TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY IN BIBLE PROPHECY
Lesson 14: A look at how and when the Revelation would be opened.
I A comparison between the physical and prophetic
construction of the Book of Revelation.
1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne
a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven
seals.
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,
"Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?"
3 And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth,
was able to open the book, or to look into it
(Rev. 5:1-3, NASB).
A One glance at this scroll, "written inside and on the
back," informed the beholder that it was loaded with
prophetic information. (It was customary to write only
on one side of the paper for the sake of ease in reading
the scroll as it was unrolled.)
B The number of the seals, seven, implies that each was so
attached that when one was broken and the portion which
that was designed to fasten was unrolled, a second would
be come to, and so on.
1 The outer seal would bind the whole; but breaking it
would not give access to the whole contents unless each
successive seal was broken.
2 Logically, the message associated with seal one would be
written and then sealed with seal one, the message
associated with seal two would be written next and then
sealed with seal two, and so on to the main message of
the document which would be sealed with seal seven.
C This proposed construction of the book agrees with the
statement "Who is worthy to open the book"--the main
message of the document, first--and "break its seals"
successively, second.
D I can't speak for others, but I understood the seven
trumpet prophecies sealed by the seventh seal first, the
message sealed by the sixth seal next, and then the
message sealed by the fifth seal.
E Curiously, I do not understand the meaning of the first four
seals at this time.
4 And I began to weep greatly, because no one was found
worthy to open the book, or to look into it;
5 and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold,
the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,
has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals"
(Rev. 5:4-5, NASB).
A John was told to "stop weeping" because Jesus Christ,
who was born into the tribe of Judah in the line of
David, "has overcome so as to open the book and its
seven seals."
B Again the text states that people would understand "the
book" first, and the seven seals second.
C In fact, careful reading of the text reveals that "the
book," that is, the prophetic contents about the future
sealed by seal seven, would be understood before any of
the specific messages embedded in the introduction of
seal seven and the other six seals, would be understood.
D A spontaneous question arises here: How could any
information inside the book be understood without first
breaking the seal, or seals, binding its contents?
1 The answer is not found in how this could be, but in
how the prophetic message contained in the seventh
seal portion of the Book of Revelation, actually came
to be understood.
2 Note first that the main subject of the Revelation,
sealed by the seventh seal, centers around the world's
first atomic war and the damage the post-AWWI smoke will
wreak on the planet and its inhabitants.
3 Note next that the scientists who built the atomic
bomb and determined the damage that atomic war-
generated smoke would cause, actually discovered the
information needed to understand the main contents of
the Book of Revelation.
a (The first serious study of the effects of smoke from
atomic war was printed in AMBIO, June 1982 [a journal
published by Sweden's Royal Academy of Sciences]).
b After the science of nuclear weapons and warfare
became available to the public, the most perplexing
portions of the Revelation ceased to be a mystery.
c Because "the book" portion of the Revelation contains
more details about AWWI than the cryptic overview
information surrounding each seal prophecy, the main
Revelation message was, in fact, opened first.
II SETTING:
A The opened Book of Revelation begins with seven trumpet
prophecies.
B Collectively, the seven trumpet prophecies document seven
major events that will precede the Second Coming of Christ.
III Rev. 8:1-6 describes five successive events to look for in
the days leading up to the first trumpet event (AWWI).
1 And whenever he opened the seventh seal, occurred a
silence in heaven about a half-hour (Rev. 8:1, IGENT).
A According to Rev. 5, Jesus Christ opened the seven seals
binding the Book of Revelation. Hence, the pronoun "He"
refers directly to Christ.
B The word "whenever," as used here, means "at whatever
time" Christ determines the right time to be, He will
open the seventh seal and thus the full Revelation
message for the world's inspection.
C The use of the indefinite word "whenever" (which means
"come whenever you like") to announce the opening of the
seventh seal events, indicates that the fulfillment of
the opening of the seventh seal events will definitely
not occur in order, after the sixth.
D The definite language of the first six seals indicates
that they will occur in order, one after the other.
E Is it possible, since seal seven is definitely coming to
pass before seal six, that the rest of the seven seals will
be fulfilled in reverse order--6,5,4,3,2,1, instead of
1,2,3,4,5,6?
1 No, since the fifth seal event shows the Christians under
the altar receiving white robes while the sixth seal time
period shows Christians, coming out of the Great
Tribulation, washing their robes "in the blood of the
lamb" to make them white.
2 That is, reversing the order of the prophecy's
fulfillment would require some explanation for how the
sixth seal Christians, coming out of the Great
Tribulation, could get their washed white robes dirty in
heaven (a spiritual impossibility) to the extent that
they would require new white robes in the fifth seal time
period.
F In practical terms, the seventh seal prophecy teaches
that the opening of the main contents of the Book of
Revelation to Christians will be the first seventh seal
event to look for in the days leading up to the arrival
of the first trumpet event. (The fulfillment of this
event is in progress.)
G According to the text, the second, seventh seal event to
look for in the prophecies fulfillment, will be "silence
in heaven about a half-hour."
H The reaction in heaven reflects today's Christians same
emotional reaction when they learn AWWI is about to engulf
"their" world.
