This is one of my absolute favorite moments in the Bible, mostly because it's weird. Some believe this is an encounter with a UFO, but only because they reject the idea of God. I think it's far more likely that this is God, because Ezekiel receives a call to preach the Word to the Israelites. I somehow find it hard to believe that aliens from a distant galaxy would come to earth and tell us to preach the Word. All of this begs the question: are there other spiritual entities similar to these cherubim? And do they also have vehicles that move throughout the air? And if so, is it possible that those entities are being mistaken for aliens in UFOs? Something to think about.
On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King
Jehoiachin— the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of
Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was on him.
I
looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud
with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of
the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked
like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each
of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their
feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.
Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of
them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of
another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.
Their
faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being,
and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the
face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their
faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching
that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings
covering its body. Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit
would go, they would go, without turning as they went. The
appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or
like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was
bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
As
I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside
each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure
of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike.
Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they
moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures
faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. Their
rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all
around.
When the living creatures moved, the wheels
beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground,
the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and
the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living
creatures was in the wheels. When
the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still,
they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the
wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures
was in the wheels.
Spread out above the heads of the
living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like
crystal, and awesome. Under the vault their wings were stretched out
one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the
creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of
rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty,[like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
Then
there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood
with lowered wings. Above the vault over their heads was what looked
like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure
like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he
looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down
he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the
appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the
radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the
likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I
heard the voice of one speaking.
He said to me, “Son
of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke,
the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him
speaking to me.
He said: “Son of man, I am sending you
to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me;
they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very
day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And
you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be
afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among
scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them,
though they are a rebellious people. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But
you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that
rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
Then
I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a
scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written
words of lament and mourning and woe.
And he said to
me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and
speak to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me
the scroll to eat.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat
this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it,
and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
He then
said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my
words to them. You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and
strange language, but to the people of Israel— not
to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you
cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have
listened to you. But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to
you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites
are hardened and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and
hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone,
harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them,
though they are a rebellious people.”
And he said to me,
“Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak
to you. Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them,
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ whether they listen or fail to
listen.”
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard
behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the LORD rose from the
place where it was standing. It was the sound of the wings of the
living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels
beside them, a loud rumbling sound. The Spirit then lifted me up and
took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit,
with the strong hand of the LORD on me. I came to the exiles who lived
at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I
sat among them for seven days—deeply distressed.
-Ezekiel 1:1 - 3:15, NIV translation
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Friday, March 11, 2016
It's the End of the World As We Know It: The Seven Seals, Part 2
In the previous post in this series, we looked at the first six Seals of Revelation 6. And, while I realize it seems a little strange to cram the first six into one post and THEN spend an entire post on the Seventh Seal, there's a lot going on between Seal Six and Seal Seven. Moreover, there's a lot of speculation as to what, exactly, is going on during the Seventh Seal.
As a reminder, speculation isn't always bad, but it must always be approached with caution, because speculation can very easily lead to a doctrine that either adds to, or takes away from, the Scriptures. No bueno. And while I am no stranger to speculation in this series, I do believe wholeheartedly that speculation must never be based on whatever interpretation we happen to favor, but, rather, our interpretations must arise out of the Scriptures.
Okay, let's get to the Scriptures. By the time Chapter 7 opens, we have just seen the devastating destruction of the Sixth Seal: a global earthquake that sends the people and rulers of the earth into hiding:
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.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (6:12-17).
But, rather then proceeding to the last seal, as John has done with the previous seals, he takes a moment to write one of the most controversial chapters in the Book of Revelation:
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Nephtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000 (7:1-8).
On the surface, it's difficult to see what's so controversial about this. John sees a group of angels "seal" (in this case, for salvation and protection) 144,000 Jews: 12,000 from each of the named tribes. It's fairly straightforward, especially in light of what happens in Chapter 8. While we'll look at Chapter 8 in more detail shortly, the gist of it says this: "Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar . . . Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake" (8:3;5). This event heralds the coming of the Trumpet Judgments, judgments which burn up the grass, poison the waters, blot out the sun and moon, and so on and so forth. So in light of Chapter 8, the events of Chapter 7 make sense: 'Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.' Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel."
