Revelation 6: The Seventieth Week Revelation 6 Snug Gospel Chapel: January 17 th, 2016 Good morning! We are continuing once again our series in the book of Revelation, though this morning we re going to be taking a bit of a detour in order to set the scene for what we re about to study. Before we do that, however, it s important that we come to the Lord in prayer. Let s pray. Father, we ve come so far through this amazing book, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, given to Him to show His servants what must soon take place. We ve seen millennia of church history, we ve looked into the throne room of the Lamb, we ve watched angels bow down before you, and elders cast their crowns at your feet. We ve seen the Lion of the tribe of Judah, portrayed as the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world and through it all, Lord, we ve seen the unveiling of the matchless King of Kings. Worthy is the lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honour and glory and blessing. Lord, as we come to the point in your Revelation where you tear back the pages of our future history and show us the things that must soon take place, we ask that you would give us wisdom. Give us eyes to see your hand at work in all these things, ears to hear your voice, and faith to trust that you are in control of all we read and hear. Above all, Lord, in every word, in every breath, in every page and paragraph, may you be glorified. In Jesus name. Amen. This morning, we re going to be looking at just two main points as an introduction to Revelation 6. There s a lot to study in this passage, and before we can even think about delving into it, we need to understand what we re dealing with. So this morning, I d like to look first at the point of prophecy, and the purpose of the Tribulation. The point of prophecy, and the purpose of Tribulation. Now, if you re wondering why we need to do this background work first, allow me to explain. Upon arriving at Revelation 6, we ve reached the point at which the things that we re about to examine are no longer current events, like the churches were, nor even imminent events, as the Rapture is, but future histories, written in advance in the pages of Scripture.
With that in mind, we need to take a particularly considered approach to the things that we re about to read; and we need to understand how prophecy actually functions, as this will help us understand and interpret the events, people and places that we encounter from this point onward. The Purpose of Prophecy First of all, let me just remind you that this is indeed prophecy. Revelation 1:3 states, blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy Now, that might seem like an unusual thing to need to state at this point, but there are those who would consider Revelation in its entirety to have been fulfilled prior to 70AD. This verse discounts that immediately. What we re about to see, hear and read is prophetic. It is the future history and destiny of this world. What it is not, however, is straightforward prose. This book isn t written like the histories of 1 st and 2 nd Chronicles, for example. That s immediately apparent to anyone that opens the book, but we need to be conscious of exactly why that is. Turn with me in your bibles to the book of John. I want to demonstrate for you, using words from the Lord Jesus Himself, the point and the purpose of prophecy. John 14, and verse 25. 25 These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard Me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, I am going to the Father, for My Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here. What I want you to take particular note of here is verse 29. and now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. In some respects, we are victims of our own Western mindsets when it comes to prophecy in Scripture; and when we come to a book like the Revelation, we need to be conscious of stripping those preconceptions away and simply taking the Bible at its word. You see, we ve inherited our view of Scripture, and our view of prophecy, and in many respects, our methods of textual interpretation itself, from a purely gentile perspective. Whether we re conscious of it or not,
our Western traditions and our approach to literature looks back to Greece and Rome, to writers like Aristotle, Socrates and Herodotus. Now, that s fine, and there s certainly nothing wrong with that, but we need to be mindful that the Greek tradition has a very different view of prophecy to that which is assumed in Scripture, and used by the apostles and the prophets. In the Western mindset, prophecy is prediction. Let me give you an example of that. The Bible isn t the only book with prophecy in it; this is not an exclusive claim. You could sit down with a book of Nostradamus prophecies, for example, and technically you d be reading the same genre of literature that we see here in Revelation 6-22. The distinction, however, is that the writings of someone like Nostradamus are purely predictive; that is, they are written with the single intent of predicting future events. The Bible simply isn t like that. Now, that s not to suggest that the Bible doesn t predict future events; obviously it does but what we need to be sensitive to is the fact that this isn t the primary function of Biblical prophecy. What we need to understand, however, is that the things that are written for us here in the pages of Scripture are not written with prediction as their primary purpose; rather, their purpose is just as Jesus said, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. This is the point and purpose of prophecy: not that we should necessarily see and understand everything in advance, in a predictive sense, but that when these things do occur, we should recognise the God who ordained that these things should be so, and give Him the glory due to His name. We ll see as we continue to study the book of Revelation that this book will indeed have the desired effect. Many will see and believe, and will be redeemed out of the Tribulation and in fact Revelation 7:9 calls this group a great multitude which no one could count. This, then, is the primary purpose of prophecy: to draw attention to the supremacy of the God who makes the end known from the beginning; not merely through prediction, but through the validation of that which is written - and it is this feature that sets Biblical prophecy apart from the writings of human authors. In all the writing in all the world, of ages and eons past and future, God s Word alone has the power and authority not only to proclaim the future as though it were history, but to prove, time and time again, it s authenticity and authorship through the validation of the prophetic Word. This unique feature is God s exclusive calling card to a world that will one day kneel and call Him King. Now, there is a flipside to the prophetic word that we need to be aware of. Knowing as we do now that prophecy is designed to reveal itself not through prediction, but in fulfilment, we should now understand why it is that it is sometimes difficult to read and indeed, many people avoid the prophecies of Scripture for this very reason. This, too, however, is done with intent. The type of vivid imagery that we grapple with in books like Revelation are hallmarks of a form of literature that is explicitly designed to reveal itself in perfect clarity upon fulfilment, so that you might see,
