/ 1 And I saw when the Lamb opened Zechariah 6:1-5&7-8 And I turned, Matthew 24:4-13 ...Take heed "seven seals" / one of the seals, and I heard, as and lifted up mine eyes, and that no man deceive you. As we study the seemingly horrible / it were the noise of thunder, one looked, and, behold, there For many shall come in my name, destruction and death that results / of the four beasts saying, Come came four chariots out from saying , I am Christ; and shall as the seven seals are opened by / and see. between two mountains; and deceive many. the Lamb beginning the day of wrath, / 2 And I saw, and behold a white the mountains were mount- And ye shall hear of wars and we must continuously remind our- / horse: and he that sat on him had ains of brass. rumours of wars: see that ye be selves that the Lamb is in control / a bow; and a crown was given unto In the first chariot were not troubled: for all these and is performing his task of right- / him: and he went forth conquering, red horses; and in the second things must come to pass, but the eous judgment upon the willful and / and to conquer. chariot black horses; end is not yet. belligerent worshipers of the / 3 And when he had opened the And in the third chariot For nation shall rise against deceiver. / second seal, I heard the second white horses; and in the nation, and kingdom against king- / beast say, Come and see. fourth chariot grizzled and dom: and there shall be famines, "a white horse and he that sat on him" / 4 And there went out another bay horses, .... and pestilences, and earthquakes, The first horseman comes with the / horse that was red: and power was These are the four spirits of in divers places. purpose of conquering, but he is / given to him that sat thereon to the heavens, which go forth All these are the beginning of riding upon a white horse in the / take peace from the earth, and from standing before the Lord sorrows. manner of the later coming of the / that they should kill one another: of all the earth. ..... Then shall they deliver you up Redeemer. Could it be that this / and there was given unto him a ...So they walked to and to be afflicted, and shall kill appearance will fool many? For / great sword. fro through the earth. .... you: and ye shall be hated of all this reason many scholars see this / 5 And when he had opened the ...have quieted my spirit in nations for my name's sake. as being of the type of the anti- / third seal, I heard the third the north country. And then shall many be offended, christ which will come to conquer / beast say, Come and see. And I Psalms 45:5 Thine arrows are and shall betray one another, and but will first appear as a savior / beheld, and lo a black horse; and sharp in the heart of the shall hate one another. to many willing to follow a false / he that sat on him had a pair of King's enemies; whereby the And many false prophets shall hope. / balances in his hand. people fall under thee. rise, and shall deceive many. / 6 And I heard a voice in the II Chronicles 20:9 If, when evil And because iniquity shall "another horse that was red,... / midst of the four beasts say, A cometh upon us, as the sword, abound, the love of many shall and lo a black horse"... / measure of wheat for a penny, and judgment, or pestilence, or wax cold. and behold a pale horse: and his / three measures of barley for a famine, we stand before this But he that shall endure unto name that sat on him was Death," / penny; and see thou hurt not the house, and in thy presence the end, the same shall be saved. Many artists have painted very / oil and the wine. (for thy name is in this Mark 13:19-20 For in those days shall graphic demonstrations from their / 7 And when he had opened the house,) and cry unto thee in be affliction, such as was not imaginations of the terrible / fourth seal, I heard the voice of our affliction, then thou from the beginning of the creation appearances of the four horseman. / the fourth beast say, Come and see. wilt hear and help. which God created unto this time, All of which have control of many / 8 And I looked, and behold a pale Daniel 5:27 ... Thou art weighed neither shall be. horrors that this world knows well / horse: and his name that sat on him in the balances, and art And except that the Lord had from its past history. For this / was Death, and Hell followed with found wanting. shortened those days, no flesh reason many scholars have seen this / him. And power was given unto them Isaiah 65:12 Therefore will I should be saved: but for the to be symbolic of the many suffer- / over the fourth part of the ear number you to the sword, and ye elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, ings of the saints down through / to kill with sword, and with shall all bow down to the he hath