The world tree connects the seven worlds, one to another. In our
world, there was once a hero, who desired to destroy a magical golden
bird. The bird flew higher, and the man climbed the world tree, up and
up. Just when he reached the bird, the bird turned into a great cat,
and the hero was unable to catch him. So higher they went, until the
hero was once more about to lay hands on the great cat, but the cat
turned into a deer, and the deer climbed higher still. The hero
pursued, and just as he was about to lay hands on the deer, the deer
turned into a beautiful maiden. The hero instantly stopped, and was so
overcome with love, that he asked her to marry him.
"I will marry you," she said, "but you must help me, first."
"I will do whatever you ask of me," was his reply.
"My
world is too hot in the day, and too cold in the evening. This is
because there are two suns, and two moons. You must destroy both one
sun and one moon, and then I will marry you."
So the
hero climbed the tree, but as he neared the suns, it became too hot. So
he waited until nightfall, and climbed higher still, but it grew too
cold. The hero knew that he could not do this task on his own, so he
climbed down the tree and sought out aid from the sea.
He
told the sea about his task, and how he was unable to win the maiden's
hand unless he could accomplish this difficult feat. The sea bade him
to climb into a cauldron, and the hero did so. The sea heated the
cauldron until it boiled inside, and the man was consumed by the heat,
melted into many different parts. The sea then took those parts and
forged a new man, a man made of iron. In his hand was an iron bow, with
iron arrows.
The iron man climbed the tree,
unaffected by the heat and cold. When he reached the top, he shot his
arrow at the second sun, and it quickly extinguished. When night fell,
he shot another arrow at the second moon, and it, too, was
extinguished. The iron man climbed down the tree, and returned to our
world, where it was now neither too hot nor too cold. He found his
maiden, who married him.
-From Siberian folklore
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Friday, February 12, 2016
Barbecue Sauce
With spring rapidly approaching, I thought it might be fun to have a barbecue rub/sauce recipe. The beauty of recipes like this is that you can adjust to taste: if you like heat, up the cayenne; if you can't stand spicy, cut it altogether.
For the rub, combine:
1 T smoked paprika
2 t garlic powder
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t cayenne pepper
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 year
For the sauce, combine:
Dry rub (above)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c ketchup
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
Apply generously to your favorite meat
For the rub, combine:
1 T smoked paprika
2 t garlic powder
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t cayenne pepper
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 year
For the sauce, combine:
Dry rub (above)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c ketchup
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
Apply generously to your favorite meat
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
It's the End of the World As We Know It: The Seven Seals, Part 1
"The Judgments": twenty-one of some of the most puzzling, often gruesome, events that the Bible reveals. Originally, I wasn't going to address any of them. Then I decided I should address the first four seal judgments, popularly called "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Upon further reflection, though, I think we should discuss all of them, at least to some degree, because while many of them are straightforward (the silence in heaven, for example), some are not so straightforward (see 9:1-6). What I really want to talk about, however, is context, because these judgments - particularly the "Four Horsemen" - are so often taken out of context and misinterpreted, that most people who study this are fed inaccurate information and never realize it. Most often, the people feeding the inaccurate information don't even realize it. There are certain interpretations that are so ingrained in our church culture, that most of us don't realize these ideas are - sometimes - completely unbiblical.
So here's what I would like to address broadly, before we even talk about the first seven "judgments": reading Revelation. Most of us read Revelation in little chunks. We read Chapter 1, for example. Then we move on to the church at Ephesus in Chapter 2 on the next day. Then we read about Smyrna the next day, and so on. What happens is that we read passages that are intimately connected to one another, but we read them weeks, even months apart. It's hard to put Chapter 13 in context of Chapter 5 when it's been fourteen days since you read Chapter 5.
Or, worse yet, we're studying it in Sunday School, and it's months between two related passages. And, truthfully, the person preparing the lesson for Sunday School each week is most likely doing the same thing, reading a couple verses one week, doing a lesson on it, and then reading the next couple of verses for the next lesson. The basic idea here is that everyone, from teachers to students, is, by and large, taking Revelation out of context. This is what often happens with the Seal Judgments.