Now, truthfully, I don't see the issue. Nonetheless, there is great controversy and debate regarding this passage, for many believe that this passage refers, not to Jews, but to Gentiles. The basic argument is that the "tribes" are not really tribes, because the numbers are too perfect. Rather, they represent believers from all nations. On the other hand, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses, the 144,000 refer to the ruling elite of Heaven - the Witnesses who are privileged enough to spend eternity with God - while everyone else who is a JW remains on earth.
But let's stop and take a look at this: if John meant "all people," why call them "the tribes of Israel," especially considering that he identifies "all people" as "all people" in other passages (e.g., 7:9). Furthermore, why list each tribe, if the "tribes" aren't meant to be taken as literal tribes? Lastly, what, exactly, does each tribe represent, if not to be taken literally? John offers no explanation or interpretation to that effect. There is, as best I can tell, no reason to suddenly claim that "all the tribes of Israel" means "all nations on earth." The common sense, straightforward reading of this text states that 144,000 Jews come to faith in Jesus during this period of time.
Furthermore, it states that they are sealed, specifically, to protect them from the judgments that are coming. Notice the angel's admonition: "'Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God'" (7:3). As we'll see in the next post of this series, the coming Trumpet Judgments greatly harm the land, sea, trees, and even people. So the sealing of 144,000 Jews is in preparation for this great series of judgments that is coming. Now, after listing the tribes, John notices something that is, frankly, puzzling at first:
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"
Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes - who are they, and where did they come from?"
I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (7:9-14).
While the passage itself is straightforward, the timing of it is bizarre. Suddenly, John appears to be at the end of the "Tribulation," at the point where everyone who was not beheaded is now standing in front of the Heavenly Throne of God. So, is Jesus revealing, through John, that the Tribulation ends with Seal 6? Wouldn't that, you know, mean that Christ's return happens then? But if that's the case, then what is the rest of Revelation about, because the Seven Trumpets (8:6-11:15) and the Seven Bowls (15:1-16:21) are very much sequential, not only to the Seven Seals, but to each other - one set of events flows from the previous one.
Here's my submission to you: what follows the Seventh Seal is the coming of the Antichrist, and the start of the Tribulation.
"Uhh . . . what?! That's not what Tim LaHaye teaches!"
Yes, I know. Remember that we've already looked at the fact that the First Seal does not appear to refer to the Antichrist. Therefore, there is no reason to believe he's on earth during the first Six Seals. I freely admit he could be, but that's an assumption, and it has no Scriptural support, just a lot of rampant speculation; we only believe the White Horse Seal is the Antichrist because other people have told us it is.
"But wait! Didn't we see that the Antichrist doesn't appear until Chapter 13?"
Yes, but Chapters 12 and 13 are, in fact, flashbacks, in much the same way that 7:9-17 is a flash forward. Remember that the first section of Chapter 12 deals with the birth, life, and Ascension of Jesus (12:1-6). Then there is a war in heaven that is, from our perspective, still future, but from the timing of what John has seen, is in the past. This kind of jumping around is not unprecedented.
Most of the prophets were given visions that jumped around. Ezekiel sees all kinds of things, some of them in contemporary to him, many of them in the near future (relative to him), some of them in the distant future. Jeremiah, same thing. Isaiah saw Israel destroyed, which happened during his lifetime, but he also saw the coming Messiah. Now, certain sections of the prophets are clearly sequential (such as the unfolding of the Seven Trumpets), but different sections can be rearranged into a different order.
Think of it like interlocking building block toys (I don't have permission to use the trade-marked, common-use name). You may have a block that has three little pegs, each in a row, and you may have a block with four little pegs in a square, but you can move the blocks around to put them in a different order. Each block is a set thing, but how the blocks are placed together is not. Make sense (if not, let me know in the comments section!)?
