Discussing the seven seals in Revelation chapters 6 and 7

1. THE
REVELATION
OF JESUS
CHRIST
Part III
Chapter 6 and 7

2. LEARNING TO PROPHESY
Marco Lafebre,
CTF Connect Group Leader

3. THE REVELATION
OF JESUS CHRIST
Part III

4. JOHN’S VISION
REVELATION CHAPTER 6, and 7

5. ALL SCRIPTURES
ARE TAKEN FROM
THE NEW KING
JAMES VERSION.
UNLESS SHOWN
DIFFERENTLY.

6. HOW JOHN SEES JESUS
REVELATION 1: 5-7
• John, the dearly beloved disciple of Jesus, the one that would lay his head upon the master
bosom, present to us a Profile of the Master.
• Jesus Christ is:
1. The faithful witness,
2. The firstborn from the dead,
3. The ruler over the kings of the earth.
4. Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
5. Who has made us kings and priests to His God and Father,
6. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7. He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.
Jesus own Profile presentation:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who
was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

7. THE JUDGEMENT OF THE
FOUR HORSEMEN
REVELATION CHAPTER 6
the beginning of sorrows

8. FIRST SEAL:
THE CONQUEROR
• 6 Now I saw when the Lamb opened
one of the seals; and I heard one of
the four living creatures saying with a
voice like thunder, “Come and
see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a
white horse. He who sat on it had a
bow; and a crown was given to him,
and he went out conquering and to
conquer.

9. THE CALL OF THE LION
• The first creature; the lion calls john to see someone with authority.
• The White horse is an imitation of Jesus’ horse.
• The bow represents strength, the victories attained.
• The crown symbolises given power and authority.
• He is alone; He comes at the beginning; He has no arrows.
• He represents the rule of kings and lords on earth, earthly rule, authority and
dominion. He is representing the antichrist.
• An ongoing tribulation ending up when Jesus comes.
• Matthew 24:7 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

10. • The rider of the white horse is mean to conquer without bloodshed but by means of
diplomacy and treatments.
• A fake peace will come on earth for a time.
• The idea of one government an one leader will take place.
• Israel will be part of the treaty only to realize that all is working against itself.
• White seems to be the colour of victory (white horse of the Persian Kings) like the
white horse ridden by the Roman conqueror in a triumphant procession.

11. SECOND SEAL:
CONFLICT ON EARTH
• 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.

12. THE CALL OF THE CALF
• The calf representing sacrifice, pointing out the perfect sacrifice of Christ, calls
John to see the rider who is going to cause great slaughter.
• Red horse, same color as the dragon of revelation 12:3. A fire horse.
• Authority is given to take peace of earth; helping the first rider to attain his goal.
• Apparently the firs rider even that will have succeed in some way, needs help from
the one riding in the red horse.
• This rider will be a cruel ruthless person that will powerfully influence people to kill
each other.
• People would be spying on each other, trust would disappear, fear will be rooted in
the hearts of people
• “people should kill one another.” A time of great distress and bloodshed as never
before. It will be so violent as any vestige of goodness in man will disappear.

13. • A great sword was given to him.
He is wielding the sword but it is sent by God.
• Jeremiah 25:15-17 Judgment on the Nations
• 15 For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My
hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. 16 And they will
drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
17 Then I took the cup from the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations drink, to
whom the LORD had sent me:

14. THIRD SEAL:
SCARCITY ON
EARTH
• 5 When He opened the third
seal, I heard the third living
creature say, “Come and see.”
So I looked, and behold, a
black horse, and he who sat on
it had a pair of scales in his
hand. 6 And I heard a voice in
the midst of the four living
creatures saying, “A quart of
wheat for a denarius, and three
quarts of barley for a denarius;
and do not harm the oil and
the wine.”

15. THE CALL OF THE MAN
• The third creature looked like a man, pointing Jesus the Son of Man.
• a black horse
Black is the color of evil. The color of clothing used in mourning.
• a pair of scales
Here the black speaks of judgment and famine, for the rider carries a pair of scales
(balances) used to weigh food and indicating its scarcity.
• The rider of this black horse, an spectral figure of hunger, carries in his hand a pair
of scales. Hunger is one of the fruits of war.

