The Scroll of the Revelation - things not seen at first

[Zao is life]

Nobody ever sealed a blank scroll, and nobody ever wrote the contents of the scroll into the seals. A lot of people have made the mistake, though, of thinking that the seals are the scroll, or what's written in the scroll.​

The book of Revelation is packed with types and antitypes (example Babylon of old vs Babylon the Great), as well as symbolic imagery, (example Revelation 1:20); as well as metaphor, simile and hyperbole, not to mention "Markan Sandwiches".

A veil is not the article hidden under it. After the king's decree has been written in the scroll, the scroll is sealed until it becomes time to break open the seals and unroll the scroll, so that the king's decree can be read.

The scroll will remain sealed until the time chosen by the king for his will to be made known, and the king may choose who will have the right to break open the seals.

The scroll already existed as a decree in the mind of God before it was unveiled by Jesus, the only one worthy to have opened the seals (Revelation 5:5), who unveiled it to His churches via His apostle John, and so it became a written scroll.

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Once the seventh of seven seals was opened, the scroll was now ready to unroll, and the first thing that we see in the scroll is the seven angels who have been appointed to carry out God's judgment:

"And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.". (Revelation 8:6).

GOD'S JUDGMENT:
"Voices, thunderings, Lightnings, and an earthquake"​

The door that had been opened in heaven for John immediately before he was made aware of the scroll, allowed John to be able to see the throne of God, so that he could be shown the scroll that was still sealed with seven seals, and John saw "lightnings and thunderings and voices" coming out from the throne (Revelation 4:5).

We read of "voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake" when God speaks: We see it in Exodus 20:18, we see it used in poetic form by David in 2 Samuel 22:14-15, and we see it again in the seventh seal, the seventh trumpet, and the seventh plague or bowl of wrath:



This 7-7-7 repetition is reminiscent of the walls of Jericho falling the seventh time the people marched around the city on the seventh day, when the seventh trumpet sounded (Joshua 6:1-20). There were seven priests blowing seven trumpets. This is why we see the seven angels with seven trumpets when the seventh seal has been opened.

The opening of the seals is the lifting of the veil, i.e the apocalypse or revelation of what has been decreed by God, and it was all (including the metaphoric / symbolic imagery in the seals, as well as the judgments decreed which are contained in the Logos of God) written by John into one scroll, but it's not a case of "first the things seen in the seals are 'going to take place', then after this .."

Aside from the fact that the metaphoric / symbolic imagery seen in the seals are not the decreed judgments written in the scroll, any sequence of events contained in apocalyptic biblical literature is never written in a strictly chronological manner.

 

[Zao is life]

THE SONG OF MOSES
and its significance​

In Revelation 15:2-4 we see "those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name" singing the song of Moses.

The Song of Moses was sung after God's people had crossed the Red Sea, after they had been delivered from great tribulation at the hand of Pharaoh, and after the judgment of the beast and his armies Pharaoh and his armies coincided with their redemption:



God's people were still in Egypt while the plagues were being poured out upon Pharaoh, and God's two witnesses (Moses and Aaron) were themselves bringing plagues of God upon Egypt. The locust plagues and turning the waters to blood are included in those plagues.

In the midst of the visions John is seeing regarding the 6th of 7 last plagues (which are also called "bowls of wrath") Jesus Himself interjects,

"Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is the one who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." (Rev.16:15).

Until now, we did not see Jesus Himself speaking directly to His people between His seventh and final message to the seven churches, and the above (He has not been quoted as Jesus Himself speaking since the seventh message to the seventh church, until now).

What did Jesus say in His seventh message to the seventh of the seven churches about the shame of nakedness?

After Revelation 16:15 (quoted above) Jesus Himself is quoted as speaking directly to His people again only after the judgment, when He declares that He now makes all things new (Revelation 21:3-8). So who is Jesus telling to watch for His return and to keep their garments in Revelation 16:15, if not His own people, bearing in mind that the 7th (and last) plague in the Revelation speaks of the judgment of the beast?

In Revelation 16:15 Jesus is telling us at what point He will come. This is how "the kings of the earth" seen in the 6th seal know at what point the day of His wrath has come:



The biblical type: "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the burning fiery furnace. He answered and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come forth and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth from the middle of the fire."

