INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PRAYER KC
FORERUNNER SCHOOL OF MINISTRY
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
MIKE BICKLE
IHOP-KC
Missions Base www.IHOP.org
Used by
Permission
Session 5: The Seals of Judgment and God’s
Protection (Rev 6 -7)
I. INTRODUCTION TO THE SEVEN SEALS
A. Jesus took the scroll that was sealed with seven seals
from the hand of the Father (Rev.
5:7). It represents the title deed of the earth and the
action plan
required to cleanse the earth. One by one Jesus opens each seal which releases
a terrifying judgment against the wicked.
B. The 7 seals are
literal (not merely symbolic), future (their greatest
fulfillment is future), progressive (increasing in intensity) and
numbered
(released in a sequential order).
C. Each seal leads to the unfolding of the next seal in a natural way. For
example, the Antichrist of the first seal (Rev.
6:2) leads us to a World War in the second seal, which in turn causes
famine and economic crisis in the next seal then pestilence and disease, etc.
D. The timing in which Jesus opens the seals is one interpretive key to
Revelation. I believe Jesus has not yet opened the scroll. It was not opened
at the time of Jesus’ ascension (30 AD) but sometime after Rev. 2-3 (90 AD;
Rev. 4:1), and only after the bowls of prayer are full (Rev.
5:8).
1 After these things…I
will show you things which must take place after this. (Rev.
4:1)
8 When He (Jesus) had
taken the scroll…the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp,
and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Rev.
5:8)
E. God’s judgments will be released against the Great Harlot and the
Antichrist by a mature worldwide prayer movement in the way that Moses
released the plagues of Egypt. God’s judgments against the wicked in the first
4 seals are a result of God taking His restraining hand off of evil men, thus
allowing them to sin in an unrestrained way against one another. The
Antichrist here acts against the Harlot yet the devastation reaches back to
his worldwide empire.
F. The seven seals are released by Jesus, the Lamb of God (Rev.
5:5;
6:1,
3,
5,
7,
9,
12;
8:1). Jesus releases the seal judgments against the Harlot and the
Antichrist’s empire. The purpose of all 7 seals is to release judgment on the
kingdom of darkness to hinder the Antichrist’s empire from spreading evil,
from persecuting the saints, while causing unbelievers to cry out for
salvation.
1 I saw when the Lamb (Jesus)
opened one of the Seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying
with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." (Rev.
6:1)
G. We receive the same 2-fold call that John received to come and see. John
was to come or draw closer to God to position his heart to understand God’s
heart and then to see or to pay attention.
H. God’s judgment is not on the saints. His judgments remove all that
hinders love.
Principle
of judgment: using the least severe means to reach the greatest
number at the deepest level of love without violating anyone’s free will.
9 God did not appoint us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation through…Jesus. (1
Thes. 5:9)
II. FIRST SEAL:
ANTICHRIST'S POLITICAL AGGRESSION
2 I looked,
and behold, a white horse. He (Antichrist)
who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out
conquering and to conquer. (Rev.
6:2)
A.
In the first seal, God judges the Harlot who will murder the saints (Rev.
17:6,
16) by raising the Antichrist up against her. The color white symbolizes
righteousness because his reign initially appears righteous. He is the
counterfeit to Jesus who rides a white horse with truth (Rev.
19:11).
6 I saw the woman (Harlot),
drunk with the blood of the saints…16 The ten horns (Antichrist’s
10-nation confederation)…will
hate the Harlot…and burn her with fire. (Rev.
17:6,
16)
B. There is a special recognizable relationship of the first four seals to
each other with points of similarity between the first 4 seals. Each has
similar characteristics such as a horse with a distinct color with a rider
released by a prophetic decree of one of the living creatures.
C. The Antichrist’s rule initially is gained by an arrowless bow. It points
to his initial bloodless victories or peaceful conquest using deceptive
diplomacy. This rider is pictured as ready to go to war with a bow in hand on
a horse. A bow speaks of war that can strike at a distance. Since there are no
arrows, it is commonly understood as a threat of war without war breaking out.
