TROUBLED TIMES! LORD. HOW LONG?
Brian Waters
REVELATION is a Biblical book that has interested me for many years. I've read and studied it, consulted commentaries and other literature about it. It is very difficult to keep a balanced view about its contents n a series of books by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B Jenkins ('Left Behind' series, Tydale House Pub Inc U S A.) Revelation is brought alive, in a very well written series of fictional stories. As Christians we must take John's vision seriously; and accept that we could indeed be living in the END TIMES.
The first three chapters of Revelation present no problems, they are clearly about John's own time period. Chapter four prepares us for the change in his vision, as he is permitted a view of God's throne room in Heaven. The vision deepens in chapter five when God, holding a SCROLL, and THE LAMB (Jesus) enters the throne room and is permitted to take and open this scroll (Ch 5: 1).
THE SEALS
Chapter six sees Jesus break open the first of the seven seals, and reveal their contents. As the seals are broken and the contents made known, events leading up to the return of Christ in Glory are foretold.
SEAL ONE - "A VOICE LIKE THUNDER" orders out a WHITE Horse and its RIDER to go and be ready to complete THE CONQUEST on behalf of him who sent the rider out (Jesus) (Ch: 6 1-2) .
SEAL TWO - Now a red horse and rider comes out with authority to "TAKE PEACE FROM THE EARTH". The suffering of humanity will increase as law and order break down, with killing on a world-wide scale. Note there has not been peace in our world for over one hundred years. Somewhere, usually in more than one place, there has been fighting with each conflict worse than the last (Ch. 6: 3-4).
SEAL THREE - This time the horse and rider are black . A reading of these verses indicate famine on a massive scale, making it a calamity for humanity. In our day most of the world's population have insufficient food, many millions starving (Ch 6: 5-6).
SEAL FOUR - This sees the coming of the pale horse and rider, with authority to kill on a vast scale ("SWORD, FAMINE, PLAGUE and WILD ANIMALS"). This is clearly happening now - WAR, TERRORISM, AIDS, GERM WARFARE and NATURAL DISASTERS regularly happening. Never before has humanity been threatened from so many different directions at once (Ch 6: 7-8).
SEAL FIVE - The souls of the Faithful people departed now in Heaven cry out to God "HOW LONG'?" They are asking how much more suffering is to be allowed. They were told it would continue for a little while longer (Ch 6: 9-1 1),
SEAL SIX - This seal has clearly not yet been acted upon. The events revealed on opening this seal are still in our future But for 'how long' - WEEKS, MONTHS? Another generation? We do not know. But it must be clear, that the first four seals are part of our history, or are being acted out now (Ch 6: 12-17).
Seal five as we saw, concerns Heaven not Earth and its History. Have the faithful already asked this question 'How Long'? We don't know, but we could at this very time be waiting for events listed under the sixth seal.
Chapter seven shows a scene in Heaven of all the faithful - Jews (Ch 7. 4-8) and Gentiles (Ch 7: 9-10) standing before God's throne. Chapters 8-13 describe for us the terrible events that will happen on earth in the final time period before Jesus returns in glory, building up to the thousand year reign written about in chapter 20. The new Jerusalem (Ch 21) and something of life in Heaven (Ch 22).
Why wait until the seventh seal is opened (Ch 8)? By then conditions on earth will be awful, and the fate of many decided. We who claim to be a part of God's kingdom on earth NOW, most assume that Seals 1-4, and events related to in Seal 5 are in reality part of history. We must prepare the world for the opening of the sixth Seal and its events. There is a move of the Spirit world-wide now. This is obvious to most Christians (see the TRANSFORMATION VIDEOS). Time could be very short indeed. Current events worldwide are ominous to say the least. If we truly witness, and the sixth seal is opened, we will be ready. If it is yet to be delayed more, at least God will be glorified by our efforts at evangelism. Don't become a victim of the church of LAODICEA, of being LUKEWARM (Rev Ch3 : 15-16) We need to act now.