16. • He represents decline in commerce and the economic system.
• Problems such as corruption, poverty, debt, inflation, boom and bust,
unemployment, financial loss, etc.
• “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a
• This vision represents economic calamity. A merchant selling small amounts of grain
for a denarius (a day's wage).
• and do not harm the oil and the wine.”
• and withholding oil and wine from sale. Economic crisis is a another tribulation
common throughout human history, and will continue for the entire gospel
age until Jesus comes.

17. FOURTH SEAL:
WIDESPREAD
DEATH ON EARTH
• 7 When He opened the fourth seal, I
heard the voice of the fourth living
creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I
looked, and behold, a pale horse. And
the name of him who sat on it was
Death, and Hades followed with him.
And power was given to them over a
fourth of the earth, to kill with sword,
with hunger, with death, and by the
beasts of the earth.

18. THE CALL OF THE EAGLE
• The four rider represents death. Every human being is subject to death. People die
of disease, famine, war, accident, natural disaster, and if not something of that
sort, then old age.
• ashen colour of a face blanched by fear (pallid) and so the pale horse is a symbol
of death and of terror. His name was Death.
• Death is the name of this fourth rider (so personified) and there is with Death "his
inseparable comrade, Hades
• Hades is the abode of the dead, the keys of which Christ holds.
• Followed or kept step with death, whether on the same horse or on another horse
by his side or on foot John does not say.

19. • Over the fourth part of the earth. Wider authority (exousia) was given to this rider
than to the others, though what part of the earth is included in the fourth part is
indicated.
• To kill Death here seems to mean pestilence as the Hebrew does; the "black death"
for a plague.

20. FIFTH SEAL:
THE CRY OF THE
MARTYRS
• 9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw
under the altar the souls of those who
had been slain for the word of God and
for the testimony which they
held. 10 And they cried with a loud
voice, saying, “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
fellow servants and their brethren, who
would be killed as they were, was
completed.

21. THE FIFTH SEAL
• Opening of the fifth seal, the judgments associated with the four horsemen is over.
• The bloody persecutions of God’s servants come from beneath, not from above.
• The “beginning of sorrows” have taken place, and now we enter into the time of
tribulation characterized by martyrdom.
• The Great Tribulation is now upon the world, a time of unprecedented martyrdom
and anti-Semitism.
• Matthew 24:8-10
• 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to
tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s
sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one
another.

22. UNDER THE ALTAR
• When Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priesthood, the blood of the
bull was put on the horns of the altar of sacrifice, the remaining blood was
poured “beside the base of the altar” (Ex. 29:12; Lev. 8:15).
• This pattern was also followed for the sin offering Lev. 4:7.
• The blood of the martyred saints is considered as an “offering” before God as it
accumulates at the base of the altar during this time of intense persecution of all
who name the name of Christ (Mat. 24:9).
• They had been slain for their testimony. They have been sacrificed. Not sacrifices
of atonement, but of devotion.
• The fact that the martyrs are beneath the altar is consistent with the symbolism of
Lev. 4:7, for the priest poured the blood of the sacrifice at the bottom of the altar,
and the blood represented the life of the sacrifice (Lev. 17:11-14).
• So these martyrs will sacrifice their lives for God, and Heaven acknowledges this.

23. THE SOULS
• These martyrs have not yet attain a resurrection body which they will receive prior
to the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:4).
• In the same way that the “life of the flesh is in the blood” and the blood was
poured beneath the altar, the souls of the martyrs reside under the heavenly altar.
• Their slaying, makes them invisible to men in the natural, but they are living on as
souls. They are visible to heavenly eyes, or to the eyes of John in his supernatural
and prophetic exaltation.
• John tells us that he “saw” them, although they “had been slain;” and he heard
them speaking with loud voices, even that their material bodies and tongues had
been burnt to ashes.
• It is altogether a wrong interpretation of the Scriptures which represents the dead
in a state of non-existence, unconsciousness, or oblivion.

