singular form of thousand in our translations, the actual word in the original text is the plural form of thousands.
            END-TIME LESSON: This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. This creative license on the part of the translators has led to a major misinterpretation that has caused much confusion in the Church. It has caused some to assert that this listing of the sealed are literally 10,000 Jewish eunuchs drawn from each of the twelve tribes of Israel who come out of the tribulation to become evangelists. Yet we never see them again doing just that. What we do see is this multitude “from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” again and again (Rev. 7:9, emphasis added).
            To understand the identity of this innumerable company, we need a very brief English grammar lesson. The reason the translators changed the original text is because it violated our English grammar rules. Surely God didn’t mean to make this mistake. Or did He? Stay tuned! We’re about to find out who is able to stand at the coming of that great and awesome Day of the Lord.

     Throughout the four gospels we often find Jesus introducing a teaching with this phrase: “you’ve heard it said…but I say…”. Since this last book is the revelation of Jesus, coming from Him and being about Him, the One who is the spirit of prophesy, it is time we clearly hear what He says about the end-time scenario. 
         It is time we set aside our preconceived ideas and hear what our Lord and soon-coming King of kings declared to us. The book of Revelation was written specifically for our generation, which is why God’s Spirit is bringing more light and insight concerning its meaning.
      When the ascended Christ opened the seals of the scroll of inheritance of the earth, in effect He was unsealing the indictments or charges against Satan and his evil forces. He exposed the enemy’s dirty, deceitful tricks.
         The first four seals are sometimes called the four horsemen of the apocalypse because in the vision the spiritual beings bringing the signs sweep across the heavenlies riding horses. This is an example of how prophecy often uses figurative language. We know that actual, literal horses have not been seen riding through our atmosphere! Instead, the spiritual horses symbolize spiritual warfare. Keep this in mind because this same symbolism will come up again later. Knowing what it symbolizes will be crucial.
      The vision, along with the parallel accounts of Jesus’ Olivet teaching in the Gospels concerning what will take place at His coming and the rapture, bring down another erroneous mountain and “high place” in our end-time views. Jesus explained that the disciples in His time would see these events.    If we’re honest with ourselves as Christ’s disciples, we have to admit that we are still seeing the first five signs described in part 1, in our own time. Have we seen the final sixth sign of total darkness over the whole earth at one time? Certainly not. We’ve seen celestial signs such as blood moons and partial eclipses. But these only remind us of what has been declared and is yet to come.
         END-TIME LESSON: The reason there is so much confusion in the Church concerning God’s scriptural end-time plan is because we have misunderstood and redefined the terms Jesus used. Particularly the various terms related to the tribulation. When we correctly use Scripture to interpret Scripture and make the necessary Spirit-inspired connections via the same phrases and analogies, we can piece together the prophetic puzzle so that we see the end-time scene clearly.
       Most importantly, when we take this scriptural approach no passages have to be ignored because they didn’t fit our views. It also means we don’t have to force-fit pieces, adding extra details that are not found in the Bible in order to make our views fit.
        The scriptural bottom-line revealed in Revelation is that the Church has always lived in this extended time of the tribulation of this age. The first five seals are basically a matter of history as the 6th great Day in God’s prophetic timetable draws to a close.  This means the 6th seal of total darkness is in our near future.
          t shall come “Immediately after the tribulation of those days—the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken”(Mt. 24:29). In other words, the last two seals (6th and 7th) are future events yet to happen.
            The seals do not depict a mere seven years’ worth of tribulation as is commonly taught today. Nor are they limited to the activities of the future Antichrist. Instead, the seals provide the incriminating evidence to justify the judgments issued by the scroll. The rebellious nations of this world must receive the just consequences of their choices.
           The seals are the written judgment against Satan’s rule as the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), spanning the 6,000 years counting from the Adam and the choice to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They are what bring God’s vengeance against evil in the Age to Come (the 7th great Day, the Day of the Lord, Christ’s millennial reign over the earth). The seals confirm the legal authenticity of the scroll, for God’s judgments are true and righteous.
         John’s record of the revelation of the final seal paints a scary scenario, from the rich and famous down to the lowest people on the chain of society. All are struck with great fear and want to desperately find a place to hide. “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:16-17,  emphasis added). Stay tuned to find out who can stand!

     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!

      In Rev. 4 we see God’s throne room. The scene continues in Rev. 5. At first John sees God holding the scroll of inheritance over the earth as described in Psalm 2. Then John hears a voice proclaiming, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loosen its seals?” No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth is able to open the scroll or to look at it. No wonder John begins to weep. This tells us that Jesus has not yet ascended.
        The next thing John sees is a Lamb standing before the throne. It looks as if it has been slain. It is the Lamb of God entering the heavenly tabernacle not made with hands. It is Jesus bringing the sin offering of His own blood on behalf of all mankind. This is Jesus’ ascension. Note, however, that He has not yet been seated.
         The scroll is offered to the firstborn Son. Jesus takes the scroll out of the right hand of the Father—the hand of authority—who is sitting on the throne. God declares the decree to the Son, giving Him the nations as His inheritance and the ends of the earth for His possession (Ps. 2).
         Once Jesus takes the scroll, officially marking Him as the Heir of God’s Mountain (the heavenly Mount Zion and Kingdom of Light), the four living beings and 24 elders break out in praise, singing a new song. It is the song of victory, of overcoming death, through the New Covenant of grace. Take note  of the words of the song, too. We will hear other songs on this Revelation journey.
        END-TIME LESSON: However beautiful this scene is, we must take note that it is not yet time to possess the earth. There is an appointed time. What must happen first? The Gospel must go forth to all the nations, compliments of the Lord’s Body, also known as His Church and His Bride. That is our earthly calling and great commission (Mt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:14-18; Lk. 2447-48; Jn. 20:21; Acts 1:8).
         Here we need to stop and dig out a root poking through the well-packed earth in our end-time pathway. It is a common misconception that the rest of  the Book of Revelation comes from the contents of this scroll as the seals are removed. Instead, the scroll was given and opened on the day Jesus ascended. As the seven seals are broken open in the next few chapters, the decree is being declared in order to release the prophetic contents.
           In the next few chapters of the overview, God reveals the events of these last Days, specifically the two great Days or 2,000 years of what we call the Church Age or Messianic Age. In effect, God is declaring the mystery of the fullness of time, the mystery of God’s will. “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps. 24:1). It is marked by the outpouring of God’s Spirit. Paul described this mystery in Ephesians 1:10-12. Be sure to take a moment and read that timely, pivotal passage.
        Jesus referred to these two Days or 2,000 years in a unique prophecy. On His last journey into Jerusalem, some Pharisees came to warn Him that Herod was planning to kill Him. Our Lord’s prophetic response: “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third Day I shall be perfected.’ Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem” (Lk. 13:32).
           His statement doesn’t make any sense in the natural. It can only be understood in terms of what we call God’s Day Code. The Code shows us how God counts prophetic time.  That is, a great “Week” of seven 1,000-year Days. It was foreshadowed in the seven days of creation.