Getting Started with
the Book of Revelation
“For the
revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of
the end and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait
for it; it will certainly come and
will not delay.”
Habakkuk
2:3
l 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l
page 3
The Seven Seals
The story of the
mysterious book sealed with seven
seals is the first apocalyptic
prophecy in Revelation. This story
not only “stacks” on top of
the matrix established by Daniel with
perfect harmony, but also adds new
information to the matrix, which
other prophecies in Revelation will
use. Revelation 4-6 is to the book of
Revelation what Daniel 2 is to the
book of Daniel. Both prophecies
establish a foundational sequence of
events on which other prophecies
build. It is also important to know
that Revelation 4-6 amplifies certain
events recorded in Daniel 7-9.
The story of the seven
seals has several purposes. First, it
establishes order. Each seal is
opened in chronological order. The
first seal was broken in 1798 and the
last seal will be broken at the end
of the millennium. Next, the
information written in the book
sealed with seven seals ultimately
resolves two problems that began
before Earth was created. I conclude,
from the evidence presented in
Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible
that sin began with two clever
arguments, which Lucifer brought
against the Father and the Son.
First, Lucifer claimed that God was
not a God of love. Second, He claimed
that God used His incredible powers
(omnipotence, omniscience and
omnipresence) to selfishly maintain
control over the universe. Lucifer
claimed that God did not offer
freedom to His subjects. Lucifer
argued that God loved authority and
power, and Lucifer summed up
God’s tyranny with this evil
taunt to the angels, “It’s
obey God and live or disobey God and
die.”
We should not
underestimate the power and sophistry
of the devil’s arguments,
because they deceived a third of
Heaven’s sinless angels. When
the seventh seal is opened, and the
contents of the book are exposed, God
will prove that Lucifer’s first
assertion was nothing but a malicious
lie. Moreover, God will absolutely
prove that Lucifer’s arguments
were cleverly disguised to hide his
evil motives to gain what belonged to
Jesus. The second problem, which the
unsealed book will resolve, centers
on the humility of God. When the book
is unsealed at the end of the
thousand years, the universe will
finally understand that, if
necessary, Jesus was willing to lay
down His life forever, so fallen man
might have the possibility of
salvation.
Because the Father
foreknew the rise of sin and the
hatred that Lucifer would eventually
have for Christ and His followers, He
created a simple, but profound, means
to dispel all of Lucifer’s lies before
Lucifer was created. He wrote a
complete account of every created
being. He wrote a complete history of
life in a book, which contains a
complete account of every created
being. If this book were opened
prematurely, the argument could be
made that God manipulated events to
occur according to His will.
Therefore, the Father sealed the book
so that nothing in it could be
exposed. Then, the Father
commissioned certain angels to serve
as recording angels. These angels
record everything that is said and
done by every living being. In the
end, the sealed book will be opened
and compared with the records of the
angels. Amazingly, the two records
will prove to be identical! This
astounding evidence will exonerate
God of all of Lucifer’s charges.
God will prove that He foreknew the
outcome of everything before anything
was created. More importantly, God
will prove that He did not manipulate
the decision making power of anyone.
His creatures have the power of
choice and they are free to obey or
rebel against His authority. Last,
God will prove that He does not use
His awesome powers of omniscience,
omnipotence or omnipresence to
maintain the throne. Rather, He uses
these unlimited powers to insure that
the rule of love is eternally
enduring. Faith in God always make
perfect sense when scene in reverse.
The 144,000
The opening of the
fourth seal marks the commencement of
the Great Tribulation. Just before
the global earthquake that marks the
beginning of the Great Tribulation,
God will select 144,000 people on
earth to do a special work for Him.
God will choose and empower these
people, like Noah before the flood,
and Moses at the time of the Exodus,
to speak for Him. These people will
be located all over the world and
they will be selected from every
religious group. In an effort to save
the maximum number of people, God
will have “believing
brothers” speaking to their
biological brothers. The awesome
power of God will rest on the
144,000, and even though they will
have little or no communication with
each other, they will proclaim the
same terms and conditions of
salvation in the clearest of words.
Contrary to what most Christians
believe, these people will not be
biological Jews that suddenly convert
to Christianity after a supposedly
secret rapture. According to
Scripture, these people will be Jews
in God’s sight – that is
according to the redefinition
of Israel that occurs through Jesus.
(James 1:1; 2:1; Romans 2:28, 29;
Ephesians 2; Galatians 3; Romans
9-11; Revelation 2:9; 3:9) A
numberless multitude from all
kindreds, tongues and nations will
hear the 144,000, receive their
testimony and be saved.
The Seven Trumpets
The Great Tribulation
will begin with a global earthquake
followed by four civilization
threatening judgments in quick
succession. (Revelation 8:2-12) A
quarter of Earth’s population
will perish within a few weeks. These
horrific events will stun and
overwhelm the survivors. Because the
current religions of our world are
highly antagonistic towards each
other, it is almost impossible for
people from different religions to
discuss the subject of God. The
Moslem cannot understand the
Christian’s belief in Jesus. The
Jew cannot understand the Catholic
mass or the need for Mary’s
intercession. The Protestant does not
understand the enlightenment of
Buddhism, etc. We live in a world
that has many views about God, and it
is impossible for one man to prove
the superiority of his God over that
of another man. To make matters
worse, there is a great diversity of
thought about God within each
religious system, and this keeps the
world deeply fractured. Can a
Catholic, Moslem, Jew, Mormon and
Baptist worship the same God together?
If so, what would the properties of
such a God be?
Jesus will soon awaken
the world to the reality of His
sovereign authority and dominion as
well as the authority of His 144,000
servants (both men and women). He
will shatter the religious views of
the world with a series of awesome
judgments including a meteoric
firestorm of burning hail that burns
up a third of the trees on Earth, and
two civilizations threatening
asteroid impacts causing darkness to
cover the world for a period of time.
These four judgments will destroy
more than 1.5 billion people in a few
weeks. By showing His authority with
overwhelming destructive force, Jesus
will gain man’s full attention
and temporarily subdue the ongoing
hatred, conflicts and wars between
nations. When Jesus initiates these
four judgments, everyone on Earth
will realize that Almighty God is
angry. The seven trumpets of
Revelation are seven judgments of
mercy that will befall Earth, so that
Jesus may gain our attention and
speak to us with one voice through
His servants. The 144,000 will
present the terms and conditions for
salvation; and the gospel of Christ
will separate the people of Earth
into two camps – the sheep and
the goats.