The antitype: "And they heard a great voice from Heaven saying to them, Come up here. And they went up to Heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them." (Daniel 3:26; Revelation 11:12).




@David in NJ

 

[Zao is life]

White horse, red horse​

The two types of crown identified in the Greek New Testament are stéphanos (crowns) and diádēma (royal diadem).

The origin of the stéphanos crown was the wreathe bestowed by the monarch upon victorious athletes in the ancient Greek games, which was worn on the head. Hence the stéphanos was a symbol of honor upon the head of the one who wore it, and is associated with victory. It's the crown repeatedly promised to the saints who overcome.

The word stéphanos (crown) is used in the same sense as above throughout the New Testament: 1 Cor.9:24-25; Jam.1:12; Phil.4:1; 1 Thess.2:19; 2 Tim.4:8; 1 Pet.5:4; Rev.2:10; Rev.3:11; Rev.4:4; Rev.4:10; Rev.12:1; and Rev.14:14.

In the Revelation, saints and 24 elders and the woman of Revelation 12 are given stéphanos crowns, the dragon and 10 kings are wearing diádēma, the locusts of the fifth trumpet that come out of the bottomless pit are also wearing something that has the appearance of stéphanos crowns, but though they look like the real thing, they are not the real thing.

Christ is seen wearing a stéphanos where He is called the Son of man, and many diádēma where He is called King of kings and Lord of lords.

Whatever type of crown the New Testament always associates with the word stéphanos (crown) is the type of crown the New Testament is teaching us to associate with the rider of the white horse in the first seal in Revelation chapter 6.

The same goes for the color white: Whatever the Revelation associates with the color white in each and every other verse where the color white appears, is what the Revelation is teaching us to associate with the rider of the white horse.

In the Revelation everything that's associated with the color white is pure:

Jesus' head and hair appear white like wool (Rev 1:14).
A white stone with a saint's name written on it (Rev 2:17).
The white raiment of the saints (Rev.3:5 & 18; 6:11; 7:9, 13 & 14).
The white clothing of the 24 elders (Rev 4:4).
The white clothing of angels (Rev 15:6).
The white raiment of the bride of Christ (Rev 19:8).
The Great White Throne (Rev 20:11).
Christ seated on a white cloud (Rev 14:14).
Christ returns on a white horse, leading His armies (Rev 19:11 & 14).
Christ's armies are riding white horses (Rev 19:14).
The first horseman of the first seal in the Apocalypse is riding a white horse (Revelation 6:2). He is given a stéphanos (crown).

Christ's armies are following Him on white horses in Revelation 19:14 (for thousands of years horses were used in battle).

You've probably heard it said by a Bible prophecy teacher, or seen it written in a commentary somewhere that the first horseman written about in the first seal is "the Antichrist", but this imagery is symbolic, a metaphor for something other than the literal things seen in the visions John was seeing - John was in the Spirit when he received the Revelation.

The first horseman written about in the first seal has a bow, but no arrows are mentioned, yet he went forth conquering and to conquer.

"Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6) .

Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before!
Christ, the royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See His banner go!
(19th century hymn).

"And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.
And if anyone will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone will hurt them, so it is right for him to be killed.
These have authority to shut up the heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire." (Rev.11:3-6).

THE SECOND SEAL: A RED HORSE AND NO CROWN​

In contrast to the first one, the second horseman is riding a red (Greek: pyrrhós) horse, which is the exact same color of the dragon in Revelation 12:3, and these two verses (Revelation 6:4 - the red horse of the second seal - and Revelation 12:3 - the red dragon) are the only two verses in the entire New Testament where the word pyrrhós is used.

The rider on the red horse is given a great sword and "power was given to him sitting on it, to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another" (Revelation 6:4) *

* Revelation 13:2 tells us that the red dragon of Revelation 12:3 will give the beast his seat, his power, and great authority.

The rider of the red horse is not given a crown. He is given a "sword" (again, it's a metaphorical sword) and he uses it to take peace from the earth and to cause people to kill one another.

"Then the sons of Moses and Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea." (Exodus 15:1).