08-26-12 THE 6^th SEAL

We are in the middle of a study

of a remarkable series of events

recorded for us in the 6^th chapter

of the Book of Revelation.

If you are new with us

or unfamiliar with the Book of Revelation,

chronologically it is the last New Testament book to have been written,

recorded close to 100 A.D.

by John, the last living member

of the original band of 12 disciples of Christ.

It is the only book in the New Testament

written specifically to deal primarily with

prophecy concerning future events.

It was given to us

in part to provide us with the knowledge we need

to better understand where we are

in the flow of human history,

and where we are going,

and partly

to provide us with absolute assurance

that human history

is not the product of chance

or luck,

but rather it is the playing out

of a script carefully written for us by our Creator,

a script that provides every human being

with the opportunity to choose

his or her own part in the drama,

but a script that ends ultimately with what Paul describes as,

Eph. 1:10 ... the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Simply put,

in the great battle raging between Jesus Christ

and the forces of evil,

Christ wins,

and evil loses,

and we are each given the opportunity

of choosing which side we want to be on.

That may seem like a simple, obvious choice to make when I state it like that,

but that doesn’t capture the whole picture, does it?

The truth is,

right now, with the battle still raging both in our world and in our own lives,

and with this world system currently under the domain of darkness,

carefully structured in a way that denies the truth about our God,

it currently seems as if

those who choose to side with Jesus Christ

are utter fools,

swimming directly against the current of the society in which we live.

Why choose honesty

when a little cheating makes you so much richer,

or makes it so much easier to pass the class?

Why choose moral purity and integrity

when it’s so much easier

to go with the flow of the culture

and do whatever you feel like doing?

Our God knows that right now, half way through the battle,

we very much need to know how this whole thing ends.

And He’s given us the book of Revelation in part to answer that question.

There’s more to it than just that, of course...this warfare we are immersed in right now.

I have been a careful observer of the lives of the people around me for many years now,

and I know all too well

that there are very few who, when they face the hardest choices in their lives,

choose to align themselves with the King, their Lord Jesus Christ.

Most decide that it’s just too costly.

But for those few who do choose Him,

not just as their Savior, but as their God,

there is a remarkable thing that takes root within them.

I can only describe it as a living strength

that their God creates deep within them,

a strength that equips them to stand strong in the world in which they live,

knowing who they are, and whose they are, and where they’re going in life.

And it’s a strength that draws others to them,

a strength that allows them to give hope, and light, and healing

in a world immersed in darkness.

I love the way the King said it in John 7:37-38.

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"

And I’d like to offer one other observation

since I’ve gotten into this.

I have also noticed a remarkably consistent pattern

in the way our Lord interacts with us in the first phase of our entrance into His family.

So often He will bring what I’ll call a defining issue into our relationship with Him,

something that seems huge to us,

something we are terrified of placing into His hands,

some issue, or wound, or hurt, or need, or area of our life

where trusting Him and His ways seems like death.

And He will ask for entrance into that area of our life.

Many, in fact I think most people tell Him no.

They may not walk away from their Christianity,

but they draw clear lines defining where their God is and is not allowed.

But for the few who say yes,

He responds by showing Himself more than adequate

in that area that caused such fear and such confusion,

and He creates within them a river of life

that becomes the defining force of their existence.

But I’m getting sidetracked.

The passage we started last week

in Revelation chapter 6

presents for us the final few days of that drama between good and evil,

between God and evil.

The scene we are looking at

is in the Throne Room of God,

and Jesus Christ is holding a book

that has been sealed with 7 seals.

As He breaks each of those seals

it brings about specific events -

some on earth,

others in the presence of God.

We looked at the first 5 of those seals last week.

To help bring us back up to speed

let me remind you of what we saw.

When the first seal was broken

a man wearing a crown,

carrying a bow,

going forth to conquer

appeared on the scene.

I believe this person

is the one referred to in other passages of Scripture as the Anti-Christ,

a world ruler empowered by Satan himself,

who will dominate the final months

just prior to Christ's return.

Then, the next 3 seals

set in motion world events

that will drive the world into a desperate

submission to the Anti-Christ.

When the 2^nd seal is broken

wars between nations erupt

with an intensity never seen before in history,

wars that threaten

the very existence of the world.