shortened the days. the history of the church and they / hunger, and with death, and with slaughter: because when I called, Hebrews 2:14 ...him that had the can give approximate dates for the / the beasts of the earth. ye did not answer; when I spake, power of death, that is, the devil; reign of each horseman. Periods / 9 And when he had opened the ye did not hear; but did evil II Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore of expansion of the church, foll- / fifth seal, I saw under the altar before mine eyes, and did ashamed of the testimony of our owed by periods of great suffering, / the souls of them that were slain choose that wherein I delighted Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but followed by corruption and finally / for the word of God, and for the not. be thou partaker of the afflict- by martyrdom. Other scholars see / testimony which they held: ions of the gospel according to this reign of terror upon the earth / 10 And they cried with a loud Psalms 79:5-6 How long, Lord? the power of God; to be happening simultaneously in / voice, saying, How long, O Lord, Wilt thou be angry for ever? Luke 18:7-8 And shall not God avenge the last days with all the horsemen / holy and true, dost thou not judge Shall thy jealousy burn like his own elect which cry day and riding over the earth as a team. / and avenge our blood on them that fire? night unto him, though he bear The latter interpretation would / dwell on the earth? Pour out thy wrath upon the long with them? seem to be more in line with the / 11 And white robes were given unto heathen that have not known I tell you that he will avenge words of Jesus as recorded in / every one of them; and it was said thee, and upon the kingdoms them speedily, Nevertheless, when three of the Gospels (Matthew 24, / unto them, that they should rest that have not called upon the Son of man cometh, shall he Mark 13 and Luke 21). / yet for a little season, until thy name. find faith on the earth? / their fellow servants also and Psalms 44:21,24-26 Shall not God Romans 8:36 As it is written, For "the souls of them that were slain / their brethren, that should be search out? for he knoweth the thy sake we are killed all the for the word of God" / killed as they were, should be secrets of the heart. day long; we are accounted as Saints will be present on earth / fulfilled. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, sheep for the slaughter. at the time of the beginning of / 12 And I beheld when he had opened and forgettest our affliction Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the these sorrows and will be slain / the sixth seal, and, lo, there was and our oppression? tribulation of those days shall to join their brothers already / a great earthquake; and the sun For our soul is bowed down to the sun be darkened, and the moon at the altar and add their voice / became black as sackcloth of hair, the dust: our belly cleaveth shall not give her light, and the to those already slain who are / and the moon became as blood; unto the earth. stars shall fall from heaven, and urging the Lord to return to the / 13 And the stars of heaven fell Arise for our help, and redeem the powers of the heavens shall earth and put an end to the / unto the earth, even as a fig tree us for thy mercies sake. be shaken: suffering. The Lord must wait / casteth her untimely figs, when yet a "little season" until his / she is shaken of a mighty wind. purposes are fulfilled. / 14 And the heaven departed as a Joel 2:10-11 & 30-32 The earth / scroll when it is rolled together; shall quake before them; the "every mountain and island were moved / and every mountain and island was heavens shall tremble: the sun out of their places" / moved out of their places. and the moon shall be dark, The final days of the wrath will / 15 And the kings of the earth, and and the stars shall withdraw Luke 23:29-30 For, behold, the days see forces acting on the earth / the great men, and the rich men, their shining: are coming, in the which they that have not happened in the / and the chief captains, and the And the Lord shall utter his shall say, Blessed are the barren, recorded history of man. This / mighty men, and every bondman, and voice before his army: for his and the wombs that never bare, and earth has often trembled and / every free man, hid themselves in camp is very great: for he is the paps which never gave suck. shook in minor localized earth- / the dens and in the rocks of the strong that executeth his word: Then shall they begin to say to quakes that have often killed and / mountains; for the day of the Lord is the mountains, Fall on us; and to injured many. But never has there / 16 And said to the mountains and great and very terrible; and the hills, Cover us. been