The Seals and Trumpets

Revelation 6-8

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by 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 for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Re 6:1–17.

Some have said of the most extraordinary natural processes of change in all of creation is the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. It is a vivid, living parable of death giving way to life. The journey begins when the caterpillar, having completed its time of growth and feeding, instinctively stops wandering and attaches itself to a branch or leaf. It spins a protective casing around its body called a chrysalis or cocoon.

caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly. https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fas1.ftcdn.net%2Fv2%2Fjpg%2F08%2F19%2F65%2F04%2F1000_F_819650411_aDWRNvrVsso4NWjvdlIKfTEZk290CSRl.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=40b96d6c90a18c0a488cbc46bb234d1dd32b87fee981de787fe5b4bfb3509452

We don’t see what happens inside, but it is a dramatic change, as the caterpillar’s body undergoes what seems like complete destruction. Its tissues dissolve into a nutrient-rich liquid; the creature it once was ceases to exist in recognizable form. To the outside world, it appears dead—silent, motionless, enclosed. Yet hidden within that stillness, God’s creative power is at work. Specialized cells begin to activate and reorganize. New features slowly take shape: delicate wings, slender antennae, compound eyes, and legs. The process is long and fragile, but it is purposeful. The very dissolution of the old is what makes possible the beauty of the new.

When the butterfly finally emerges, it is unrecognizable from its former self. It breaks through the hardened shell, unfurls its crumpled wings, and waits as they fill with blood and strengthen in the air. No longer confined to crawling on the ground, but soaring freely into the sunlight.

Just as the caterpillar must pass through what looks like death to experience new life, so God brings His creation—and His people—through transformation. The book of Revelation portrays a similar process on a cosmic scale: the old, corrupted order of the world must be dismantled through judgment so that the new heavens and new earth can emerge radiant and pure.

God has determined a day he will judge the world, deliver his people, and establish a new heaven and earth full of his glory and blessing, and today we see what this process will be like.

We now begin the harder parts of revelation to understand. I have done a lot of research to understand this section. Yes, that started by watching all of Kirk Cameron’s movies.

I want to look a five key aspects to this:

Judgment Executed.

The opening of seals on a scroll may seem a bit random to us, but what is going on here reflects the Roman custom of a will being executed. In the Roman Empire, sealing was a common way to authenticate wills, contracts, and legal deeds, and it was done with seven seals. The process ensured that the document was both secure and legally binding. To execute the document and qualified testator would unseal or open the seals to read it.

The testator is the lamb who was slain. He is worthy to open the seals and when he does God’s will is executed.

John is about to see what he wept over not seeing in chapter 5.

This is the execution of God's will on earth, more specifically the final judgment on the world. This will be both judgment for those who reject God and salvation for those who trust in Jesus.

The scroll symbolizes God’s judgment on the nations. Ezek 2 the scroll contains words on front and back of lamentation and mourning and woe (2:10). Zechariah 5:3 also speaks of a scroll that contains the curse that is to go out over the face of the whole earth.

This section of revelation has a very close parallel to Matthew 24 when Jesus taught on the close of the age and of his second coming. What should we expect our waiting for Jesus to look like: we are told.

The opening of the first seal begins with one of the four creatures around the throne saying with a voice like thunder. These connect us to the throne room of God and shows what is to take place is from God himself.

He sees the four horsemen of the apocalypse. This too parallels Zechariah 6 and the four chariots. God’s judgment is coming.

Four horsemen of the apocalypse. Many believe there were five… but he is not mentioned here because traffic was apocalyptically bad!

There is actually some significance to the four. Four corners of the earth. Four winds, four directions, four living creatures. Four symbolizes the entire earth. They are bringing judgment and destruction all over the earth. The description of these horsemen help us understand what judgment will look like. Tribulation: time of distress or suffering.

First is a Rider on a White horse. This horse comes to conquer. There are similarities to this horse and Jesus riding on a white horse in chapter 19. For this reason some believe this horseman represents the false messiahs that will come. There will be deception and false peace.Jesus said,

“Many will come in My name… and will deceive many.” (Matt. 24:4–5)

Second is a Red horse: this one represents massive bloodshed and global conflict and war. permitted to take peace so men would slay one another. The horseman comes and causes men to slay one another. May be the spiritual realities under the conflicts between nations.

Black horse. has scales. Scales used of grain and the price of grain, which is a quart of wheat for a day's wages. This represents significant inflation. This amount of wheat is what you eat in a day. An entire day’s wage just for sustenance. Imagine working a whole day and all you get is 4 cups of flour- no butter, no bacon, not enough for a place to stay. That is a high price.

But also says “do not harm the oil and wine!” The basic needs are inaccessible, but don't harm the luxuries. The rich are fine. The poor are dramatically affected. Ongoing inequality and suppression.

Pale horse, greenish of ill health and represents sickness, disease and infection. Name is death- thanatos. Comes with Hades. This sickness and infection and disease is often what comes after war.