understand, and believe. In this sense, prophecy has a similar function to parables, which Jesus defined as being spoken that: Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them. (Mark 4:12). Can you see the parallel here? Prophecy is designed to be appreciated with the benefit of hindsight. This is a deliberate form of veiled messaging truth hidden in the text so that it may be unveiled when the time is right, or when the audience is right; or, as is so often the case, when the Holy Spirit chooses to make it clear. You don t have to take my word for this, however Scripture states as much. Listen to this verse from Daniel chapter 9. This is Daniel 9:12. Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. (Daniel 9:12) This is why there are so many divergent beliefs on the meaning of Revelation, and particularly chapters 6 to 22. In this sense, prophecy is very similar to what the apostle Paul described, where he stated that what we see now, we see dimly, as in a mirror but when these things occur, when they do come to pass, we should see and understand that the God who makes the end known from the beginning had his fingerprint of design on the text all along and more than that, what we d previously perceived with difficulty suddenly become vibrantly clear and precise. This, of course, should instil in us some form of humility when it comes to studying these things. Now, don t misunderstand me: there are without question those issues in Scripture that are simply not up for negotiation: the inerrancy of the Word, the literal creation at the hand of God, the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. I would not suggest to you that these things should be viewed with anything other than absolute certainty. but what I would suggest to you this morning is that for all the reasons we ve just discussed, the exact timing and sequence of events that occur after the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ is not something to be particularly pedantic about; for as long as we live on this side of the prophetic fulfilment of these events, we are by the very nature of prophecy itself, limited in our perception. But with that said, I d also suggest to you and in fact, I ll demonstrate it this morning as we progress into chapter 6 is that everything that is presented to us in this book has a precedent elsewhere in Scripture; and the more we know our Bibles, the more we study the Old Testament in particular, the more certain these things become. Beyond that, if we are willing to accept Scripture as it is, and to interpret literally where context demands it, we find that much of the complexity gives way to clarity, and it is my hope that we ll see that clarity as we proceed through the prophetic passages of this book.
I will make one final point before we continue. While this should always be our practice, it becomes even more important when studying prophecy. I would greatly encourage you to study God s Word yourself to see if the things I m preaching to you from this pulpit are consistent with what the Lord has to say; because while I have indeed done my homework on these things, and am convinced that what I m presenting to you is the truth of God s Word as it is written it is ultimately your own responsibility to test what I say according to Scripture, and present yourself as an approved workman before God. In other words, don t take my word for it; take this as a challenge to delve into Scripture and seek the truth of these things yourself. It is perhaps timely for us to remember Paul s commendation to the Bereans. Having taught throughout Asia minor, Acts 17 tells us that, having been persecuted by the Jews in Thessalonica, the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. This is the challenge to every Christian in every book, in every sermon, but particularly in regards to prophecy. Christian, do your homework. Spend time in Scripture. Learn to recognise the voice of the Holy Spirit and understand His Word. This is the secret of the Scriptures: that we should find clarity only through the lens of the Holy Spirit s guidance. This is, in fact, the Holy Spirit s chief role in regard to the Word of God as Jesus said, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Now, let s move on. We do have one final piece of background information that we need to look at before we can proceed into Revelation 6. I ve spoken on numerous occasions throughout this series about a period of time that we commonly refer to as the Tribulation, or The time of Jacob s Trouble, but I haven t gone into a lot of detail about what that means. In order to understand this, and to frame the entire series of sermons from here until the end of the book of Revelation, we need to go back to the book of Daniel. Turn with me, briefly, to Daniel, chapter 9. We re going to be reading from verse 20 until the end of the passage. 20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you
skill to understand. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: 24 Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate. What concerns us this morning is largely the last verse of this passage; but I ll outline it briefly in its entirety. Daniel received this visitation while living in Babylon. The reign of Nebuchadnezzar the Great has ended, the Babylonian Empire has been succeeded by the Medo-Persian Empire, and the Jewish people remain in captivity. Here, in his room, and while he is praying, as you may remember he did three times a day, every day, Daniel is approached by the angel