recorded happenings that were / rocks, Fall on us, and hide us who can abide it? Matthew 24:21-22 For then shall be so global in nature. So great that / from the face of him that sitteth And I will show wonders in great tribulation, such as was not all men will be pleading for their / on the throne, and from the wrath the heavens and in the earth, since the beginning of the world lives to be ended in order that / of the Lamb: blood, and fire, and pillars to this time, no, nor ever shall they will not have to face the / 17 For the great day of his wrath of smoke. be. judgment to come. It would seem / is come; and who shall be able to The sun shall be turned into And except those days should be to indicate that all learned men / stand? darkness, and the moon into shortened, there should no flesh will know that the day of wrath / blood, before the great and be saved: but for the elect's has come. Often in the past men / and terrible day of the Lord sake those days shall be short- have predicted and tried to / come. ened. attribute minor disturbances to the / Isaiah 34:4 And all the host of Ephesians 5:6-8 Let no man deceive wrath of God, but all of these / heavens shall be dissolved, you with vain words: for because minor disturbances are insignif- / and the heavens shall be rolled of these things cometh the wrath icant when compared to the final / together as a scroll: and all of God upon the children of days. Man has a tendency to label / their host shall fall down, as disobedience. minor tragedies as an "act of God" / the leaf falleth off from the Be not ye therefore partakers when in fact they are often the / vine, and as a falling fig with them. result of stubbornness and stupid- / from the fig tree. For ye were sometime darkness, ity of man. Man will continue to / Isaiah 2:10 Enter into the rock, but now are ye light in the Lord: build upon volcanos, flood plains, / and hide thee in the dust, for walk as children of light; and lands known for their trembl- / fear of the Lord, and for the ings! He will continue to think / glory of his majesty. that catastrophes happen to / Isaiah 2:19 And they shall go the other person only and will / into the holes of the rocks, continue to be unprepared for the / and into the caves of the earth, natural phenomena of this earth / for fear of the Lord, and for and even more so he will not be / the glory of his majesty, when prepared for the day of wrath / he ariseth to shake terribly when the purposes of the Lord / the earth. will require the final destruction / of those that love evil. / / 1 And after these things I saw Daniel 7:2 Daniel spake and said, "holding the four winds" / four angels standing on the four I saw in my vision by night, Many have been martyred for the / corners of the earth, holding the and, behold, the four winds of Word, but as Jesus had said, it / four winds of the earth, that the the heaven strove upon the becomes necessary for the Lord to / wind should not blow on the earth, great sea. intercede or "no flesh should be / nor the sea, nor on any tree. Jeremiah 51:1&3 Thus saith the Lord; saved". Once again the Lord / 2 And I saw another angel ascend- Behold I will raise up against John 6:27 Labour not for the meat intercedes on the behalf of the / ing from the east, having the seal Babylon, and against them that which perisheth, but for that nation of Israel as he did at the / of the living God: and he cried dwell in the midst of them that meat which endureth unto ever- passover in Egypt and a large / with a loud voice to the four rise up against me, a destroying lasting life, which the Son of number of the nation is marked for / angels, to whom it was given to wind; man give unto you: for him preservation for later witnessing. / hurt the earth and the sea, ...let the archer bend his bow, hath God the Father sealed. It is noted that at this time the / 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, Ezekiel 9:3-5 And the glory of II Corinthians 1:21-22 Now he which four horsemen are called "the four / neither the sea, nor the trees, the God of Israel was gone up stablisheth us with you in angels, to whom it was given to / till we have sealed the servants from the cherub, whereupon he Christ, and hath anointed us, is hurt the earth and the sea". They / of our God in their foreheads. was, to the threshold of the God; are not of this earth and they are / 4 And I heard the number of them house. And he called to the Who hath also sealed us, and under total control of the Lord. / which were sealed: and there were man clothed with linen, which given the earnest of the Spirit Are they angels of satan or angels / sealed a hundred and forty and had the writer's inkhorn by in our hearts. of the Lord? We are not told, but / four thousand of all