The Seal Judgments - Part #2

The Seal Judgments

Part #2

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

OPENING: - Last week we discussed the first 4 seal judgments which brought on the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The White horse with its rider who had a bow and was given a crown bought deception in the form of the Anti-Christ, who offering a false peace and hope to a confused world can conquer not by military power but by political prowess. This is followed by the Red horse and its rider and its rider that has a great sword in his hand which took that false sense of peace away and ushered in wars and rumors of war. He was followed by the Black horse and its rider had a pair of balances in his hand indicating famine and economic control, and we concluded with the Pale horse whose rider is the only rider given a name and his name is Death and Hades follows behind him. We learned that this rider is given the power to kill by sword, famine, pestilence, and beast.

Today we pick up with the 5th and 6th seals. We are not going to touch the 7th seal just yet because there is a very significant event, several events, that happened before then. As you will recall I stated that it is my belief that from the 4th seal onward the rest of the judgments, the seals, trumpets, and bowls overlap and there are events that happen before certain judgments are released, also the 7th seal, the 7th trumpet, and the 7th bowl are in fact the same event and happen concurrently, the Day of the Lord the climatic end of the Tribulation period and the return of Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: -

SCRIPTURE: - Revelation 6:9-17

The 5th Seal

Vs #9-11 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled”.

Understand that when the 5th seal is opened, we are rapidly approaching the end of the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation period, the Temple has been rebuilt and sacrifices are being done, the Two witnesses have been preaching, the 144,000 have been sealed (which we will discuss before we look at the 7th seal). Satan makes war in heaven is defeated and cast out of heaven to earth Revelation12:3-4 & 7-13, Babylon’s governmental system is destroyed Revelation 17:1-18 & 18:1-20, then things really get bad, the Great Tribulation is about to begin.

When the 5th seal is opened John sees not a horse and its rider, he is not told by one of the four beasts to come and see, John just gives what he sees and that is under the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God and the testimony which they held. Remember the number 5 represents grace and in this seal, we see the Grace of God upon those that have been slain, these are the Tribulation saints Revelation 7:13-14 says “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robe? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”. The total Tribulation saints, those John sees under the altar and the ones that should be killed are told to rest until they have been killed in like manner – we will discuss that here in a few.

The first thing mentioned that is of great importance is the altar. This is the first time in Revelation that the altar is mentioned, it will be mentioned 7 more times in Revelation, and it is important to understand this altar, its purpose, and its location. Understand heaven is the dwelling place of God and God has always wanted to dwell in the presence of mankind. In scripture there are 7 dwelling places where God has dwelt with mankind in the Garden of Eden, at Mt. Sinai, the Tabernacle, the Temple, in Jesus, the Church, and Heaven (the new Heaven and new Earth).

In the Tabernacle and the Temple there were two altars, the Brazen Altar (altar of sacrifice) and the Altar of Incense which was before the veil before the Holy of Holies which is where the presence of the Lord dwelt. This altar that John sees is the Altar of incense which represents the prayers of the saints, it is not the Brazen altar (altar of sacrifice) because Jesus is the only one that was able to fulfill that altar’s purpose, our propitiation, the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world. This altar was placed in the outer court of the Tabernacle/Temple representing the world because everyone was allowed in the outer court, the priest were the only ones allowed in the Holy place and the High Priest was the only one allowed into the Holy of Holies the only ones allowed in the Holy place and the High Priest was the only one allowed into the Holy of Holies. Since Jesus overcame the world, through Him we have access into the presence God. The Altar of incense was placed in the Holy place before the veil of the Holy of Holies. The High Priest would take incense from this altar with him into the Holy of Holies representing the prayers of the saints and they would go up before the Lord as a sweet-smelling savor. Here John sees this altar of incense in heaven before God and under the altar he sees the souls of the tribulation saints that have been slain during the tribulation period.