That's Just Awful - Revelation 6:1-8
Revelation 6:1-8 · Vern Peterman · May 10, 2009
Revelation (2009), No. 19
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926133316275

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Okay, we've got this perspective here to maintain and this is a chart that I think in a lot of your binders we put it on the outside cover and we've referred to from time to time. We moved beyond the first chapter there, but now we're looking at starting into chapter 6. And you notice the way we have it on the chart there, from chapter 6 to chapter 19 is what's called the tribulation period. So, all the study we've done so far has only covered five chapters. We're going from chapter 6 to chapter 19 covering the tribulation period.

So it is a seven year period of time that in the Book of Revelation gets a lot of press, a lot of coverage, okay? There'll be quite a bit of detail. So I think one thing is just to kind of get some perspective, this is going to be a fairly long period of time in these chapters. And if you think, boy, that's a lot of stuff going on, and it's heavy stuff. I mean, I'll just tell you, It's heavy stuff. It's tough to make a light, fluffy, feel-good sermon out of when meteors are striking the earth and things like that. So anyway, as we step through the chapters here, just keep that in mind, the perspective that This is going to be a long period of time.

Now, there is, however, another perspective to bring to bear, and that is that we've got a lot of alternation between the heavenly scene, we've just spent two chapters, four and five, in the heavenly scene, and the earthly scene. We'll be going back and forth between those two, right?

And as we go back and forth between those two, we're going to find that most of the heavenly scenes by number in the Book of Revelation are in these chapters. So that's the other part of it. While a lot of the Book of Revelation in this section has some really heavy And I would even say difficult, painful stuff. There is also a lot in the heavenly scene. One of the things we pointed out, Revelation has about 150 verses describing things in heaven.

And for that, it's a unique book. But we're going to see that alternation. The illustration we've used, John writes like a musician. He goes, unlike Paul who does this, therefore this, therefore this, John writes with these crescendos and then comes, you know, brings the level back down and then he goes up to these crescendos again. Okay.

You also have, and this is on page two of your handout, so the back side of the front sheet there, You have what we call the three sevens, and you're going to find that these are really helpful and insightful as you look at it, because what it amounts to is from chapter 6 to chapter 16, it follows a very clear pattern and system. The first set of judgments that comes upon the earth, the seven seals, and then notice between the sixth and the seventh, an interlude, and the same pattern follows in the seven trumpets, between the sixth and seventh, an interlude, and then the seven bowls, again, an interlude between. Okay, so the three sevenths with an interlude between the sixth and the seventh judgment on each one. There's also this pattern from Revelation 12 through Revelation 15 is also an interlude or a break between those second and third of the three sevenths. Okay, so this chart is something we're going to be going back to again and again. One of the other things we're going to see as you look at these three sevens, and I think the chart really helps.

Sorry, just the engineer in me just came out. I had to do this. But one of the things you're going to see is if you look through the chart, the judgments become more intense. The judgments become more intense. In the middle section, one of the things you're going to run across, and you can see it even in the chart, is it'll say a third of this, and a third of that, and a third of the other thing. And most of the judgments have this fraction, one-third. When you get down to the last judgments, the bowls, no more one-third. It's a total kind of judgment rather than a fraction. Okay, let's take a look here. We're going to go on to page 3 and you'll see a chart at the top there.

The similarity of the ten plagues against Egypt in Exodus 7-12 with the global judgments in Revelation 6-16. And so, real interesting, one of the points that comes out of this chart, and also comes right out of the pages of scripture, why the particular judgments against Egypt? Why the ten plagues? Was there any particular reason why God sent the plagues? Yeah? It was specifically against their gods. And the book of Exodus very explicitly says so. It was not just, we're going to give them a rough time. It was to undermine their faith and trust in their pagan false gods.

So, for example, you worship the Nile. Okay. You know what the Nile is going to do? It's going to turn to blood. You worship frogs, you'll have plenty of them. All those kinds of things. So that's what these judgments are. We have a listing of the primary God. I've got a book at home where somebody went through and studied. Because the Egyptians had 700 gods, this is just the primary God that we've got listed here. The truth is that in many cases there were dozens of gods that were being attacked, if you will, by the plagues.

One of the things you'll notice is there are some similarities between some of the plagues put against Egypt and the plagues or judgments that you'll see in the Book of Revelation. Now, there are some things that the chart doesn't tell you. And what the chart tells you is all the judgments that are about to occur. What the chart doesn't tell you is God's mercy and God's grace during the tribulation period. How is it possible that God could have this period of great judgment upon the earth and yet show His mercy and grace? How could that be?

Yeah. They aren't dead yet. Okay, they aren't dead yet. Alright, good. That's one good reason. You think of any others? Yeah. The Gospel being proclaimed. Yeah, that's really the significant aspect that comes out. God's mercy and His grace are revealed during this time, not entirely, but substantially by proclaiming the Gospels. One of the things we're going to see as we step through this is that there are about three primary ways that God brings out the Gospel aside from people, just people who become believers during the tribulation period and therefore share it with others. The three ways that the Gospel gets spread, or the gospel gets told, are one, we'll see in chapter 7, that's just the next chapter, God appoints 144,000 Jews, Jewish males, 12,000 from each of the tribes. And right now, does any Jew know which tribe they're from?

Not so much. Not so much. But there will be 12,000 from each of the tribes. The tribes are named. And those guys will be untouchable. That is, nobody will be able to touch them. You know what they'll do? They'll go around and spread the gospel. That's one. There's another. Ever hear of the two witnesses? The two witnesses will tell the gospel during the tribulation period. And the third one is, and this is wild, there will be a gospel angel visible up in the sky. All the time? Yes. Gospel angel constantly proclaiming the gospel. Can you imagine it?

Here is a world in which people, they don't want to hear about God. They're just really mad at God and everything. God's bringing down judgment and here's this gospel angel all the time proclaiming the gospel. Now my guess is they're probably hoping it's only happening during the daylight hours, but here's a gospel angel proclaiming the gospel from the skies. So can you imagine, here's a gospel angel and you might want to fire a missile to shut this thing up, but there it is.

Here are the two witnesses proclaiming for half the tribulation period the gospel. And it says everybody's seeing these guys. And you also have these 144,000 and nobody can touch them. And they're proclaiming the gospel. Okay, the gospel is going to get spread.

Art? What is the significance of the death and resurrection of the two HR, the two witnesses? Yeah, that's something we'll be taking a look at. The two witnesses are extraordinary. proclaimers of the gospel, and Art brings up the question, what's the significance of the death and resurrection of the two witnesses?

We'll of course be looking at that in more detail, but I think, you know, one of the things that that does, here's the whole world looking on at these guys, because that's what it describes in Revelation. These guys are being watched by the world. Everybody in the world is celebrating the fact that these guys are dead. And then all of a sudden, bang, both of them come alive.

And I think it's a proclamation of the Lord's power. This is a declaration the Lord is indeed able to save and to raise. And people may have had the intent of taking these guys out. The Lord says, no, that's not what's going to happen. These two witnesses are definitely living pictures of my power, is what the Lord is saying, right here in the middle of the tribulation period. Right here during a period of time where people are looking to the satanic trinity on earth. The antichrist and the beast and the false prophet. Looking at them.

It goes back to the time of Christ when Jews demanded two witnesses to any event or any testimony. And here we've got two witnesses that are going to proclaim the gospel. Yeah, Bruce brings up the point. Remember the Jews were going to have two or three witnesses?

Well, there you've got two of them and everybody's watching. And what happens? They rise from the dead. Both of them. While everybody's watching. And so here are two. Is there a God? There most certainly is. And that's why these two are being raised.

People will have every evidence, every reason to receive and accept the Gospel. Back to the rest of the answer to Art's question, what's the significance of these two? One thing is the tribulation period will be a time of a great deal of death. Where are you going to find life?

Here are these two witnesses and the Lord raises them from the dead. This is great testimony. The Lord Himself is the source of life. The Lord Himself is the one who will raise people from the dead, those who believe. And they're an open and public testimony to that fact.

Okay, let's take a look at one other thing before we step into the passage. And that is, as we step through these verses, where are you and I going to be during chapters 6-19? Where are we going to be? Yeah, we're going to be with the Lord. What's real interesting is as we look at the heavenly scenes, we're going to see ourselves in those heavenly scenes. And there will only be but minimal expression and awareness among the resurrected church about the judgments that are going on, the focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ. As you look at those heavenly scenes, that's where our focus will be. We will be aware of the judgments, but we will not be focused on them, and we will never be asked to carry them out.

Let me ask you this question. Why would we never be asked to carry out judgments upon the earth? That's kind of curious. Why do you think? Because judgments aren't taking place at the cross. Ah, well, okay, but these are carrying out judgments in terms of the kinds of judgments that are going to happen during the tribulation period, not the judgment that took place on the cross. But think about it.

The Lord does not ask us during this tribulation period The Lord does not ask us to carry out any judgments. And one reason I think why that may be, the Bible doesn't actually say, but one reason I think that it may be is if you're a believer, you're going to have some people that you knew and care about that are down there.

And so it's really interesting. The Lord, while we're with Him, doesn't ask us to carry out judgments on these people. We're not judged. He is. That's right. It's His judgment to fulfill, not ours. It's His judgment to fulfill, not ours. And just in addition to that, just the fact that those are people that we love. Some of them are down there. People we love and care about. And so it's interesting. The Lord, almost in a measure of mercy and grace, doesn't ask us to take part in carrying out any of those judgments. Some angels are, and we'll see that. But not us. Okay, now let's take a look at the passage.

This is the first eight verses. Revelation 6-1, Then I saw the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, Hum. There on page 4 here. John is writing eyewitness testimony here. He was watching very intently as the little Lamb, the glorified Jesus Christ, the worthy One, broke open the first of the seven seals.

Put yourself in John's place. What had happened prior to this time when the seals were being opened? What was John's sentiment when nobody was able, as far as he could tell, to open the book, to touch the seals? He was crying, nobody can do it. Now, imagine, here's John's perspective.

Oh yes, Christ, the Lamb, He is the one who is worthy. He can open it. Now He's going to watch and see as the Lamb opens the first one of these seals. So imagine these real swings and reversals since He is an earthly man watching this heavenly scene. As we read the first couple of chapters before, chapters 4 and 5, there were these four living creatures before the throne. The first of these four living creatures speaks to John, inviting him to look at what will take place as a consequence of Christ the little lamb opening the first seal.

So the invitation is the simple word, come. It's not a, John, come. It's not quiet. It's not even normal in speech. The first of the four living creatures said, with this voice of thunder, Come! So, you imagine John, he gets this invitation. And it's one of those things, it rocks him. It's an invitation that grabs him. So here is a thunderous, come! As this first seal is to be opened. That's not an invitation you'd kind of overlook and neglect. And this is speculation, but why would the first of the four living creatures say, come so loudly? Why the loud voice? Any ideas on that? What did he get the attention of the whole world? Pardon? What did he get the attention of the whole world? Okay, certainly wanted to get John's attention.

Yeah? Because of all the loud noise up to this point, John was having a hard time hearing. Yeah, whoa, impacting his hearing. Yeah. Yeah, I would think that he'd be a little hesitant about going. Everything that he's seen has just been a little, has been taken back from him and doesn't know where to go. Yeah. A little concerned about, okay, now what's going to happen here? It's just going to be broken. I've heard about this. What is it? Do I want to? I want it well, but you have no choice right now. You have this commanding voice that comes.

Maybe because he's so enraptured with the heavenly seed that he needs that to bring him down to earth. I think, you know, figure this. Here's John. He's used to earthly levels of intensity and contrast. It may not be that this creature was making some intent to be that loud. I'm speculating, of course, here. But I just wonder.

We're going to keep running into this loud voice thing again and again, and mostly from the heavenly scene here. And John keeps recording this loud voice, voice of thunder, sound like a trumpet. A lot of it is, John's just, he's just not calibrated. And so, you know, things will be real quiet and all of a sudden there's sound.

He's just not got things on the heavenly scene figured out and calibrated for his way of perceiving things. After all, twice, and we're going to see these, twice he starts worshipping an angel thinking that that's God. The angel says, whoa, wait a minute. Stop. So this is all just continuing evidence. John isn't calibrated for this heavenly seat. He's still not got the contrast figured out. And so almost everything that he sees and hears hits him with intensity.

Here's verse 2, I looked and behold, Remember that behold is the idea of take a mental picture. I looked and behold, a white horse who sat on it had a bow and a crown was given to him and he went out conquering and to conquer. So here's John with this idea of take a mental picture, behold. He writes that he sees a white horse.

These are the four horses of the apocalypse. that you hear about. This is the first of those four. One of the patterns we're going to see here, each horse has a color. Color is different for each one. The first one is white. Each horse has a rider, and the rider is significant in each one. Each horse went forth with a particular ability. It wasn't just, okay, there was a horse. that horse had a particular contrasting and significant characteristic. Sometimes that is pictured by the rider himself. Each horse color and possession in hand is symbolic but represents something real, actual, and literal.

There are not simply a bunch of symbols coming out. S-Y-M. They're not simply a bunch of symbols coming out. But each time the symbol is indicating something significant and ominous. The earthly consequence of their release and granting of power is not in the least bit figurative. Ominous and wretched things will come from these four horsemen. But it's only the start. Only the start. In the days that John was writing, a horse was a pretty powerful thing. Anybody ever have a horse come running at them? Yeah.

Boy, I mean, just a horse bolting at you can be a real shock. I was just going out to milk the cows one evening and opened the barn door and apparently somebody had left the door open and so the horse got in and was, you know, eating the hay in the barn in the area where I was expecting to go in and milk the cow. Well, at first the horse started bolting towards me and that was rather frightening. Then, I would not have predicted this, but then the horse decided to just go through the wall. It just, farm boards just went flying, you know. And then I just thought, well, boy, I'm quite fortunate. that the horse didn't just take me out. You know, because if that horse had, I would have been like the barn boards, flying.

Well, so now let's take a look here at the white horse. Last paragraph on page four. A white horse in those days was ridden by kings and military leaders, typically in a battle situation. Not always, sometimes in sort of a parade circumstance, but often in a battle situation. The king or the military leader, the commander or commanders would ride on a white horse. The white horse was there as a kind of a focal point.

The people, the soldiers who were out there could look to the guy and he'd be pointing and giving out orders and giving directions. And so you could see, this is the guy who's in charge. And he would always stay out of bow shot, right? Stay out of range. And most commentators see this white horse here as the Antichrist. That makes lots of sense. I think that's good.

As we said in Daniel 9, 24 through 27 last week, the Antichrist would start off the Tribulation period by initiating an agreement with Israel and then grab for power. So if you wonder what's going to start off the Tribulation period, it's going to be the Antichrist. He will be the one starting it off. He will start off the agreement with Israel that will look like he's pulled off the impossible. At the same time, he will be grabbing for power. And notice in the description, there doesn't appear to be lots of opposition. He grabs power and takes it.

Yeah. Okay, this is at the start of the Tribulation. Yes. So he is not seen as the Antichrist until later, right? Like the second half of the Tribulation? Well, okay. Actually, I mean, what you'll see is he will be seen as the Antichrist. However, initially, many will welcome him with open arms and say, hooray for this guy. Everybody would recognize him if that's gone. Yeah, yeah. Those who would initially look at him and say, hey, watch out for this guy, yeah, they've just been removed.

And by the way, how far away in time is this event that we're reading about here? Could be tomorrow morning. It's possible it's tomorrow morning. So this is amazing to read this and think, well, it could be longer, just as the Lord has delayed, but it could be as soon as tomorrow morning that this happens. Yeah.

The only thing I'd say is, When this happens, he's not recognized as an Antichrist because the treaty has not been broken until the second three and a half years, correct? Well, Kate, what's going to happen? He will be recognizable by those who are looking, but the Christians will have been taken out. So you're talking about people who, after this begins, come to know the Lord.

And there will be those. But the Four Horsemen, what I'm getting at, the Four Horsemen is basically the first part of the Tribulation period, right? That's correct. Whatever period of time that may be, but it's during the first three and a half years. Right.

So he makes a treaty at the beginning. He breaks the treaty at the midpoint. Certainly, when people see, hey, this guy broke the treaty, then it'll be abundantly clear, but you're also going to see plenty of evidence, if you're looking for it, plenty of evidence as to what, you know, this is.

There are people who actually, you know, know what this is saying, but are not believers. Those very people might have their eyes open quickly. You know, whoa, a whole bunch of people that I know who are Christians just disappeared. And this guy comes on the scene. That will ring a bell with some people. That will get the point across. Have you known anybody like that? Yeah.

Nancy and I knew a lady. I wish I could be sure where she is right now. Nancy and I knew a lady who, she knew the gospel, she knew a number of Christians, it had been clearly presented to her, but she just wanted to stand outside the door. And that's actually the way she put it. She says, I just would rather stand by the door. She died of cancer this last year.

And it's possible that someone like that, who's very aware of what the issues are, may look at this and put that together with, hey, a bunch of people disappeared, and say, I know what this is. And they may choose at that moment to say, I have a decision to make and I better make it soon. Page 5 there.

What's going to happen? Oh, I'm sorry, Mike? I've got a buddy who's just the opposite. He's scared of missing the first boat. Oh, okay. Yes. Yes. That insecurity. Yeah, okay. So you would say he is a believer, but he is insecure in his faith. Right. I'm sure he's a believer, but Yeah, there are those who tremble, fearful that they might somehow lose their salvation or miss it at some point. So he carries a bow. The best cavalrymen in those days could shoot a bow with amazing accuracy, even riding backwards on their horses while shooting. I think I got some shots in here.

The Parthian Empire was an empire just to the east of the Roman Empire. Real interestingly, about 40 BC, the Parthians drove into the Roman Empire and actually took over as far south as Jerusalem for a short period of time. Then the Romans drove them back about two and a half decades after, three decades after John died, the Romans then drove down all the way to what is now Kuwait very quickly and were driven back.

So it was one of those get-you-got-you kind of things, payback. But the Parthians had a real difficult maneuver for the Romans to overcome. And that is, they would ride on a bow, excuse me, they'd ride carrying a bow, you know, you see this, and they would shoot backwards with great skill. They worked at it so that it was really tough for the Romans to know what do you do with this. The Romans would get in their tortoise formations with all their shields and everything. And these guys would come riding along. And after the horse had already gone by, so you think you're out of trouble, right? These guys would shoot with amazing accuracy backwards.

And so they'd find some little place where the Roman soldier like would be looking the space between the shields, that's what they'd shoot for and they'd hit it. And so the Romans had a terrible time trying to defeat these guys. The Parthians, you know, had a tough time with the Romans too. But so this idea of having a bow, having great power, was one of the things that was pictured in John's day by this Parthian empire.

Yeah? Do you think it's any significance that there's no arrow It's interesting. I think at best it implies an implication. What may be the case, because it doesn't talk about him firing a lot of arrows, what may be the case is he just grabs power and doesn't have a lot of opposition. Just rolls right in. So here's a guy that grabs power. He has all the symbols of military might, but he doesn't even need to use it. He rolls right in.

Or is he the commander of the other three generals, so to speak, and they're the ones that are going out and doing the devastation while he is basically in command? You're talking about the other three horsemen? We'll see, the other three horsemen actually have a different character to them. While certainly this Antichrist fellow is grabbing command, The other three horses don't seem to be directly connected to it by command. But the one thing it does make clear is he starts grabbing authority. And as you pointed out, it doesn't seem like he puts a lot of effort into fighting this battle.

He goes around with the threat of military might and everybody seems to just fold right in front of him. He grabs for power and he gets it. He's got power quickly and easily. He moves swiftly. He's given a crown, a Stephanos. This is the victor's crown. He's not only going to seek the power, but he's going to get it. See, it isn't just attempts at power. He doesn't just try and try and try. He gets it. He grabs it. He has the victory quickly, swiftly, easily. He moves, he takes the power, it's his. He went forth conquering, and it didn't just say he went forth conquering, it says and to conquer. He accomplished it. He pulled it off.

Okay, now verses 3 and 4. The second seal, war. When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, come. And another, a red horse, went out. And to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another.

And a great sword was given to him." We've mentioned that Christ has this rumphia, which is a barbarian's battle sword. The great sword is pictured in this Roman cavalryman's headstone that you see on page 5 there. And it also is a long sword. and not as large as the Ramphaya, the battle sword that Christ has coming from his mouth, but it's a long sword and typically used by a cavalryman.

And so great death battling among people here as well. What you see here also is a pattern of the four living creatures are the ones who are beginning to announce things here. And So then, one of the indications is right after the Antichrist takes power, there is still a battling among people. His power is not absolute, as we'll see as we go through the book. Still a battling among people and a great loss of life.

You know, how many different places on the earth have we got battles going on right now? Where are battles happening on the earth? Some of them declared wars and some of them otherwise. How about just right south of our own border? Got some battles going on right in our own continent. Places in South America where there's battles going on at the local level. I'll be heading over to Africa on Wednesday and there are places there. where there are battles. The other end of Uganda, from where I'll be, is a place where there's some rebel activity. And also to the north.

But there are battles in other places in Africa. How about over in the Middle East? Yeah, we got troops there, right? Two different countries. How about if you go farther over into Asia? There are places where they have battles there. Sri Lanka? There are battles of some kind going on on practically every continent right now. And yet, this is talking about even more battle activity than that. Kind of amazing. Okay.

