Dennis Edwards To Go to Part 1
However, we have been experiencing these signs for hundreds of years, if not more. Peter tells us, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”[44]Again this sign is not something new to today but we can at least trace this back to the French Revolution and afterwards, if not before.
Understanding the First Four Seals-the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse!
Because of the above reasoning, I have taken the first four Seals from the seven year period, where they had been placed. I did so because the forces let loose at the opening of the Seals have been at work since the time Christ opened them. I would dare say that these four spirits may very well have been active since the dawn of history. We can even see them at work before Christ’s appearance on the earth. Let’s look at them more clearly.
The first four Seals are of the four horsemen going forth, the four spirits, over the face of the earth. In Zechariah 6 we see something similar. We see the same colored horses as in Revelation 6. The prophet asked what it means. “Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of the earth.”[45] Looking back to Revelation 6 we can deduce the characteristics of the four spirits into the following four groups: the spirit of God, the white horse; the spirit of war and violence, the red horse; the spirit of economic greed, the black horse; the spirit of death, the pale horse.
Why do I say that the white horse represents the spirit of God? First, let’s look and read the description in Revelation. “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering and to conquer.”[46] How can we understand who this is? We must look to scripture and see if we find other verses that can amplify or help give us further understanding of the meaning of the verse. Later in Revelation we read the following: “And I saw the heavens open, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war…: and his name is called the Word of God.”[47]
This is Jesus on the white horse, not the spirit of antichrist. Jesus obvious has been given a crown which we also see in scripture: “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.”[48] Here we see Jesus the Son of man with a crown on his head, going forth to reap. God’s spirit goes forth to conquer in spite of the Devil and all he can to do to kill, destroy and lie. God’s spirit is still conquering hearts today even in the midst of gross spiritual darkness.
You see, the Bible interprets itself. There is no indication that the white horse of Revelation 6 should be interpreted as representing the Antichrist. Those that insist that the Seals are happening during the last seven years, use that justification to say the white horse must be the Antichrist. But we see no scriptural justification for this, only human speculation. There are no scriptures to back it up, nor any good reasoning. But there are scriptures to back up the idea that the white horse is referring to God’s spirit and Jesus himself, and not the spirit of antichrist.
The four spiritual forces of the Apocalypse have been in battle since the time of Christ and I would say, even before, the three against the one: the good spirit of God fighting against the evil spirits of the Wicked one. The world is not all evil. In fact, at the onset of Christianity, the spirit of Christ conquered the Roman Empire. Love and truth are greater than the sword. Good exists in the world.
I have said the black horse was the spirit of economic greed. This is not just my speculation, but is backed up again with scriptural justification. Our doctrines or interpretations must have scriptural backup otherwise they are arbitrary and unreasonable. In Revelation we read about the black horse. “And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”[49]
Is there any place else in scripture with similar imagery? Does scripture help us interpret scripture, “line upon line, here a little, there a little”[50]? Strange as it may seem, in Hosea we find the following: “He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loves to oppress.”[51] Wow, that sounds a little like something we find later in Revelation. “For thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by their sorceries were all nations deceived.”[52]
In Amos we find the same balances of deceit again. “Hear this, ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah, the amount, small and the shekel, the cost, great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat.”[53] How much is this like our greedy and unscrupulous capitalistic economic elite who use economic means to enslave whole countries, even our own?
In Apostle Paul we read that the Holy Spirit will withhold the evil upon the earth until the sins of mankind become so great that the Holy Spirit will recede and let “that Wicked be revealed.” “And now ye know what withholds, or holds back, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only he who now lets will let, until he be taken out of the way.”[54]
Bible scholars believe this is talking about the Holy Spirit which will eventually be removed from withholding the evil forces and allow the Antichrist full reign. In other words, the time will come because of the sins of man that the Holy Spirit will refrain from holding back the evil. “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”[55] The revealing is at the time of the Breaking of the Covenant at the midst of the last seven years when Satan is cast out of Heaven, or the spiritual realm, and enters into the Antichrist.
Let’s read about the “casting out” event in Revelation 12. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven, or the spiritual realm. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”[56]
We see here that when the devil is cast out, he persecutes the woman, the church of believers, for 3 ½ years. In the scriptures, over and over again the time of the Tribulation period is given as 3 ½ years.
In Daniel we see the same event where we read, “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time.”[57] This sounds like Jesus’ own words when he said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”[58]
Looking at these verses together it seems they are talking about the same event, the Tribulation period. The Devil is cast out of the spiritual realm and enters into the Antichrist at the beginning of the Tribulation.
The next part of the verse in Daniel says, “And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”[59] Obviously, this is a reference to the Rapture that takes place “immediately after the Tribulation of those days,”[60]according to the words of Jesus in Matthew.