The breaking of the 3^rd seal

sends the world into world-wide economic chaos

through inflation so severe

that it takes a full day's wages

just to buy enough food

for one person for a single day.

The breaking of the 4^th seal

then brings about the death of one fourth

of the population of the world through four forces -

war,

famine,

disease,

and the animal kingdom turning against the human race.

We saw last week

that all these forces

create such an intense global chaos

that world governments

willingly give up their power

to the one person on the earth

who appears to have the answers -

the man Scripture calls The Beast,

or the Man of Lawlessness,

or the Anti-Christ.

The breaking of the 5^th and final seal we looked at last week

causes an outcry from the martyred Christians in heaven

who see the forces of evil gaining control of the world

and plead with God to intervene.

The Lord responds to their outcry

by reassuring them of His control and ultimate victory

and then tells them to be patient a little longer.

Now, let me read the account

of the breaking of the 6^th seal.

Rev. 6:12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;

Rev. 6:13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

Rev. 6:14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Rev. 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;

Rev. 6:16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;

Rev. 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

And before we attempt

to fit this 6^th seal into the events we have seen so far,

let me just restate

a couple of the fundamental principles of Biblical interpretation.

Unless there is evidence to the contrary

within the context of the passage being studied,

we should take what is written as chronological and literal.

There are numerous passages throughout Scripture

that are symbolic in nature,

passages in which

God has found it more effective

to communicate what He wants to communicate

through a story,

or a word picture,

or a symbol of some kind.

We have seen

and will continue to see

a number of examples of this throughout Revelation.

But when this happens

we are always told it’s happening.

When Jesus taught His disciples in parables,

following those parables

He would take His disciples aside

and explain to them what the symbols meant.

"A sower went out into His field to sow..."

"OK, men, here's the deal: sower = God

field = the earth

seed = the gospel

the birds = Satan"...

In the first chapter of Revelation

John sees before him

his Lord Jesus Christ

walking in the midst of 7 golden lampstands,

and holding 7 stars in His hand...

Then we read the words of Jesus in Rev. 1:20

"As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

I mention this again now

because the events we have presented

in the breaking of this 6^th seal

are so dramatic

and so terrifying in nature

that we can’t help but wonder

if this is symbolic

or literal.

The sixth seal is broken causing:

1. A great earthquake

2. The sun to become black,

and the moon to become blood red,

3. Meteors rain down on the earth

like ripe figs shaken from a tree,

4. Something happens with the sky

that John could only describe

with the word picture of it being like

a scroll being rolled up.

5. And, apparently because of the earthquake,

every island and mountain

is shaken to its foundation.

And, from all the indications in the passage,

these are not symbolic events,

they literally happen.

And this 6^th seal marks

a major change in the events taking place

from the perspective of the people on the

earth at this point in history.

You see,

up to this point,

everything that has happened

through the breaking of the first 5 seals

can be explained on a natural, human level.

A great world leader appearing on the scene.

Wars rage between nations.

World-wide inflation takes place.

Famine,

disease,

even wild animals turning against man...

all of these appear to be

within the domain of man,

and rather than defeating man,

they act as a trumpet blast

to rally the world to reach deep

into the depths of their humanistic abilities to overcome all obstacles.

And with the Anti-Christ leading the way,

they go out to conquer and overcome.

But with this 6^th seal

for the first time in these final events

man is forced to acknowledge the reality of God

and His awesome power.

Dealing with world-wide earthquakes

and changes in the sun, moon, and stars

is way out of man's humanistic league,

and he responds, not by bowing before God,

but by running and hiding.

Back in the bumper-sticker era

there was a Christian bumper sticker floating around that said something like:

"Jesus Christ is coming back.. .And Wow! is He ticked!!"

I strongly reacted to that bumper sticker when I first saw it

because, from a Christian's point of view,

it couldn't be farther from the truth.

When He comes back for us

it’s PARTY TIME!

But to be honest,

that bumper sticker is a pretty accurate description

of what we have going on in this 6^th seal.

And that seems evident from the response

of the people on the earth

to what happens here.

