Revelation 4:1 – 6:17 (Continued)

July 30, 2013

Then ALL creatures in heaven and on earth and under the earth joined in saying:

"To the One who sits on the throne
     and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever."

The four living creatures said, "Amen" and the elders bowed down and worshiped.

Are we "getting" this? Have we even begun to understand that life, our temporary time on this earth, is NOT about us and what we want? If our eternal lives in heaven are spent worshiping and praising and giving honor and power and glory to the great I AM and to the LAMB, then why do we think our lives on earth (which are like a mist) are about what we want, when we want it, and how we want it? And then we have the nerve to tell the great I AM what He should do for us?!?

Oh my goodness! Who do we (people) think we are? Certainly not servants of Master Jesus. What has America done with Christianity? What have we done with Christ's message? Where did the idea of prosperity "religion" or this feel-good-God-just-wants-us-to-be-happy "religion" originate? The answer is from selfish desires and from pride. It's from disregarding God's very first commandment and worshiping ourselves instead of God. And out of a selfish heart we present God with a laundry list of our wants. The prayers of the "saints," which should be a sweet smelling aroma to our heavenly Father, are instead a stench in the nostrils of the Most High God.

I want my prayers to be ones of worship, honor, glory, and praise to the only One who is worthy and to the Lamb. I want my prayers to be a sweet smelling aroma in the nostrils of my heavenly Father. 

The Lamb began to open the seals. One of the four beasts told John to "come" and see  So, John looked and recorded what he saw.

1. The first seal was opened. John looked and there before him was a white horse. Its rider had a crown and bow and it went out to conquer "determined to win the victory." Revelations 19 talks about Jesus coming on a while horse and being called Faithful and True. I don't believe this white horse and rider is Jesus. Instead, I believe it to be the Antichrist whose mission is to counterfeit the Christ as part of Satan's plan. He is determined to conquer, but not for the good of man. It is instead for man's destruction.
2. The second seal is opened and a red horse came out  Its rider was given power to take away peace from the earth. Violence runs rampant. Evil abounds.
3. The third seal is opened. A black horse came out. Its rider held a pair of scales. Famine takes over the land. Desperation and starvation are everywhere.
4. The fourth seal is opened. A pale horse emerges and its rider is death, and Hades followed close behind. War, starvation, disease, and death by wild animals kills a fourth of the people of the earth.  
5. The fifth seal is opened. John saw under the altar the souls of the martyred believers who were killed because they were faithful to God and His words and message. Their souls cried out "Holy and true Lord, how long until you judge the people of the earth and punish them for killing us?" Each of them were given a white robe and were told to wait a short time longer because it wasn't quite time yet. There were still more believers who were going to be martyred. When the time is right, THEN judgment will happen.
6. The sixth seal was opened. There was a great earthquake. Total chaos ensued. The sun became black, the moon became like blood. The stars fall to earth from the sky. The sky closed up and disappeared. Every mountain and every island was moved from its foundation. Total chaos. Fear was everywhere and no one was exempt. From the richest to the poorest, from kings and rulers to those who were free or slaves, everyone was terrified. They realized there was indeed a God and that He was showing His wrath. They called on the rocks and mountains to fall on them in a futile attempt to hide from God's wrath. They understood they could not stand up against the holy wrath of the One who sits upon the throne and of the Lamb. What they didn't understand is this: even the rocks, the very thing they were trying to hide under, understood the majesty of God and that He deserves our praise.

The consequences for disobedience kept increasing with each seal that was opened. It reminds me of Leviticus 26 where God talks about the reward for obeying God and the punishments for not obeying God. Each time the people refused to obey, the punishment increased seven fold. Leviticus 26:1 - 27:34; Leviticus 26:1 - 27:34 (Continued); and Leviticus 26:1 - 27:34 (Continued). 

What a contrast between the rewards given for obedience and the punishment set aside for those who have chosen disobedience. What a contrast from praising the Father and the Lamb in Revelation Chapters 4 and 5 and the tribulation described in Chapter 6.

If you are a believer: Stand strong and continue in the faith.

If you are a non-believer or a "religious" unbeliever: Change your hearts and lives while there is still time. Do it today!!

Addendum: 2/7/17 ~ I've been thinking about the number seven. Creation took seven days. In Leviticus the punishments increased seven-fold. In Revelation there were seven seals. I've always known the number seven is significant throughout scripture, but I've never taken the time to study it. Today as I was adding the links to Leviticus, I was reminded once again about the importance of the number seven in the Bible.

I wanted to learn more so I googled the question, "Why is the number seven important in the Bible"? and I found this website: Gotquestions.org

"What is the biblical significance of the number seven "7"?

"The first use of the number seven in the Bible relates to the creation week in Genesis 1. God spends six days creating the heavens and the earth, and then rests on the seventh day. This is our template for the seven-day week, observed around the world to this day. The seventh day was to be “set apart” for Israel; the Sabbath was a holy day of rest (Deuteronomy 5:12).

