B-A-C
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The book of Revelation is sometimes a hard book to read. Yet, I personally feel it is probably the most relevant book of our current time. It is interpreted a hundred different ways, and I don't know all the answers. But maybe it would help to at least know the questions?
Revelation chapters 2 and 3 talk about seven churches. Only two of the seven Jesus didn't have anything against. (Smyrna and Philadelphia).
Some of the other churches He has some things against, they allow false teachings of the Nicolaitans, or the false prophetess Jezebel. They have left their first love, some hold to the teachings of Balaam, etc...
As a consequence He tells them to repent of He will remove their lampstamp. There are some who have soiled their "garments", and some who are lukewarm, and some who say they are Jews (but are not). There are some He says need to "overcome" so He won't erase their names from the book of life.
I believe the seven churches are a representation of the church today. The church you belong to is likely one of the seven churches. The question is... which one?
After the seven churches, John writes about the seven "seals". Also known as the seal judgments.
This is mostly in Revelation 6. There is a lot of talk about the four horsemen of the apocalypse and who they are and what they mean. I admit some of it is vague to me. But some of it is pretty straight-forward.
The white horse, the red horse, the black horse, the ashen horse and of course the riders upon them could mean several things, But for example Rev 6:6 is pretty straight forward.
(NLT) And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.”
(NIV) Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, and six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
(NASB) And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."
Depending on what Bible translation you have it may say a loaf of bread, loaves of barley, two pounds of wheat, etc... But the thought here is... food will be very expensive. A loaf of bread will cost a days wage.
If it's going by the "average" wage of say $20.00 an hour, that's $160.00 for a loaf of bread. (120 British pounds)
I would like to talk more about the seven seals later.
In Revelation 8, John writes about the seven trumpet judgments. I'm not sure of how this chronologically compares to the seven seal judgments, but they are obviously different. Rev 8:9; is also pretty straight-forward.
(NLT) one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.
(NASB) and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.
As bad as the first four trumpets are, it seems the last three are worse.
Rev 8:13; Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"
The last three trumpet judgments are also known as the "three woes" or woe judgments. ( Rev 9:12; )
If the trumpets are really in chronological order (it seems they are) then the two witnesses would come between the sixth and seventh trumpet (the second and third woe).
It seems that the earth will be given to Christ at the seventh trumpet.
Rev 11:15; Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."
also an interesting note here, is the ark of the covenant reappears.
Rev 11:19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
In Rev 15 John writes about seven angels with seven plagues. Again these appear to be different from the seven seals and the seven trumpets.
In Rev 16 John writes about the seven bowl judgments. (The seven bowls of God's wrath).
These are probably the most severe in the series of judgments. For example...
Rev 16:21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague *was extremely severe.
I will attempt to break down each of the judgments one by one. The seven seals, the seven trumpets, the three woes, and the seven bowls.
The first seal.
Rev 6:1; Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come."
Rev 6:2; I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
There has been debate over whether this rider on this white horse is the same rider on the white horse in Rev 19:11;
I personally don't believe they are for a few reasons. But mostly it has to do with the timings of when things happen.
Not much is said about the first seal, in fact only two verses.
There is a lot of speculation about who the "four living creatures" (full eyes all over them) are.
Rev 4:6; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.
Rev 4:8; And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."
Also see Rev 5:6; Rev 5:8; Rev 5:14; Rev 6:1; Rev 6:6; Rev 7:11; Rev 14:3; Rev 15:7; and Rev 19:4 for more about these creatures.
But it is one of the four living creatures which calls forth the first rider on the white horse after the first seal is opened.
I am open to any suggestions or comments as to what the crown and the bow signify in these verses. But a clue may be in the statement..
"he went out conquering and to conquer. " This doesn't sound like war quite yet, but rather conquering by threats or perhaps economic sanctions
or perhaps "conquering" the prevailing thoughts of society?
.. thoughts anyone?
Revelation chapters 2 and 3 talk about seven churches. Only two of the seven Jesus didn't have anything against. (Smyrna and Philadelphia).
Some of the other churches He has some things against, they allow false teachings of the Nicolaitans, or the false prophetess Jezebel. They have left their first love, some hold to the teachings of Balaam, etc...
As a consequence He tells them to repent of He will remove their lampstamp. There are some who have soiled their "garments", and some who are lukewarm, and some who say they are Jews (but are not). There are some He says need to "overcome" so He won't erase their names from the book of life.
I believe the seven churches are a representation of the church today. The church you belong to is likely one of the seven churches. The question is... which one?
After the seven churches, John writes about the seven "seals". Also known as the seal judgments.
This is mostly in Revelation 6. There is a lot of talk about the four horsemen of the apocalypse and who they are and what they mean. I admit some of it is vague to me. But some of it is pretty straight-forward.
The white horse, the red horse, the black horse, the ashen horse and of course the riders upon them could mean several things, But for example Rev 6:6 is pretty straight forward.
(NLT) And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.”
(NIV) Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, and six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
(NASB) And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."
Depending on what Bible translation you have it may say a loaf of bread, loaves of barley, two pounds of wheat, etc... But the thought here is... food will be very expensive. A loaf of bread will cost a days wage.
If it's going by the "average" wage of say $20.00 an hour, that's $160.00 for a loaf of bread. (120 British pounds)
I would like to talk more about the seven seals later.
In Revelation 8, John writes about the seven trumpet judgments. I'm not sure of how this chronologically compares to the seven seal judgments, but they are obviously different. Rev 8:9; is also pretty straight-forward.
(NLT) one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.
(NASB) and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.
As bad as the first four trumpets are, it seems the last three are worse.
Rev 8:13; Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"
The last three trumpet judgments are also known as the "three woes" or woe judgments. ( Rev 9:12; )
If the trumpets are really in chronological order (it seems they are) then the two witnesses would come between the sixth and seventh trumpet (the second and third woe).
It seems that the earth will be given to Christ at the seventh trumpet.
Rev 11:15; Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."
also an interesting note here, is the ark of the covenant reappears.
Rev 11:19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
In Rev 15 John writes about seven angels with seven plagues. Again these appear to be different from the seven seals and the seven trumpets.
In Rev 16 John writes about the seven bowl judgments. (The seven bowls of God's wrath).
These are probably the most severe in the series of judgments. For example...
Rev 16:21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague *was extremely severe.
I will attempt to break down each of the judgments one by one. The seven seals, the seven trumpets, the three woes, and the seven bowls.
The first seal.
Rev 6:1; Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come."
Rev 6:2; I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
There has been debate over whether this rider on this white horse is the same rider on the white horse in Rev 19:11;
I personally don't believe they are for a few reasons. But mostly it has to do with the timings of when things happen.
Not much is said about the first seal, in fact only two verses.
There is a lot of speculation about who the "four living creatures" (full eyes all over them) are.
Rev 4:6; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.
Rev 4:8; And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."
Also see Rev 5:6; Rev 5:8; Rev 5:14; Rev 6:1; Rev 6:6; Rev 7:11; Rev 14:3; Rev 15:7; and Rev 19:4 for more about these creatures.
But it is one of the four living creatures which calls forth the first rider on the white horse after the first seal is opened.
I am open to any suggestions or comments as to what the crown and the bow signify in these verses. But a clue may be in the statement..
"he went out conquering and to conquer. " This doesn't sound like war quite yet, but rather conquering by threats or perhaps economic sanctions
or perhaps "conquering" the prevailing thoughts of society?
.. thoughts anyone?
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