6:12
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
became as blood;
(Note...the underlined, blue words are links filled with information.
Simply click on the words and go automatically to the information.)
--Verses 12 & 13 serve as key elements for the time of this passage. They refer back
to those events immediately preceding the Rapture of the Church, even giving us
additional information. Here we read of a great earthquake that will take place at the
time of the signs in the heavens/the casting down of Satan and his fallen angels.
...and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair... (Be sure to check out the links above.) Because
Christ, the Holy Spirit (dispensationally), and the Church will have been removed from the
earth at this time, there will be no spiritual light left on the planet.
...and the moon became as blood...If the Jews will not be
"sealed" until the 2nd 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week as per Rev. 7:1-8:1 (See the
2nd 1/2 of this page.), this would explain how the spiritual moon (Israel) will become as
blood. It would seem that the Lord will be very select in the "seed" that He
uses to replenish the earth during His Kingdom Age. A great percentage of the population,
including the Jews, will be wiped out before His Return to set up His government.
6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a
fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth...This
language depicts the devil and the angels who followed him in his rebellion against God.
...even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs...This
analogy/ comparison depicts the state of Israel for three critical periods of her
existence: the Visitation of her Messiah, His Second Coming (just ahead), and His dealing
with her at the end of the Kingdom Age. Remember, symbolically speaking, Israel is the fig
tree when she in trying to function under the law, when she never brings forth any fruit
unto perfection. Like Satan, because of her self-will and rebellion, during her times when
she puts her confidence in the law, she will be cast from the presence of God.
...when she is shaken of a mighty wind. Here
at the end of her long, grievous dispersion among the Gentiles, a weary, rebellious Israel
shall get one last mighty shake before the kingdom promised to her through Abraham and
David is set up on the earth under King Jesus.
6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled
together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
--In this passage we are given more details concerning the things that
will take place just prior to the Rapture of the Church; and from the language it is
apparent that these events will continue to shake the world even after the Church is gone.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled
together...This is definitely prophetic language. It does not say
"the heavens departed" as though it is referring to the stars--but that
"the heaven departed." How does heaven come down to fallen man in our age?--by
the Holy Spirit. How will God deal with and fellowship with fallen man in the Kingdom Age?
Well, He has done so by His Holy Spirit throughout all the ages since the fall of man (Age
of Conscience: Gen. 5:24 cf. Gen. 6:3--Noah, the central character of the Age of Human
Government, continued his walk with God in the age after the flood--Age of Promise: Gen.
41:38--Age of the Law filled with references to the Spirit of God using His servants the
Prophets, etc.--In our Age of Grace one must be born again of the Holy Spirit to enter
into the Kingdom of Heaven: John 3:5), so undoubtedly He will continue to
do so in the age to come. But the Holy Spirit will be taken up with the Church at the time
of the Rapture (II Thes. 2:7) creating a spiritual void or vacuum for the
3 1/2 years of the first half of Daniel's 70th Week. At this point in time the Holy
Spirit's work for the Age of Grace will be finished (rolled up) and His work for the
Kingdom age is yet to begin (that side of the scroll is yet to be unrolled).
...every mountain
and island were moved out of their places. This is probably speaking of
actual natural disasters; but prophetically speaking, the mountains are churches/religions
and the islands
are the Gentile nations which served as "harbors of safety" or "ports
in the storm" for Israel during the times of the "dispersion" determined
upon her. As one can well imagine, all of these will be shaken to the core by the things
befalling them. The Rapture of the Church will hold little significance for the masses;
for when the Church goes up, Satan will be allowed to begin his work of delusion in a
major way. But for some left in the churches when the born-again believers go up, and for
some of those who befriended Israel, the Rapture of the Church will be devastating.
Nevertheless, some of these, we're told, will refuse to accept the mark of the beast--even
dying for their faith. (These who refuse the mark of the beast and make it through the 1st
3 1/2 years of Daniel's 70th Week will be the "seed" that King Jesus uses to
repopulate the earth.)
6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the
rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free
man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
...hid themselves in the
dens and in the rocks...
i.e., out of the fear of God (the beginning of
wisdom) and in a desperate, futile attempt to appease Him, they will try to attach
themselves to or, at least, befriend the Jews.
6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
This could be an element of the time. Right after the Church goes up, the
devil will cover the earth with a strong delusion so that the lost will believe a lie. (He
will have to do something to calm down a worried world after the Church is taken up.)
Consequently, this verse will probably be fulfilled somewhere near the end of the
1st 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week/the first 1/2 of the Day of the Lord. It could be that
because of the many plagues, curses, and catastrophes that will have taken place, the
masses will have realized that the devil has sold them a lie. Or it could be that the Lord
has returned from the marriage ceremony in heaven with His glorified saints and His angels
to wage war with Satan and the men and women that he deluded into following him. (Jude
1:14). At any rate, the people will no longer be trying to hide in the dens and rocks* of
the mountains, but they will now ask them to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of
God which they now understand to be a reality.