the tribes of his side; Ephesians 4:30-32 And grieve not the we naturally assume they are angels / the children of Israel. And the Lord said unto him, Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye of satan or demons since with the / 5 Of the tribe of Judah were Go through the midst of the are sealed unto the day of last horseman " Hell followed with / sealed twelve thousand. Of the city, through the midst of redemption. him". Could this be satan himself? / tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve Jerusalem, and set a mark upon Let all bitterness, and wrath, He was an angel, the highest of / thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were the foreheads of the men that and anger, and clamour, and evil angels and even after his fall he / sealed twelve thousand. sigh and that cry for all the speaking, be put away from you, was allowed to stand before the / 6 Of the tribe of Asher were abominations that be done in with all malice: Lord. (ref. Job 1:6-7). / sealed twelve thousand. Of the the midst thereof. And be ye kind one to another, / tribe of Naphtali were sealed And to the others he said in tender-hearted, forgiving one "sealed the servants of our God" / twelve thousand. Of the tribe of mine hearing, Go ye after him another, even as God for Christ's Why are only ones of the tribes of / Manasseh were sealed twelve through the city, and smite: sake hath forgiven you. Israel sealed? Why a limited / thousand. let not your eye spare, neither number of 12,000 from each tribe? / 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were have ye pity. We are not told and this has lead / sealed twelve thousand. Of the Judges 21:10 And the congregation many scholars to take the tribes / tribe of Levi were sealed twelve sent thither twelve thousand and numbers to be symbolic in / thousand. Of the tribe of men of the valiantest,... nature only and to symbolically / Issachar were sealed twelve Numbers 31:5 So there were represent the church. If they / thousand. delivered out of the thousands symbolically represent the church, / 8 Of the tribe of Zebulun were of Israel, a thousand of then why are we shown a large / sealed twelve thousand. Of the every tribe, twelve thousand multitude "which no man can number" / tribe of Joseph were sealed armed for war. I Timothy 2:3-4 ...God our Savior; and of all "nations", "which came / twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joshua 13-19 (The tribes as given Who will have all men to be out of the great tribulation" / Benjamin were sealed twelve portions of the land) saved, and to come unto the immediately following the sealing? / thousand. Manasseh Gad Reuben knowledge of the truth. Does the "great multitude, which no / 9 After this I beheld, and, lo, Judah Ephraim Benjamin Romans 11:25-28 For I would not, man can number" indicate that the / a great multitude, which no man Simeon Zebulun Issachar brethren, that ye should be great tribulation will last over / could number, of all nations, and Asher Naphtali Dan ignorant of this mystery, lest many centuries as some scholars / kindreds, and people, and tongues, Levi ye should be wise in your own would indicate. More likely it / stood before the throne, and conceits, that blindness in part indicates that the great tribul- / before the Lamb, clothed with is happened to Israel, until the ation will only occur on this / white robes, and palms in their fulness of the Gentiles be come earth when the population is so / hands; in. great that even a remnant or a / 10 And cried with a loud voice, Psalms 3:8 Salvation belongeth And so all Israel shall be saved: small percentage of the earth's / saying, Salvation to our God unto the Lord: thy blessings as it is written, There shall come inhabitants would be a great / which sitteth upon the throne, is upon thy people. Selah out of Zion the Deliverer, and multitude. That time is rapidly / and unto the Lamb. Jeremiah 3:23 ...truly in the shall turn away ungodliness from approaching and the "wickedness of / 11 And all the angels stood round Lord our God is the salvation Jacob: man was great" (Genesis 6:5) / about the throne, and about the of Israel. For this is my covenant unto It appears that during the tribulat- / elders and the four beasts, and Psalms 72:17 His name shall them, when I shall take away ion there will be present a large / fell before the throne on their endure for ever: his name their sins. number of both Israelites and / faces, and worshipped God, shall continue as long as the As concerning the gospel, they gentiles who are "servants of our / 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and sun: and men shall be blessed are enemies for your sakes: but God". Also the listing of the / glory, and wisdom, and thanks- in him: all