Gabriel. Now, there is no indication that this is a vision; Daniel is literally being visited by an angel, who appears to provide context to a series of visions that Daniel has already experienced in chapters 7 and 8. What Gabriel provides to Daniel at this point is an outline of all of history from the time of their conversation until the return of Jesus Christ. Daniel has seen this in detail in chapter 8, but hasn t understood it, as he explains himself in chapter 8 and verse 27. Now, the first half of this prophecy is fairly clear and again, this speaks to what I was talking about earlier, in that we have the benefit of hindsight that makes all of these things readily apparent to us. The word translated here as weeks literally means a seven of years ; or, put simply, seven years. What Gabriel is telling Daniel is that there are seventy sets of seven years remaining for the people of Israel. In this time, sixty-nine sets of seven years will be the period between the command to restore and build Jerusalem and the death literally the execution of Messiah the Prince. We understand this, simply, as the time between the command to restore Jerusalem (which was given by Artaxerxes on the 5 th of March, 445BC) until the death of Jesus Christ on April 6 th, 32AD. This in and of itself is remarkable: Gabriel s prophecy details exactly, explicitly, the date of the crucifixion of the Messiah. From the declaration to restore Jerusalem until the death of Christ was indeed sixty-nine sevens, or 483 years according to the Jewish calendar. It s the final verse, however, that concerns us today. With sixty-nine weeks fulfilled, Gabriel sets apart one final set of seven years. Verse 27. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations Shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate. This single verse frames the entire thread of the narrative between Revelation chapter 6 and Revelation chapter 16. From the confirmation of a covenant, to the consummation that is determined, is seven years. Even the language here mirrors the book of Revelation and I d suggest to you that the consummation, poured out on the desolate is a reference to the bowl judgments of Revelation 16, and to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in chapter 20. The reference to the desolate here refers to the nation of Israel at a time where the temple itself is desecrated and void, and indicates to us that the primary focus of this time period is not only upon judgment, but the judgment of Israel, first and foremost; and this brings us to the purpose of the Tribulation.
The Purpose of the Tribulation Daniel reveals to us, through the message of the angel Gabriel, where we stand in Revelation 6: on the threshold of seven years of tribulation; a time set aside for judgment, characterised by the rise of a world dictator who will make a covenant with many, bring an end to sacrifice and offering, and bring desolation to the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. At the outset of chapter 6, these things are yet to come. The Revelation, however, doesn t begin as Daniel does; and at this point it s worth recognising who John s audience are. Remember the opening chapters of this book, from 1 to 3. John s audience here is the Church, and will no doubt to a notable extent also include the Tribulation Saints. With that in mind, this book focuses significantly less on the judgment of Israel than the Old Testament prophets do, and far more on the global scenario that takes place during the tribulation. Let s see what the Lord has to say. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 6, starting at verse 1. First Seal: The Conqueror 6 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, Come and see. 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. Second Seal: Conflict on Earth 3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and see. ] 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth 5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine. Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth 7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. As you can see by these verses, we ve reached another point of transition in this book. Where previous chapters eased us in, however, detailing John s transition from heaven to earth, there is no such pause here. The Lamb has taken the scroll from the hand of Him who sat on the throne, and the moment the seals are broken, the world is plunged into
chaos. Now, we don t have time to look into each of these horsemen is great detail today, but what I d like to do is set the scene for my next sermon, so that when we reach that point you ll have the context for the things we re going to study. As we do so, my hope is that you will see the purpose of the Tribulation, and the reason for the judgments that occur. Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Zechariah, and chapter 1. As you turn to those verses, I d like to restate something you ll no doubt be familiar with by now. I ve said to you before that if you seek to truly understand the book of Revelation, you need to know the Old Testament. This passage is absolutely no exception, and the verses we re turning to will demonstrate why that is. There is a great deal of confusion among honest believers and even scholars as to who these horsemen are, but it s an entirely unnecessary conflict. As you ll see in this chapter, Scripture has already provided an answer for us. Zechariah, chapter 1 and beginning at verse 7. 7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: 8 I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were horses: red, sorrel, and white. 9 Then I said, My lord, what are these? So the angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what they are. 10 And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth. 11 So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly. Now, there are several key things that we need to note here. I m going to suggest to you that these are indeed the same horses that we ve just read about in Revelation chapter 6. but there s more than that in these verses. First, take note of the company that these horses keep. Look at verse 8. I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse. This man is identified in verse 11 as the Angel of the Lord. Now, there s a whole study in this in and of itself, but the Biblical term the Angel of the Lord is a title, not a description, and is a reference to the pre-incarnate King of Kings, Jesus Christ. We find these appearances of Christ, known as Christophanies, in several places in the Old Testament, notably Genesis 16, Genesis 22, Exodus 3, Judges 5, Judges 13, 2 Kings 19, and several others but His presence here is significant, and reveals something to us about these horses. These creatures are not demonic. They are not the work of Satan on earth, nor are they conquering, or taking peace, or tearing down the systems of this world, in his name. They are Christ s! They belong to Him, they are doing His work, and they are exacting justice at His command.