Earlier in Daniel we read, “And he, (the Antichrist), shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they, (God’s people), shall be given into his hands until a time and times and the dividing of time,” or 3 ½ years.[61] In Thessalonians which we have already read, we have seen the Antichrist sitting in the temple claiming to be God and demanding to be worshipped.[62]
In Revelation 13 we see that, after what seems like a miraculous healing from a deadly assassination attempt, all the world worships the Antichrist. “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast?”[63]
Reading Revelation 12 again we see once more, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…. And they, (the Christian believers, whether newly converted Jews or spiritual Jews), overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time, (3 ½ years). And when the dragon saw that he was cast out unto the earth, he persecuted the woman, the church, which brought forth the man child.”[64]
Mary the mother of Jesus was part of the Church of believers from the Old Testament from the time of Adam and Eve and righteous Abel down through the centuries. All the true believers are part of the woman. “And to the woman, (the Church in persecution during the Great Tribulation period), were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, (or 3 ½ years), from the face of the serpent.”[65]
In Revelation 13 we find something similar: “And it was given unto him, the Antichrist, to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations,”[66] during of the Great Tribulation “to continue forty and two months,” or 3 ½ years.[67]
Could the Woman be the Modern Israeli Nation who Will Convert in the Last Days?
I wanted to address the point about the Woman in Revelation 12 because of some of the misguided ideas that are going around. One prominent idea is that the Woman is representative of the Nation of Israel which gave us the Messiah. In the imagery we see she has twelve stars on her crown which are said to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The idea is that from the physical nation of Israel we received the Messiah. During the Tribulation, 144,000 descendents of the tribes of Israel will be saved and persecuted by the Antichrist. The Christians will get raptured because of the “cutting short” doctrine and the newly saved Jews will stand up and fight against the Antichrist. Well, this sounds pretty good and gets us out of the jam of having to suffer for the 3 ½ year period. But is it scriptural or logical?
If you get out your Bible and read the Old Testament you will see it’s a testimony against the old Jewish nation who over and over again rejected the God that saved them. In Chronicles we read, “Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”[68]
As we see from the Bible it was only a few righteous believers within the Jewish nation that were truly following God. The author of Hebrews names some of the righteous since the time of Adam as: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sara, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets.[69] He goes to explain how many suffered and “were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.”[70]
Doesn’t it make more sense to see the woman as the Bride of Christ? She has a crown so she must be a queen. Who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? It is none other than Jesus Christ. So even though the woman “brought forth the man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron” - Jesus Christ, she is in fact the King’s wife, the Bride of Christ. All true believers from the time of Adam and Eve until today are part of the Bride of Christ. That’s how Jesus sees us, the church, as his wife, his queen.
That’s also who the Devil wants to destroy, the true believers, since the time of righteous Abel until today. Who is it that keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus Christ? It is none other than the true Church, the true believers, those who confess Him, follow Him and let His love dictate their lives. During the Tribulation the Devil will be persecuting God’s people. Both gentile and Jewish Christians will be in it together and will rejoice together when He comes.
The Martyrs of the Fifth Seal
In the opening of the fifth seal in Revelation 6, we see the martyred saints asking for vengeance upon their enemies. “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”[71] Since the time of the ascension and Stephen’s death, Christians have been dying for their faith. The martyrs were told they needed to wait a little longer until more martyrs arrived.
The Great Tribulation appears to be a period where many will be martyred for their faith during Satan’s worldwide persecution of believers and of those who do not take the “Mark of the Beast.”[72] “And there was given unto him, the Antichrist, a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months, (which is 3 ½ years).”[73]
The Sealing of the 144,000
The sealing of the 144,000 takes place before the Trumpets of Tribulation which are poured upon the wicked. But even in the context of Revelation 7, we see the chapter pans to the future after the Tribulation, because the saints are suddenly already with the Lamb in Heaven. “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knows. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”[74]
If they came out of Great Tribulation then most probably the vision is of a period after the Great Tribulation or concurrent with the Great Tribulation and these saints have been martyred out of tribulation or have been raptured up at the end of the Tribulation. So even in one chapter, we start with a period before the Trumpets of Tribulation and end with a period which could very well be and looks like a time in the distant future. It says, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”[75] The wiping away of the tears actually happens in scripture during the time of the New Heaven and New Earth. However, it could very well happen also at the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Marriage Supper, although it is not mentioned in scripture. So the chapter could be panning from before the Tribulation period, to well after it, within the same chapter.