nations shall call as touching the election, they tribes of Israel is a great mystery. / giving, and honour, and power, and him blessed. are beloved for the fathers' Many times the tribes are listed and / might, be unto our God for ever Psalms 104:31 The glory of the sakes. mostly as 12 tribes when in fact / and ever. Amen. Lord shall endure for ever: Acts 5:14 And believers were the there actually existed 13. Usually / the Lord shall rejoice in more added to the Lord, multit- the tribe of Levi is accorded / his works. udes both of men and women; special treatment since they did not / Psalms 104:24 In wisdom hast thou I Corinthians 1:24 ...Christ the receive a territorial allocation and / made them all: the earth is Power of God, and the wisdom of were made priests. For this reason / full of thy riches. God. they usually are not listed among / Psalms 69:30 I will praise the II Timothy 4:18 And the Lord shall the twelve, instead Joseph's two / name of God with a song, and deliver me from every evil work, sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) are / will magnify him with thanks- and will preserve me unto his listed separately since they both / giving. heavenly kingdom: to whom be received an inheritance (Joseph / Psalms 66:2 Sing forth the honour glory for ever and ever. Amen as the favorite son received a / of his name: make his praise I Timothy 1:17 Now unto the King double inheritance). In this case / glorious. eternal, immortal, invisible, the Joseph (probably representative of / Psalms 66:7 He ruleth by his only wise God, be honour and Ephraim), Manasseh and Levi are / power for ever; glory for ever and ever. Amen. sealed and the tribe of Dan is / Psalms 145:6 And men shall speak not sealed. The tribe of Dan is / of the might of thy terrible recognized as the first to enter / acts: idolatry in the promised land, / could it be that their sins have / 13 And one of the elders answered, Isaiah 1:18 ..though your sins be I John 1:7&9 But if we walk in the been so pervasive that none can be / saying unto me, What are these as scarlet, they shall be as light, as he is the light, we sealed from this tribe? Another / which are arrayed in white robes? white as snow; though they have fellowship one with another, great mystery for the scholars to / and whence came they? be red like crimson, they and the blood of Jesus Christ his ponder. When we appear before the / 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou shall be as wool. Son cleanseth us from all sin. Lord there will be many mysteries / knowest. And he said to me, These Daniel 12:1 ..and there shall be If we confess our sins, he is which we hope will be explained to / are they which came out of great a time of trouble, such as faithful and just to forgive us us, or will they be of such minor / tribulation, and have washed their never was since there was a our sins, and to cleanse us from importance that no explanation is / robes, and made them white in the nation even to that same time: all unrighteousness. necessary? Today there are found / blood of the Lamb. and at that time thy people among the known Israelites, the / 15 Therefore are they before the shall be delivered, every one John 12:26 If any man serve me, let Jews, a very small number of / throne of God, and serve him day that shall be found written in him follow me; and where I am, believers in the messiahship of / and night in his temple: and he the book. there shall also my servant be: Jesus. In the last days there / that sitteth on the throne shall Isaiah 49:10 They shall not hunger if any man serve me, him will my will be a revival among the / dwell among them. nor thirst; neither shall the Father honour. Israelites who are scattered all / 16 They shall hunger no more, heat nor sun smite them: for John 7:37-38 ...If any man thirst, over this earth. Many who have / neither thirst any more; neither he that hath mercy on them let him come unto me, and drink. lost track of their true heritage / shall the sun light on them, nor shall lead them, even by the He that believeth on me, as the and no longer realize that they / any heat. springs of water shall he Scripture hath said, out of his are Israelites. In the last days / 17 For the Lamb which is in the guide them. belly shall flow rivers of living when the time of the Gentiles has / midst of the throne shall feed Ezekiel 34:23 And I will set up water. been fulfilled, their blindness / them, and shall lead them unto one shepherd over them, and he John 16:20&22 Verily, verily, I say to the truth will be removed and / living fountains of waters: and shall feed them, even my unto you, That ye shall weep and many of them will once again / God shall wipe away all tears servant David; he shall feed lament, but the world shall