D. The nations have been enjoying a counterfeit worldwide peace (1
Thes. 5:3) which will end with the opening of the first seal, the fall of
Babylon and the Abomination of Desolation.
3 For when they say,
"Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains
upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (1
Thes. 5:3)
E. The Antichrist wears a crown as a symbol of his political prominence (Rev.
13:1-2,
7).
F. Power is given to him that speaks of the permission he receives from God
and aid he receives from Satan and sinful men. He is released by God as a
judgment on the wicked (Rom.
13:1-7). All authority belongs to Jesus (Mt.
28:18) who will give the Antichrist a specific sphere to operate in for a
limited time of 3½ years. “Is given” is used 22 times in Revelation.
7 And authority was given
him (Antichrist) over every tribe, tongue, and nation. (Rev.
13:7)
G. Some see the first seal as symbolic of
Jesus conquering
sin on the cross, or of the victory of the
gospel through
history. Others see this seal as fulfilled by the ancient military activity of
the Roman emperor conquering others nations or of the Parthian invasions of
the Roman Empire. These three views require excessive spiritualizing while
ignoring the details of the text (arrowless bow, single crown, lack of victory
of the gospel throughout history) and the special relationship of the first
four seals with many points of identity between them. It would be out of place
to see one horse as Jesus with the other three as negative events. Jesus
cannot be reduced to the same level as the other 3 horsemen that follow. Jesus
is gloriously pictured in Revelation in splendor in three strategic places (Rev.
1:12-18;
14:14-16;
19:11-16). He is not simply a rider on a white horse with a crown and bow.
There are significant differences between the white horse riders in
Rev. 6:2 and
Rev. 19:11-16.
III. SECOND SEAL: WORLDWIDE
BLOODSHED AND THE FINAL WORLD WAR (REV. 6:3-4)
3 When He
opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and
see." 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who
sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one
another; and there was given to him a great sword. (Rev.
6:3-4)
A. The great sword speaks of extreme forms of bloodshed coming from war and
violence. The Antichrist starts by using an arrowless bow (v. 2) then uses a
great sword which strikes up close.
B. The Antichrist continues to be the vehicle of God’s judgment on the
Great Harlot by "taking peace” from the nations that were made drunk by the
Harlot (Rev.
17:1-17).
1 Come, I will show you
the judgment of the great harlot…2 with whom the kings of the earth committed
fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk.… 16 the ten
horns…on the beast (Antichrist).…will
hate the harlot…and burn her with fire. (Rev.
17:1-16)
IV. THIRD SEAL: FAMINE AND
ECONOMIC CRISIS (REV. 6:5-6)
5 He opened
the third seal…a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his
hand. 6 I heard a voice…, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and 3 quarts of
barley for a denarius." (Rev.
6:5-6)
A. The black horse speaks of famine and economic crisis that will follow
the world war in v. 4. The greatest economic crisis with the most severe
famine is yet to come against the nations that embrace the Harlot and the
Antichrist. The saints will multiply food like when Jesus fed the 5,000 and
like when food and water was provided supernaturally in the days of Moses.
B. A denarius was equivalent to wages for one day of work. A quart of wheat
is the amount that one man would eat for one day (very minimal diet). The
economic crisis will cause one’s earning power to be reduced to working all
day to afford food for one person for one day. This represents about 10 times
less buying power than in the world today. Wheat is superior in taste and
nutrition to barley. Barley, an inferior grain, will be three times cheaper
that then price of wheat.
V. FOURTH SEAL: DEATH TO ¼
OF THE EARTH’S PEOPLE (REV. 6:7-8)
8 A pale
horse. The name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed…Power was
given to them over ¼ of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with
death, and by the beasts…. (Rev.
6:8)
A. Pale horse (literally, pale green, ashen) is the color of death and/or
the decay of a corpse. Death is what happens to the physical body which goes
to the grave. Hades is the prison where the departed spirit of an unbeliever
goes before going to the Lake of Fire after the Millennium.