These are likely the spiritual realities behind the physical expression of destruction that we see in the world. They destroy.

8 … And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. Interestingly enough, this death only harms ¼ of the people. Black plague killed about 50% of Europe's population. Covid 1%. Catastrophic but it is by no means complete and absolute. They bring death by sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts — global catastrophe. It also parallels the curses in Lev 26 for those who reject God. These are executing God’s plan.

Also note the divine passives. “Permitted to take peace” and “was given a sword.” These only do what God allows them to do. They have no power in and of themselves. The Lord gives and he will take away.

If there are bad things going on that you cannot control, rest in God. If you have evil people in your life then rest in God. Don’t resort to their ways. God will bring them to judgment. They will give an account. There will be a reckoning. If you have been given a position of power dont think its is God’s sign of approval and you can do whatever you want. It is a responsibility to steward.

Close parallel to Matthew 24. Interpret this chapter in light of Jesus teaching there. This follows that. The judgments of Revelation are all things Jesus said would characterize the end of the age.

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Mt 24:6–8.

This destruction is part of God’s judgment that will come on the world. All these things are destined to happen, and they are the birth pains. A necessary part of a process that will bring forth new life. For the believer it is new life. For unbelievers it is death.

We have had four kids. Childbirth is amazing and terrifying all at the same time. I have never felt more useless than in those rooms with my wife. I am completely out of my element. She is in intense pain, people are checking her and at times running around, trying to make sure everything is right. When the baby is delivered and in moms arms all the chaos subsides it is a beautiful time. We are not at the end. We are in the pains of delivery.

Old Testament God used the nations to discipline his people, but when those nations went beyond what was necessary, God brought judgment on those nations. God is bringing judgment on those who reject him, and what you see here is just the beginning.

It is the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord’s judgement. God has seen the evil in the world and is doing something about it. He is turning evil in on itself. There is so much outrage in the world over evil, and the outrage often leads to its own evil. People can’t rest. It is disturbing. As Christians we rest in the fact God is judging all things.

God’s People are Secured

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

Evil and judgment are spreading, and it means God’s people will be caught up in the process.

The fifth seal reveals those who have been slain for the word of God. He sees the Charlie Kirks, the William Tyndales, Jim Elliots, Papias and Perpetua, our faithful brothers and sisters in Nigeria right now who have been and are being killed for the faith in Jesus.

They are under the altar. As though hiding for protection. They have taken refuge in the most holy place and they are permitted there. Only select people could enter the most holy place. These are there. They are not on the altar as though they are the atoning sacrifice, but they are under the altar, as though having taken refuge under the blood of the lamb and continuing to look to him.

They are crying out to the Lord “How long before you will judge and avenge our blood?”

How do we understand the judgements and its affect on believers? Very clearly we see that believers suffer.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you…” (Matt. 24:9–14)

How long Oh Lord? That is the cry of the suffering saints. How long? How long must you have sorry in your heart? How long will God hide his face? Ever said those words? There is nothing wrong with you. It is not a sign of God’s disapproval. It is the cry of those holding on to his promises when a wretched world tries to rip them out.

These saints need counseling! They are crying out in pain. Counseling is what people want today. Counselors are the modern day priests who seek to usher people into the promised land of acceptance in society. believing in no word of God, afterlife, or savior. They simply try to bring you into conformity to the modern world. These saints don’t need counseling. They long for salvation through judgment. They long for their injuries to be atoned. Are you longing for God to work? Stop focusing on your injuries and rest in what he is going to do. Paralyzed by disappointment and hurt. It is the way of life in a fallen world. Some injuries will be heavy and carried a long time.

11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

One thing we see here is that while the judgment brings punishment to those doing evil, it is refining and sanctifying those who serve the Lord. They are becoming like Jesus. He is white. They are clothed in white. He provides for them. Judgment is punishment for wicked and redemption for the righteous. We are righteous in Christ. He is changing the world. He is also changing us!

God says just a little longer. Ever had God tell you just a little longer. I cant take it any more. You need to go a little longer. It feels like a lifetime. Its OK, he can redeem the time.

God is able to protect his people.

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Re 7:1-2.

God is able to hold back the wind. They can do nothing until he allows.

Between the 6 and 7 seal there is an interlude of the sealing of God’s people.

Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: Rev 7:3–4.

Those who were sealed. A seal was a validation of what is there. Documents were sealed by an official stamp to prove it was what it said it was. Wills were sealed to authenticate it. Your passport is sealed with a stamp. That seal prevents people from mistreating you, it places you under the power of the one sealing. If the government has approved your passport then they will stand behind you when you travel. When God seals his people he is approving them and will stand behind them no matter what happens.

The sealing means that they are spared from judgment and not that they won’t have pain. He keeps convincing them to trust, keeps compelling them to believe. He also will redeem those whom he has approved.

144,000. Many see this and believe that only 144000 will be saved. Is that correct. No it is not. Why such a perfectly round number? Why not 144999. 001. It is a symbolic number and there is significance to it. 12 thousand from all the 12 tribes of Israel. Thousand was considered a multitude. It is symbolic for a perfect multitude of God’s people. The twelve tribes perfectly ordered.

In verse 9 it says he also saw a great multitude that no one could count who were before the lamb worshipping and praising. So how is their a countless multitude in heaven when it has just been numbered. Symbolism. Oxymoron- jumbo shrimp.

The lion of the tribe of Judah is the lamb who was slain;

the 144,000 is the innumerable multitude of God’s people.

**God is able to protect and provide for his people.**

**Evil may prevail for a time, but it will not prevail forever.** is your hope in the present world or the one to come. If it is in the present world you will be angry, mad, depressed, freaking out all the time. If it is in the one to come you can find peace in the here and now.

The Finality of the Judgment to come

Silence in heaven. Why is there silence for half an hour? The silence before something great comes. The calm before the storm.

Zeph 1:7 “Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near.

The day of the Lord is very near.

The seven seals of the scroll ends with the seventh seal being opened But then it just kind of progresses to seven angels who had seven trumpets, and immediately another judgment cycle of seven trumpets. It makes this feel inconclusive, even anticlimactic. What do you make of it?

An important detail about biblical prophecy. When Joseph interpreted the dream of Pharoah, he said,

“The dream was repeated to Pharaoh because the matter has been firmly decided by God, and He will carry it out soon.” Gen 41:32

Repetition for certainty. Repetition for certainty. In the book of Daniel dreams are repeated to make certain God intends to do what he has said.

So now, the final judgment is coming. How certain. Extremely. Seven cycles about the coming of judgment. Not a part of God’s judgment as has been in past: the flood, the exile, the beasts of nations, etc. This will be God’s full and completely and perfect wrath. A new world is coming. This world is passing away.

The fullness of it is on the way. Revelation ties together the many themes of judgment throughout the Bible to show this is the truly the end. Seven- the number of completion.

When is the Judgment?

Let me give you a few ways people have understood and interpreted the book of revelation. This will help you understand where I am coming from and may clear up places you disagree with me.

Primary Interpretations Of Revelation

Idealist: timeless principles. It denies any specific historical or future meaning.
Historicist: Provides a detailed map of history from its own day until Jesus’s future return.
Preterist: believe Revelation was entirely fulfilled in the first century. Moderate preterist
Futurist: Revelation awaits fulfillment.
Eclectic: some mixture of preterist or historical approach with futurist approach.

Clearly after ascension. The lamb who was slain is the one who opens the seals. So Jesus is worthy to open the seals after overcoming death and sitting at the right hand of the father.

Not yet. There is still evil in the world so judgment has not come in fullness. The saints are still saying How long O lord?

It is now. In 2:22 he threatened those in Thyatirea who committed adultery with Jezebel in great tribulation. This means the threatened people alive in John's day with great tribulation. So it seems that the whole period of church history, the time between Jesus' ascension and return, is a period of great tribulation.

It has started and it will climax later.

Matt 24:43 after teaching on the coming of the end, Jesus said to his disciples to be ready. Be prepared. Live for me each and every day. Each and every moment. If you do that you will be fine. Fail to do taht then you fail in everything. Wait until the last minute then it shows how little you really cared. Prepare today. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Now is the time to Turn to the Lord.

The sixth seal unveils a great earthquake and the change of the earth as we know it. Even the stars of the sky fall as we know it. Skies and mountains are changed. I don’t believe this has happened yet. Maybe partial fulfillment, but certainly not complete. It is future.

In the midst of this is a sobering warning. The lamb of God offers us forgiveness and escape. But guilty and rebellious people, rather than come clean and into the light, will continue rebelling by hiding. Refusing to admit their wrong. Refusing to confess their sins.

15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Rev 6:15-17

Just as Adam and Eve ran and hid from the all seeing eyes of God, so now people do the same. They refuse to be changed, and they die in their self made cocoons.

Some hide behind religious caves like Cain did. You give God some token, but hold back whole hearted devotion. Vague answers to questions about your faith, conversion, commitment, confession of sin. Parts of your life you hide from others and don’t want anyone meddling. That is a scary place to be.

Metamorphic failure is the term when a caterpillar comes out of the chrysalis too soon or something ruptures its formation in the process, and when that happens it leads to the death of the caterpillar. We can undergo metamorphic failure when we cease to let God shape us in this life.

God is bringing his judgment into the world, but he provides salvation for those who turn to him. For them these pains are producing something great than they can imagine.

Discussion Questions

What is your expectation for life now that Jesus has taken hold of the scroll?
What is the hope that believers have in the midst of injustice and evil? How do you see the judgement of God at work in the world?
?How are you hiding from God? How are you hiding from God? What keeps you from coming to him in complete and total surrender?