To all members of PaRD.
Grace and peace to you from CPK001. Tonight is the fourth of the ten series of the book of Revelation that we are studying at Church. I have been taking notes and I am going to try and portray what I heard at Church onto here.
Here is a link to the previous topic
http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=71574017&f=119&o=0Last week was all about what lies in the centre of your life. This week is all about where your shelter lies.
Revelation 6:1-8:5 NIV
The Seals
6 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages,and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
144,000 Sealed
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’[h]
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[i]
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[j]”
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
8 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
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We start off with the kick off questions, when have you felt like you have had to run and hide? Where do you run to?
Everybody has moments when life is like a nightmare. All you want to do is run away and hide from the nightmare.
John gives us an image of the slain lamb breaking the 7 seals one by one. The first image we are given is a white horse whose rider was given a crown and held a bow. The second image is a red horse whose rider has the power to take peace from Earth and make people kill each other. The rider has a large sword.
The third image is a black horse whose rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. The fourth image is a pale horse, whose riders name was death and hades was close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
So what does this mean? The white horse means power, red horse - murder, black horse - injustice and pale horse - death. Now this was a vision that John has given to us. Now do you see the horsemen as good or bad news? Do you see this vision as a nightmare or a dream? Imagine having this dream and then you wake up, would you classify that as a nightmare or hope?
The big twist comes in that the Churches that received this letter, some of them had been living comfortably. Jesus' response to Laodicea specifically is that they are: wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (3:17) Thyatira have the problem of being too tolerant. This includes Jezebel who mislead God's servants to sexual immorality (2:20)
So they would see this vision as a nightmare. Yet the other Churches that had been having hardships would see this vision as wonderful and as hope. They were told to be faithful, even to the point of death and he will give you your victor's crown. (2:10) These Churches knew what it meant to want to run and hide.
Now we have the image of the four horsemen after the 4th seal is broken. Now here comes the twist with the 5th seal. Those who had been killed because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They ask how long it will take before the Sovereign Lord judges the Earth and avenges their blood. Those who were killed for their faith were safe, under the altar. Judgement for their killers was coming but not yet until the full number of fellow servants were killed just as they had been. Sounds a bit weird huh?
The 6th seal is now broken. What happens now? There is a great earthquake. The
kingsof the earth, the
princes, the
generals, the
rich, the
mighty, and
everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They even called upon the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of God. Do you see it? All the high and mighty people, all those who had done the persecutions, it is now their time to face judgement and there is no escape. The great day of their wrath had come and who can withstand it?
Now in the next chapter it mentions the 144,000 sealed, which are the 12 tribes of Israel. These are the people of God from the Old Testament. What this means is nobody is left behind, not even those who had lived before Jesus. Now comes the Great Multitude in White Robes. There was a Great Multitude and no one could count. Imagine this - every nation, tribe, people and language - standing before the throne and before the lamb. 7:9 This is the entirety of every person who has ever lived standing before the throne and the lamb, all bringing glory to God. Just as we all serve him day and night in his temple, he who sits on the throne will
shelterus with his presence. 7:15.
Now comes the 7th seal being broken. What happens now? Silence. Nothing. peace and serenity. Just like when God rested on the 7th day of creation, it is done as judgement has come.
We should look at the 3 questions that were asked in the passage and the responses. 6:10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
6:11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,[e] were killed just as they had been.
The fact of the matter is, this is the world we live in and it is not finished. We live in a world where people get murdered for their faith and they seem to get away with it. Yet one day justice will come as Earth is heading towards that direction. There is a massive storm coming in judgement.
6:17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
Who can withstand it? Nobody on their own. All the evidence in The Bible points out nobody alone can withstand God's judgement. We can withstand God's judgement by trusting in Jesus.
7:13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
7:14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
These people were killed for their faith but they stood by their testimony to the end.
So to conclude we must ask ourselves the following questions:
Is this vision presented before us a dream or a nightmare?
Where do you run to for shelter when life gets hard?
Where will you shelter when the ultimate judgement comes to fruition?
This post was edited by CPK001 on Nov 2 2014 07:31am