Coffeeville First Baptist Church by Craig Baker 1/30/25

By Marie | January 28, 2025 |

In our study of Revelation, we have been shown John’s vision of the throne room of heaven. Chapter 5 tells us that the One Who Sits on the Throne held out a sealed scroll with writing on the inside and outside. I shared with you last time that this scroll contains the deed to earth and God’s plan for its redemption and restoration. This scroll is perfectly sealed with seven seals and required one who was worthy to open it. John wept because no one was found worthy. Then the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, Jesus, the Lamb of God, appeared to take the scroll and loosen its seals for He alone is worthy. Upon taking the scroll, we are told that all creation worshiped Jesus. As we move into chapter 6, we find the events that are set into motion as Jesus opened each seal. Before we get into chapter 6 and the following sections of Revelation, it is important that we remember a few things. Remember that John’s writing is symbolic. Not everything that we read in Revelation is to be taken literally, but it all has real meaning. Also, there are a lot of different views on how the events and symbolism of Revelation should be interpreted. Put 10 people in a room and you would get 11 different interpretations of Revelation because some people cannot even agree with themselves on what it all means. For example, a topic we will touch on this week, the rapture, is one that has caused a great deal of disagreement. While the Bible does not specifically use the word rapture, most agree that the Bible certainly indicates there will be a rapture, a great calling away to heaven, of believers at some point during the end times. We just cannot agree on exactly when that will happen in relation to the tribulation. The tribulation is a 7-year period with two 3.5-year divisions. The first 3.5 years is where we find what Jesus called “the beginning of birth pains.” The last 3.5 years is what we know as “The Great Tribulation” when God’s wrath will be poured out over the earth. There are three primary views of the rapture. Perhaps the most popular is the pre-tribulation rapture that many claim happens in Revelation 4:1. As we will see, this view has some major flaws and requires us to ignore the things Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 that Jesus taught them would be the signs of His return. Then there is the belief in the end tribulation rapture, but again this view has some major flaws as it requires us to ignore what the Bible teaches about believers not suffering the wrath of God. Finally, there is the mid-tribulation rapture belief. I believe the mid-tribulation rapture best aligns with what te Bible teaches, and as we go through this study, you will see why I believe this. Whether we agree on the details of the rapture or not, like many things, not all things but many things, in Revelation, the rapture is one of those secondary issues that should not cause division or arguments among us. Another thing we need to understand is that not everything from chapter 6 to chapter 18 is written out in chronological order. Some of the events in these chapters overlap and intertwine with one another. Understanding all that, let us consider what John saw with the opening of the first 5 seals which signals the beginning of the tribulation and the coming of what we know as the four horsemen of the apocalypse (Revelation 6:1-11). With the opening of the first seal, some immediately say this is Jesus returning. I can certainly see how they would make that mistake. This horseman does share some similarities with what we are told Jesus will look like at His return. The horseman is on a white horse, has a crown, carries a weapon, and has power to conquer. These attributes are very similar to what we see in Jesus at His return (Revelation 19:11-16). The problem is none of the signs of Jesus’ return have occurred or accompany the horseman who appears at the opening of this first seal. This is also one of the main reasons I do not believe that the rapture occurs in chapter 4. At that point, none of the things have occurred that Jesus told His disciples would be signs of His coming. However, in Revelation 6, we find that the events that occur at the opening of the seals align almost exactly with the signs of His coming that Jesus told His disciples they should watch for and be prepared to experience. Jesus told His disciples that one of the signs that His return was near is that many will come claiming to be Him and deceive many (Matthew 24:3-4;23-26). Daniel 7 teaches us that one will come who will be greater than all the rest. Every so often claims will arise about presidents and other world leaders being the antichrist and the sign that Jesus is coming back soon. Pay no attention to such things. While there is certainly a spirit of the antichrist throughout our world, when the true antichrist appears, people will think Jesus has returned. Daniel 9 tells us that the antichrist will rise to power and sign a peace covenant with Israel. This will occur during the first 3.5 years of the tribulation, but sometime during that period, the antichrist will break that covenant, his true nature will be revealed, and war will come upon the earth. We find that with the opening of the second seal (Revelation 6:3-4). When the Lamb opens the second seal, John sees a man on a red horse appear who is granted the authority to take peace from the earth. The sword he carries is a symbol of the carnage he will bring. Like claims of the antichrist, when war happens in some area of the world, we have those who will claim it is a sign of the end times but understand this is fighting and carnage on a worldwide scale all at once. If we look back at Matthew 24:6-7, Jesus told His disciples they would experience such things as a sign of His impending return. With the opening of the second seal, worldwide war, slaughter, and bloodshed break out. This is not just nations against nations, soldiers fighting soldiers. This is slaughter and bloodshed in every neighborhood and on every street, even within households, as people turn on each other and kill one another. In Matthew 24:7, Jesus also told His disciples they will experience famines and pestilence; disease and plagues. With the opening of the third seal (Revelation 6:5-6), what do we find; famines spread throughout the earth. With the opening of the third seal, a black horse and rider appear. This rider is holding a pair of scales and declares that a quart of wheat costs a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius. At the time, the standard day’s wage was a denarius, and the best I can figure from my research is that a denarius was typically enough money to buy 8 quarts of wheat or 24 quarts of barley, and a quart of either was enough for a person to have one cake of bread a day. Notice the oil and wine are untouched. These were luxury items people would not want nor be able to afford during a famine. What is described here is a situation where the income of a typical working-class family is not enough to buy food each day. I realize that wages today vary much more than they did back then, but the average daily wage in MS is about $100. The prices this horseman declared for wheat and barley are comparable to us paying $100 for a few slices of bread. With the opening of the fourth seal (Revelation 6:7-8), we see the pestilence Jesus told His disciples they would experience. As these first four seals are open, we see the inevitable progression as wars lead to famine and famine leads to pestilence and death. As bad as this seems, Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 24:8 that these are just the beginning of sorrows. He goes on to tell His disciples in Matthew 24:9 that they can expect to be delivered up to tribulation, hatred, and death for His name’s sake. With the opening of the fifth seal (Revelation 6:9-11) and the final one we will consider this week, we see that many are killed for their faith. Specifically, they were killed for the Word of God and their testimony of Jesus. As the events of the first four seals unfolds, especially the rise of the antichrist, genuine believers will not be deceived but will be speaking out declaring Jesus as Lord and the truth of God’s Word and warning others to not be deceived. Those who are deceived will grow tired of the truth and kill the believers for their faith. We like to think that we will be spared any hardship in the end times, but in the Bible, we find that Jesus Himself tells us otherwise. Not only will we experience hardship, but it will be wars, famine, pestilence, and death unlike anything we have ever seen or could even imagine. These things are not meant to scare us but rather prepare us. I pray that we all take head of God’s Word that we are not deceived as the day of the Lord approaches.

Posted in Obituaries