Now, I'm not trying to dictate how you read the Scriptures, and what I'm giving you is only advice, but I strongly recommend doing five things before you ever start studying Revelation verse by verse. The first is to read the book, in its entirety, in one sitting. Read it start to finish, 1:1 - 22:21. The next day, read Daniel in its entirety. The third day, read Zechariah in its entirety. The fourth day, read Matthew 24 and 25. The fifth day, read Luke 21. The sixth day, read I Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:11. Then, lastly, read Revelation again. Truthfully, carve out the time to do this, particularly if you're committed to studying this topic, because it will give you a context for everything you're going to study in Revelation. So here's the basic deal, after one week you will have: read Daniel, read Zechariah, read Matthew 24 and 25, read Luke 21, read I Thessalonians 4:12 - 5:11, and read Revelation twice. I know it's a lot of work, but just as we tend to take passages in Revelation out of context of the book, we also take Revelation out of context of the Bible. The Bible's a big book - it's easy to take things out of context, but I, personally, feel that this preparation will aide you in your studies, so I highly recommend it.
At this point, it's up to you how much you study each day. Maybe you spend one day on Chapter 1, maybe an entire week. Whatever - it's up to you. Here's the key: at the end of Chapter 1, read Revelation in its entirety again, putting the first chapter in context of the entire book, because Revelation was not written in chapters, but as one long letter. Then, the next day, read Daniel again. Then Zechariah on the next day. Then Matthew 24 and 25 on the next day, and so on. Then read Revelation, in its entirety, again. Then you can go back to studying Revelation 2. Then, do the same thing with Chapters 3, 4, and so on. The important thing is that, at intervals during your study, you are putting each chapter within the proper context of the book, and you're putting Revelation within the proper context of Scripture as a whole.
The only other suggestion I would have is that you have a really good study Bible or concordance - one with cross references and whatnot - because Luke, Thessalonians, Matthew, Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation are not the only places in the Scriptures that deal with eschatology. Paul addresses it in other places, Peter addresses it, Joel and Isaiah address it, Ezekiel addresses it, Jesus addresses it in Luke . . . I could go on. There are even what appears to be scattered references throughout the Books of Moses. so cross references are useful. But the bottom line is context,and because it's impossible to literally study the entire Bible in one sitting, we have to break it up in sections. This is, to me at least, the most useful way of keeping everything in context.
Okay, let's get on with the Seal Judgments. The seals themselves appear in Chapter 6, but I want to back up to Chapter 5 first (context!):
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne [see Revelation 4] a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was worthy to open the scroll or even look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding seven bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (5:1-8).
Before we go further, I want to stop and take a look at an interesting observation I came across on (I know! I know!) the internet. Someone observed that John can't find anyone at all, not even in heaven, worthy to open the scroll. Suddenly, when John is about as depressed as he could possible get, an angel calls his attention to the Lamb, a Lamb who was not visible up until that moment. Get that? Jesus isn't in Heaven while John is looking for someone to open the scroll, but then, suddenly He is, in His slain glory. Not only is He in heaven, though, he's in the middle of the throne, the throne that John studied and described, in detail, in Chapter 4. So John observes the throne of God, sans Lamb, can't find anyone anywhere who can open the scroll in God's hand, but then, suddenly, the sacrificed Lamb appears, and He is deemed worthy because "[He was] slain, and with [His] blood [He] purchased men for God." The comment I came across was that John was observing events in Heaven that happened immediately after Jesus' crucifixion. In other words, John is taken to heaven, but he's taken to a point in the past, the moment when our crucified Lord ascended into heaven, at which point - get this - at which point He opens the first seal: "I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals" (Revelation 6:1).
Now, first, this is an excellent reminder that the Book of Revelation means, literally, a Revelation. It does not, in all circumstances, deal with future events. We forget that, I think, and try to "figure out" what each part of the book means in order to identify it when it happens. But as we saw some time ago, part of Revelation deals with the birth of Christ, so events in Revelation are clearly not always future events.
This also means that, according to this interpretation at least, the first seal could already have been opened, and it was opened after Jesus' crucifixion (or, possibly, Ascension). I find this interesting, although it's not without problems, most of which we'll explore in more detail later. But it is interesting, nonetheless.
Regardless of when the scroll is first opened, the breaking of the seals releases events on earth. The first four depict horses and riders that are, enigmatically, straightforward, and yet somewhat unclear:
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures [see 4:6-8] 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.
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth (Revelation 6:1-8).
Now, popular interpretation identifies the White Rider as the pre-Satanically-empowered Antichrist. The symbols of this rider - the crown, the bow without arrows, the color white - have all been discussed elsewhere ad nauseum. However, since there may be some of you reading this who are unfamiliar with these symbols, I'll discuss them (very) briefly. White almost always stands for spiritual purity in the Scriptures. Even throughout Revelation, white stands for spiritual purity:
"'Come now, let us settle this matter,' says the LORD. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow'" (Isaiah 1:18).
