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The Seventh Seal
Let us now return to the mainstream of the prophecy, back to the seals. The
7th seal, remember, has still to be opened. Chapter seven was inserted between
the 6th and 7th seals simply because that is when the sealing work will occur in
the stream of time. But once the 144,000 are sealed, the four angels standing at
the four corners of the earth are allowed to release the four winds which will hurt
the earth, the sea and the trees. The hurting of the earth, the sea and the
trees is in fact the beginning of the 7th seal.
The 7th seal is divided into seven sub-sections, each introduced by a
Trumpet blast. The seven Trumpets, in other words, constitute the 7th seal; they
are the 7th seal in terrifying detail.
Remember this important point, for great confusion will result if the seven
seals and the seven trumpets are treated as two separate prophecies. The 7th
seal is introduced with these words:
| Rev.8:
| 1: And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in
heaven about the space of half an hour.
2: And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were
given seven trumpets.
|
| Rev.8:
| 7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire
mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third
part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
|
At this Trumpet, mighty continents housing millions of human beings will be
devastated by hail and fire mingled with blood. Similar scenes, though on a much
smaller scale, were witnessed in ancient times at the destruction of Sodom and
Egypt. (Gen. 19:24, Exodus 9:24) The God of Israel then literally rained hail
and fire on mankind because of their grievous sins and stubborn refusal to
acknowledge His authority. The same thing is due to happen at the 1st Trumpet.
We are also told that one third of the world's forests and all the green grass
will be burnt up. As foretold in Rev. 7. 1-3 the four winds are
beginning to hurt the earth and the trees.
What these events do to the agricultural output of the world is difficult to
imagine: but it is quite obvious that this 1st Trumpet ushers in the terrible Time
of Trouble! a time of international turmoil and terror unparalleled in the
history of humanity.
| Rev.8:
| 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain
burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea
became blood;
9: And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had
life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
|
At this Trumpet one third of the earth's oceans will congeal like the blood
of a dead man. The sea, like the earth and trees before it, is being hurt as
foretold in Rev. 7.1-3. All the traffic on the ocean/s involved will stop; and
all the fish in those waters will perish. In addition to these immediate
effects, there will be other awesome repercussions, such as freak weather
conditions, lack of rain water, fresh air and oil. The oceans of the world, as
any ecologist will confirm, regulate the weather and help purify the very air we
breathe. So the death of even one ocean is a catastrophe of unimaginable
magnitude. This Trumpet, in short, will disrupt the weather, the agricultural
output, the economy and the physical welfare of the whole human race.
At about this time the sun will begin to scorch the earth, for the cooling
effect of the oceans will have diminished and drought will become a world-wide
problem. Hunger and thirst will then become as common in the West as they are
today in the East. The Great Tribulation will have then entered its
second terrifying stage.
| Rev.8:
| 10: And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star
from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part
of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11: And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of
the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because
they were made bitter.
|
Like the 1st and 2nd Trumpets before it, the 3rd Trumpet causes untold damage
and distress on earth. A third of the rivers and fountains of water are now
polluted and many people die as a result. The question is often asked, Could not
the terms earth, sea, trees, grass, ships and fish be symbolic?
The Stewarton Bible School does not deny that possibility for it obviously
does exist. Indeed, some of the terms (trees, grass, fish etc.) could
easily be taken to represent people and scriptural texts found in support. The
main reason why we favour the literal translation, however, and avoid references
to people, is because 'a third of mankind' is scheduled to die
under the 6th Trumpet That frightening fact by itself, which is expressed twice
in Revelation 9 verses 15 and 18, compels us towards the opinion of that the
hurting of a third of the sea, a third of the ships, a third of the rivers, a
third of the trees and all the green grass cannot also refer to people, but
must, at least on a lower plane, refer to the literal sea, ships, rivers, fish,
trees and grass. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine what else they could be,
especially when we remember that a third of the human race is scheduled to
die at the 6th Trumpet. Nevertheless, and we say this without reservation,
symbolic representation may still be present here; but to date we have not come
across any person capable of explaining away the anomalies such an
interpretation would create.
| Rev. 8
| 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun
was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the
stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not
for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
|
The punishment hitherto confined to this planet now mounts up to the heavens.
The sun, moon, and stars are somehow smitten and begin to shine with a greatly
diminished beam. How this almost unimaginable catastrophe is brought about is
not explained, but it is obvious that if this trumpet is understood in a literal
sense, then physical light as we know it will be greatly reduced on earth. This
could be the result of enormous amounts of dust, ash and smoke being produced by
the natural catastrophes mentioned above.
Once again we ask the question: Could it be that this Trumpet presents a symbolic
picture of heavenly powers, and that the sun, moon and the stars in this
instance actually stand for spiritual agents of light and energy perhaps angel
beings?
The possibility obviously must exist, especially in view of the plain
statement like: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. (Rev.
1:20) If this were the case, then this Trumpet's reference to darkened stars
could well present a drastic reduction in angelic authority throughout the
universe. A third of the angelic host would be smitten by God, and their
privilege and ability to radiate spiritual light taken from them. This Trumpet,
then, may be the prelude which is mentioned below:
| Rev.12
| 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
|
Yes, the 4th Trumpet could well have symbolic overtones; but whatever its
interpretation, it sets the scene for another dark age, a spiritual
twilight zone in time when light from heaven will diminish greatly and Satanic
activity on earth will increase sevenfold.
The picture presented so far is undoubtedly grim and the reader is probably
wondering if there is any good news in this catalogue of catastrophe; any
protection for the true believer in the terrible Time of Trouble. We are
happy to report that there is a great deal of good news and a most encouraging
degree of protection; but these blessings are conditional, being reserved for
those who genuinely endeavour to obey God. (Read Deuteronomy 28 for proof of the
principle that the blessings of God are reserved for the obedient.)