realize their heritage as servants / from their eyes. them, and he shall be their rejoice; and ye shall be sorrow- of the living God. / shepherd. ful, but your sorrow shall be / Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up turned into joy. / death in victory; and the Lord And ye now therefore have / God will wipe away tears from sorrow: but I will see you again, / off all faces; and the rebuke and your heart shall rejoice, / of his people shall be taken and your joy no man taketh from / away from off all the earth: you. / for the Lord hath spoken it. / / / Matters of Contention: Scholars have proposed many diverse identities "unto living fountains of waters": The servants of God who have suffered / for the four horsemen. Many have proposed that the rider on the through the sorrows of the tribulation finally receive their / white horse is Christ which seems inconsistent with the nature of reward as their Lord shall "dwell among them" and the pains of / the seals as a judgement and the nature of the other three horsemen. life are no longer to be suffered. It is to be noted that it / Others have proposed that the first two horsemen are the anti- is especially pointed out that these are from the great tribulation, / christ and his prophet, but they cannot provide an identity for the obviously to differentiate them from those who are saints of / third horseman. As mentioned the fourth horseman could be satan. the times before the tribulation. They are afforded a special / The proposed preferable interpretation is that they are four place before the throne. / heavenly spirits or angels whose nature is to destroy. They have / been released to bring destruction upon the earth, but they are "a great multitude": The 144,000 were on the earth, now the scene sudde- / allowed to destroy only as benefits the Lord's purposes. Possibly nly shifts to heaven where a great multitude of all nations are / all four are spirits of the nature of satan. seen, "they which came out of the great tribulation". Proposals of / the identity of this group include all christians who have under / Many scholars have proposed that the 144,000 are representative of gone the many tribulations of the church through out history. / the totality of the "true Israelites", the totality of the church Others see this group to be only those that have experienced the / who are sealed unto salvation. (Galatians 3:29 "And if ye be "great tribulation of the end times" and have been saved during this / Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the final time of great trial including the 144,000. That the 144,000 / promise.) Others propose that they are representative only of evangelists are seen before the tribulation and the multitude are / the christians that are alive at the beginning of the great trib- seen after the tribulation and are the saved due to the witness of / ulation. Then why the details of listing the tribes by name? the 144,000. But the 144,000 are seen again in Chapter 14 before / Paul in his inspired writings reminds us that the Lord has not the throne, how does this fit in if this chapter presents scenes / forgotten his promises to the tribes, Romans 9:27-28 " Isaiah also both before and after the tribulation. A preferred interpretation / crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of is that the preserving of the 144,000 Israelites through the time / Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For of sorrows has served as a witness to many gentiles. Resulting / he will finish the work,..." Others have proposed that these are in their receiving salvation during these times and causing them / Israelites ( or Jews only ) who will be evangelists fulfilling to have suffered persecution during these times, even to martyrdom / the prophecy that the word will preached to all the world, but in many cases. These scenes provide an enlightenment of the work of / there is no statement that they are evangelists. A preferred the Lord to add to the kingdom during the time of the suffering / interpretation is that these are actual descendants of Israel of during the opening of the six seals. During these time the Lord is / the many that are scattered through out the world and mostly have still working to ensure that the maximum number of all nations will / lost track of their heritage, but will be saved in the last days. receive salvation. II peter 3:9 " The Lord is not slack concerning / The Lord has not lost track of them and has not forgot his many his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to / promises to them that is their to claim if they become believers. us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should / come to repentance." / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /