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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
May 18, 2025
◘The Fifth & Sixth Seals: Martyrs & Terror
Revelation 6:9-17
◘Introduction
Turn to Revelation 6:9. We are now in the third section of the Apocalypse which covers the future, “the things which will take place after these things.” ◘We covered the past in Revelation 1 and John’s recounting of being on the isle of Patmos and in the Spirit on the Lord’s day when he was commissioned by the glorified Jesus Christ to write down the things that would be revealed to him. ◘We also covered what was the present time for John in the letters to the seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. These were specific messages to specific churches at a specific time, but the principles in each letter apply to all Christians and all Churches in all times and places that are in similar circumstances or condition.
◘Revelation 4 begins the section of the book dealing with the future when John sees a vision of a door standing open in heaven and hears a voice calling him to come up and he is again caught up in the Spirit, but this time it is to the throne room of God in heaven. What he sees is both majestic and frightening for the one seated on the throne is displayed as a judge full of wrath who is surrounded by four unusual living beings that glorify God proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” Twenty-four elders seated on thrones fall down in worship and cast their crowns before the throne saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
◘Revelation 5 continues to describe what occurs in the throne room in heaven as the focus shifts to a scroll with seven seals being held “in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne.” The only one in all of the universe found worthy to open the scroll and break its seals is Jesus Christ, the lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, who appears as a Lamb standing, as if slain, with seven horns and seven eyes. When Jesus takes possession of the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders worship Him with a new song praising Him for being worthy due to His paying the price to redeem man from sin. An innumerable host of angels join in the praise saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Then all of creation joins in the praise saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever,” with the four living beings proclaiming, “Amen,” and the twenty-four elders falling down to worship.
◘Review: The Four Horsemen – Revelation 6:1-8
It is important to keep in mind that John is in the Spirit and in the throne room of God in heaven from which sees and records what happens as the Lamb opens the scroll and breaks each seal in succession. The breaking of each seal results in one of the four living beings in succession giving the command to “come” at which a horse and rider go forth to bring a particular judgment from God upon the earth. Let me emphasize that. The scroll was in the right hand of God, the judge. The Lamb, Jesus, breaks each seal to reveal what was written in it. The command comes from the throne room of God to release each horse and rider. What occurs is according to God’s sovereignty to accomplish His will on the earth. While much of what occurs will be the consequences of evil, none of it is evil being victorious. God will use evil men doing evil things to accomplish His own purposes just as He did with Pharaoh in Exodus. This is all part of God’s testing “those who dwell on the earth” from which believers are kept according to the promise given to the church in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:10). To quickly review what I covered in my previous sermon.
◘The first horse was white and its rider had a bow and crown. They went out conquering and to conquer. I pointed out that white in Revelation is consistently the color of righteousness, and that this rider has no arrows though he has a bow which is a symbol of military might. This is overcoming people and nations through influence, threats and treaties to achieve bloodless victory. I pointed out that this matches the prophecies concerning the beginning of the tribulation period. The seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy begins with a treaty between the anti-Christ and the people of Israel. The prophecy of this time period by Jesus in Matthew 24:5 begins with the deceptions of false Christs. 1 John 2:18 and 1 Thess. 5:3 warn of the same thing. The day of the Lord comes while people are saying, “peace and safety,” but it does not last long.
◘When the second seal is broken, a fiery red horse and its rider goes forth with authority to take away the peace established by the first horse and rider. The red color symbolizes conflict and the sword signifies military action. Without the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Christ’s church, people are given over to pursue the evil in their hearts and peace collapses as civil strife rises bringing murder and civil war, and wars between nations also break out. This matches Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:6-7 that there will be war and rumors of war.
◘ The breaking of the third seal brings a black horse with its rider holding a pair of scales is released. Black is the symbol of mourning, and the scale along with the prices called out by the voice from the throne of God indicate famine. The price of food increases to the point that the wage of the average laborer is barely enough to purchase enough to stay alive. The cost increase is due to the combination of trade breakdown and shortages which are a common result of war. The people necessary to plant, cultivate and harvest crops are instead involved in military action or are chased off their land, and then what is planted and harvested is destroyed or stolen by enemies (Judges 6). Add to this crop failure due to weather extremes (drought, flood, hail, wind), crop diseases, insect infestations and animal damage all of which have occurred at times as judgments from God (Exodus 8-10, Deut. 28:15-24, 38-42). Famines are also part of Jesus’ prophecy in Matt. 24:7, and this will be the worst famine in history up to that time.