But the second reason is that the beast that comes out of the Abyss is on earth in Chapter 11: "Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes from the Abyss will attack them" (11:7). So the Beast is present on earth in Chapter 11, during the trumpet judgments, but John doesn't write about his rise to power and his government/idolatrous religion until Chapters 12 and 13. Therefore - and this is a surmise - I believe John was given a vision of the end of the Tribulation here, not because that's when it actually ends, but as a means of comfort and reassurance that everything works out for the disciples of Jesus, because they are either killed during this time (see Chapter 13), or they survive, and have the enormous privilege of serving God "day and night in His temple," and of having "He who sits on the throne . . . spread his tent over them" (7:15). In other words, they get to go camping with God.
Just kidding. That imagery implies a protection and comfort, as well as a deep and personal dwelling place with God Almighty. What an awesome, awesome thing. My point, though, is that the timing of John's vision revealing the end of the Tribulation coincides with the unfolding of the Tribulation in the rest of Chapters 8-11.
There is one other reason I think this may be the case. Immediately after the heavenly interlude of Chapter 7, John returns to the sequence of events. Chapter 8 begins:
When he opened the Seventh Seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake (1-5).
So, thus far, the sequence of events, starting with the First Seal, has been that John sees a spiritual deception move throughout the earth, wars, famines, plagues, and a great earthquake, all things Jesus references as "the birth pangs," and events that happen before the time of the end (see Matthew 24:4-8 and Luke 21:8-11). John then sees the "sealing" of 144,000 Jews, in order that they may be spared from coming judgment and strife. He is then given a glimpse of the future in which believers who have "come out of the great tribulation" are serving God, who sits in His temple. Then the Seventh Seal is opened, and what is revealed is so breathtaking that there is silence in heaven for half-an-hour. Keep in mind that heaven, up until this point, is anything but silent. In fact, when anything happens - even judgment - heaven erupts in praise to God.
So whatever was sealed up by the Seventh Seal must be absolutely horrific, something that has never happened before. There are only two events recorded following the opening of the Seventh Seal: the start of the Trumpet Judgments, and, prior to that, the censer of fire being hurled to, and doing a great deal of damage to, the earth. Let's go to Chapter 12 again:
And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpents reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring - those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea (12:7 - 13:1).
So 144,000 Jews are sealed with the Seal of the Living God. Then the Seventh Seal is open, there is silence in heaven for half-an-hour, then the angels prepare to sound their trumpets, initiating a period of divinely appointed judgments meant to torment mankind. But prior to sounding the trumpets, an angel hurls a censer full of fire to the earth and causes a great deal of damage. And where does the fire come from? The burnt incense on the altar in Heaven, incense that is made up of the prayers of all the saints. The Trumpets are sounded, one after the other, and during this time, the Beast from the Abyss is first named.
What do we see in Chapter 12? We see a war in which Satan is hurled to earth because of the "testimony of the saints," and the inhabitants of Heaven grieve for the earth. Then Satan attempts to wipe Israel off of the earth, but she is supernaturally protected. So he goes after the Gentile believers, but does so by waiting for the Beast who arises out of the sea.
The Seventh Seal, I now firmly believe, initiates the coming of the Antichrist and the Tribulation. No, this is not what LaHaye teaches. Thank God.
Look, I was caught up in the books, too, when they first came out. Kirk Cameron made a few movies about the books and, though the movies weren't great, they were close to being somewhat passably good. But then I read the Scriptures and discovered just how much "artistic license" that series took. And while it isn't completely off-base in every part, there are some serious issues, in terms of ignoring the Scriptures in favor of a particular interpretation.
The fact is, a lot of believers are going to be caught completely off guard because they are expecting events to unfold exactly as portrayed in the books and movies. Don't be caught off guard; read the Scriptures, and then, when you're done, read them again. And again. And again. But more importantly, don't be caught sleeping. Don't be caught sitting around, not doing your job. Our task is to be His ambassadors, making disciples and bearing fruit.
Because, regardless of when the Tribulation starts, regardless of when the Antichrist rises to power, regardless of the Rapture, the meaning of the silence in heaven, regardless of any of this, people who do not call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ stand condemned. Jesus gave us these Scriptures for a reason, and so I do not believe it is profitable to ignore them or shrug our shoulders - that would imply that He gave us useless information and words. But centering our lives around eschatology at the expense of the Gospel is also not profitable. Stay alert, be ready, and lead people to Jesus.