B. The word translated death means ‘pestilence’ or ‘disease.’ Fatal
diseases will increase beyond any time in history. Wild beasts will roam in
the open to devour people. These are the same four judgments called, “God’s
four severe judgments” (Ezek.
5:17;
14:21). In 2025 it is estimated that 8 billion will be alive. One fourth
of this is 2 billion or 50x the death total of World War II.
VI. FIFTH SEAL: PRAYER
RELEASING JUDGMENT (REV. 6:9-11)
9 When He (Jesus)
opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar (altar of incense) the souls of
those who had been slain for the word of God...10 They cried…, "How long, O
Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell
on the earth?" 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said
to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of
their…brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. (Rev.
6:9-11)
A. The fifth seal is supernatural power on the prayer movement that
releases greater judgment on Antichrist’s empire. This is the turning point in
Revelation. This seal is misunderstood in seeing martyrdom as the judgment.
The seals bring judgment on the kingdom of darkness not the saints.
B. The judgment of each seal increases in intensity as they unfold. In
other words, the fifth seal is more severe than the four that precede it. The
blood of the saints fuels the prayer movement. The shedding of righteous blood
stirs Jesus’ heart of vengeance (Rev.
19:2).
2 Righteous are His
judgments…He avenged on her the blood of His servants… (Rev.
19:2)
C.
The prayer ministry in heaven at this time gives insight into the prayer
ministry on earth. The Spirit who inspires intercession in heaven will inspire
the same on earth with profound unity.
D. This is not a cry for personal revenge but that God removes reprobates
in the Antichrist’s empire from their place of influence. We love mercy thus,
we want the cruelty of the Antichrist to stop.
E. The prayer, "How long…” is the most recorded prayer in Scripture (Zech.
1:12;
Ps. 6:3;
13:2;
74:10;
79:5;
80:4;
89:46;
90:13;
94:3;
Dan. 8:13;
12:6-13). Here is prayer for justice on the Antichrist’s cruelty,
vindication of God’s reputation and deliverance of His people.
7 Shall God not avenge His
own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8
I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man comes, will He really find faith (agreement
with His will) on
the earth? (Lk.
18:7-8)
F.
Rev. 6:12-17 begins the specific answer to this prayer of the martyrs in
the release of the trumpet and bowl judgments on the Antichrist (Rev. 8-9;
16).
G. The cry is that Jesus avenge their blood on those who dwell on the
earth. To generalize this passage as referring to all the martyrs throughout
history is to ignore the detail that their persecutors are still alive on
earth at the time that this prayer is being offered in heaven.
H. O Lord, holy and
true, until You judge and avenge our blood...? Holy and
true are two aspects of Jesus emphasized in
Rev. 3:7 in context to His End-Times judgments. The saints lean into
sovereignty with confidence in Jesus’ goodness. God’s judgments are holy in
that they do not violate love and they are true in judging the guilty with
accurate information. God’s judgment is not too severe or too lenient but
rather it is accurate without any misplaced judgment.
VII. THE SIXTH SEAL: COSMIC
DISTURBANCES (REV. 6:12-17)
12 He
opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the
sun
became black as sackcloth…and the moon became like blood. 13 The stars of
heaven fell to the earth…14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled
up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 The kings of
the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every
slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves…of the mountains, 16 and
said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him
who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of
His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (Rev.
6:12-17)
A. The breaking of the sixth seal causes cosmic disturbances to judge the
Antichrist’s empire. This seal begins a new order of supernatural judgment
released by the trumpet and bowl series. The martyrs cried, "Avenge us". The
unbelievers will cry, "Hide us".
B. There will be a
great earthquake or a worldwide geophysical upheaval (Hag.
2:6;
Heb. 12:26-28). Earthquakes are prophesied 7 times in Revelation (Rev.
6:12;
8:5;
11:13 [2x], 19; 16:18 [2x]). Every mountain will be moved rather than
destroyed. No one could hide in the mountains if they were all destroyed. The
mountains continue to exist in the seventh bowl (Rev.
16:20).