◘The breaking of the fourth seal brings forth an ashen horse being ridden by Death with Hades following. The pale green, ashen color is that of a dead and decaying body. Authority is given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, famine, pestilence and wild beasts. What began with the two previous horses and riders becomes worse as wars increase, the hunger of famine becomes death by starvation, deadly diseases spread, and even wild animals attack the weak. ◘These are all part of what Jesus described in Matthew 24:8 as the “beginning of birth pangs.” This is the early part of the seven year tribulation period which Jeremiah 30:7 describes as the time of Jacob’s trouble or distress.
◘Three Series of Judgments
Before I go on to the fifth seal, I want to remind you that Revelation records three types of judgments sent by God – seals, trumpets and bowls – with several of the later ones being worse forms of those that were part of earlier judgments. This is important to keep in mind otherwise the sequencing of events becomes confusing as well as correlating them with other prophecies. I will point these out as we go through the passages and I have provided a brief descriptive outline of the sequence of the rest of the book and these judgments in the notes. I bring this up here because I do not want you confused about what happens with the breaking of the fifth and sixth seals with what comes later in time. The seals are broken in the early part of the tribulation before the rise of the beast and therefore before the abomination of desolation.
◘The Fifth Seal – Revelation 6:9-11.
9 And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the witness which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Master, holy and true? Will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And a white robe was given to each of them; and it was told to them that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
◘With the opening of the fifth seal, John’s focus shifts from the horses with their riders going out to the earth to what is happening in the throne room where he is at to describe what he sees and hears there. The breaking of this seal does not bring about another testing of those who are on the earth but instead focuses on the martyrs whose souls have been gathered underneath the altar.
◘It is important to point out that these are not people who become martyrs at the opening of the fifth seal, but as the perfect participle indicates, it is those who had already been slain. The reason they were put to death is their faithfulness to bear witness to the truth of the word of God concerning Jesus Christ. These are believers in Jesus Christ who were faithful unto death would therefore receive the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). That is another reason these are people who died before the opening of the fifth seal and not because of it. The opening of the seals brings forth God’s wrath upon those who dwell on the earth, and the redeemed are kept from that wrath as promised in Revelation 3:10. The connection to God’s wrath in this seal is the cry of the martyrs for vengeance which we will look at in a moment.
◘We call these people martyrs because of their faithful testimony unto death. The term martyr comes from the Greek marturiva / martyria which means testimony or witness. So many Christians in the early centuries were executed for their faithful witness of Christ that the term became associated with being killed for that testimony. ◘These future martyrs are not just killed, they are slain, sfavzw / sophazō, violently and mercilessly slaughtered like Cain murdering Abel (1 John 3:12), and men will do that to others when the second seal is opened (Revelation 6:4). Because this particular term is used, these are martyrs that died at the hands of evil people after the opening of the second and fourth seals.
◘Jesus specifically warned about this in Matthew 24:9-13, 9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”◘ However, I must point out that Jesus’ warning here continues throughout the tribulation. The martyrs seen here with the opening of the fifth seal are only those from the early part of the tribulation.
◘The place of the souls of these martyrs is “underneath the altar” which is in heaven since that is where John is located as he describes what he is seeing. This is most likely the golden altar of incense since the prayers of the saints is symbolized as the rising smoke of incense in Rev. 5:8 and 8:3-4, and these martyrs are busy praying.
◘Their prayer is imprecatory in the same pattern as Psalm 74:9-10. The time of longsuffering grace has been exhausted and the time of righteous retribution has come as described in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9. They cry out very loudly to the Lord to bring about both justice and the avenging of their deaths. ◘The particular word translated here as Lord is not the more common Greek word kuvrioV / kurios, but is instead despovthV / despotēs which refers to a master, one who holds complete power or authority over another. ◘Using the pattern common in the Psalms, they use a question, “how long,” to appeal to God as the sovereign judge to take action. The appeal is based in God’s attributes of being holy and true. ◘God’s holiness assures that His judgment will fall upon those who do evil, and His veracity, His truthfulness, assures that He will carry out His promises to bring retribution on those who do such evil. These is the element of God’s wrath that is revealed with the opening of the fifth seal. The only question is when will this wrath come? How long before He will judge and avenge their blood?
◘It is important to remind you that it is God’s restraint, His long suffering patience, that gives sinners the time to repent before that judgment falls, and all sin deserves death as the just punishment. It is not just murders, idolaters, thieves, adulterers and the perverse, but also liars, those who covet, those who lust, those who take the Lord’s name in vain, and those who dishonor their parents. That is why 2 Peter 3:15 tells us to “regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” Yet no one should presume upon that patience to delay repentance and faith in Christ to receive His forgiveness because only God knows how long His tolerance of any individual will last. Today is the day of salvation for you may not have tomorrow.
◘Their appeal to God to judge and avenge their blood specifically concerns “those who dwell on the earth.” This phrase is again used as a designation for those living humans who are in rebellion against God, and here it would be specific of those who were in anyway responsible for the murder of these saints.
◘Verse 11 then points out that each of these tribulation saints receives a white robe, this is a stolhv/ stolē, which is a long, flowing robe which in that culture was a mark of someone of dignity with white signifying the holiness which comes through redemption by God’s grace through faith in Christ (Rev. 7:14). Since these are the souls of these martyrs and not resurrection bodies which will not be given to them until the first resurrection at the beginning of the millennium (Rev. 20:4-5), the question arises about how they can wear a robe. ◘While soul, yuchv / psuchē, refers to the immaterial life of a person and not the physical body itself, this passage reveals that these souls have a visible form capable of wearing a white robe that is also visible though we do not know of what substance it exists. We have to be content that there are details of the spiritual world that are real though they are outside the boundaries of the physical world in which we exist. Just as angels who are spirit beings can manifest themselves in the physical world and yet remain spirits, so these souls have the appearance of a physical form John could identify, yet not have a physical resurrection body which is also something we cannot fully comprehend as stated in 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
◘These souls are instructed “that they should rest for a little while longer.” This includes the ideas of both ceasing from their cry for God’s justice and vengeance for the time being, and for them to enjoy their current state of blessedness in the presence of God and away from the toil and pain of the world. It would only be a little time for the many additional martyrs to be added to their ranks through the rest of the tribulation period as described in later chapters of Revelation. God will bring about justice and avenge their souls, but not quite yet.
◘Revelation 7:9-17 describes another great multitude of martyrs after the opening of the sixth seal. There are also the two witnesses that are martyred in Revelation 11:3-12, and in Revelation 13:8, 15 in the period after the seventh trumpet is sounded, the beast from the sea makes war with the saints to overcome them, and the beast from the earth kills those that will not worship the image of the first beast. In Revelation 14:1-5 the 144,000 that were sealed in chapter 7 are now found before the throne along with the four living beings and the twenty-four elders singing a new song and following the Lamb. In Revelation 17:6 the woman that rides the scarlet beast is “drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus,” and in Revelation 18:24 there is found in fallen Babylon “the blood of the prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.” There will be many multitudes that will come to faith in Jesus Christ during the tribulation period, but it will often result in their martyrdom. It is and always has been much better to be a follower of Christ sooner than later, and this description makes it clear that it is better to become a Christian before the rapture instead of after.
◘The Sixth Seal – Revelation 6:12–17
The sixth seal brings terror upon those that dwell upon the earth. 12 Then I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
◘The breaking of this seal also matches Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24 that are part of the “beginning of birth pangs” in the early part of the tribulation period. It is important to point this out before we look at the details of this prophecy for ◘several of the events described here in the wrath that comes with the breaking of the sixth seal are similar to events that come in later judgments and in other prophecies about this period of time within the “day of the Lord.” Extreme care must be taken not to confuse these or amalgamate them together as if they are the same event for there are too many detailed differences for them to be simply different descriptions of the same event. A key difference is that after this seal men still have time to respond and repent. The seventh bowl (Revelation 16:17-21) is both different in detail and brings the end leaving no more time for repentance.
◘A Great Shaking – Revelation 6:12-14. With the breaking of the sixth seal, John’s attention is again directed from his vantage point in heaven to the events that will transpire upon the earth. The first is a great earthquake and the events related to it. ◘Actually, this is a seismovV mevgaV / seismos megas, a shaking that is of great intensity. While the term is often used in reference to the earth shaking, it is context that tells you what is being shaken, and here it is more than just the earth. It is not until you get to the end of verse 15 that there is actually a specific reference to the earth in which every mountain and island are moved. ◘This is not to be confused with the even greater shaking that occurs at the seventh bowl judgment which is greater than any previous since the creation of man and causes every island to flee away and the mountains will no longer be found (Revelation 16:18-20). That is the shaking described in Ezekiel 3:20 and Jesus in Matthew 24:29.
◘Darkened Sun & Blood Moon – Revelation 6:12. The great shaking affects the sun and moon. The term black here, mevlaV / melas, means dark and is described here as the color common in sackcloth made of hair, most often goat hair which would be dark brown or black. This was the cloth worn by people to express mourning or despair. ◘The fact that the sun can be described means it is still emitting light so that it is visible, but something is making its appearance severely darkened. The same is true for the moon which is described as looking “like blood,” a deep red color.
◘Joel 2:10 describes the sun and moon becoming dark due to the worst plague of locusts of all time, and the moon appears to be reddish during a lunar eclipse. However, since this change in the appearance of both sun and moon are ◘directly tied to this severe shaking, it would make more sense that this darkening and discoloration is due to dust and smoke caused by the shaking of the earth and the impact of meteors described in verse 13. Having grown up in a place where wildfires filled the sky with thick smoke, I can personally attest that the sun can be darkened and the moon look deep red in such a situation. Perhaps you have been in similar situations. This event will be much more severe than any of those.
◘There will be later events which involve the darkening of the sun and moon. In the fourth trumpet judgment one third of the sun, moon and stars will be darkened so they would not shine for one third of the time (Revelation 8:12). ◘When the fifth trumpet sounds, the opening of the bottomless pit releases smoke that darkens the sun (Revelation 9:2), and the fifth bowl judgment brings upon the kingdom of the beast a darkness so severe it causes the people in it to gnaw their tongues because of the pain (Revelation 16:10). ◘The darkening of the sun and moon in Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:29 comes later and in it the moon does not give its light.
◘Falling Stars – Revelation 6:13 describes the stars of the sky falling to the earth in the same way a fig tree casts unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The term “stars” here, ajsthvr / astēr, can be used for any heavenly body, and these would be meteors. If you have ever watched a meteor storm, the description of figs being flung off a tree by a high wind fits well for the meteors streak across the sky in many different directions and can even curve in their path just as the wind can cause a fig to do in flight.
◘Stars are also mentioned in later judgments. As already pointed out, one third of the stars are darkened in the fourth trumpet judgment. That would match both Isaiah 13:10 and Ezekiel 32:7
◘A Split Sky – Revelation 6:14. The sky is described as being split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up. The divided portions roll up on either end. This is a description of the magnitude of these signs in the heaven from a man’s perspective. It will seem as if the universe is coming apart. ◘That will actually happen later as described in 2 Peter 3:10, “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements destroyed with intense heat,” but that is in the future after the millennial reign (Revelation 21:1; Matthew 24:35).
◘The Human Response – Revelation 6:15-17. The seven-fold description of mankind in verse 15 ranges from kings to slaves, from the greatest to the lowest in society, and all of them respond in the same way. ◘They seek a place to hide in the caves and among the rocks in the mountains. The fact that mountains are still there after having been moved proves the sixth seal is not the same as the seventh bowl judgment in which the mountains are not found. The text does not say why they hide in these particular places in the mountains, ◘ but it is connected with a death wish since they ask the mountains and rocks to fall on them. It appears that though so much death occurs with the opening of the previous seals, death is not part of this judgment. Though man is seeking death, he cannot find it, so it also appears that they were not able to commit suicide, and of course the mountains and rocks could neither hear nor respond to their prayer since they are inanimate objects.
◘What would cause such fear that death is preferred and sought? They did not want to face the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” ◘The answer to their ending question is of course, no one, except those whose faith in Jesus Christ has made them exempt from this wrath because the Lamb has already paid the price of both propitiation and expiation to turn that wrath away and take it upon Himself. True Christians are not destined for this wrath for Jesus rescues us from it (1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9). All others will face it in its fullness.
◘Never assume that God’s longsuffering patience (Romans 9:22) is an exemption from His wrath. Unredeemed sinners are storing up God’s wrath against themselves (Romans 2:5). Notice as well that this is their wrath for it comes from both He that sits on the throne and the Lamb – God the Father and God the Son. The Father’s wrath is due to their sins committed against Him (Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6) and failure to repent (Romans 2:5), and the Son’s wrath is because of their disobedience to Him (John 3:26) especially in not obeying the gospel which brings about His retribution (2 Thess. 2:8).
◘What is this wrath? The term here is ojrghv / orge which is the thoughtful and determined expression of God’s anger in punishment of those who affront His holiness by their sin against Him without repentance. It is neither haphazard nor driven by emotion nor a reaction that comes without warning. It both abides against sinners in the present time (Romans 1:18) and will be expressed in the future by specific actions of judgment and punishment forewarned by the prophets, the apostles and here in Revelation.