24. “THOSE WHO HAD BEEN SLAIN
FOR THE WORD OF GOD”
• When these saints were martyred? Some argue that they were
martyred prior to the opening of the fifth seal, during the preceding four
seals.
• The fact that John did not see believers being slain, but instead saw the
disembodied souls of saints who had been slain before he saw them, forces
the conclusion that when Christ breaks the fifth seal, it will not cause the
martyrdom of those saints . . . The martyred saints of the fifth seal will be
living and dying during the first four seals.
• These saints did not perish due to beasts, famine, pestilence, or war, but
were slain for the word of God . Their testimony was seen as a dangerous
and undesirable witness against the false religious system riding the beast

25. • The revelation of the fifth seal makes clear that in the future time of
tribulation it will be most difficult to declare one’s faith in the Lord Jesus. It
may very well be that the majority of those who trust Christ as Saviour in
that day will be put to death.
• “the testimony which they held”
Like the first martyr of the Church Stephen (Acts 7:59), and Antipas of the church
Pergamos (Rev. 2:13) they will hold a consistent testimony up to and beyond the
point of death.

27. SIXTH SEAL: COSMIC DISTURBANCES
• 12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a
great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and
the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the
earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty
wind. 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 And 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 and in the rocks 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?”

28. • There was a great earthquake. The symbol of political or moral agitation and
upheaval.
• The sun became black as sackcloth. The sun, moon, and stars are symbols of
earthly dignitaries, great lights in the political or religious heavens. In the dream of
Joseph, which so maddened his brethren, these terms are used in this meaning, as
well as by the ancient prophets.
• In the East it was common to liken the king or emperor to the sun, and the stars as
the symbols of princes or rulers.
• Daniel 8:10 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the
host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

29. • The blackness of the sun and the bloody color of the moon point out scenes of
mourning and bloodshed among rulers and princes. The falling of the stars would
indicate the downfall of those who had high places on the earth, or rather within the
Roman Empire.
• The heaven was removed as a scroll. The old religions, supposed to be of
heavenly origin, pass away.
• Every mountain and island were moved. Mountain and island are used to
denote earthly rulers and kingdoms, the latter referring more especially to European
provinces which are often called "the isles of the sea" in the Bible. From the period
of Diocletian, the great persecutor, the title, "Your Eminence," or, in other words,
"mountain," was bestowed upon princes. As a mountain stood above the plain, so
the rulers of the earth were exalted.

30. • And the kings of the earth, and the princes . . . Hid themselves. This
implies great terror among "them that dwell on the earth;" their belief that terrible
judgments were impending from God; that the wrath of the Lamb was manifested,
and their efforts to escape.
• All this foreshadow a violent, bloody, remarkable upheaval of systems, rulers,
governments, kingdoms, and the establishment of a new order upon the earth.

31. REVELATION
CHAPTER 7

32. REVELATION
7:1-2
• Holding the four winds.
• 7 After these things I saw four
angels standing at the four
corners of the earth, holding the
four winds of the earth, that the
wind should not blow on the
earth, on the sea, or on any
tree. 2 Then I saw another angel
ascending from the east, having
the seal of the living God. And he
cried with a loud voice to the
four angels to whom it was
granted to harm the earth and
the sea,

33. • These winds of judgment are ready to blow from all four corners of the earth, but
they are restrained till the servants of God are sealed.
• The blowing of the four winds together, means a dreadful and general destruction.
But the destruction is delayed.
• God uses the representation of the four winds to bring judgement.
• Jeremiah 49:36 36 Against Elam I will bring the four winds From the four
of heaven, And scatter them toward all those winds;
There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.

34. THE SEALED OF
ISRAEL
• 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 And 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:

35. • Seals are used to mark for each person his own possessions.
• This mark is the witness of the Holy Ghost, printed in the hearts of
believers.
• The Lord would not permit his people to be afflicted before they were
marked, so that they might be prepared against all conflicts.
• Those who are sealed by the Spirit, the seal must be on the forehead, plainly
to be seen alike by friends and foes, but not by the believer himself, except
as he looks steadfastly in the glass of God's word.

36. REVELATION
7:5-8
• of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of
the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
• 6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of
the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the
tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
•
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of
the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
•
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of
the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the
tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

37. • Judah is the ruling tribe, the aristocratic tribe. This is the tribe of King David and of
Jesus.
• Reuben was the first born.
• Usually the Bible omits the tribe of Levi [the priestly tribe] from the lists of tribes
because they had no inheritance of land.
• Issachar means strong ass. The ass was a beast of burden. Maybe this was the
collar tribe!
• This list does not include Ephraim but on the other hand, it does include Joseph.
Joseph may simply be another name for Ephraim.
• God does not include the tribe of Dan in this list.
• Dan committed treachery by initiating apostasy into Israel.
• However, God will not disinherit Dan during the Millennium (Ezekiel 48:1-2).