"He who overcomes will . . . be dressed in white" (Revelation 3:5)
"Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer" (6:11).
"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True" (19:11).
So why is this "judgment," as it were, one of spiritual purity? The key is in the crown, bow, and the fact that the rider is bent on conquest. Much like the lamb/dragon in Revelation 13, this is a spiritual conquest, but is it pure? The crown most likely represents an authority, the bow most likely represents might and strength, and the lack of arrows most likely represents a peaceful conquest. Now, some will contend that this is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a revival that will sweep the globe.
That's fine, but I'm not sure it's true. Nor am I certain that it represents the Antichrist, for one main reason: Revelation never connects the two, not once. If you've read through Revelation in one sitting, you may have noticed that fact. If not, the next time you read through Revelation, pay attention: not once are we told that the First Seal is the same person as the Beast. In fact, I'm not even sure the First Seal represents a man, and here's the reason: none of the other horses represent people.
The second is War, obviously, as the rider is "given power to take peace from earth and to make men slay each other." The third is famine, affecting large numbers of people as "daily bread" becomes almost impossible to buy. A quart of wheat is, roughly, enough for one person in that time period, so a man would have to work for an entire day just to feed himself for that day. There is a possibility that this refers, not to famine, but to inflation, but the fact that oil and wine - crops whose roots grow deep enough to avoid problems during a drought - are untouched doesn't lend itself to that interpretation. The fourth is fairly straightforward: people die, and Hell follows death.
Taking all of that into consideration - that the fourth horse isn't a person, the third horse isn't a person, and the second horse isn't a person - it seems unlikely that the white horse would represent a person. But if not a person, as popular interpretations assert, what, then, could the First Seal represent?
Jesus says some things in Luke 21 that I believe help interpret this passage. Before we get to that, let's see seals five and six:
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
I watched as He opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place (Revelation 6:9-14).
We're told two things within the Fifth Seal: the first, is that the martyrdom of the Saints will continue. This is currently happening. But we're also told that the martyrdom won't just continue, it will continue until a certain number of believers have died. There is, in other words, a set time for this martyrdom to happen. I don't know when that ends, of course, but I do know that martyrdom of Christians has been going on in parts of the world, almost continually, for two-thousand years. We tend to forget this these days, but even the Crusades were largely a defensive attack against the martyrdom of Christians in various parts of the Catholic Empire (I'm not commenting on whether the Crusades were good or bad, just on the fact that even when Christianity was "aggressive" to a fault, there was still martyrdom of Christians). Today, in various Middle Eastern countries, Christians are being martyred. In places in China, India, and N. Korea, Christians are being imprisoned and executed simply for being Christians. In parts of Africa, same thing. Martyrdom is taking place, even today. To say, then, that the Fifth Seal will happen in the future, is possible, but not necessarily true, because the Fifth Seal could have already been opened.
So how does all of this help us to interpret the White Horse? Let's check out Luke 21 (don't worry, we'll get back to the Sixth Seal):
Some of His disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."
"Teacher," they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"
He replied, "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am he,' and 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away."
Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places; and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
"But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of My name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your minds not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of Me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.
"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the seas. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming to the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:5-28).
What is Jesus saying, here? In verses 8-11, He first tells them about wars, plagues, and whatnot (the part most Christians quote whenever something bad happens in the news). "But before all this," He says, "they will lay hands on you and persecute you" (12). So, first, comes the persecution of the disciples.
This has already happened. All of them were martyred for their faith, with the exception of John, who was exiled. So, Jesus says, first there will come persecution of the early Church.
At the same time, Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies, and its desolation will come (20). This already happened, too. The soon-to-be-Emperor Titus surrounded Jerusalem with his armies, destroying the city and its temple in 70 A.D. (see Luke 21:6). Notice that all of this comes before the events of verses 8-11. Before. So, sometime after this, there will, according to Jesus, be four "signs" to look for:
1) Spiritual deception.
Look at verse 8: "He replied, 'Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, "I am He," and "The time is near." Do not follow them.'"
2) War.
"'When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away'" (9).
3) Famine, pestilence, and death.
"'There will be . . . famines and pestilences in various places'" (11).
4) Earthquakes and astronomical signs.
"There will be great earthquakes . . . and fearful events and great signs from heaven'" (11).