and in fact, if that s not clear enough from the Lord s words to the prophet here in this passage, you can see it demonstrated clearly by the fact that the Lord Himself is riding upon the red horses at the beginning of this chapter. but Scripture doesn t stop there. Let me justify this view a little more. Turn with me to Zechariah 6. Zechariah 6, beginning at verse 1. Then I turned and raised my eyes and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses, 3 with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot dappled horses strong steeds. 4 Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? 5 And the angel answered and said to me, These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. These horses, terrifying as they are, are spirits; they are heavenly beings sent from heaven to enact the righteous judgment of the King on an unbelieving, unrepentant world. Now, this might seem like a minor point in some respects but it does address another error that is not only common, but growing the idea that the Rapture of the Church is a pre-wrath event. This view is predicated on the idea that the wrath of God does not commence until the trumpet judgments, and instead argues that the seal judgments are the wrath of Satan. A correct, Biblical view of the horsemen indicates to us why this view is false. The entire tribulation is the outpouring of the wrath of God. These horses and their riders not only operate at the command of the King, but are explicitly stated as being in His presence. They go out from their station before the Lord (Zechariah 6:5), and do not return to Him until their task is complete. When we look at these passages next time, we ll look in greater detail at what these tasks are, and how they go about their work upon the earth. For now, however, what we need to understand is that these horses and their riders demonstrate for us the point and the purpose of God s judgment, both here and in the book of Revelation. Let me elaborate on that a little bit, as we close. Speaking of the Tribulation, Jeremiah says: The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and until He has accomplished the intent of His heart; In the latter days you will understand this.
Of course, this verse makes sense on its own, with or without riders or horsemen. We know from Scripture that the Lord s judgments take place in order to satisfy His own righteousness. Romans 1 tells us that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. This is not a new idea. What we need to wrap our heads around here, however, in the context of the book of Revelation, is that the function of the horsemen is not only to enact God s judgment upon a fallen, rebellious world, but also to bring peace. Look at Zechariah 6, verse 5. And the angel answered and said to me, These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The one with the black horses is going to the north country, the white are going after them, and the dappled are going toward the south country. 7 Then the strong steeds went out, eager to go, that they might walk to and fro throughout the earth. And He said, Go, walk to and fro throughout the earth. So they walked to and fro throughout the earth. 8 And He called to me, and spoke to me, saying, See, those who go toward the north country have given rest to My Spirit There are times in our lives, in this fallen, broken world, where we become comfortable with sin. In fact, I d go so far as to suggest that every one of us is all too familiar with that feeling and hopefully, through the grace of God, the conviction of the Holy Spirit that comes along with it. but these horsemen reveal something that we often take for granted, something we often miss in the drama and the turmoil of this book. You know, I think we often forget that God has feelings. That might seem like an odd thing to say, but in the unbelievable constancy and the endless forgiveness of the Father, we can take these things for granted. And yet, here in Zechariah, we see the truth of the matter. Our sin our rebellion against God, strains and pulls at the very heart of the King of Kings. It burns, it aches, and it causes Him grief. Our sin strains at Him like a thirst that needs to be quenched. This is why Son of God, Jesus Christ, gave His life for you, and for me not just because He loved us - though praise the Lord, that s true but also because He loved His father, and literally gave everything to quell the pain and soothe the anger of a holy and righteous God; to reconcile us to Him and to give His Spirit rest. so where does this leave us? We stand today on the threshold of the Tribulation. I ve shared with you in past sermons that the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ is imminent. It could occur at any moment, even as I stand here preaching to you today. The verses we ve looked at this morning indicate not only the immediacy of God s impending judgment upon this world, but also echo the very heart of the gospel: that Jesus Christ died to save sinners, to give His Father s Spirit rest; to satisfy the righteous demands of the law, to give His own life in your stead, and mine, to bear the punishment due to sin, that you and I might live.
If you re not utterly dependent upon the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ today, if your hope of redemption is not found in the blood of the Son of God and His offering on your behalf, this is what awaits you. Judgment. For the King of Kings will give His Father perfect rest - through His blood, or through judgment, in righteous anger, poured out on a world filled with rebellion. and the question for you this morning, as ever, is this: Where do you stand with Jesus Christ? We ve covered just the tip of the iceberg this morning. We ve barely begun looking at what Revelation has to say about these horsemen, let alone the continuing judgment of the Tribulation, but the message, for those of us on this side of prophecy, before these things find their fulfilment in this world, is simple. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while Hs is near. Tomorrow might be too late. Let s pray.