38. A MULTITUDE FROM THE GREAT TRIBULATION
• 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude
which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples,
and tongues, standing before the throne and before the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their
hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to
the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the
elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces
before the throne and worshiped God,

40. • 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are
these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
• 14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
• 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. And He who
sits on the throne will dwell among them. 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.”

41. • great multitude which no one could number
Here is a second group who will survive the time of God’s wrath, the faithful who
come out of the Great Tribulation. the majority of these probably die for their faith.
• This innumerable company of believers indicates an innumerable company of
people who come to faith in Christ during the time of the end.
• The Holy Spirit Himself will still be in the world and will have an active ministry.
While He will no longer be baptizing (for that is a special ministry for the Church
only), He will be performing some of His other ministries, such as regeneration,
filling, sealing, etc. In all this, the second purpose of the Tribulation will be
accomplished: that of bringing about a worldwide revival.

42. • Stood before the throne
The same throne introduced in chapter 4. This multitude is in heaven, not on
• And before the Lamb
The Lamb is still in heaven in the midst of opening the seven seals. clothed in
• White robes
Like the martyrs of the fifth seal, they will be clothed in white. Like those martyrs,
they have not yet been resurrected.
• The waving of palm branches became a symbol of national liberation and blessing
and attended the First Coming of the King to Jerusalem. Here, they wave palm
branches in anticipation of his return to Jerusalem in the events ahead.

43. Have you been wondering:
Where along these happenings does the
“Church Rapture” takes place?
If we have some time at the end we’ll touch this topic,
or maybe we can focussed on it as a new seminar. But for the moment take
following points in consideration.

44. • Somewhere in between the end of Revelation Chapter 3 and the beginning of
Revelation chapter 4 takes place the rapture of the church.
• Keep in mind that the day of the Lord shall suddenly come.
• 1 Thessalonians 5, The Day of the Lord
• 5 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I
should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the
so comes as a thief in the night. 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. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this
should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day.
are not of the night nor of darkness.

45. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RAPTURE AND THE 2ND
COMING
THE RAPTURE THE 2ND COMIG
Christ comes for His own
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Christ return with His own
Revelation 19:14
Believers taken to the Father’s House
John 14:3
Believers come to Earth
Matthew 24:30
Jesus seen only by believers
1 Corinthians 15:52; 19:11-16
Every eye will see Him
Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:30
No reference to Satan. Satan bound, Revelation 20:1-3
Earth not judged Earth judged
Revelation 20:4-5
A Mystery
1 Corinthians 15:51
Foretold in Old Testament
Daniel 12:1-3; Zechariah 12:10; 14:4

46. • The Church is Missing From The Tribulation - Revelation 4-19
• In the first three chapters of Revelation, there are constant references to the
and to the Seven Churches.
• However, starting at chapter 4, verse 1, where John is told to "come up here," the
church is obviously absent throughout the Tribulation period.
• Our return with Christ
• To understand the events which take place after the Rapture, we need to keep in
mind that there is a sequence of events taking place which occurs "in heaven" and
there is a parallel sequence of events occurring "on earth." In the book of
note is made of those who "dwell in heaven" and those who dwell on earth"
the tribulation period.

47. • The group "dwelling in heaven" is the church. We who comprise the church
will have been given our resurrection bodies and will walk in the company of the
Lamb and His holy angels.
• Those who are (during this same time period) dwelling on earth.
• Include non-believers,
• God's 144,000 Jewish evangelists, and likewise their converts, who are the saints of
the Tribulation period.
• Many of these saints will become martyrs during the tribulation period, but they
not be given their resurrection bodies until the tribulation ends. (Revelation 20:4)

48. • My prayer is that our Lord may open our eyes to see his beauty along the Book of
Revelation.
• Revelation 7:11
• 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and
four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne
and worshiped God,
• 12 saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and
ever. Amen.”

49. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Rev/
• http://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/revelation/7.htm

50. NEXT WEEK:
REVELATION
CHAPTER 8, 9 and 10