Notice anything . . . interesting? After 70 A.D., but "before the time of the end," there will be astronomical signs and earthquakes, preceded by famine and pestilence, preceded by war, and, preceding all of this, a spiritual deception.
Now, let's go back to Revelation 6. The sixth seal was, what? A great earthquake, the sun turning to the color of sackcloth, and the moon turning the color of blood. The fourth seal? Death by "famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8). The third seal? Famine. The second seal? War. Notice the pattern? This would mean, then, that the First Seal, the Rider on the White Horse, isn't a person, but a great deal of spiritual deception that spreads throughout the world. Conquers it, in fact, and it does so with power and authority. I believe that the events of Revelation 6 - the first six seals - outline and give detail to the passage in Luke 21, a passage in which Jesus clearly tells us that these things happen before the time of the end. In fact, Jesus connects them to the martyrdom of the apostles and the destruction of the temple.
This places the seals, not at some point in our future, but partially in the past, as well as right now, in the present. Remember, the Scriptures never once connect the Beast with the First Seal. If the First Seal represents a single person, it's the only seal that does - the rest deal with broad topics and events, but not a particular individual. This is inline with the idea that I stated earlier, that Jesus opened the First Seal fairly soon after His crucifixion/resurrection. This means that for those who are waiting to see "the Antichrist" show up on the scene to make a covenant with Israel and know that the First Seal has officially been opened, you may be looking for the wrong thing.
Notice I said, may. Let's look at some of the issues with this idea. First, the assumption that timing in Heaven is the same as timing on earth. In other words, if Jesus opened the First Seal immediately after His crucifixion, does that mean the subsequent earthly events began immediately after His crucifixion? Not necessarily. Maybe it was, maybe it was a year later, maybe it was half a century later, maybe - just maybe - Jesus opened the Seal, but we haven't seen the consequences yet. We know that God's timing is not our timing, and that God's sense of timing is absolutely enormous compared to ours. He promised Abraham, sometime around 1900 B.C., that Abraham's descendants would possess "the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites" (Gen. 15:19-21). This took anywhere from 500 to 1,000 years to be fulfilled. God's timing isn't our timing.
Secondly, believing that the Seal was opened immediately after Jesus' crucifixion is also, technically speaking, still an assumption. I think the Scriptural argument makes sense, but John does not reveal that he was witnessing events in heaven that had taken place in the past. He just doesn't, and reasonable assumptions are still assumptions.
Thirdly, can we say, with any clarity, where we are on the . . . let's call it the Seal Spectrum? IF the First Seal was opened, and IF we have seen the consequences already (a spiritual deception that causes people to believe they are in touch with God, when they are not), has the Second Seal also been opened? This goes back to the timing issue above: how long between seals? Certainly, the world has seen wars - almost continuously - for the last 1,500 years. Certainly the threat of war is increasing, even today. We may be on the verge of World War III, in fact, something only time will tell us. So, if the Second Seal is, as Jesus puts it, a time "when you hear of wars and revolutions," and a time when "nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom," then we could very well be in the midst of it, maybe have been for centuries.
Famines? Plagues? Lots of those now, too. It's difficult to say - and I'm not sure we can with any real confidence - whether or not they've been happening for a while, whether they've recently started, or whether or not they have yet to start. It's plausible that the Seals were opened some time ago, and we are in the midst of them now, but plausible and definite are two entirely separate things.
Lastly, the text of Revelation itself seems to indicate more of a sweeping event, rather than isolated and continuous instances. The Black Horse, for example, appears to be a massive, sweeping, worldwide famine, not a famine that hits various nations at various times over the course of several centuries. But then again, in Luke 21, that's how Jesus defines it: "There will be . . . famines and pestilences in various places" (21:11).
Here's what I'm trying to get to here: I actually am leaning towards the interpretation that:
1) Jesus opened the Seals immediately after His crucifixion,
2) the first five seals, at least, have been on-going for centuries (the Sixth Seal doesn't appear to have happened yet, though the increase in earthquakes may be leading to it)
3) They do not represent judgments regarding the end, but are, rather, events leading up to God's judgements, which appear to start with the trumpets (Revelation 8:1 - 11:19).
However, while I lean towards it, I also recognize that it is based on a few assumptions. But, in light of Jesus' words in Luke, and in light of everything we see going on, both in Revelation 4 - 6, and in the world, I feel comfortable with this interpretation, so long as we keep one truth in mind, that all of this is about the fact that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised Him from the dead.