I The period of silence will last "about half an hour"
because it will take time to teach the meaning of the
Revelation's end-time prophecies to Christians and it
will take Christians a certain amount of time to
determine what their response should be.
J What prophetic facts provide insight into what amount of
time "about half an hour" will actually be, at the time
of the prophecies fulfillment?
1 Rev. 13:5 states that a future world government will
be given "authority to act forty-two months."
2 Rev. 17:12 states "And the ten horns which you saw are
ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but
they receive authority as kings with the beast for one
hour."
3 By prophetic definition one prophetic hour equals
forty-two actual months.
4 If one prophetic hour equals forty-two months, then
half an hour equals twenty-one months, and about half
a prophetic hour would equal about twenty months, give
or take a few days.
K This means that once the seventh seal is opened and the
Revelation's main message becomes available to the
Christian world, there will be a period of about twenty
months for Christians to study the prophetic material
and determine their collective appropriate response,
before the next seventh seal event arrives on the scene.
2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to
them were given seven trumpets (Rev. 8:2).
A Seven angels were commissioned to present the seven
trumpet events.
1 The angels used their trumpets to announce the seven most
important milestone events leading up to the Second
Coming of Christ.
2 Their introduction, immediately following the formal
opening of the Book of Revelation, identifies whatever
message they are about to give as the main communication
of the book.
B Moreover, the actual fulfillment of their prophetic
messages will come to pass soon after the seventh seal
is opened.
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a
golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense
that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon
the golden altar which was before the throne (Rev. 8:3).
4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the
saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand
(Rev. 8:4, NASB).
A Before the seven angels could sound their trumpets, they
were interrupted by the arrival of another angel.
B Since Christ opened the Book of Revelation, it follows
that Christ also directed the communication of its
contents.
- Hence, it was Christ Who dispatched this unnamed angel to
make a timely instructive presentation before the first
of the seven trumpets sounded.
C The incense symbolizes Christ's death on the cross which
renders the saints' prayers acceptable to God.
- The angel does not receive the prayers of the saints unto
himself, but only facilitates the delivery of their
prayers to God.
D According to the text, once Christians recover from the
shocking news that a nuclear war will shortly engulf
"their" world, they will look to God in prayer.
1 This will be the third of the seventh seal events to
look for in the prophecies fulfillment.
2 (The first wave of Christians who have come to under-
stand the end-times prophecies, are already praying
for God's direction and help in reaching the lost for
Christ in the closing days of the age.)
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from
the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals
of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an
earthquake (Rev. 8:5, NIV).
A When the angel hurled the "fire from the altar on the
earth" the sounds of war immediately broke forth on the
earth.
B That is, the thunder of tank and artillery fire; the
rumblings of exploding shells and small arms fire; and
lightning-like flashes of exploding rockets and combat
planes hit by anti-aircraft fire.
C The last entry in John's list, "an earthquake," predicts
that once this future battle is fully joined, an
unexpected earthquake will occur.
D The earthquake's position between this description of a
conventional war and the first trumpet angel's report on
a nuclear war (directly following this text), matches
Ezekiel's and John's Sixth Seal account of the events
leading up to the outbreak of AWWI--both list a great
earthquake as the spark that will touch off AWWI.
1 "I declare that on that day there will surely be a
great earthquake in the land of Israel"
(Ezek. 38:19, NASB).
2 "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a
great earthquake" (Rev. 6:12, NIV).
E Since all three passages list a great earthquake before
a continent-smashing atomic war breaks forth on the
earth, it follows that all three passages are describing
the same atomic war.
F Does the unnamed angel's presentation teach the certainty
of AWWI?
1 Yes, that is even as God accepted and acted upon the
prayers of the saints delivered by the angel, so also
will the same angel's symbolic casting of fire from
the altar to the earth come to pass when the nations
unleash AWWI.
2 A "battlefield nuclear weapon"--a short ranged weapon
(under 311 miles)--may well unleash the initial atomic
shot of AWWI.
3 (The nations have thousands of tactical atomic weapons
and thousands of strategic warheads.)
4 Due to limited facilities to destroy nuclear weapons
and high costs, the nations need decades to destroy
their nuclear weapons.
5 Since the seventh seal prophecy indicates only a few
years between the opening of the Revelation's message
and the outbreak of AWWI, the crisis that will lead to
AWWI will arrive long before the nations have time to
destroy their atomic arsenals.
6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared
themselves to sound (Rev. 8:6).
A The unnamed angel's presentation teaches that once the
great earthquake occurs, the Christians' prayers will no
longer delay the inevitable outbreak of AWWI.
B The presence of the seven angels' full report on the
outbreak of AWWI and its aftermath, directly following
the unnamed angel's prophetic presentation, underlines
the point.
IV In summary, According to Rev. 8:1-6, the five events to look
for in the days leading up to the eruption of AWWI include:
A The opening of the main message of the Book of Revelation.
B The opening of the Revelation will be followed by a twenty
month period of time within which Christians will be
studying the end-time prophecies, and adjusting emotionally
to the grimness of what will soon come to pass in their
time.
C Christians will then look to God in prayer and make a major
effort to warn others of the coming danger and begin
preparing for hard times.
D A conventional war will then break out in the Middle East.
E A great earthquake will occur in Palestine. (AWWI will
ensue.)