Thus, right at the start of the Bible, the number seven is identified with something being “finished” or “complete.” From then on, that association continues, as seven is often found in contexts involving completeness or divine perfection. So we see the command for animals to be at least seven days old before being used for sacrifice (Exodus 22:30), the command for leprous Naaman to bathe in the Jordan River seven times to effect complete cleansing (2 Kings 5:10), and the command for Joshua to march around Jericho for seven days (and on the seventh day to make seven circuits) and for seven priests blow seven trumpets outside the city walls (Joshua 6:3–4). In these instances, seven signifies a completion of some kind: a divine mandate is fulfilled."

You can read the rest of the very interesting answer here:  "What is the biblical significance of the number seven "7"?

Several different people have said to us over the years that maybe the lawsuit would end on year seven—but that didn't happen. The year 2014 came and went, and the lawsuit continued on. After reading the explanation of "seven signifies a completion of some kind: a divine mandate is fulfilled" I thought to myself—well of course the lawsuit didn't end on year seven. My sister and brother-in-law deciding to file a lawsuit was a direct violation of God's written word. It most definitely was not part of a divine mandate. It was selfish pursuit of evil plans and a desire to circumvent God's authority by using the world's court system to get what they wanted.

Several weeks ago a new thought came to me. I was writing The Beginning of the End on 1/11/17 when it suddenly occurred to me that it is has been seven years since I knew I was supposed to begin keeping a journal while reading through God's Word again. I began the process of reading and writing on November 16, 2009. When I finished the almost four year journey of reading and writing, I knew I was to transcribe my journals into a format where I could organize and label the contents of my journal. So, the plan to create this (private) blog began. The blog was just for my own personal use. Then along the way, while transcribing my journal entries, the unexpected happened:

LORD – What Am I to Do?
The LORD Answers!
I Didn't Know—BUT GOD DID!!

And for the first time, I realized what I had been working on since November of 2009 and what I thought was just for my own personal use was—THE Book. I knew I was to tell HIS Story, but never did I imagine my journals were the way HE wanted HIS story told.

Now it's early 2017, I am transcribing my journal entries for Revelation from my final journal; I am understanding for the first time that it has taken me seven years to complete the telling of HIS Story; I'm reminded of the importance of the number seven; I look up why the number seven is significant in the Bible; and I read the quote, "In these instances, seven signifies a completion of some kind: a divine mandate is fulfilled."     

Is there any correlation?  There is still editing to complete, but the actual writing and telling of HIS Story, the divine mandate I was given, has taken seven years. HIS Story cannot be released until the lawsuit has permanently ended, so until that time, we will wait. God waited patiently while Noah finished building the boat, and then His judgment began. We will wait patiently for God to reveal His timing. In the meantime, it makes me smile to realize this journey of reading and writing has taken seven years. How cool is that?

Here is what I do know. We are just very ordinary people. I'm 62 years old. I am not college educated. You really can't get more ordinary than we are. But, this isn't our story—it is HIS story—and we serve an extra-ordinary God. I don't know why we were chosen to be the recipients of a Blessed Event. All I know is that God has a plan and I want to be faithful.

There is so much that has happened that had absolutely nothing to do with us. So much. It's humbling to realize the path we have been on has been ordained by the great I AM. It turns out it wasn't my idea to:

• Hike the Appalachian Trail
• Begin going to visit the residents of a nursing home on Christmas mornings
• Go to the nursing home on that fateful day in January 2007
• Start a journal
• Begin to pray and prepare for a New Beginning
• Purge our home of all the lawsuit stuff while it was still ongoing
• Begin Walking On His Footpath (Following the Master's Lead)
• Open up my private journals for the world to see

And the list could go on and on. These weren't just random events. I'm convinced they were/are all "divine mandates" that had nothing to do with us—and after seven years—they are almost all completed. Is there more that needs to happen?

So, when or how is the lawsuit going to end? When can HIS Story become public? I have no idea. Nothing about this journey we have been on has been "ordinary." God has done so many amazing things along this path that it's hard to believe the lawsuit would end in some sort of ho-hum way. So, we wait, and we trust.  

Just like Mt. Kathadin is the goal for those planning on hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, Heaven is the goal for a believer who is following HIS path. There are valleys to cross, mountains to climb, and obstacles to overcome, but there is no safer place to be than on HIS path. We will wait to see what God has planned for our next steps. We will take a step, the next step, and the next step. The journey WILL unfold before us. 

 Walking on His Footpath (Following the Master's Lead).  

Addendum #2: 2/15/19 ~ Two more years have passed—and the lawsuit continues. I just realized (this past week while reading through my entries) that another seven is coming up.  It was in July of 2012 (while hiking the Appalachian Trail), that God brought it to our minds to begin praying about a New Beginning. Without our knowing it at the time, the New Beginning represented a turning point in our lives. You can read about The New Beginning: The Path Unfolds here.

Addendum #3: 6/26/19 ~ And then there was: A New Path—A New Journey


Next Entry: Revelation 7:1–17