December 16

07 – We’ve come to an interlude within the first seven seals that have inflicted terrible suffering on the earth.  The first six of the seven seals are spelled out in the prior chapter. The seventh commences in chapter eight. Here there is a moment of pause.  There is a section where God’s protection is declared on those who have His seal on their foreheads. [This is in clear contrast to those who have ‘666’ on their foreheads]. This is God preserving His own; people who have come to Him even during the Tribulation. The Church has been raptured away from this in case you were wondering where all the Believers are.  The other part of this chapter is John’s vision of paradise (so far) where God has gathered His own from every tribe and tongue and nation (the reverse of Babylon if you will).  It is angels and elders and paradise and God’s children beyond number worshipping. It is a colossal scene that seems to spread wonder across an entire galaxy in terms of its size.  God is merely giving pause in here to encourage His own –> that He has a plan for them that is beyond this world and magnificent in its scope.  This scene is a vitally important vision to share with the church, presently as in the first century, amid a Roman government that is taking sadistic delight in tormenting them. It is an ensuring vision that pertains to the church in every century.

08 – The Seventh Seal is opened. It is segmented into seven trumpets that contain more horror than the first six combined.  But the chapter opens with a scene that makes the heavens fall silent for half an hour. [Some have joked that this is proof no women had arrived yet], but the angels and the rest are stunned at what is coming next. Prayers are sent aloft, the incense is released and then the angel sends fire to the earth along with thunder, lightning, and earthquake. The succession of events that follow leave the mind wondering how anyone ends up surviving. Fire falls like the world has never seen as ALL grass is burned by hail, fire, and blood.  One third of the entire sea turns to blood and there’s death in the ocean; big time. Fresh water is destroyed, contaminating/killing untold amounts of people.  There is also cataclysmic events regarding sun and stars and this affects earth. Interesting to glance back at Genesis 1,2 and see Creation take place in succession: vegetation, water, land, sun and stars.  That is Creation. Genesis 7,8 tell of “un-Creation” as God needs to inundate the place so Noah and family can start over. In Rev.8 we are read of basically a “de-Creation”.  Man has been so rebellious and uncooperative for so long that it’s time to chemically destroy the place: pelt it, burn it, ransack it. It’s a sorry picture really.  Y’ever wonder if the enviornmentalists are going to sue God for all these deeds? What court will they take Him to? The “Save the Earth” / Friends of the Earth / Granite-Planet support group network / and all the rest of them will be quivering in caves.

09 – the end of the final chapter tells of an eagle that screeches, “that was nothing compared to what is coming!”  The fifth trumpet releases demonic flying scorpions that torment all on earth for five months straight. No place to hide, nowhere to run, none are allowed to die – all suffer at what Satan has released here. Joel talks about locusts coming before the Day of Judgment. Egypt experienced locusts as a warning of their imminent end (Exodus 10). The sixth trumpet brings the next terror; an army of 200Million is loosed on the earth and they kill 1/3 of all remaining humans. The fourth seal back in Rev. 6:4 killed 1/4 of the earth. With a third of the remaining gone, half the world’s population has now been removed. Death seems to be reigning on earth anymore. Do the survivors see/realize/know that God is the Lord? No. They barrel-on-ahead with their witchcraft, theft, murder, cult-sex & idolatry.

10 – this chapter is another interlude of sorts. Remember the interlude between the sixth and seventh seals? This is one between the sixth and seventh trumpets. The angel is announcing that what is coming next is set to happen and no one will be able to stop it. God has delayed his rage against rebellion long enough. This is final warning – just to warn you – as God does. But there is no way out for anyone looking for relief. [Similar to hell itself]

11 – John is to measure the Temple’ inner court; that is to assess the worshippers even in these difficult days. Notice there is no interest in the outer court. God has had enough of the fringe people.  My husband and I have been in church for a cumulative century; for more actually. And we know about the fringe people; the tares who just like being around true believers but don’t want to become involved for real themselves.  They sit on the edge, in the back, come late, leave early, are often there but “never there”. God not with these people.    God then raises up two witnesses who have evangelistic power that is terribly great. Though the verbiage is mirrored in Zechariah 4, it is not stated who these two are but it will become clear in time. They are fiercely protected while doing great exploits … then they are killed, lay dead before a fascinated world, then resurrect and are carried away to God.

Verses15ff then declare that the Kingdom of the World has all been conquered and surrendered to the reigning Christ.  The elders worship, the Ark in heaven is opened and it is a glorious powerful scene!

You may be thinking how this [at the middle of the book] can sound so ‘final’ – when there are 11 chapters left in Revelation.  The literature follows a typical biblical pattern of repetition, as Genesis 1 & 2 are different descriptions of the same process.  Rev. 6-11 runs in the same current and chronology as does Rev. 12-19.  You are sensing it right that the worship service John witnesses in John 11 is the same one he witnesses in John 19.  Again, Rev. 12-19 is a repeat of Rev. 6-11.  So next week the imagery will sound familiar as to what we read this week and on into  our finishing the Bible in two weeks from today.