Remember, this is not about predicting or figuring things out, but watching events match up and being able to point to the Scriptures and say, "See, what Jesus said is true, therefore we can trust Him." If we can trust what Jesus said 2,000 years ago, then we can trust that He is Lord and Savior. This is not to be an obsession with prophecy, but a proclamation of the Gospel, because Jesus does not reveal these things to us in order for us to obsess about events. He reveals - and this is true of all of Scripture - He reveals His character, His actions, and His motivations in order for us to acknowledge that He is the Alpha and Omega, the He is God Almighty, that He is Creator of the heavens and the earth. God reveals His names in the Old Testament, names which find their fulfillment in Jesus.
God took the open rebellion of man, and made a promise - a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
God took a pagan and made him a promise - a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
God took a nation, and made them a promise - a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
And Jesus made proclamations that have come true - fulfilling His own claim to be God Almighty.
His disciples made proclamations about His resurrection - fulfilling His own claim to be God Almighty. Every promise, every declaration in the Bible, past present and future, point to Jesus.
So when Paul says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9), we can trust that, because we can trust that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.
So you can continue to trust in yourself, someone who is selfish and - at best - selfishly-philanthropic, but can you really claim to have fulfilled every promise made by you and about you? You can trust in any of the other myriads of religions out there, religions that fail in so many of their very basic tenants. Or you can trust in Jesus, who has kept many of His promises, and is now fulfilling many of the as-yet unfulfilled ones.
If I could make you trust Him, I would. That is how certain I am of His Lordship. But, alas, I cannot; all I can do is appeal to you to trust in the grace of Jesus Christ. He loves you, even though you don't deserve it, and you can either rejoice at His return, or you can mourn with the nations (Matthew 24:30).
So here's what I would like to address broadly, before we even talk about the first seven "judgments": reading Revelation. Most of us read Revelation in little chunks. We read Chapter 1, for example. Then we move on to the church at Ephesus in Chapter 2 on the next day. Then we read about Smyrna the next day, and so on. What happens is that we read passages that are intimately connected to one another, but we read them weeks, even months apart. It's hard to put Chapter 13 in context of Chapter 5 when it's been fourteen days since you read Chapter 5.
Or, worse yet, we're studying it in Sunday School, and it's months between two related passages. And, truthfully, the person preparing the lesson for Sunday School each week is most likely doing the same thing, reading a couple verses one week, doing a lesson on it, and then reading the next couple of verses for the next lesson. The basic idea here is that everyone, from teachers to students, is, by and large, taking Revelation out of context. This is what often happens with the Seal Judgments.
Now, I'm not trying to dictate how you read the Scriptures, and what I'm giving you is only advice, but I strongly recommend doing five things before you ever start studying Revelation verse by verse. The first is to read the book, in its entirety, in one sitting. Read it start to finish, 1:1 - 22:21. The next day, read Daniel in its entirety. The third day, read Zechariah in its entirety. The fourth day, read Matthew 24 and 25. The fifth day, read Luke 21. The sixth day, read I Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:11. Then, lastly, read Revelation again. Truthfully, carve out the time to do this, particularly if you're committed to studying this topic, because it will give you a context for everything you're going to study in Revelation. So here's the basic deal, after one week you will have: read Daniel, read Zechariah, read Matthew 24 and 25, read Luke 21, read I Thessalonians 4:12 - 5:11, and read Revelation twice. I know it's a lot of work, but just as we tend to take passages in Revelation out of context of the book, we also take Revelation out of context of the Bible. The Bible's a big book - it's easy to take things out of context, but I, personally, feel that this preparation will aide you in your studies, so I highly recommend it.
At this point, it's up to you how much you study each day. Maybe you spend one day on Chapter 1, maybe an entire week. Whatever - it's up to you. Here's the key: at the end of Chapter 1, read Revelation in its entirety again, putting the first chapter in context of the entire book, because Revelation was not written in chapters, but as one long letter. Then, the next day, read Daniel again. Then Zechariah on the next day. Then Matthew 24 and 25 on the next day, and so on. Then read Revelation, in its entirety, again. Then you can go back to studying Revelation 2. Then, do the same thing with Chapters 3, 4, and so on. The important thing is that, at intervals during your study, you are putting each chapter within the proper context of the book, and you're putting Revelation within the proper context of Scripture as a whole.