Rev. 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;

Rev. 6:16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;

Rev. 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand? "

John doesn't tell us at what point

during the reign of the Anti-Christ

these events take place,

so all I can do is make my best guess.

But I think probably these events take place

about half way through

the reign of the Beast.

It is at that point that

his bubble bursts

and everything starts falling apart.

Three years earlier

the kings of the earth

ran to the Anti-Christ for help.

Now they run to the rocks

and the caves,

looking for someplace to hide.

That's where both the 6^th chapter

and the 6^th seal ends,

with the population of the world

scurrying in terror

looking for some place to hide.

Then, the 7^th chapter provides us

with a sort of parenthesis to the action

taking place through the breaking of these 7 seals.

What happens here in the 7^th chapter

will happen a total of 4 times

throughout the book of Revelation.

It happens in the 7^th chapter,

the 12^th chapter,

the 13^th chapter,

and the 14^th chapter.

And I could most easily describe what's happening here

by comparing it to a common filming technique.

If you've ever seen a movie

that has some great battle scene in it,

a story in which there are two great forces at war with one another,

there are two distinctly different types of

scenes used in the film.

First there is the panoramic filming

of the battle as a whole,

with the two massive armies

colliding in the great conflict.

But then,

after the battle stage is set,

the action zooms in on

the specific personalities in that battle.

There will be close-ups of our hero

killing 40 men coming from all directions

without getting a scratch on himself.

There will be another close-up

showing us what's happening

to that innocent family

or the hero's sweetheart

who has been caught in the middle of the battle.

Then there will be a scene

showing the evil enemy in the battle,

usually ending with that evil enemy

and the hero facing off in one final face-to-face battle to the death.

In other words,

there is the presentation of the great battle as a whole,

and then there are close-up shots

of the important personalities in the drama.

The same thing happens here in the Book of Revelation.

The breaking of the first 6 seals

presents the great world events as they progress toward the end of the age.

Then chapter 7 offers us

our first close-up shot.

It answers the question

that I think jumps to the mind

of every Christian who reads

the description of the world chaos

brought about through the breaking of those first 6 seals.

What's happening with the people of God through all of this?

There are two separate scenes in this 7^th chapter.

The first one chronologically takes place

between the breaking of the 6^th and 7^th seals,

which is why it is introduced here.

It takes place on earth

and concerns 144,000 Jewish converts

who serve a special role of evangelism

during the Great Tribulation.

The 2^nd scene fast-forwards

to a scene in heaven

at the end of the tribulation

and it concerns all the other Christians in the world

who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation.

We won't take the time

to read the chapter in its entirety,

but I’ll read enough to give you a feel

for what's going on here,

and then you can read the rest of it on your own.

In the first scene we read:

Rev. 7:1-4 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

OK, we are told here

that no further devastation happens to the world

until God first seals these people.

The clear implication

is that this seal is a seal of divine protection,

insuring that nothing touches those who are sealed apart from the permission of God.

That does not mean

they are not hurt during the tribulation.

In fact, they are all martyred

prior to the return of Christ.

We know this because when Christ returns in Rev. 14:1

these 144,000 all come with Him.

But His seal on them at this point in Revelation 7

assures them that no force of evil will touch them

until their job is finished.

The second group of Christians

mentioned in this chapter is described as:

Rev. 7:9 ...a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

And we are told in verse 14:

...These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

In other words,

these are the great multitude of people

who will come to Christ during the tribulation

and will die or be martyred for their faith

during those final 7 years.

We are out of time

but I can't quit here without returning us once again

to the basics of life with the King.

It's obvious even from what we have read today

that the events preceding the return of Christ

will throw the entire world

into devastation and chaos

beyond anything we could even imagine.

During that time

it appears as though the great majority

of those who enter the Tribulation

will die before the end of it - both Christians and non-Christians.

There is a part of us that reacts to that.

We want to think

that God should protect all His people from being killed.

But those thoughts grow out of that part of us

that views this life

and this world as something to cling to at all costs.

The truth is

for the Christian

death becomes our final great victory.

Maybe I could say it best

by simply reading Paul's words

from the end of Romans chapter 8:

Rom. 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Rom. 8:36 Just as it is written, " For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." Rom. 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved

us.

Rom. 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, Rom. 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.