Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation, of what was revealed to him in prophetic visions illuminating the dwelling of God the Father and of the Son, of the present and of what is to become. First, an angelic voice in the likeness of Christ directed him to write down some messages and send them each to the seven churches that were located in Asia at that time; ie, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Per’gamum, Thyati’ra, Sardis, Philadelphia and to La-odice’a (Revelation 1:9-11).
Sunday word BY PROSPER TINGINI
Thereafter, behold, a door was opened for him in heaven and the same voice spoke to him: “Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this (Revelation 4:1).” Immediately, St John was transformed into a Spirit and began to see what was in the heavens. The glitter of God the Father was seated upon a throne that stood in the heavens. In the right hand of God was a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Only the spiritual being in the likeness of Christ was qualified to take and open the scroll, held in the hand of God. Each of the seven seals of the scroll had a message, each distinct from the other.
Revelation 6:1-17 then talks about what happened when each of the first six of the seven seals was opened. John writes: “Now I saw when the Lamb opened the first seal and I heard one of four living creatures (seated on each side of God’s throne) say, as with a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” I am inclined to think this represented God’s creation of man, giving him dominion of everything upon the earth. It’s also symbolic of Jesus Christ whom He sent to conquer Satan and sin.
Of the second seal, John writes: “When he opened the second seal, I heard the living creature say to me, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red, its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. This definitely sounds like God allowing evil to come upon the earth. Remember the story of the angel who rebelled against God in heavens and was thrown down to Earth? This represents the Satan who now roams our planet.
Of the third seal, St John writes: And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a balance in his hand; and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius (money) and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm oil and wine”. This to me represents the birth of greediness among men, and of corruption. Oil and wine should be preserved as holy, since oil is the medium for holy anointment and wine a representation of the blood of Jesus Christ, which symbolises the atonement of our sins.
After the fourth seal was opened, St John writes: And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine and with pestilence and by the beasts of the earth. This was or is the emissary that brings death and tribulations upon mankind, to bring all kinds of afflictions upon the earth either as a means to punish or to measure the faith of man. This is the Executioner.
St John proceeds to write: 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 witness they had borne; they cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before thou will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?” Then they were each given a white rob and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. This surely gives credence to the notion of a deferred judgment day. God has set a target in terms of the numbers of the saints, before He can pronounce a day judgement to bring sentence upon the deeds of mankind.
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Regards the opening of the sixth seal, St John writes: When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale; the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and generals and the rich and the strong, and every one, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of the wrath has come, and who can stand before it?.” This clearly reveals some signs that will occur prior to the day of judgement, and the wailing of people, some trying to run away or hide from God’s wrath. Thus the prophecy of the judgement day will now come to pass.
The opening of the seventh seal (Rev 8-11) has much significance than all the others. In St. John’s vision he saw seven angels, who always stand before God, being handed seven trumpets, which each of the seven angels was to blow a trumpet. Reading through the occurrences of what happened after each of the seven trumpets was blown, it is obvious to me that the Lord our God is showing St John what is to happen on His day of judgement, leading to what is referred to as the Armageddon. Firstly, the Almighty is to destroy most of His creations one by one, almost in the same sequence as He created them.
Narrating his prophetic vision on the opening of the seventh seal by the Lamp and of the seven angels each blowing one of seven trumpets, St Johns recounts: The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hails and fire, mixed with blood, which fell on the earth; and a third of the earth was burnt up, a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. This represents God’s destruction of the life on the land of the earth. Land constitutes just a third of all earth, the rest are the seas and the oceans.
St. John proceeds to write: The second blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the seas became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. After creation of the land, God created the seas and the sea creatures. In that order, after destroying life on land, God goes on to destroy some of the seas and the creatures in them. These are volcanic eruptions whose lava will destroy a third of life in the seas.
According to St John: “The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and the fountains of water. After creating the seas, God created the rivers and put the fish and other creatures in them. He follows a similar pattern in the destruction. Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun, moon and stars and their light darkened likewise. In almost the same order, destruction follows the sequence of God’s creations.
When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, St John observes: I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the keys to the bottomless pit, he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the clouds from the smoke of the shaft. The fallen star represents the devil, Satan, and the bottomless pits is what is beneath the earth. The smoke represents the smoke of the volcanic lava. It would mean Satan has excess to the blazing underneath interiors of the earth, reserved as a hell for the wrongdoers.”
After the sixth trumpet was sounded, St John heard a voice, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphra’tes”. Once they are removed, troops of angelic Calvary numbering into tens of thousands is then unleashed to destroy a third of mankind by fire, smoke and sulphur. Thus the judgement day has arrived.
The sounding of the seventh trumpet would herald the restoration of the Kingdom of God. St John writes of a voice declaring: “The Kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever”. Satan is thus annihilated, but he would rise up again but defeated at every occasion. Amen.
Prosper Tingini is the President of the Children of God Missionary Assembly. Registration in progress for those who wish to undertake Bible Studies or train as Ministers of Religion. Contact 0771 260 195 or email: [email protected]