Next, the third seal, verses 5 and 6. And he broke the third seal. I heard the third living creature saying, Come. I looked, and behold, a black horse. He who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. I heard something like the 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. You start to think of it, denarius, a lot of us, well let me switch the slide here. This is a denarius that's mounted in a necklace of jewelry mounting. But a denarius was a day's wage. So what that means is you're going to work all day for a quart of wheat.

Wait a minute, where's the money for anything else? There isn't any, right? So this is one of those things where it'd be a period of time of scarcity of food supply. And one of the consequences of that being that all the money goes for food. And not much for most folks for anything else. The shortage of these basic grains here.

What happens, you have the law of supply and demand, right? Why is the price high? The demand is high, but the supply is low. That's why. There's not much of it. You're going to pay a lot just to get the basic daily requirement. Pay a lot of money. No money for paying the mortgage, for clothes, no money for heat. It's just everything gets sucked up into paying for the food.

Now, remember we just got through studying in Genesis. What did Joseph do in order to provide for everybody? Pardon? He stored it and then basically everybody in that part of the then known world could come to Egypt and then get supply, right? Well, what do you do when scarcity is global? It gets really difficult, doesn't it? It gets really difficult. Okay, the next verse is there.

The fourth seal, death. When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the four living creatures saying, of the fourth living creature say come. I looked and behold an ashen horse. He who sat on it had the name Death and Hades was following with him.

Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. Look at what are the causes of death here during this period of time. You see the list that is given? Sword and then famine is next. And pestilence. What's pestilence? Illness. And by the wild beasts of the earth.

The media is beating this thing to death with the swine flu, right? I think the death toll has been something on the order of just above 50. worldwide is what I understand the numbers are. This will way overshadow what we're seeing in the media now. The other is the wild beasts.

The wild beasts. And we have little incidences locally where, you know, like the coyotes come in and bother people when they're walking their dogs and that sort of thing. But when it says wild beasts here, it isn't necessarily all the animals that we think of as predators. Is it possible that animals that are not predatory suddenly become predatory? That could be. That could be. Especially if you have family. Pardon? Yes, especially if you have famine. Yeah. Like the movie, The Birds. Yeah, the movie, The Birds.

But yeah, it could be with that. All sorts of possibilities there. We have that detail, the wild beasts of the earth. Could be all kinds. Yeah. Question previous to that. Okay, it's interesting. four living creatures seem to be in the same formation as they were in Ezekiel. Yes.

The voice is coming from the center of them. Yep. And that voice from the center of them, would that be Jesus the Lamb? I mean, because now he mentions the Lamb in the next verse. Could that be? Well, okay, you get his question. Could that be Jesus the Lamb? When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature. So it sounds like the voice of the fourth living creature. Right, but in the previous one it's saying the voice in the center of the four creatures saying. Ah, I see. You're talking about up higher. And the four creatures are in the same, like I said, in the same order as they were in Ezekiel, which is what, in a square which is around the throne.

And so it's almost like the throne's not there, but the voice is still coming from the center of them. I suppose it's possible. Here's something else to ponder. And this is one of those things where it's tough for us to be real specific, but look at the language in verse 6. I heard something like a voice. Wow. And notice he could tell what it was saying, but it was something like a voice. Wow.

So what's that? That's curious. I'm not sure that I have a definitive answer. Although I look at it and I say, here's John. He's having a tough time, you know, describing everything that he's seeing. It's interesting. As many times as I've read Revelations, which is not that great, but I have a few times. I have never noticed that they, it says from the center and I've never thought that they are in fact consistent with the rest of scripture.

And they're not going out individually and just taking John individually and doing something, but they seem to be a group. And that seems to be the same format that they were previously seen. They're identifiable as a group, even if you have individual ones acting. They're together, they're identifiable as a group. And it's interesting to see what they do. Here they're involved in at least announcing the judgments. They also have a role of stirring up the 24 elders to praise. So it's a very curious combination of roles that they're given.

I'm not sure that I have a definitive answer to your question about that, partly because I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures. It's tough to be definitive with that to say that that's Christ. I think about all we can say is Well, that's kind of amazing, and I suppose it's possible as close as I could come.