As a reminder, speculation isn't always bad, but it must always be approached with caution, because speculation can very easily lead to a doctrine that either adds to, or takes away from, the Scriptures. No bueno. And while I am no stranger to speculation in this series, I do believe wholeheartedly that speculation must never be based on whatever interpretation we happen to favor, but, rather, our interpretations must arise out of the Scriptures.
Okay, let's get to the Scriptures. By the time Chapter 7 opens, we have just seen the devastating destruction of the Sixth Seal: a global earthquake that sends the people and rulers of the earth into hiding:
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.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (6:12-17).
But, rather then proceeding to the last seal, as John has done with the previous seals, he takes a moment to write one of the most controversial chapters in the Book of Revelation:
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Nephtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000 (7:1-8).
On the surface, it's difficult to see what's so controversial about this. John sees a group of angels "seal" (in this case, for salvation and protection) 144,000 Jews: 12,000 from each of the named tribes. It's fairly straightforward, especially in light of what happens in Chapter 8. While we'll look at Chapter 8 in more detail shortly, the gist of it says this: "Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar . . . Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake" (8:3;5). This event heralds the coming of the Trumpet Judgments, judgments which burn up the grass, poison the waters, blot out the sun and moon, and so on and so forth. So in light of Chapter 8, the events of Chapter 7 make sense: 'Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.' Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel."
Now, truthfully, I don't see the issue. Nonetheless, there is great controversy and debate regarding this passage, for many believe that this passage refers, not to Jews, but to Gentiles. The basic argument is that the "tribes" are not really tribes, because the numbers are too perfect. Rather, they represent believers from all nations. On the other hand, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses, the 144,000 refer to the ruling elite of Heaven - the Witnesses who are privileged enough to spend eternity with God - while everyone else who is a JW remains on earth.
But let's stop and take a look at this: if John meant "all people," why call them "the tribes of Israel," especially considering that he identifies "all people" as "all people" in other passages (e.g., 7:9). Furthermore, why list each tribe, if the "tribes" aren't meant to be taken as literal tribes? Lastly, what, exactly, does each tribe represent, if not to be taken literally? John offers no explanation or interpretation to that effect. There is, as best I can tell, no reason to suddenly claim that "all the tribes of Israel" means "all nations on earth." The common sense, straightforward reading of this text states that 144,000 Jews come to faith in Jesus during this period of time.
Furthermore, it states that they are sealed, specifically, to protect them from the judgments that are coming. Notice the angel's admonition: "'Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God'" (7:3). As we'll see in the next post of this series, the coming Trumpet Judgments greatly harm the land, sea, trees, and even people. So the sealing of 144,000 Jews is in preparation for this great series of judgments that is coming. Now, after listing the tribes, John notices something that is, frankly, puzzling at first:
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"
Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes - who are they, and where did they come from?"
I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (7:9-14).
While the passage itself is straightforward, the timing of it is bizarre. Suddenly, John appears to be at the end of the "Tribulation," at the point where everyone who was not beheaded is now standing in front of the Heavenly Throne of God. So, is Jesus revealing, through John, that the Tribulation ends with Seal 6? Wouldn't that, you know, mean that Christ's return happens then? But if that's the case, then what is the rest of Revelation about, because the Seven Trumpets (8:6-11:15) and the Seven Bowls (15:1-16:21) are very much sequential, not only to the Seven Seals, but to each other - one set of events flows from the previous one.
Here's my submission to you: what follows the Seventh Seal is the coming of the Antichrist, and the start of the Tribulation.
"Uhh . . . what?! That's not what Tim LaHaye teaches!"
Yes, I know. Remember that we've already looked at the fact that the First Seal does not appear to refer to the Antichrist. Therefore, there is no reason to believe he's on earth during the first Six Seals. I freely admit he could be, but that's an assumption, and it has no Scriptural support, just a lot of rampant speculation; we only believe the White Horse Seal is the Antichrist because other people have told us it is.
