End Times Commentary Part Two

Birth Pains

First Seal - White Horse, Bow without arrows
- Picture is different than Christ on White horse in Rev 19:11-16
- Shield of Faith quenches "fiery darts" perhaps arrows? Lies could be arrows that don't really exist.
- Deception - mentioned several times by Christ - 1st sign/warning, etc.
Second Seal - Red Horse, a great sword
- nation against nation (per Christ in Matt 24:7) is physical wars
- kingdom against kingdom is Kingdom of God vs Satan ie spiritual war
Third Seal - Black horse -Famine
- Christ also includes pestilence and earthquakes in His description (Matt 24:7)
Fourth Seal – Pale Horse -Death, Hell - sword, hunger, death, beasts of the earth
- death is inevitable result of the wars and famines, etc.
- beasts of the earth may refer to beasts of Revelation 13
- other possible interpretations include the plagues now coming from animals - bird flu, etc.

The events of the first 4 seals have been happening since Christ's ascension, perhaps even from Genesis on. Revelation ties the ability to open the seals to the crucifixion, implying that the seal opening began shortly after the ascension of Christ:

Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

The four horses and the four beasts tie the first four seals together as does the statement that Jesus makes about the same events:

Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

This means that the seals are in two phases just as the 7 feasts (festivals) ordained by God are broken into the spring feasts and the fall feasts. This is important because the 5^th feast is the feast of trumpets which helps confirm that the 7 trumpets of the Revelation also begin at the 5^th seal. (There is other evidence also we will see later.) The birth pains reference of Christ is NOT an analogy or simile! They are real and portend the birthing of the man-child as prophesied by all the prophets! (Human birth pains are intended to foreshadow these birth pains.) The important significance here is that they start slow and intensify both in magnitude and frequency as the birthing nears. Just as at His first coming Christ fulfilled the 4 spring feasts and at His second coming He will fulfill the 3 fall feasts, He also opened the first 4 seals at His first coming and will open the last 3 seals at His second coming.

Great Tribulation

Fifth Seal - End of pre-trib martyrdom, start of the "great tribulation"

contrasts God's martyrs throughout history with those from a "little season"
they must wait for the fulfillment of the martyrs - a required thing - martyrdom is God's highest honor

Why have the tribulation?

Hosea 12:2 "The LORD also brings a charge against Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways; According to his deeds He will recompense him.
Hosea 12:3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, And in his strength he struggled with God.

Jer 30:6 Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale?
Jer 30:7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.
Jer 30:8 'For it shall come to pass in that day,' Says the LORD of hosts, 'That I will break his yoke from your neck, And will burst your bonds; Foreigners shall no more enslave them.

Jer 46:28 Do not fear, O Jacob My servant," says the LORD, "For I am with you; For I will make a complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you, But I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, For I will not leave you wholly unpunished."

Dan 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.

Dan 12:10 "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.

Apparently, the purpose of God is to destroy all traces of self-effort/self-righteousness/works of flesh, etc from His people. In other words all the fig leaf efforts since Adam must go. This will be the only way that His people can enter His Rest.

Seven Trumpets

All the saints' prayers are answered by fire from the alter cast into the earth.

hail, fire, blood - 1/3 trees burn, all grass
mountain burning with fire cast into sea - 1/3 of sea becomes blood, 1/3 sea creatures die, 1/3 ships destroyed
star named "Wormwood" falls on waters - pollutes 1/3 of water
1/3 of sun smitten, 1/3 of moon, 1/3 of stars, 1/3 of day gone, 1/3 of night gone

**** woe, woe, woe - division of trumpets into two parts – another 4 vs 3 split
star falls to earth with key to bottomless pit locusts with scorpion stings - five months torment - sealed of God exempt
men seek death but it flees them!
four angels of Euphrates loosed - 1/3 of men killed
"mystery of God is finished" - resurrection occurs, Christ takes over earth - "The End" (of this age)

Two Witnesses

Man Child

Isaiah -

066:007 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain
        came, she was delivered of a man child.
066:008 Who has heard such a thing? who has seen such things?
        Will the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or will
        a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed,
        she brought forth her children.

Romans -

008:022 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails
        in pain together until now.
008:023 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the
        firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
        ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption
        of our body.

The Woman

1 Timothy

002:014 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived
        was in the transgression.
002:015 Notwithstanding she will be saved in childbearing, if
        they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Galatians

004:026 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother
        of us all.

Three Beasts

144,000

The Great Shaking

Sixth Seal - signs of second coming

sun darkened
moon darkened
stars fall to earth
"great shaking"
heaven rolled up as scroll
mountains and islands moved out of places
all men hide - total awareness of Christ's coming and wrath

Joel 2:10 The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness.

Joel 2:30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

Isa 34:4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree.

Jer 4:24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, And all the hills moved to and fro.
Jer 4:25 I looked, and behold, there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
Jer 4:26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were pulled down Before the LORD, before His fierce anger.

Heb 12:26 When he spoke before, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once again I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."
Heb 12:27 The words "once again" clearly show us that everything that was made--things that can be shaken--will be destroyed. Only the things that cannot be shaken will remain.

Return of Christ! (aka the "end" of the age)

Mat 24:29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken,
Mat 24:30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Ressurrection occurs:

Rev 11:11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and those who saw them were terrified.
Rev 11:12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" And they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watched them.

The tribulation martyrs are honored

Rev 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?"
Rev 7:14 And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

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Seventh Seal - Silence in Heaven

Rev 12:10 - removal of Satan from heaven - "which accused them before our God day and night"?
maybe related to silence of God while Christ on cross - Matt 27:46
any relationship to the seven trumpets?