C. What causes the
sun to become darkened? It will be by supernatural signs
sent by God as well as possibly including the natural effects of ash, and
debris that come from volcanic eruptions or from smoke as it did from the
World Trade Center which blocked the sunlight for days.
11 There will be fearful
sights and great signs from heaven. (Lk.
21:11)
25 There will be signs in
the sun, in the moon, and in the stars…with perplexity, the sea and the waves
roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those
things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.
(Lk.
21:25-26)
D. The stars of heaven fell speak of asteroids and meteor showers hitting
the earth. The Greek word for stars used here is “aster” from which we get the
word asteroid. An aster refers to any shining mass in the sky, including
stars, meteors, asteroids, or any flaming debris, etc. The diameter of the
earth is nearly 8,000 miles. Our sun is a small star which is over 800,000
miles in diameter or 100 times larger than the earth. If one star hit the
earth, it would be completely destroyed and thus, the kings would not flee to
the mountains. This is not speaking of stars hitting the earth but meteorites
or other objects hitting it. Stars are still in the sky in the fourth trumpet
(Rev.
8:12).
E. The sky will recede or draw back as a scroll opening a
“window” into
heaven that worldwide leaders may witness God’s wrath. World leaders are
pictured as running for their lives in panic without regard for their dignity
as they run to the mountains to hide from God. This is not the Second Coming
yet, because in the seventh bowl they rise up to fight against Jesus (Rev.
19:17-21). We are not told how they conclude this is God’s wrath, but
forerunners will proclaim it since the opening of the first seal. The great
question of the hour is who is able to stand?
17 For the great day of
His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? (Rev.
6:17)
VIII. FIRST PARENTHETICAL
SECTION: WHO CAN STAND? (REV. 7:1-17)
A. The Parenthetical Sections mostly describe Satan’s attack
against the Church and then God’s intervention to help with power, protection,
direction or reward. They are the interpretative sections of Revelation that
answer two main questions. First,
“Why are these judgments are so severe?” In
other words, how can a God of love be so violent?
Second,
“What will happen to
the Church?” In other words, will we be safe in God’s favor and will we be
anointed to stand against deception and persecution? The five Parenthetical
Sections answer these two questions.
B. This Parenthetical Section answers the question,
“Who can stand?”
Affirming the security of God's people, God answered this cry by revealing
that 144,000 Jewish believers will stand in victory (7:1-8) and
Gentile
martyrs (7:9-17) shall stand strong without wavering in persecution.
C.
John sees a divine sealing on His people that gives them physical and
spiritual protection.
1 I saw four angels…
holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the
earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 I saw another angel…having the seal of
the living God. He cried…, 3 saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the
trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." 4 I
heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand
of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed… (Rev.
7:1-4)
D. These saints are raised up as a model for victory. They receive a
protective seal before God strikes the earth, sea and trees (Rev.
7:3). In Exodus, Israel received a protective mark on their doors as a
seal that saved their first born from death. Others will be sealed by God for
protection (Rev
9:4;
Ezek 9:6). The Goshen Principle is seen in
Ex. 8:22-23;
9:4,
6,
26 (Zeph.
2:3; Ps. 91).
4 They were commanded not
to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only
those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. (Rev
9:4)
4 The Lord said, "Go
through…Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry
over all the abominations…5 To the others He said…, "Go through the city and
kill; do not let your eye spare…6 slay old and young men, maidens and little
children …but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My
sanctuary. (Ezek
9:4-6)
E. Gentile believers (Rev.
7:9-17) will also stand strong without wavering even in persecution. Many
saints will be physically protected (Rev.
9:4;
Zeph. 2:3;
Mic. 7:14-19;
Isa. 11:15-16).
9 Behold, a
great
multitude which no one could number, of
all nations, tribes, peoples, and
tongues, standing before the Throne….clothed with white robes, with palm
branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying,
"Salvation belongs to our God…" 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to
me, "Who are these arrayed in white
robes, and where did they come from?"
14…So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the
great
tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the Throne of God, and serve Him day and
night in His temple. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the
midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of
waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Rev.
7:9-17)