Notes from Off the Top of my Head

The Seven Seals of the Book of Revelation

This has been the hardest article to write so far. Everything else has been simply a matter of writing down what needed to be written, but prophecy is a sensitive subject for many. How should I approach such a heartfelt subject? Like I always do... like a bull in a china shop!

Why should we study prophecy?

This is probably the most important question to ask: why study prophecy (apart from the fact that it is a book of the Bible...)? The best answer I ever saw was from a marvelous teacher by the name of J. Vernon McGee. I quote his notes on the Book of Daniel here:

"The study of prophecy should not lead to fanaticism or sensationalism. Rather, it should lead to a life of holiness and fear of the Lord.
'And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure [I John 3:3]'...

The study of prophecy should not be engaged in for the satisfaction of curiosity or to be the grist for polemic argumentation. Instead, it should inspire us to spiritual living and an earnest study of the Word of God...

The study of prophecy should not lead to idle speculation or wild theories. On the contrary, it produces a practical, profitable, plenary, and purposeful life...
'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. [II Timothy 3:16,17]' "

Lord willing, I'll meet these standards presented by Pastor McGee. The rest of these notes are my own, so let's get to them.

The First Seal - "The Conquerors"

"I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, 'Come!' I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest." Revelation 6:1,2 (NIV)

Up to this point in the book, the author of the book (God) has introduced us to the writer (John), provided an interesting description of our Savior which was used in the letters to the seven churches, and given us a view of heaven which is probably most closely related to Isaiah chapter 6. Now the focus is put back on Christ Jesus, standing in Heaven and He is provided a scroll with seven seals on it; Jesus is refered to as the Lamb at this point of the book of Revelation.

One quick observation: if Jesus is breaking the first seal on the scroll, is He also riding the white horse? I guess not... Back to our story, so Jesus breaks the first seal and the one of the four cherubim calls out "COME!" Dramatic. And in comes the first horseman riding a white horse. His mission: to go "... forth conquering and to conquer" (according to the King James Version and most other versions). Who is this mysterious rider?

As a side note, proponents of the pre-tribulational/pre-millenial will often state that the church has also been raptured from the earth at this point. Although I am a firm believer in the pre-tribulational/pre-millenial viewpoint, I do not believe that the rapture occurs at this point which, by default, also means that I don't believe that the events portrayed in the breaking of the seals are part of the tribulation; I believe that these events are the signs of the end of the age, indications that Christ will soon return. You can look at the notes I've spread throughout my outline of the Book of Revelation and my Notes on the Olivet Discourse. Enough side note, back to business...

I offer two possible answers: it could be the ten-nation confederation that will give rise to the Beast (of Chapter 13) or it could be the Beast him- (or her-) self. Where did the ten-nation come from? It came from the following places:

Wait a minute...PRE-tribulation AND the arrival of the Beast??

How can you say that the tribulation has not started when you have the arrival of the main characters of the tribulation on the scene already? My justification is found in the book of Second Thessalonians in chapter 2, verses 1 through 3:

"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction."
By this passage we understand that there are two prerequisites to the rapture and the beginning of the great tribulation, and they are the "rebellion" generally refered to as the great apostacy (which we rarely hear about in the church) and the revealing of the "man of sin...the son of perdition", commonly known as the anti-christ or the Beast.

One more item to point out, the passage in Revelation mentions that the rider went out as a conqueror bent on conquering. That brings to mind another scripture located in Daniel:

"He will be succeeded by a contemptable person who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue. Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed. After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully, and with only a few people he will rise to power." Daniel 11:21-23 (NIV)
Here we have a description of how I believe the anti-Christ will be revealed without being in the thick of things as in Chpater 13. He (or she) comes in as a temporary leader, someone "... who has not been given the honor of royalty"; that is, something like the situation when President Reagan was shot and we witnessed Alexander Haig giving a press conference saying that he was in command as acting president (apparently, the chain of command extends beyond the vice president). So imagine a country in turmoil where the leader of the country is dead or incapacitated and a smooth politician steps in as a "temporary" leader but takes actions designed to ensure his position. It could happen any second, if in fact it isn't happening right now; some junior politician right now working his way through the political system, grooming himself for a position of great leadership.

Still, I believe that the ten-nation confederation is the better candidate. Looking at one of the most descriptive passages in the book of Daniel, we see that the ten-nation confederation precedes the appearance of the anti-Christ, that it is from the midst of the confederation that the anti-christ comes to the fore. The anti-christ is the "little horn" of Daniel 7:8, 20-21, 24-26 (and possibly the "little horn...which waxed great" of Daniel chapter 8). This, in addition to the other scriptures, leads me to believe that the beast with seven heads and ten horns precedes the arrival of the anti-christ.

An Encouraging Summary

Isn't that exciting? Jesus could have that scroll in His hands right now breaking the seals, seconds away from calling the church to Heaven! PRAISE THE LORD GOD, MAJOR LEAGUE, BIG TIME! Tell everybody! As you read further, you'll see that there is a good possibility that you won't have much more time to evangelize so tell everyone you know now! (Perhaps I should offer this caveat: we have been waiting for roughly 2000 years for the return of Christ, it might be another day or two; so just tell everyone that they need to get saved today, you never know when someone's brakes are going to fail and wipe them out when they cross the street, they might choke to death on a ham sandwich a la "Mama" Cass Elliott, catch pneumonia and die a la Jim Henson, etc. Once they're saved, then you tell them how lucky they were, getting in under the wire...)

Do me a favor, will you? Send me a brief e-mail note and tell me what you think of this article. Would you like to see more? Should I put this on the Soapbox and offer you a shot at offering your comments?
Thanks a lot...your input is valuable to me.
Ken Siwek

Return to the Notes Page | Return to "Off the Top of My Head"
This page sponsored by Geocities! Get your own FREE HOMEPAGE!
1