The Seven Seals
Seals 4,5,6,7

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Now that you have seen where these elements belong with respect to each other and timing, let’s read Revelation 7:9 and onward to prove that “B” occurs AFTER the Second Coming. Once we do this, we can then prove that Revelation 8:1, the 7^th seal, has to happen AFTER the Second Coming because chronological order is not broken!

 

Revelation 7:9   After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands….

 

Revelation 7:13   Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

 

Revelation 7:14   I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb….

 

Revelation 7:15   Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them….

 

Revelation 7:16   Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, or any scorching heat….

 

Revelation 7:17   For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

 

Revelation 8:1   When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for half an hour.

 

Since the sixth seal is the Second Coming, the seventh seal has to occur AFTER the Second Coming, in fact, it has to occur AFTER the numberless multitude assemble around the throne. The only place in the Bible where the Book of Life is opened up is found in Revelation 20:12. This verse occurs at the end of the 1,000 years:

 

Revelation 20:12   And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books [plural] were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books [of record].

 

At this point in time, everyone that has ever lived on Earth will be alive. Jesus will break open the seventh seal and the Book of Life will be opened. What is the result?

 

1.   Everyone will see that the Father has perfect foreknowledge. (Books of records, recorded in real time will prove to be identical to the Book of Life that was written and sealed up before any life was created.)

 

2.   Everyone will clearly see that the Father foreknew the rise and cost of sin, but He will not, under any circumstances, use His perfect foreknowledge to manipulate the power of choice given to His subjects. Everyone will behold and admit that the power of choice was theirs to exercise, as they deemed best.

 

3.   Everyone will realize that because we have been given the power of choice, we are responsible for our actions and our eternal destiny.

 

4.   Everyone will admit that the Father has been more than fair, more than generous and perfectly righteous in dealing with the sin problem. The whole universe will be overwhelmed with all that Jesus did to resolve the problem of sin once everyone sees and understands the big picture.

 

5.   Everyone will behold that Lucifer was nothing more than a self-seeking liar and he justly deserves the penalty that is about to be executed upon him.

 

6.   The wicked will acknowledge that Christ’s judgment of them is righteous and true.

 

7.   Every knee will bow admitting that there is no more excuse for sin. Never. Thus, the primary purposes of the seven seals will be served. Everyone will know who Jesus really is – throughout the rest of eternity!

 

Everyone will acknowledge that sin’s penalty: immediate death by execution is reasonable. Everyone will know that even though God knows the future, He will not under any circumstances interfere with our power of choice. And at last, everyone will know that God limits the use of His awesome powers to ensure that the laws of love will eternally govern the universe.

Because everyone will have the knowledge of good and evil, and because the seven seals have been broken, eternity is set for endless joy. All who exalt the laws of love and truth will live happily ever after.

 

Additional notes as time permits:

 

Please consider what happens at the end of the 1,000 years.

 

At the end of the 1,000 years, the Holy City will descend. Then, the wicked will be resurrected to face Jesus, their Creator and Judge, and they will stand silently before Almighty Jesus at the White Throne judgment. There are three things that Jesus wants the wicked to see and understand.

 

1.   Jesus will open the book of records and He will carefully take each sinner through his complete life history (through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Jesus does this with all sinners simultaneously). Jesus does this to show each sinner why He could not save them. With surgical thoroughness and unvarnished clarity, Jesus goes through the life history of each sinner to show the sinner his thoughts, his actions and his rebellion against the Holy Spirit and even the sinner’s own understanding of right and wrong. This review may take a month or possibly a year, I don’t know. What I do know is this review will be as thorough and vivid as the judgment process that has been taking place in Heaven since 1844. At the end of this incredible review covering every deed:

 

(a)   every condemned sinner will know why Jesus could not grant him eternal life

 

(b)   every condemned sinner will know that Jesus judges the sinner fairly, He even took into account the sinner’s knowledge of right and wrong and other factors that shape his perceptions of right and wrong

 

(c)  every sinner will admit by this presentation of the facts (which are beyond dispute) that as the Judge of all mankind, Jesus was fair, generous and impartial in making His eternal decision. 

 

But wait, there’s more!

 

2.   After Jesus completes this review and disclosure to the wicked who are still standing before His Great White Throne, Jesus will take the Book of Life and break open the seventh seal. When this occurs, the sky becomes a giant screen and everyone watch’s the panoramic movie that presents the drama of sin’s presence in the universe. The plan of salvation is told with scenes that faithfully reproduce the events. Everyone sees and understands Lucifer’s rebellion and God’s response, they see Lucifer in the tree and the fall of Adam and Eve, they see the behavior of the antediluvians and the flood in Noah’s day, they see the life of Jesus and His death on the cross and other dramatic elements that make up the story of sin’s presence because the Father wants everyone inside the Holy City  (the saints) and everyone outside the Holy City (those condemned) to see what He foreknew before any life was created.

In other words, the Father wrote this all down before any life was created and sealed up the book. The Father waited for this moment, after the wicked have been informed on their destiny, to prove that even though He foreknew everything that would come to pass, and everyone who would be saved and lost, He did nothing to prevent any of it. He freely gave everyone, angels included, the power of choice. The opening of this book (and the exposed contents which everyone just watched) proves that God Himself is obedient to the law of love that prevents Him from manipulating anyone or any outcome. Thus, every creature is fully responsible for his own choices.

 

At the end of this half hour movie, every knee bows before Jesus and the Father confessing there is no one like them in the entire universe. Their love and righteousness is beyond reproach or suspicion. Thus, God and His government and His handling of the sin problem are totally exonerated by ALL of His creatures.

 

3.   After this, Jesus will call the wicked to stand to receive their sentence. Every wicked person is sentenced to eternal death because of rebellion. Further, every wicked person has been sentenced according to his or her actions. During the thousand years, the saints determined the amount of restitution that the wicked must “pay back.” The wicked will suffer in the fires of hell in proportion to the amount of suffering they imposed on others. Thus, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, etc. will be repaid.

 

When each wicked person learns what his duration in hell will be, he or she trembles. There is no escape, no hope, and no grace. As the devil and his demons consider they’re lengthy suffering in the fires of hell, they rush through the vast crowd exciting condemned felons to stampede the Holy City. The need is obvious, “Quick!” Get inside to save yourself! As the throng rushes the City, fire falls from God and restitution or “pay back” begins. According to the golden rule, the wicked have to suffer as they did unto others. When the wicked are finally reduced to ashes, a new Heaven and a new Earth will be created. The drama of sin will close with a magnificent manifestation of perfect justice (restitution made for all wrongs) and perfect mercy (the sins of those submissive to God’s authority all paid for).

 

End Text:    

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