◘It is critical to point out here that those who are trying to hide from God’s wrath that comes with the breaking of the sixth seal specifically state that “the great day of their wrath has come.” That verb is an active indicative in the aorist tense, not in either the present or future. It is a wrath that is already present from which they are seeking to hide and not a wrath that has just arrived or will come in the future.
◘The reason this is important is that it refutes what is known as the pre-wrath rapture position which places the rapture at this point in time arguing that this is the wrath from which the church is spared and not what occurs in the previous five seals. ◘That position views the earlier seals as the wrath of man which is contrary to the text since the scroll comes from the right hand of God, each seal is broken by the Lamb, and the command to “come” to each of the horses and riders comes from the throne room of God. That God uses sinful men to carry out the actions of His wrath in the first six seals is no different than God using sinful men to punish other sinful men throughout history, or His wrath abiding on all sinners who suppress the truth in unrighteousness by each step of removing His hand to allow them to experience the consequences of their own sin (Romans 1:18-32). All of the seals reveal an aspect of God’s wrath as they are opened, not just the sixth seal or later judgments.
◘I will also point out that this view also removes the comfort that comes with the promises of God given in 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9 to be spared from the wrath to come, and the promise to the church in Philadelphia to be kept from the hour of God’s testing of those who dwell on the earth (Revelation 3:10). It changes those promises to exemption from only the worst of God’s wrath, the great tribulation, instead of all of God’s wrath to come, the whole tribulation period. ◘It also removes the imminence from the return of Christ for His church. We are to be currently looking for and anticipating Jesus’ return at any time. The pre-wrath rapture position instead looks for these celestial signs to occur before Jesus will return for His church (Luke 21:25-28).
There is much more than can be said about all of this, and I had to study it a lot due to a man who was in our church who advocated this position, but in the end I find it all fairly pointless. A purpose for the pre-wrath rapture position is supposedly that it gives motivation for the church to be prepared for persecution such as described in the seal judgments. ◘However, every Christian is already commanded to be ready for persecution according to the many commands by Jesus and the apostles. We are to expect it, so there is no advantage to the pre-wrath position in becoming prepared for it. In fact, it is a hindrance because it puts off an expectation of Jesus’ return until these signs show up. (See Matthew 24:42-44; 25:1-13; 14-30). The doctrine of imminence demands that we are on the alert now and be prepared because we do not know when the Lord will return, but Scripture tells us that He is near, standing at the door (Matthew 24:44; Phil. 4:5; 1 Thess. 5:2-4; James 5:9; etc.).
◘Conclusions
Are you ready for Jesus’ return? If you are not, then you are in grave danger either by your own death before the rapture and standing before God to be judged, or missing the rapture and having to go through all these expressions of God’s wrath on sinful man and then be judged afterward. And if you did come to faith in Christ after the rapture, you will probably do so at the cost of being a martyr. If you are already ready, then rejoice, you will be attending the marriage feast of the Lamb instead of on earth when God’s wrath is poured out.
Sermon Notes – 5/18/2025
The Fifth & Sixth Seals: Martyrs & Terror – Revelation 6:9-17
Introduction & Review
The things which you have seen – Revelation 1. Introduction, The glorified Christ, John’s ______________,
The things which are – Revelation 2-3. The letters to the __________churches
Revelation 4 – The scene in heaven of God the judge on His __________and the worship surrounding Him
Revelation 5 – The scroll and the Lamb __________to open it and the worship of the Lamb
Revelation 6 – The opening of the ________on the scroll by the Lamb
First Seal: The white horse & rider with bow & crown whose bloodless ___________bring a false peace
Second Seal: The fiery red horse & rider with a sword – peace ___________with murder, civil strife & wars
Third Seal: Black horse with its rider with a scale – ___________
Fourth Seal: Pale green horse with _____as its rider & hades following: wars, famine, pestilence, wild beasts
These are all part of the beginning of birth pangs – Matthew 24:5-8 – in the _________part of the Tribulation
Three Series of Judgments
1) Seals – Rev. 6:1 – 8:1
2) Trumpets – Rev. 8:2 – 14:20
3) Bowls – Rev. 15:1 – 19:20
The Fifth Seal – Revelation 6:9-11
John’s focus shifts from the horses & riders going out to the earth back to the scene in ___________
These are followers of Christ who had been martyred _________to the opening of the fifth seal
