June 18, 2023

REVELATION 4-8:1: JUDGMENT BEGINS

June 18, 2023

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

As we continue our third week of the Book of Revelation, we are grateful God gave the apostle John many visions of the end times, which in turn he wrote down for the church throughout history. The first chapter was the introduction of the Book and of John himself, with him giving the historical context of when, where and Who. Chapters two and three were letters from Jesus dictated to seven churches in Asia Minor, filled with standards that behoove the churches of today embrace. Today we continue with chapters four through seven, with the backdrop of the Throne Room and a scroll sealed with seven seals, showing the coming tribulation on the earth.

Focal Passage: Revelation 4:1-8:1.

The Throne Room:

  • Read Revelation 4:1. Whose was the first voice that John heard? What did it sound like? Where did God want John to meet with Him when He said, “Come up here”? What did He want to tell John, and what did He want John to experience?
  • Read verse 4:2. What did John see? Did John actually see God on His throne? Read Ex. 28:17-20. What likeness did the stones John saw have to do with the stones in the breastplate?
  • Read 2 Cor. 12:2-4. What kind of phenomenon did Paul see when he was caught up to the abode of God? Why did God tell him not to tell any of it?
  • Read Rev. 4:5b and 1:4. What were the seven lamps of fire? Is this the Holy Spirit in all His fullness? Read 6b. What were the living creatures for? What did their eyes convey?
  • Read verses 8-11. Who are the Elders? Who else is in the Room? The Throne Room seems a setting of activity. What is the one thing that all the people, creatures, and beings are involved in?

Worthy Is The Lamb

  • Read 5:1-2 What was in the hand of God? What were scrolls like this normally for? Could it have been the “Title Deed” to all that the Father had promised Jesus for His death upon the cross? Does anyone recall the significance of the title deed to Roman history with a will and seven seals?
  • Read vv. 2-4. Why was John so distraught when no one was found to open the scroll? What did it take for someone to be able to open it?
  • Read vv. 5-6. What did one of the elders tell John? Why do you suppose John would see Jesus as a lamb slain, with seven horns and seven eyes? Read verses 7-8. What did the elders and the creatures have in their hands? What did the golden bowls full of incense mean? What did they began doing?
  • Read Psalm 141:2. When you pray, do you think of your prayers going up before God as incense?
  • Read Rev. 5:9-12. When Jesus took the scroll from the hand of God, what did the ones in the Throne Room do?

The Seals of Judgment (Chapter 6)

  • SEAL #1: Read Rev. 6:2. Who did the rider on the white horse represent? What was his responsibility? What was the bow for? What did the crown indicate?
  • Why was he going to be victorious?
  • SEAL #2: Read verse 4: What color was this horse? What was his rider responsible for?
  • Having just lived through a pandemic, do you see how easy it would be to eliminate millions of people? What does this rider symbolize?
  • SEAL #3: Read vv. 5-6. What color is this horse? What was the rider holding, and what did they represent?
  • Who calls out? What is his message? What does he mean, “do not harm the oil and the wine”? Today, why do some people want the lower classes eliminated?
  • SEAL #4: Read verse 8. What color is this horse? What is he associated with? What was the name of his rider? How could “Hades” follow him?
  • How many would die during this seal? How would they die?
  • SEAL #5: Read vv. 9-11. What did John see when this seal was opened? Where were they? What do we call these people? What were they crying out?
  • What was given to each of them? When did these martyrs come to faith in Christ?
  • SEAL #6: Read vv. 12-17. What did John see during the opening of the 6th seal? Where are these same circumstances revealed elsewhere? In vv. 15-17, how did the people react?

The Sealed and the Saved

  • Read 7:1-3. What were the four angels to do? What did the fifth angel cry out? Who was going to be marked on the forehead?
  • Who did the 144,000 represent? Does 12,000 from each Israeli tribe seem like a very few?
  • Read 7:9-10. Who is the great multitude in these verses?
  • Read verses 13-14. When John is asked, who does the elder say these people are?

The Seventh Seal (Chapter 8) Silence In Heaven

  • Read 8:1. How long did the silence last? What was the silence for?
  • What was to happen at the end of it?

 

Close:

 

            The Great Tribulation is the worst time that will ever come upon the earth. Naturally so, as it will signal the end of the world as we know it. For those skeptics who do not believe that the world will end as the Book of Revelation sets forth, may you be reminded that so far, not one of the prophecies from either the Old Testament or New Testament that were to be fulfilled by the year 2022 has failed.

The end result would be that you might put off deciding whether you want to acknowledge that God is actually going to judge the world. Don’t wait. Assume it is the truth and give your life to Him. If you’re right and it doesn’t happen, you’ll still be fine, but if you don’t and you are wrong, you could be spending your eternity in a very real place called Hell.

 

By Sandy Day

June 18, 2023

 

 

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