The Sixth Seal
The sixth seal includes the Wrath of God because the picture in Revelation 6 is parallel with or equal to the Wrath of God we see in Revelation 16, particularly the seventh vial. First let’s look at Revelation 6. “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; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”[76]
Now we will look at Revelation 16 and watch for the similarities. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”[77]
When we read these two sections[78] carefully we can see that they seem to be talking about the same event. They could not be talking about too different events as the destruction of every mountain and island is quite significant. To have this event happen twice seems most improbable. The four similarities in the verses: 1. a great earthquake, 2. islands and mountains, 3. Rocks/hail and 4. great wrath/plagues, suggest they are talking of the same event.
I would speculate that the prophets at times did not understand what they were seeing, but were trying to be faithful to jot it all down. It’s like looking at a mountain range from a distance. At first, from far, they look like a closely knit group of mountains. Yet upon getting closer we find that some peaks are separated from others by great distances and valleys in between. From a distance they looked like one group of mountains close together, but up close, we see there are distinct peaks and distances between each peak.
Even so some of the prophetic events happen around the same time and are yet separate from each other. The Rapture is different from the Battle of Armageddon and yet they happen near to the same time. We actually have two returns of Christ at the end: first to rescue the believers at the Rapture, and a little later to return with the believers to take over the world at the Battle of Armageddon. But from a distance it could possibly look like the same event, when in fact we will see they are separated by at least a 30 day period. Maybe that’s why the prophets described them very similarly, because to them it looked like the same event!
The Seventh Seal
The opening of the seventh seal of Revelation 8 is at the beginning of the Trumpets of Tribulation. We read, “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”[79]
Someone once told me he could prove there were no women in heaven. I said, “How’s that?” He showed me the verse, “There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”He said, “That proves there are no women in heaven.” Well, I do not think Heaven could be Heaven without women. So let’s get back to our study.
In chapter eight of Revelation we see the sealing of the saints. One of the angels says, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”[80] When the Trumpets of Tribulation start, we see they affect the earth, the sea, the trees and the people.[81] The Trumpets of Tribulation are being poured out on the unbelievers, not on those with “the seal of God in their foreheads.”[82] The Trumpets of Tribulation only bring 1/3 damage or partial destruction. Later, after God’s people are Raptured away, the Wrath of God will bring total destruction. Now that His people are not around to be innocent victims, God can really sock it to them.
The reason I call the Seals panoramic is because they go from the time of Christ’s ascension, until the Wrath of God. They give a panoramic view of some of the events that are to come forth from the time of John through the last seven year period sometimes zooming in on one event. Therefore, the Seven Seals are a panoramic view of the End Time. They are not chronological. The sixth seal describes the Wrath, which is in fact after the Tribulation period. The seventh seal describes the beginning of the seven trumpets which occur during the Tribulation period before the Wrath. So the sixth seal actually happens after the seventh seal.
The Seven Trumpets of Tribulation happen when God is tribulating the Antichrist and his forces for persecuting the Church before the Rapture and the Wrath. But as in some movies, we are given a glimpse of an event before it actually happens, so it is in Revelation. We are given a glimpse of the Wrath in the sixth seal, but when we open the seventh seal we actual start the Tribulation period prior to the Wrath. Thanks to modern cinematography we can understand the visual effects John is describing.
To go to Part 3
Notes
[41] 1 John 2:18
[42] 1Timothy 4:1-2
[43] 2Timothy 3:1-5
[44] 2Peter 3:3-7
[45] Zechariah 6:4-5
[46] Revelation 6:2
[47] Revelation 19:11-13
[48] Revelation 14:14
[49] Revelation 6:5-6
[50] Isaiah 28:10
[51] Hosea 12: 7
[52] Revelation 18:23b
[53] Amos 8: 4-6
[54] 2Thessalonians 2:6-7
[55] 2Thessalonians 2:8
[56] Revelation 12:7-9,13-14
[57] Daniel 12:1
[58] Matthew 24:21
[59] Daniel 12:1b
[60] Matthew 24:29a
[61] Daniel 7:25
[62] 2Thessalonians 2:3-4
[63] Revelation 13:3-4
[64] Revelation 12:9,11-13
[65] Revelation 12:9,14
[66] Revelation 13:7
[67] Revelation 13:5
[68] 2Chronicles 36:14-16
[69] Hebrews 11
[70] Hebrews 11:35b
[71] Revelation 6:9-11
[72] Revelation 13:16-17
[73] Revelation 13:5
[74] Revelation 7: 14-17
[75] Revelation 21: 4a, 7:17b,
[76] Revelation 6:12-17
[77] Revelation 16:17-21
[78] Revelation 6:12-17, 16:17-21
[79] Revelation 8:1-2
[80] Revelation 7:3
[81] Revelation 8:7-11
[82] Revelation 9:4
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