"But wait! Didn't we see that the Antichrist doesn't appear until Chapter 13?"
Yes, but Chapters 12 and 13 are, in fact, flashbacks, in much the same way that 7:9-17 is a flash forward. Remember that the first section of Chapter 12 deals with the birth, life, and Ascension of Jesus (12:1-6). Then there is a war in heaven that is, from our perspective, still future, but from the timing of what John has seen, is in the past. This kind of jumping around is not unprecedented.
Most of the prophets were given visions that jumped around. Ezekiel sees all kinds of things, some of them in contemporary to him, many of them in the near future (relative to him), some of them in the distant future. Jeremiah, same thing. Isaiah saw Israel destroyed, which happened during his lifetime, but he also saw the coming Messiah. Now, certain sections of the prophets are clearly sequential (such as the unfolding of the Seven Trumpets), but different sections can be rearranged into a different order.
Think of it like interlocking building block toys (I don't have permission to use the trade-marked, common-use name). You may have a block that has three little pegs, each in a row, and you may have a block with four little pegs in a square, but you can move the blocks around to put them in a different order. Each block is a set thing, but how the blocks are placed together is not. Make sense (if not, let me know in the comments section!)?
But the second reason is that the beast that comes out of the Abyss is on earth in Chapter 11: "Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes from the Abyss will attack them" (11:7). So the Beast is present on earth in Chapter 11, during the trumpet judgments, but John doesn't write about his rise to power and his government/idolatrous religion until Chapters 12 and 13. Therefore - and this is a surmise - I believe John was given a vision of the end of the Tribulation here, not because that's when it actually ends, but as a means of comfort and reassurance that everything works out for the disciples of Jesus, because they are either killed during this time (see Chapter 13), or they survive, and have the enormous privilege of serving God "day and night in His temple," and of having "He who sits on the throne . . . spread his tent over them" (7:15). In other words, they get to go camping with God.
Just kidding. That imagery implies a protection and comfort, as well as a deep and personal dwelling place with God Almighty. What an awesome, awesome thing. My point, though, is that the timing of John's vision revealing the end of the Tribulation coincides with the unfolding of the Tribulation in the rest of Chapters 8-11.
There is one other reason I think this may be the case. Immediately after the heavenly interlude of Chapter 7, John returns to the sequence of events. Chapter 8 begins:
When he opened the Seventh Seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake (1-5).
So, thus far, the sequence of events, starting with the First Seal, has been that John sees a spiritual deception move throughout the earth, wars, famines, plagues, and a great earthquake, all things Jesus references as "the birth pangs," and events that happen before the time of the end (see Matthew 24:4-8 and Luke 21:8-11). John then sees the "sealing" of 144,000 Jews, in order that they may be spared from coming judgment and strife. He is then given a glimpse of the future in which believers who have "come out of the great tribulation" are serving God, who sits in His temple. Then the Seventh Seal is opened, and what is revealed is so breathtaking that there is silence in heaven for half-an-hour. Keep in mind that heaven, up until this point, is anything but silent. In fact, when anything happens - even judgment - heaven erupts in praise to God.
So whatever was sealed up by the Seventh Seal must be absolutely horrific, something that has never happened before. There are only two events recorded following the opening of the Seventh Seal: the start of the Trumpet Judgments, and, prior to that, the censer of fire being hurled to, and doing a great deal of damage to, the earth. Let's go to Chapter 12 again:
And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpents reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring - those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea (12:7 - 13:1).
So 144,000 Jews are sealed with the Seal of the Living God. Then the Seventh Seal is open, there is silence in heaven for half-an-hour, then the angels prepare to sound their trumpets, initiating a period of divinely appointed judgments meant to torment mankind. But prior to sounding the trumpets, an angel hurls a censer full of fire to the earth and causes a great deal of damage. And where does the fire come from? The burnt incense on the altar in Heaven, incense that is made up of the prayers of all the saints. The Trumpets are sounded, one after the other, and during this time, the Beast from the Abyss is first named.
