Long Island Abundant Life Church 長島豐盛生命教會
  • Home
  • About Us 關於教會
    • Mission Statement - 使命宣言
    • Statement of Faith - 信仰立場
    • Biblical Marriage - 合乎聖經的婚姻
    • Church Leadership - 教會同工
    • Directions - 路線圖
    • Documents - 表格與文件下載
    • Contact Us - 聯絡我們
    • Ministry openings
  • Chinese Ministry 華語事工
    • 崇拜
    • 講道集 >
      • 主日信息
      • 特會 / 講座
    • 主日學
    • 門訓小組 >
      • 門訓小組介紹
    • 團契
    • 讀經
  • English Ministry 英文事工
  • Youth 少年事工
    • Worship
    • Sunday School
    • Youth Fellowship
    • Events
    • Our Vision
    • Connect with Us
    • Parent Resources
    • Youth Prayer Requests
  • Children's Ministry 兒童事工
    • Children's Worship - 兒童崇拜 >
      • Children's Songs - 歌曲
      • Junior Worship, Archive - 學習內容
      • Junior Worship, Current - 學習內容
      • Preschool Worship, Archive - 幼兒崇拜
    • Sunday School - 主日學 >
      • Preschool - 低年級
      • Middlers, Current - 高年級
      • Elementary, Archive - 高年級
    • VBS-特别暑期聖經班 >
      • EVENTS- 特別活動
    • Nursery - 幼兒照顧
    • Resources - 資源
  • Missions/Evangelism 宣教/佈道
    • Global Mission 全球宣教
    • Missions Ministry 宣教事工
  • Chinese School 中文學校
  • Church Activities / News / Calendar 教會活動 / 消息 / 行事曆
    • Special/urgent 特別/緊急
    • Calendar 教會行事曆
    • Bulletin 週報
    • Archive 檔案 >
      • Pray for Hindus 2018 為印度人禱告
      • Seek God 2019 尋求神
      • Misc. 其他
  • Chinese Student Ministry 学生事工
    • Campus Ministry 校园事工
    • CSF 衣
    • CSF 食
    • CSF 住
    • CSF 行
  • Links 资源鏈接
  Long Island Abundant Life Church 長島豐盛生命教會

Revelation 6:1–7:8

12/18/2012

 
Click here to read today's passage on Bible Gateway.

The Six Seals and the 144,000
Remember that in yesterday's reading there was a scroll that was sealed with seven seals.  The only one worthy to open those seals is Jesus, and in today's passage He begins to break the seals, bringing forth events with each broken seal.  The appearance of Jesus to break open the seals indicates that the end of all things are at hand and the last days have truly begun - the Tribulation is at hand.

Again, not everyone agrees on the symbolism here, so I'm going to tell you the view that seems to have the most support:

First seal: Rider on the white horse - This is most likely the Antichrist, coming to rule over the nations of the earth in false reign.  See Daniel 9:26 for some context - this is often cross-referenced here.

Second seal: Rider on the red horse - This initiates a time of war and bloodshed on the earth that will ultimately climax with the battle of Armageddon.

Third seal: Rider on the black horse - This speaks of famine conditions that overtake the world due to the season of wars initiated by the previous rider.

Fourth seal: Rider on the pale horse - A killing of one fourth of the world's population.

"Because of the current world population being so great, one fourth of the inhabitants would represent a number larger than those destroyed in Noah’s day. Therefore, this would be the “Great Tribulation” of unprecedented magnitude spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:21. Since “Great Tribulation” is the term that technically refers to only the final three and a half years of the seven-year Tribulation, some (e.g., Walvoord) believe that these seals apply strictly to that end period." [1]

Fifth seal: Martyrs - These could possibly be those killed for their faith throughout the ages, but more likely those who die for their faith during the Tribulation, since that is where this seal is placed.

Sixth seal: Cosmic disturbances -
"Ryrie (in company with Walvoord, Morris, and others) takes this passage quite literally (except in the case of stars falling, which he thinks refer to a meteor shower). He identifies six catastrophic events calculated “to strike terror into the hearts of men living on the earth. … At this point men will know assuredly that the tribulation has begun, for they recognize it as ‘the great day of his wrath.’ ” [2]

Which brings us to an interlude before the seventh seal.  But what's going on with the 144,000?  The seals have been pretty straightforward other than the horse symbolism, but what is this?

"During the Great Tribulation, a godly remnant of 144,000 Jewish people will be sealed (v. 4) for protection from the later plagues (cf. 9:4)...That these are physical Israelites (not to be confused with the church, as in the historicist and spiritual approaches) is underscored by the division of the group into twelve tribes. The church is not divided into tribal divisions." [3]

So - during this time there will be a turning of a significant number from Israel to God as they recognize God's hand in what is happening.  See Romans 11:25 as a possible reference to this.

I hope that helps! Questions?

[1] Steve Gregg, Revelation, Four Views: A Parallel Commentary (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Re 6:7–8.
[2] Ibid, Re 6:12–17.
[3] Ibid, Re 7:4–8.
Josiah
12/18/2012 12:00:47 pm

I just notice a button in the link that allows you to listen to a person read the verses, with background music, cool.
It's great to read Revelations after reading most of the Left Behind series. The 2nd seal, war, I wonder how that plays out. Taking peace away from Earth, that's something huge.

Andrei
12/19/2012 01:08:30 am

Wow, so confusing. I had a question about the seals; it seems like all of them unlock 'bad' things, like the Antichrist and the 1/4 population plague. But the 5th seal are the martyrs; isn't that kind of a good thing? Unless the focus is that they're tormented because they want God to avenge them?

greg
12/19/2012 03:31:42 am

There's nothing saying that the seals need to be bad - just that these are the things that happen when the seals are broken. Obviously most of the things set in motion are throughout Revelation are bad, but there are exceptions - this is one of them. It may seem a little out of place with the others, but there isn't any rule that the things NEED to be bad.

Kevin Kuo
12/22/2012 05:00:36 pm

I watched a documentary about how the Milky Way and andromeda galaxies were on a collision course and in cosmic collisions between two galaxies the star map of the sky will definitely change. I wonder if that would be the cause for the stars to fall out of the sky meaning they are no longer visible or the large black hole at the center of the Milky Way gets big enough it consumes a third of the visible stars.


Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.