We have already seen that the Seal of Yahweh the God of Israel is His law,
and that His Sign (signature) is the Sabbath commandment in His law. We
have also seen how that 144,000 believers will at that time accept the
Almighty's Seal in their minds, and will begin keeping the commandments of God
with faultless dedication and effect. The blessings which follow that kind of
obedience will be beyond comparison and will manifest themselves in many
miraculous ways during the Time
of Trouble. One of the blessings will be that of divine protection.
A perfect example of the protection afforded the 144,000 sealed believers in the
Time of Trouble is given in Revelation chapter 9, which outlines the event of
the 5th Trumpet. In verse 4 we note with great relief that at that time all
sealed believers (those who obey Yahweh's law) will be supernaturally protected
from torture and abuse. All others will suffer. This matter of divine
protection is dealt with later. Yes, there will be protection during the Great
Tribulation, but it will be reserved for those who obey the Almighty God and
bear His Seal. Of all mankind, they alone will be kept from Satan at the time of
the end, and will walk unscathed through the fiery trials just as Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego did in ancient Babylon. (Daniel 3) Indeed, those bygone
experiences in Daniel's day were especially staged by the Eternal as miniature
demonstrations, prophetic prototypes of a mighty deliverance which is to
be repeated on a world-wide scale before the entire universe, when the Almighty
will once again miraculously protect His obedient servants form the terrors of
the Evil One.
Bearing these reassuring thoughts in mind, let us now return to the prophecy
of the seven seals, for there are still three trumpets to explain. The last
three Trumpets (5, 6 and 7) are so fearful that even by angel standards they are
classified as 'Woes.'
- The 5th Trumpet is the 1st Woe.
- The 6th Trumpet is the 2nd Woe.
- The 7th Trumpet is the 3rd Woe.
| Rev.8
| 13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of
heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the
inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of
the three angels, which are yet to sound!
|
| Rev.9:
| 1: And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven
unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2: And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the
pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were
darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3: And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them
was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4: And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the
earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men
which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5: And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that
they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the
torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6: And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and
shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
|
No one will deny, but that here before us is a picture of absolute terror,
when for 5 months earth's mighty population, all except the sealed
servants of Yahweh, will be tormented by a host of merciless
beings who are to arise from the bottomless pit. For obvious reasons we will not
dwell on this frightening aspect of the prophecy once having presented it.
Instead, we will briefly answer the following questions and point to a way of
escape.
1) What is the Bottomless Pit?
2) And who are the beings that ascend out of it?
The general lack of interest in the Revelation has over the years resulted in
a dearth of information about the Bottomless Pit. But it is
obviously a subject which all the world should know about; for is not mankind
going to be tormented for 5 months by beings which come out of the bottomless
pit? The answers to those two questions about the bottomless pit and it
occupants are of vital importance, so let us closely study the matter.
The original Greek word abussos is translated in the Bible (in
Rev. 9:1) as bottomless pit. Some Bible dictionaries render abussos as
'abyss.' The word abussos means exceedingly deep gulf or
pit. Abussos is also used in Luke's gospel where it is translated simply
as the deep. In the incident recorded in Luke 8. 26-36 we are
given an important clue as to what the abyss is and how frightened evil
angels are of being sent there. If the reader will turn to Luke's gospel he will
see (in verse 31) how certain devils who had taken possession of a man were
themselves terrified of being ordered into the abyss. They literally begged the
Messiah for permission to enter a herd of swine rather than be sentenced to the abussos
the exceedingly deep pit.
From this incident we can see that the abussos, the Bottomless Pit is
a place or condition which evil angels dread; a kind of spirit penitentiary or
dungeon which existed thousands of years ago.
Strong's concordance describing the 'bottomless pit' says it is a:
"pit of immeasurable depth, a very deep gulf or chasm in the lowest
parts of the earth used as the common receptacle of the dead and especially
as the abode of demons."
It is from somewhere within that unlit dungeon that a myriad symbolic locusts
will arise at the 5th Trumpet or 1st Woe. (Rev. 9:1-3) What are these locusts
that torture mankind for five months? They are evil angels,
devils of mind-bending depravity who were sentenced to the abyss long before the
early Christian era. At this very moment (1998) they are still chained
and completely immobilised within the blackness of the abyss, held there in
total darkness awaiting the judgement of the Great Day. Here is proof of this
astounding fact.
| 2 Peter 2:
| 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down
to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be
reserved unto judgment;
|
| Jude 6
| And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their
own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness
unto the judgment of the great day.
|
Yes, fallen angels are at this moment held captive in the abyss, the Bottomless
Pit, fettered in a way we humans do not properly understand, so the
symbol of a 'chain' is used to help us. At the 1st Woe, a mighty
angel (star) will be divinely authorised to open the abyss, and out will pour
this host of devils like the smoke of a great furnace. (Rev. 9:1-5) The only
people on earth who will be protected from their sadistic onslaught will be the
ones who bear in their foreheads the Seal of the God of Israel. All
others will be tormented. Here is proof of this frightening fact.
| Rev.9
| 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of
the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those
men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads..
|
Without labouring the point, we will at this stage again respectfully remind
the reader to seriously consider accepting Yahweh's Seal, for fearful indeed
will be the lot of those who reject it. References in this woe to Abaddon,
the king of the bottomless pit (verse 11) are covered later where the identity
of this king who is to ascend from the bottomless pit is considered.
Revelation 9:12 brings us to the end of the 1st woe (the 5th Trumpet). The
reader will have noticed that even though the scenes portrayed here are
fearsome, divine protection is assured to those who have God's Seal, especially
from the terrors of Abaddon the Destroyer from the Abyss!
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