We call them martyrs due to their faithful _________/ testimony (marturiva / martyria) of Jesus unto death
They are slain / slaughtered with ____________like when Abel was killed by Cain (1 John 3:12)
Jesus warned this would happen – Matthew 24:9-13 – a warning that extends through the __________period
The altar is in temple in heaven – probably the __________altar – since incense smoke symbolizes prayers
An imprecatory prayer like Psalm 74:9-10 in crying out loudly for God to bring ________& His vengeance
He is Lord – despovthV / despotēs – a master who holds ___________power or authority over another
Using the pattern of the Psalms, their question of how long? is an appeal to the sovereign God to take _____
God’s holiness assures He will ________and His veracity assures He will keep His promises
God’s restraint gives sinners ______to repent, but it should not be presumed His longsuffering will continue
Vengeance is sought on those who dwell on the earth – the men _________against God who murdered them
Their white, long robe, showed that they were be people of dignity – __________
They do not have resurrection bodies, but their souls are being _________in some form that can wear a robe
They are to rest a little longer until all the ______that will be martyred during the tribulation are gathered in
There will be many more martyrs – Revelation 7:9-17; 11:3-12: 13:8, 15; 14:1-5; 17:6; 18:24
The Sixth Seal – Revelation 6:12–17
This is part of the beginning of birth pangs in the ________ part of the tribulation
Several of the events in the sixth seal are similar to _________events that are much worse
A Great Shaking – Revelation 6:12-14. A shaking of great _____________ more than just the earth
Even greater shaking in the seventh bowl judgment in which the islands & mountains are _______(Rev. 16)
Darkened Sun & Blood Moon – Revelation 6:12. They emit light but their ______________ is changed
Joel 2:10 – darkened due to a ________ plague. Lunar eclipse yields a reddish moon.
This darkening is directly related to the __________ – most likely dust and smoke
Later changed appearances of sun & moon: 4th trumpet; 5th trumpet; 5th bowl. ____________in Matt. 24:29
Falling Stars – Revelation 6:13. A “star” can be any celestial object – this description fits a ________shower
Stars also part of 4th __________judgment, and included in prophecies of Isaiah 14:10 & Ezekiel 32:7
A Split Sky – Revelation 6:14. From the human perspective it appears the universe is _________________
The heavens will pass away (2 Peter 3:10), but that is later _______the millennium (Rev. 21:1; Matt. 24:35)
The Human Response – Revelation 6:15-17. Seven-fold description of mankind includes ___________
In fear they to ________in caves & among rocks in the mountains – a dangerous action after an earthquake
They ask the mountains & rocks to fall on them – they seek _________, but cannot find it
Death is preferred & sought in an effort to _________the wrath of Him who sits on the throne & the Lamb
Only those who trust & follow Jesus are _________from God’s wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9)
God’s longsuffering _______is not an exemption from His wrath (Rom. 2:5; Eph. 5:6; John 3:26; 2 Thess. 2
God’s wrath is a thoughtful & determined expression of His _________to punish those who sin against Him
This wrath is already ____________when the sixth seal is opened – it is not something just arrived or future
An already present wrath __________the Pre-wrath rapture position
Contrary to the text, the Pre-wrath rapture position holds the earlier seals are the wrath of _______, not God
The Pre-wrath rapture removes the _________in 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9 & Rev. 3:10 of being exempt from wrath
The Pre-wrath rapture removes the doctrine of ______________replacing it with looking for celestial signs
The Pre-wrath rapture ________, not motivates, preparation for persecution & Jesus’ return (Matt. 25:1-30). If you are not ready for Jesus’ return, then get ready __________
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Count how many times the word “seal” is mentioned 2) Talk with your parents about what happens with the opening of the 5th & 6th seals.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. Where is John when he receives the revelation about what happens in the opening of each of the seals on the scroll? Describe what each horse & rider brings to the earth. Who are the martyrs of the 5th seal? When did they die? Why were they killed? What is their request? Why are they told to rest a little longer? What other martyrs will there be during the tribulation? During what part of the tribulation is the 6th seal opened? How does the shaking affect the earth? When is there a worse earthquake? How is the darkening of the sun & moon related to the shaking? What “stars” fall to the earth? Where do men seek to hide? Why do they want the mountains & rocks to fall on them? What is the wrath of God? Who is exempt from the wrath and why? Who will experience its fullness? What is the Pre-wrath Rapture position & how is it contrary to the scriptural texts? Are you ready for Jesus to return?
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