Do all these things in albums or events happen simultaneously? I don't think so, because it's when he broke this seal, when he broke that one. And what we'll see, remember the pattern here? the chart what you see is is there's a sequence to them and then at the end of this the seventh seal breaking then begins the trumpets and there's a sequence to those so I think I think what you see here is is there's this and then there's this and then there's this and There's a sequence to them. He doesn't just snap them all at once.

Well, one of the things you could see happening is some of this could be such that this is still happening while the next thing is starting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this thing just starts getting more and more intense. And so I think you'll see that you can also envision consequences that take place at some stage continuing on for some period of time and not immediately giving relief. That's one thing is this whole series of judgments that we see spelled out here. I mean it just keeps getting worse and worse.

And that's why I brought up earlier. Paul said principalities and powers and kind of gave an order to the darkness that we can't see. But now this darkness has been manifest. Yes. And Satan, who we can't see before, now seems to be manifest in the white horse rider. And the other ones could be subordinate or whatever. And so this is a progressive thing. Yes.

The tribulation period will be the world at its worst. In other words, the more extreme it gets, the more the call for more severe and oppressive and micro-controlling government. We're going to control everything. And so it'll be the world at its worst.

What's going to be an amazing switch, flip-flop, is when Christ comes at the end of that, the world at its best. Because, imagine, who are our three enemies now as Christians? We've got the world, the flesh, and the devil, right? During the millennial kingdom, the devil will be chained up. The world, which is currently a satanic system, will be done away with, because Christ will be in control, King of kings and Lord of lords. There will only be the flesh to contend with. Only the flesh.

So it'll be the present world at its best when Christ comes. Prior to that, for seven years, the world at its worst. That's what we're beginning to see here. The world at its worst. Natural disasters appear to take place. And what do the world's governments want to do? More control. More control. Tighter control. You can't buy unless. We're going to ration this. We're going to grab control of that. More grabbing for control, intensive grabbing for control, will be the pattern during this period of time.

Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yes. He's asking, you know, is this more of an anarchy versus one country versus another. I think the language probably allows for both of those. In other words, There are situations even described in the Old Testament where people of the same nation would battle one another at certain times. In fighting as well as fighting between. Fighting at different scales. All those are possible. Yeah. And something else about these four horsemen of the apocalypse.

A lot of people will look at what's going on and they won't see God's hand in it particularly. Not at first. Because they'll just go, oh that's this leader. Or this is just a natural disaster. Or this just happened, you know, because this human being did that to another human being. So this, you know, men against men, I mean, people will just look at it as just, this is all natural stuff. This just happens, you know, and it's particularly bad right now.

But they won't necessarily, right off, look at it and say, you know, God did this. There'll be a tendency for them to just say, well, it's just things that happen, and not see any real spiritual significance to it. Okay. Something else to take a look at before we close the door on this, and that is just to think about As we start into these chapters, and there's going to be some pretty rough stuff, pretty difficult things happening during this period of time, what should be our attitude towards these things as we read about them?

Should we be fearful? No. I'm hearing no and seeing heads shaking. Why not? What's that? I'm going to be fearful. Okay, alright. Is God going to keep us clear of any trouble and tribulation? No. As a matter of fact, here's an interesting thing. In the world, you will have tribulation, okay? It's just that you as a Christian will not be living during the de-tribulation, okay? These chapters we're looking at. So our hope is not just that we'll avoid all trouble. That's not the point. We will avoid, however, this expression of God's wrath upon the earth. Because we'll be taken out before then.

There's something else, too, and that's also, I think, as you look at it, to get a sense of, you know, sin is serious to God. God doesn't just look at sin and say, well, boys will be boys. I guess girls will be girls, right? But instead, sin is serious stuff. Sin is serious stuff.

God deals with it very seriously here. I think that's another perspective as we look at it. Otherwise, this is going to be a long haul of lots of dark stuff. And I think getting the biblical perspective on it is going to be important. Seeing it for what it is is going to be important for us to do. Let's pray.

Lord, we do thank you as we look at this passage. You've begun to spell out for us what will happen during this coming seven-year period of time that could begin as soon as tomorrow morning. And we thank You that through this we can trust You. Thank You that You've revealed these things to us because You love us and care for us. And Lord, we ask that as we look at these events that we would not be so drawn to things of the earth that we would be distracted from looking to You, from beholding You. Draw the eyes of our hearts to look to You in the midst of this. In Jesus' name, Amen.