(Part 5)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 10/29/2017
If you’ve been with us the last few weeks, you know we are waist deep in the prophesies and puzzles of Revelation. As I’ve said before, with all of its symbolism and strange creatures Revelation can be the most challenging book of the Bible. Yet, God tells us that we are blessed when we read it and obey its message.
Obviously, God intended for us to understand and appreciate this book. And my prayer is that this series will help you do just that.
Last week, in Revelation 5, tension began building in John’s vision of heaven’s throne room, when the One sitting on the throne presented a sealed scroll. The scroll itself contained God’s seven-fold judgement against Jerusalem. And yet no one could be found in heaven or on earth who was worthy to open the scroll and unleash God’s wrath. That is, until Jesus made a dramatic entrance. Stepping forward to claim the scroll, Jesus—pictured as both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God—took center stage once again. Suddenly all of heaven and earth break out into a magnificent melody, singing “worthy is the Lamb who was slain!”
But while the melodious music of the colossal choir tapers off, expectation and excitement build as all of heaven anticipates Jesus opening the seven seals.
If you have a Bible or an app on your phone, open it to Revelation 6-7.
In these chapters, Jesus breaks open the seven seals, setting in motion a series of curious scenes centered on three key groups, beginning with the stampeding steeds.
• THE STAMPEDING STEEDS
John may have expected Jesus to read what was written in the scroll, but instead the scroll turns out to be a “pop up” book, whose images leap from the page and stampede across John’s vision. As the Lamb of God breaks the first four seals, an angel shouts “Come,” and John writes:
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… Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword… I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand… 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 6:1-7 NIV)
The first four seals released four horses and their riders, often referred to as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Together these horsemen represent conquest, war, famine, disease and ultimately death. Because war, famine, and disease continue to rage all across the globe, there’s a sense in which these horsemen continue to stampede even today. However, it’s much more likely these horsemen and their steeds represent a specific time in the near future of John’s original readers.
Today, war seems to the norm and peace ever elusive. But for John’s original readers just the opposite was true. They lived during the famed “Pax Romana,” or the Roman Peace. Decades earlier, the mighty Roman empire established peace throughout the known world—peace that lasted two centuries! Imagine that: no wars for two hundred years! For a first-century audience, the suggestion that this peace would be taken from the land and war would break out, was shockingly significant.
This is why Jesus warned his listeners, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6 NIV). Today this prophecy would be meaningless. Every week, the evening news reports on a new war breaking out somewhere on the planet. But in Jesus’ day, wars and even rumors of wars were unheard of in the Roman Empire, making Jesus’ prophecy much more meaningful. And just as Jesus predicted, this unparalleled Roman Peace would soon be disrupted.
In 66 AD, the Roman emperor Nero needed money, and ordered his representatives in Judaea to confiscate it from the treasure in the Jerusalem Temple. After sixty years of Roman taxation and oppression, the Jews saw this as the last straw. They revolted and Jewish forces laid siege to the Roman garrison within Jerusalem. When word reached Nero Caesar, he commissioned General Vespasian to quell the rebellion and declared war against Israel. The Roman-Jewish war lasted three and a half years and culminated in the total destruction of Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the death of Nero in 68 AD led to civil war within Rome itself.
Flavius Josephus was a Jewish general who fought against the Roman legions, but later defected and became an advisor to General Vespasian. A brilliant scholar, Josephus became a historian for Rome and documented the Roman-Jewish wars in detail, describing the war itself, the famine and disease that swept across the land, and even how wild beast, like dogs and jackals, prowled the ruins picking off survivors.
Thus, the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse carried out their mission of conquest, war, famine and disease during the three and half year Roman-Jewish war.
I can only imagine the fear and foreboding feeling that must have washed over John as he watched these horsemen ride off into the land. Remember though that these scourges were unleashed by Jesus. The Romans may be the ones wielding the sword, but Jesus is calling the shots. These stampeding steeds were part of Jesus’ judgment against what he called “a wicked and adulterous generation.”
Following these stampeding steeds, however, John sees the slain souls.
• THE SLAIN SOULS
As the hoofbeats fade away, John’s ears are bombarded by a refrain of troubled voices. He writes:
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar 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 full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. (Revelation 6:9-11 NIV)
Suddenly John hears the voice of the martyrs as they plead for justice and vengeance. Beginning with the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7) and the beheading of James in (Acts 12), the blood of Christian martyrs stained the earth. The book of Acts documents the Jewish persecution of early Christians. They not only killed Christ but sought to stamp out Christianity altogether. But that was only the beginning.
According the Roman historian Tacitus, in the summer of 64, Rome suffered a terrible fire that burned for six days and seven nights consuming almost three quarters of the city. The people accused Emperor Nero for the devastation, claiming he set the fire for his own amusement. To deflect these accusations and placate the people, Nero laid blame for the fire on Christians.
