May 22, 2024

“REVELATION”

6:1-17

The Tribulation is mentioned over fifty time in the Old Testament by such expressions as, “the day of calamity,” “day of wrath,” “the day of the Lord’s wrath,” “the day of Jacob’s trouble,” “the day of vengeance of our God,” “time of trouble,” and “the day of the Lord.” In every case it is talking about the nation of Israel.

There are over a dozen references to that period in the New Testament, the best known as the “Tribulation” in Lord’s Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:21) “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

Matthew 24:15-28

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel:

Daniel 9:2

Daniel begins to pray, confessing his sins and the sins of the nation of Israel. Then God sends the angel Gabriel with a special message to Daniel. 

Daniel 9:22-27

Seventy weeks means seventy years-sevens are weeks of years. So Daniel’s seventy weeks are literally seventy units of seven years, or 490 years.

Three divisions- 9:25

1. Seven weeks or 49 years- “there will be seven weeks” 
2. Sixty-two sevens or weeks of years equals 434 years. “sixty-two weeks” it was a period of silence from God until John the Baptist came on the scene.
3. One week equals seven years. “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week” 9:27. “He” or the Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel for one week, seven years.

So 49+434+7=490

Three parts of the Tribulation:

First three and a half years- chapter 6-9

The events in the middle- chapters 10-14

Last three and a half years- chapters 15-19

Psalm 2:9 “You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

apocalypse-the complete and final destruction of the world.

The First Seal- Revelation 6:1-2-The Rider on the White Horse

The Antichrist- the Antichrist and his kingdom are obviously what is symbolized by the rider on the white horse.

The Second Seal- The Rider on the Red Horse-

Revelation 6:3-4- the red horse is obviously a symbol of war, for he has the ability to “take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another.”

The Third Seal- Revelation 6:5-6- The Rider on the Black Horse

Jeremiah 4:28, Lam. 4:8-9

The Fourth Seal- Revelation 6:7-8- The Rider of the Pale Horse- The pale horse is literally livid corpse-like, signifying death.

The Fifth Seal- Revelation 6:9-11- The Martyred Tribulation Saints

The Sixth Seal- Revelation 6:12-17- Catastrophe On Earth-

When the sixth seal is opened, the earth is violently shaken by a great earthquake, indicating that it is the great day of God’s wrath vs.12. 

Isaiah 13:9-13, 34:1-4, Joel 2:30-31,3:9-17 

vs.13- This verse indicates that meteors fall to the ground and hit as hard, unripe things.

vs.14- this catastrophe will apparently bring about fantastic changes of the physical earth. Nahum 1:5

vs.15- Great fear will grip human hearts, but because of their stubborn, willful, rebellious ways, instead of turning to God in the hour of peril, they will hide in the rocks, and the dens of the earth.

vs.16-17- It seems evident from these verses that the world will know that this is a judgment from the Lord Jesus Christ, for they refer to Him as “the Lamb.”

The first twenty one months of the Tribulation period consist of horrifying events.