The Wrath Of God-What It Is Not! Series

"THE WRATH OF GOD-WHAT IT IS NOT"

As we mentioned in the last chapter, much of present day prophetic teaching says the wrath of God/Day of the Lord starts at the beginning of Daniel’s Seventieth Week which many call "the tribulation period". This school of teaching also says that the seven seals of Revelation are the wrath of God because the Bible teaches they are opened sequentially at the start of the so called ’tribulation period’ which is Daniel’s Seventieth Week.

If we compare the description of the seals given in Revelation 6 with the wrath of God/Day of the Lord it will be obvious to even the casual observer that they do not fit the description given by the Old Testament prophets of the wrath of God/Day of the Lord. But, before we get too hasty and ’rush to judgment’, let us examine the text in Revelation 6:1-11 and once again look for a Distinguishing Name/Title, the Distinguishing Description and the Distinguishing Person responsible for bringing about the results of each seal being opened and compare them with the wrath of God/Day of the Lord.

The first seal (v.1,2) shows a personage on a white horse. Some say this is the Lord Jesus Christ, but He does not come to conquer at the beginning of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, but, instead He will come on His white horse to the battle of Armageddon at the end of the Day of the Lord (Revelation 19). Besides, the Lord is at this moment seen as the Lamb who is opening the Seals not riding a horse. Many commentators agree this is the "the prince that shall come" (Daniel 9:26) which refers to the Antichrist who here is falsely representing Christ.

Jesus indicated this very thing in His opening statement to the disciples in the Olivet Discourse when he warned the disciples "many shall come in My name, saying I am Christ, and shall deceive many"(Matthew 24:4,5). In v.2 of Revelation 6 the Antichrist’s activity is portrayed as he will go "forth conquering, and to conquer" at the beginning of Daniel’s Seventieth Week which is indicated in the victorious color of his horse.

However, let us answer the three distinguishing questions concerning the results of this first seal. Is the result of the Antichrist falsely representing Christ, and conquering in war the results of the wrath of God? Does this description sound like the one the Old Testament prophets gave concerning the wrath of God the Day of the Lord ? Is God the direct Agent of these results as He is described by the Old Testament prophets? All three questions must logically be answered NO! These events are obviously authored by the Antichrist, the direct agent of Satan himself! Neither the wrath of God nor the Day of the Lord is even mentioned in Revelation 6:1,2!

The second seal follows revealing a red horse: "And power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. and there was given unto him a great sword."(v.3) ’Wars and rumors of wars’ will follow on the heels of the Antichrists entry described in the first seal. The red horse some would say denotes bloodshed, and it is certain their will be much carnage as a result of this ’great sword’ wielded by the Antichrist who is the one symbolized upon the red horse.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:6,7a most accurately prophecy of this period of Daniel’s Seventieth Week: "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom..." Here, the Lord continues His answer to the disciples describing the unfolding of the first half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.

We must again ask the three questions we asked of the first seal and rightly answer them all with a resounding NO! Although God has used the wrath and wickedness of man and Satan to accomplish His ends, these results of the second seal do not even closely resemble the horrendous judgment of His wrath the Day of the Lord as described by the Old Testament prophets!

The third seal is opened and a black horse and rider are shown with "a pair of balances in his hand". The weighing and valuation of different items is interpreted by most to indicate that one days wages will only be enough to buy one loaf of bread. The symbolism "indicates a time of famine when life is reduced to the barest necessities; for famine is almost always the aftermath of war."says Walvoord in his commentary "The Revelation of Jesus Christ".

This, too, agrees perfectly with the Lord’s chronological answer "there shall be famines" (Matthew 24:7b) The symbolic rider of this horse is also the Antichrist as he is the Satanically inspired man who will rise to power authoring these tragic events of the first 3-1/2 years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.