The only other suggestion I would have is that you have a really good study Bible or concordance - one with cross references and whatnot - because Luke, Thessalonians, Matthew, Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation are not the only places in the Scriptures that deal with eschatology. Paul addresses it in other places, Peter addresses it, Joel and Isaiah address it, Ezekiel addresses it, Jesus addresses it in Luke . . . I could go on. There are even what appears to be scattered references throughout the Books of Moses. so cross references are useful. But the bottom line is context,and because it's impossible to literally study the entire Bible in one sitting, we have to break it up in sections. This is, to me at least, the most useful way of keeping everything in context.
Okay, let's get on with the Seal Judgments. The seals themselves appear in Chapter 6, but I want to back up to Chapter 5 first (context!):
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne [see Revelation 4] a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was worthy to open the scroll or even look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding seven bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (5:1-8).
Before we go further, I want to stop and take a look at an interesting observation I came across on (I know! I know!) the internet. Someone observed that John can't find anyone at all, not even in heaven, worthy to open the scroll. Suddenly, when John is about as depressed as he could possible get, an angel calls his attention to the Lamb, a Lamb who was not visible up until that moment. Get that? Jesus isn't in Heaven while John is looking for someone to open the scroll, but then, suddenly He is, in His slain glory. Not only is He in heaven, though, he's in the middle of the throne, the throne that John studied and described, in detail, in Chapter 4. So John observes the throne of God, sans Lamb, can't find anyone anywhere who can open the scroll in God's hand, but then, suddenly, the sacrificed Lamb appears, and He is deemed worthy because "[He was] slain, and with [His] blood [He] purchased men for God." The comment I came across was that John was observing events in Heaven that happened immediately after Jesus' crucifixion. In other words, John is taken to heaven, but he's taken to a point in the past, the moment when our crucified Lord ascended into heaven, at which point - get this - at which point He opens the first seal: "I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals" (Revelation 6:1).
Now, first, this is an excellent reminder that the Book of Revelation means, literally, a Revelation. It does not, in all circumstances, deal with future events. We forget that, I think, and try to "figure out" what each part of the book means in order to identify it when it happens. But as we saw some time ago, part of Revelation deals with the birth of Christ, so events in Revelation are clearly not always future events.
This also means that, according to this interpretation at least, the first seal could already have been opened, and it was opened after Jesus' crucifixion (or, possibly, Ascension). I find this interesting, although it's not without problems, most of which we'll explore in more detail later. But it is interesting, nonetheless.
Regardless of when the scroll is first opened, the breaking of the seals releases events on earth. The first four depict horses and riders that are, enigmatically, straightforward, and yet somewhat unclear:
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures [see 4:6-8] 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.
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth (Revelation 6:1-8).
Now, popular interpretation identifies the White Rider as the pre-Satanically-empowered Antichrist. The symbols of this rider - the crown, the bow without arrows, the color white - have all been discussed elsewhere ad nauseum. However, since there may be some of you reading this who are unfamiliar with these symbols, I'll discuss them (very) briefly. White almost always stands for spiritual purity in the Scriptures. Even throughout Revelation, white stands for spiritual purity:
"'Come now, let us settle this matter,' says the LORD. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow'" (Isaiah 1:18).
"He who overcomes will . . . be dressed in white" (Revelation 3:5)
"Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer" (6:11).
"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True" (19:11).
So why is this "judgment," as it were, one of spiritual purity? The key is in the crown, bow, and the fact that the rider is bent on conquest. Much like the lamb/dragon in Revelation 13, this is a spiritual conquest, but is it pure? The crown most likely represents an authority, the bow most likely represents might and strength, and the lack of arrows most likely represents a peaceful conquest. Now, some will contend that this is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a revival that will sweep the globe.
That's fine, but I'm not sure it's true. Nor am I certain that it represents the Antichrist, for one main reason: Revelation never connects the two, not once. If you've read through Revelation in one sitting, you may have noticed that fact. If not, the next time you read through Revelation, pay attention: not once are we told that the First Seal is the same person as the Beast. In fact, I'm not even sure the First Seal represents a man, and here's the reason: none of the other horses represent people.
The second is War, obviously, as the rider is "given power to take peace from earth and to make men slay each other." The third is famine, affecting large numbers of people as "daily bread" becomes almost impossible to buy. A quart of wheat is, roughly, enough for one person in that time period, so a man would have to work for an entire day just to feed himself for that day. There is a possibility that this refers, not to famine, but to inflation, but the fact that oil and wine - crops whose roots grow deep enough to avoid problems during a drought - are untouched doesn't lend itself to that interpretation. The fourth is fairly straightforward: people die, and Hell follows death.