What do we see in Chapter 12? We see a war in which Satan is hurled to earth because of the "testimony of the saints," and the inhabitants of Heaven grieve for the earth. Then Satan attempts to wipe Israel off of the earth, but she is supernaturally protected. So he goes after the Gentile believers, but does so by waiting for the Beast who arises out of the sea.
The Seventh Seal, I now firmly believe, initiates the coming of the Antichrist and the Tribulation. No, this is not what LaHaye teaches. Thank God.
Look, I was caught up in the books, too, when they first came out. Kirk Cameron made a few movies about the books and, though the movies weren't great, they were close to being somewhat passably good. But then I read the Scriptures and discovered just how much "artistic license" that series took. And while it isn't completely off-base in every part, there are some serious issues, in terms of ignoring the Scriptures in favor of a particular interpretation.
The fact is, a lot of believers are going to be caught completely off guard because they are expecting events to unfold exactly as portrayed in the books and movies. Don't be caught off guard; read the Scriptures, and then, when you're done, read them again. And again. And again. But more importantly, don't be caught sleeping. Don't be caught sitting around, not doing your job. Our task is to be His ambassadors, making disciples and bearing fruit.
Because, regardless of when the Tribulation starts, regardless of when the Antichrist rises to power, regardless of the Rapture, the meaning of the silence in heaven, regardless of any of this, people who do not call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ stand condemned. Jesus gave us these Scriptures for a reason, and so I do not believe it is profitable to ignore them or shrug our shoulders - that would imply that He gave us useless information and words. But centering our lives around eschatology at the expense of the Gospel is also not profitable. Stay alert, be ready, and lead people to Jesus.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Prayers Needed
Hey, folks! I just wanted to write a quick note to apologize for my delay in posting the next section of the End Times series. It will be up soon, as I am still working on it!
However, at the same time, I have been reading the Scriptures and studying them in regards to Predestined Salvation (typically called Calvinism). Over the last two months, I've been studying the writings of Calvin, I'm studying the ideas surrounding the Calvinistic acronym T.U.L.I.P., but, above all, I'm studying God's Word.
Look, where I am now is firmly in the belief that Predestined Salvation is a very, very, dangerous heresy. More dangerous than I think most of us realize. I do, however, have one desire above all else, and that is to preach and understand the character and nature of God, even if it involves an aspect of Him that I don't typically like. So what I need, right now, is prayer. I need prayer that His Word will be revealed, although I have a pretty strong conviction that His Word is against Predestined Salvation. IF that remains my firm conviction, then I need prayer for another reason:
Opposition to the Truth. There are many, many people who hold to Calvinism, many of them my friends. So the current plan is to write a series refuting Predestination, and why it is a false teaching, and for that, I need prayers. But, I am also open to the Spirit, and if the Spirit is trying to move me away from this plan, then I need prayers that I will be submissive.
Thank you for your prayers, and thank you, as always, for reading my posts! Still not sure why so many of you are. . . .
However, at the same time, I have been reading the Scriptures and studying them in regards to Predestined Salvation (typically called Calvinism). Over the last two months, I've been studying the writings of Calvin, I'm studying the ideas surrounding the Calvinistic acronym T.U.L.I.P., but, above all, I'm studying God's Word.
Look, where I am now is firmly in the belief that Predestined Salvation is a very, very, dangerous heresy. More dangerous than I think most of us realize. I do, however, have one desire above all else, and that is to preach and understand the character and nature of God, even if it involves an aspect of Him that I don't typically like. So what I need, right now, is prayer. I need prayer that His Word will be revealed, although I have a pretty strong conviction that His Word is against Predestined Salvation. IF that remains my firm conviction, then I need prayer for another reason:
Opposition to the Truth. There are many, many people who hold to Calvinism, many of them my friends. So the current plan is to write a series refuting Predestination, and why it is a false teaching, and for that, I need prayers. But, I am also open to the Spirit, and if the Spirit is trying to move me away from this plan, then I need prayers that I will be submissive.
Thank you for your prayers, and thank you, as always, for reading my posts! Still not sure why so many of you are. . . .
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