Under Nero’s orders Christians were hunted, beheaded, thrown to the lions, crucified, and even burned alive to give light to imperial parties at night. By the time Revelation was written, the roll call of martyrs included Peter, Paul, and thousands of other Christians unknown to us, but precious to the Lord.
Just imagine how different church announcements must have been in John’s day. In our churches, we announce fellowship meals, youth activities, and business meetings. Announcements in the first century would have included news of the death of Simeon who was killed because he wouldn’t deny Christ; the imprisonment of Mary because she refused to say Caesar is Lord; and little Joshua’s need for a new home because both his parents had been martyred.
And, sadly, the persecution of Christians didn’t end in the first century. Today, Christians are the single most persecuted religious group in the world. Worldwide each month 322 Christians are killed for their faith.
When we read Revelation, awash in the wrath of God, we may start to wonder if this is the same God of peace and patience we read about elsewhere in the Bible. But when we consider the brutality and bloodshed perpetrated on God’s people at this time in history, we understand the cries of the martyrs, “How long? How long before you judge these people and avenge our blood?”
The Bible says elsewhere, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord” (Romans 12:19 NIV). Soon God’s wrath would be poured out and the blood of the martyrs would be avenged.
But first, God must place his seal upon his servants. The sealed servants are the last group John sees in this segment of Revelation.
• THE SEALED SERVANTS
The breaking of the first six seals unleashed chaos and catastrophe all across the land. But just when obliteration seemed imminent, something stems the tide of devastation. John writes:
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. (Revelation 7:1-4 NIV)
We’ve already seen how seals were used in the ancient world. A king would press his signet ring into wax on a scroll or document as a seal to mark ownership and to protect its contents. Here, God places his seal on his followers, both identifying them as his own and guaranteeing his protection.
The number of those sealed is 144,000—a number that has prompted questions and quarreling among Christians and commentators. Despite the claims of literalists like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, however, this doesn’t mean that only 144,000 people will be saved. Rather, as is common in Revelation, this is a symbolic number: 12 x 12 x 1000.
The number 12 represents God’s people as seen in the twelve tribes of the Old Covenant and the twelve apostles of the New Covenant. The number 1,000 represents completeness—all of something. For instance, the Old Testament says God owns “the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). That means God owns all the cattle on every hill. Similarly, God says, “I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me” (Exodus 20:6 NLT). That means God lavishes love on all generations that love him. Thus, the 144,000 is symbolic for all of God’s people in every epoch of time.
But in what sense did this seal protect first-century Christians? Did the seal make their bodies invulnerable to arrows, spears, and swords? Did the seal make their necks diamond-hard so executioners’ axes glanced off? Did the seal render them fireproof so they felt no heat when they were burned at the stake? No. As we’ve already seen, countless believers perished during Nero’s persecution. And believers today remain just as vulnerable. The seal of God isn’t meant to protect the body; but rather, its contents—the soul. Jesus put it this way: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28 NIV).
God promised his people that even if their bodies perished, their souls would live on in eternity. John witnesses the proof of that promise in the very next passage. He writes: “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 before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9 NIV).
This great multitude and 144,000 are one and the same. Literarily, the 144,000 and the great multitude are comparable to the Lion and the Lamb. Just as John is told about a Lion and turns to see a Lamb, he told about the 144,000 and turns to see a great multitude that no one could count. From one perspective the great multitude is numbered. From another it is innumerable.
Even though many of among their number suffered and sacrificed in this life, in the life to come, the angel announces: “They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17 NLT).
What a glorious future awaits the sealed servants of God!
Conclusion:
As we survey these three key groups, we discover: The stampeding steeds represent God’s judgment about to be carried out in Judea. The slain souls represent those who’ve suffered and died for the name Christ. And the sealed servants represent all the saved of every generation.
I think the hope that we derive from the broken seals is that no matter what troubles, trials or tribulation we face—even if it costs us our lives—it will all be worth it in the end. This beautiful scene describes how God is preparing an enteral home where there will be no hunger, thirst, or pain and where he will wipe away every tear. When you’re suffering or torn apart by sorrow, take comfort that you are counted among the 144,000—because you bear the name of Christ and the seal of the Holy Spirit.
Next week, we’ll continue our adventure through Revelation.
Invitation:
In the meantime, if you haven’t washed your robes in the blood of the Lamb like the sealed servants did, then you haven’t been sealed by God and your soul isn’t safe. I want to invite you to do that today. Come to Jesus and be washed in the blood of the Lamb. If you’re not sure how to do that, then come talk with me after church, call me at home, or come forward now while we stand and sing. Let’s sing together church!