Taking all of that into consideration - that the fourth horse isn't a person, the third horse isn't a person, and the second horse isn't a person - it seems unlikely that the white horse would represent a person. But if not a person, as popular interpretations assert, what, then, could the First Seal represent?
Jesus says some things in Luke 21 that I believe help interpret this passage. Before we get to that, let's see seals five and six:
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
I watched as He opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place (Revelation 6:9-14).
We're told two things within the Fifth Seal: the first, is that the martyrdom of the Saints will continue. This is currently happening. But we're also told that the martyrdom won't just continue, it will continue until a certain number of believers have died. There is, in other words, a set time for this martyrdom to happen. I don't know when that ends, of course, but I do know that martyrdom of Christians has been going on in parts of the world, almost continually, for two-thousand years. We tend to forget this these days, but even the Crusades were largely a defensive attack against the martyrdom of Christians in various parts of the Catholic Empire (I'm not commenting on whether the Crusades were good or bad, just on the fact that even when Christianity was "aggressive" to a fault, there was still martyrdom of Christians). Today, in various Middle Eastern countries, Christians are being martyred. In places in China, India, and N. Korea, Christians are being imprisoned and executed simply for being Christians. In parts of Africa, same thing. Martyrdom is taking place, even today. To say, then, that the Fifth Seal will happen in the future, is possible, but not necessarily true, because the Fifth Seal could have already been opened.
So how does all of this help us to interpret the White Horse? Let's check out Luke 21 (don't worry, we'll get back to the Sixth Seal):
Some of His disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."
"Teacher," they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"
He replied, "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am he,' and 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away."
Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places; and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
"But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of My name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your minds not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of Me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.
"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the seas. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming to the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:5-28).
What is Jesus saying, here? In verses 8-11, He first tells them about wars, plagues, and whatnot (the part most Christians quote whenever something bad happens in the news). "But before all this," He says, "they will lay hands on you and persecute you" (12). So, first, comes the persecution of the disciples.
This has already happened. All of them were martyred for their faith, with the exception of John, who was exiled. So, Jesus says, first there will come persecution of the early Church.
At the same time, Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies, and its desolation will come (20). This already happened, too. The soon-to-be-Emperor Titus surrounded Jerusalem with his armies, destroying the city and its temple in 70 A.D. (see Luke 21:6). Notice that all of this comes before the events of verses 8-11. Before. So, sometime after this, there will, according to Jesus, be four "signs" to look for:
1) Spiritual deception.
Look at verse 8: "He replied, 'Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, "I am He," and "The time is near." Do not follow them.'"
2) War.
"'When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away'" (9).
3) Famine, pestilence, and death.
"'There will be . . . famines and pestilences in various places'" (11).
4) Earthquakes and astronomical signs.
"There will be great earthquakes . . . and fearful events and great signs from heaven'" (11).
Notice anything . . . interesting? After 70 A.D., but "before the time of the end," there will be astronomical signs and earthquakes, preceded by famine and pestilence, preceded by war, and, preceding all of this, a spiritual deception.
Now, let's go back to Revelation 6. The sixth seal was, what? A great earthquake, the sun turning to the color of sackcloth, and the moon turning the color of blood. The fourth seal? Death by "famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8). The third seal? Famine. The second seal? War. Notice the pattern? This would mean, then, that the First Seal, the Rider on the White Horse, isn't a person, but a great deal of spiritual deception that spreads throughout the world. Conquers it, in fact, and it does so with power and authority. I believe that the events of Revelation 6 - the first six seals - outline and give detail to the passage in Luke 21, a passage in which Jesus clearly tells us that these things happen before the time of the end. In fact, Jesus connects them to the martyrdom of the apostles and the destruction of the temple.
This places the seals, not at some point in our future, but partially in the past, as well as right now, in the present. Remember, the Scriptures never once connect the Beast with the First Seal. If the First Seal represents a single person, it's the only seal that does - the rest deal with broad topics and events, but not a particular individual. This is inline with the idea that I stated earlier, that Jesus opened the First Seal fairly soon after His crucifixion/resurrection. This means that for those who are waiting to see "the Antichrist" show up on the scene to make a covenant with Israel and know that the First Seal has officially been opened, you may be looking for the wrong thing.