(*rocks--i.e. holes in the rocks. Cf. Isaiah 2:19: "And
they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of
the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the
earth." These Jews will be the last generation of the dispersion, the last
Grace-Age generation to stubbornly rejected their Messiah.[Remember, because longevity
will be restored, many of the Jews who come through this time will still be around at the
end of the Kingdom Age.] True, they will now know who their Messiah is {they will have
understood their error when the Church was raptured. [See Rev, 1:7, Rom.11:26.]} and there
will be a remnant of them preserved for the Kingdom Age, but they will not be "born
again," and they will not have the Spirit of Light living in them. Compared to what
they could have been and should have been by accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior,
spiritually they will still be "holes.")
6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be
able to stand?
This is not to say that the great day of God's wrath will come at this
point in time, for it will have been in effect for some time. It's saying that these
people will finally recognize it for what it is at this time.
|
7:1 And after these things I saw four
angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth,
that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
And after these things...The "things" this refers
to are those things already mentioned that must come to pass in preparation for the final
1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week-- i.e., Christ and the glorified Church being removed for a
"little season" and the martyrdom of those who must die for their faith during
that little season.
...I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth,...It
was after these things that John saw the four angels (4 is the number of the earth)
standing on the four corners of the earth. (This identifies these angels as the angels
assigned by God to do His will on the earth at the time.)
...holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the
earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree....
During this time, as it had been throughout the whole of the first 1/2 of
Daniel's 70th Week-- dispensationally, the Spirit will be gone up with the
Church (II Thes. 2:7). Consequently, during the time of the these four angels, the
deterring, redemptive work of the Holy Spirit (the four winds) will be withdrawn so that
the angels can fulfill their appointed tasks.
7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of
the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to
hurt the earth and the sea,
And I saw another angel ascending...We should note that
this angel is ascending from the earth--not descending from heaven.
...from the east, having the seal of the living God:...The
east has always been a very significant direction for the Hebrews; for they were taught
that as the sun rises in the east, so came their help/ judgments from the Lord. Apparently
this angel will be assigned to Israel and he will already be on the earth.
...and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to
hurt the earth and the sea,
From Job we learn that there are times when the devil is given limited powers over nature
and man; but this time the angels of the LORD will "hurt" the earth and its
inhabitants--the "sea" (the masses of people who are without a covenant with
God). However, this angel has a special word for the four angels and it has to do with the
Israelites.
7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we
have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
This angel rising up from the east instructs the four angels to hold back their
judgments until he has sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. (Does this mean
literally, or in their minds, or both?)
We should note that the angels are not given instructions to hurt the trees (the
Israelites); yet in verse 3 it would seem that when hurting the earth (nature) and the sea
(the masses), the trees will also be hurt in spite of the seal. At first, this may seem
confusing, but we should also consider that the born-again Church is sealed by the Spirit
of God (Eph.1:13), yet they suffer and at times are even martyred for their faith.
7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were
sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
This does not mean that there will be exactly 144,000 Israelites sealed at the time. To
understand this verse, we must apply numerology.
1,000 = a final or complete accounting of something
x 12 = this # identifies the Church or Israel-- in this instance, it is Israel.
12,000 -- this # let's us know we're dealing with a final accounting of Israel
x 12 = # of tribes in Israel
144,000 -- this # portrays the final/ total # of Israelites alive on the planet at the end
of the Kingdom Age.
If this is the correct application of numerology, then the 144,000 being sealed would
seem to include the "whole" of Israel living at the time. However, never in any
generation have all the Jews been "Jews."
Romans 2:
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the
spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
So, more than likely, the 144,000 will only be the "true Jews" at the end of
the age, and not everyone who claims Abraham as their father.
7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of
Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
The verses just read, 5-8, refers to the genealogy of those who will be sealed; and the
rounded numbers suggest that we are into Biblical numerology.
7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb.
After this...This is a phrase used in prophetic passages to
indicate a jump from one prophetic time or event to another. After the
sealing of the Jews (which will take place during the 2nd 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week--not
the first) a great "love feast" will take place between Christ and those who
return His love.
...I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Here
we see the redeemed of all the ages worshipping their Creator and their Savior
the Lord Jesus Christ. We have two keys in this passage that places the happening on the
prophetic time line. The "nations" will be clothed in white robes and
they will have "palms" in their hands. Prophetically, the Kingdom Age is
known as the time of the nations and the people of the Kingdom Age are
represented by palm leaves.
7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
If the elders represent the two Churches (called-out ones), Israel and the NT Church,
then all the known inhabitants of heaven will be worshipping God.
7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.__________________ |