Notice I said, may. Let's look at some of the issues with this idea. First, the assumption that timing in Heaven is the same as timing on earth. In other words, if Jesus opened the First Seal immediately after His crucifixion, does that mean the subsequent earthly events began immediately after His crucifixion? Not necessarily. Maybe it was, maybe it was a year later, maybe it was half a century later, maybe - just maybe - Jesus opened the Seal, but we haven't seen the consequences yet. We know that God's timing is not our timing, and that God's sense of timing is absolutely enormous compared to ours. He promised Abraham, sometime around 1900 B.C., that Abraham's descendants would possess "the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites" (Gen. 15:19-21). This took anywhere from 500 to 1,000 years to be fulfilled. God's timing isn't our timing.
Secondly, believing that the Seal was opened immediately after Jesus' crucifixion is also, technically speaking, still an assumption. I think the Scriptural argument makes sense, but John does not reveal that he was witnessing events in heaven that had taken place in the past. He just doesn't, and reasonable assumptions are still assumptions.
Thirdly, can we say, with any clarity, where we are on the . . . let's call it the Seal Spectrum? IF the First Seal was opened, and IF we have seen the consequences already (a spiritual deception that causes people to believe they are in touch with God, when they are not), has the Second Seal also been opened? This goes back to the timing issue above: how long between seals? Certainly, the world has seen wars - almost continuously - for the last 1,500 years. Certainly the threat of war is increasing, even today. We may be on the verge of World War III, in fact, something only time will tell us. So, if the Second Seal is, as Jesus puts it, a time "when you hear of wars and revolutions," and a time when "nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom," then we could very well be in the midst of it, maybe have been for centuries.
Famines? Plagues? Lots of those now, too. It's difficult to say - and I'm not sure we can with any real confidence - whether or not they've been happening for a while, whether they've recently started, or whether or not they have yet to start. It's plausible that the Seals were opened some time ago, and we are in the midst of them now, but plausible and definite are two entirely separate things.
Lastly, the text of Revelation itself seems to indicate more of a sweeping event, rather than isolated and continuous instances. The Black Horse, for example, appears to be a massive, sweeping, worldwide famine, not a famine that hits various nations at various times over the course of several centuries. But then again, in Luke 21, that's how Jesus defines it: "There will be . . . famines and pestilences in various places" (21:11).
Here's what I'm trying to get to here: I actually am leaning towards the interpretation that:
1) Jesus opened the Seals immediately after His crucifixion,
2) the first five seals, at least, have been on-going for centuries (the Sixth Seal doesn't appear to have happened yet, though the increase in earthquakes may be leading to it)
3) They do not represent judgments regarding the end, but are, rather, events leading up to God's judgements, which appear to start with the trumpets (Revelation 8:1 - 11:19).
However, while I lean towards it, I also recognize that it is based on a few assumptions. But, in light of Jesus' words in Luke, and in light of everything we see going on, both in Revelation 4 - 6, and in the world, I feel comfortable with this interpretation, so long as we keep one truth in mind, that all of this is about the fact that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised Him from the dead.
Remember, this is not about predicting or figuring things out, but watching events match up and being able to point to the Scriptures and say, "See, what Jesus said is true, therefore we can trust Him." If we can trust what Jesus said 2,000 years ago, then we can trust that He is Lord and Savior. This is not to be an obsession with prophecy, but a proclamation of the Gospel, because Jesus does not reveal these things to us in order for us to obsess about events. He reveals - and this is true of all of Scripture - He reveals His character, His actions, and His motivations in order for us to acknowledge that He is the Alpha and Omega, the He is God Almighty, that He is Creator of the heavens and the earth. God reveals His names in the Old Testament, names which find their fulfillment in Jesus.
God took the open rebellion of man, and made a promise - a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
God took a pagan and made him a promise - a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
God took a nation, and made them a promise - a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
And Jesus made proclamations that have come true - fulfilling His own claim to be God Almighty.
His disciples made proclamations about His resurrection - fulfilling His own claim to be God Almighty. Every promise, every declaration in the Bible, past present and future, point to Jesus.
So when Paul says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9), we can trust that, because we can trust that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.
So you can continue to trust in yourself, someone who is selfish and - at best - selfishly-philanthropic, but can you really claim to have fulfilled every promise made by you and about you? You can trust in any of the other myriads of religions out there, religions that fail in so many of their very basic tenants. Or you can trust in Jesus, who has kept many of His promises, and is now fulfilling many of the as-yet unfulfilled ones.
If I could make you trust Him, I would. That is how certain I am of His Lordship. But, alas, I cannot; all I can do is appeal to you to trust in the grace of Jesus Christ. He loves you, even though you don't deserve it, and you can either rejoice at His return, or you can mourn with the nations (Matthew 24:30).
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