17. The Seven Seals What? and When? Part 2

THE   SEVEN  SEALS: WHAT? WHEN? Part 2

Prayer Thought:  

Those who in the judgment are "accounted worthy" will have a part in the resurrection of the just. Jesus said: "They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, . . . are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." Luke 20:35, 36. And again He declares that "they that have done good" shall come forth "unto the resurrection of life." John 5:29. The righteous dead will not be raised until after the judgment at which they are accounted worthy of "the resurrection of life." Hence they will not be present in person at the tribunal when their records are examined and their cases decided.  {GC 482.3}  

Aims fo the Study:
Based on the statement from Ellen G. White, the study of the Seven Seals should focus on understanding the prophetic history of the world as recorded in the sealed book of Revelation. This study should aim to answer two key questions:

What is the significance of the Seven Seals?

The Seven Seals reveal the unfolding of God’s providences throughout history, covering both nations and the church from the beginning of time to the end.

The book contains God’s laws, commandments, and His rulership over the affairs of men, symbolizing divine judgment and governance.

The seals disclose the influence of every nation, tongue, and people and how they relate to God's redemptive plan.

When does the fulfillment of the Seven Seals take place?

Since the sealed book contains history from the beginning of the world to its close, the opening of each seal marks progressive stages in divine history.

The study must determine the timing of each seal’s fulfillment in relation to biblical prophecy, church history, and end-time events.

Revelation 5 highlights the importance of Christ as the Lamb, who alone is worthy to open the seals, signifying a crucial transition in prophetic events.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the historical and prophetic significance of the Seven Seals as revealed in Revelation.

To identify how and when these prophetic events unfold in connection with the church and the nations.

To understand God’s justice, mercy, and judgment in history as revealed through the seals.

To apply the lessons of the Seven Seals to the present and future role of God’s people in these last days.

This study will help God’s people gain a deeper understanding of prophecy, recognize their role in the last-day work, and prepare for the final events leading to Christ’s kingdom.

INTRODUCTION:  

As we have already observed, the Book of Revelation is in two parts: 

Chapter 1-3 - the introduction - consists of messages to the seven periods of the Christian church; and 

Chapters 4 to 22 - the events of the 7 seals.  In Rev 4, the 7 seals begin with the Sanctuary scene then the opening of the seals.

AA 585 "In the Revelation all the books of the Bible meet and end" 

CG 482-483 "As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God.  Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the Living.  Every name is mentioned.”

WHAT ARE THE SEALS? WHEN DO THEY BEGIN?

The clue is on knowing what the Book in the right hand of the Father is, because when Jesus opened each sealed section of the book a group of events are shown.

 What is this Book?  It is the Book of life - where the 7 generations are recorded in 7 chapters or seals.  According to letter 65, 1898 and GC 483 above, the seals are but the Book of Life chapters being opened to judge the 7 generations written therein - "beginning with those who first lived upon the earth" (GC 482 - 483) - Adamic generation Time of the Seal: Adam to Noah.

"The Heavenly Record: Every Deed in Review"

Every man's work passes in review before God and is registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Opposite each name in the books of heaven is entered with terrible exactness every wrong word, every selfish act, every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissembling. 

Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs neglected, wasted moments, unimproved opportunities, the influence exerted for good or for evil, with its far-reaching results, all are chronicled by the recording angel.  {GC 482.1}

COL 294  “Thus the Jewish leaders made their choice. Their decision was registered in the book which John saw in the hand of Him that sat upon the throne, the book which no man could open. In all its vindictiveness this decision will appear before them in in the day when this book is unsealed by the Lion of the Tribe of Judah”- 

The theory that the 7 seals begins with the Early Christian Church and that a Book of 7 Seals is the Books of Daniel and Revelation tend to hide the sanctuary and Sabbath Truth (3rd Angel's message)!  Also, proof that those who started the theory did not understand what the seals are!  How can the Investigative Judgment start with the names of those who lived after 31AD, leaving the entire Old Testament generation without being Investigated upon?

THE 1ST SEAL - REV 6:1-2 “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” 

 The horses are symbols of preachers, but in this case, they symbolize a creature which man rules - the earth: at creation, the earth came `out perfect and beautiful.  It was given to man to inhabit (Gen 1:26, 28).  "Adam was crowned King in Eden" (IBC 1082). 

 Bow and Arrows: Psa. 127:4 / Gen 3:20 / Gen 1:26, 28 - the instruments he should use to conquer the earth was his wife Eve (bow) to bear children (arrows) to conquer (fill and control) the earth.  Adam's children on this earth now number over 6 billion.  The first generation to pass under the Investigative Judgment of the Dead was Adamic. Time of the Seal: Adam to Noah.

THE 2ND SEAL - REV 6:3-4   “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse [that was] red: and [power] was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”

Red = bloodshed, curse, murder.  
Sword = wars started on earth when peace was taken out of it.  The problem of disunity and international wars started at the Tower of Babel, when different languages were born.  Time of the Seal the tower of Babel to the call of Abram.

THE THIRD SEAL: Rev. 6:5-6  “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” 

The Black horse: The colour black denotes spiritual darkness or idolatry.  In this generation men started worshipping idols - only Abram was in favour with God - and he was called to move out with his family, for Canaan. 
Balances = beginning of trade.  The Phoenicians, especially those at Tyre and Sidon (Lebanese) Isa 23:8 - were defined as "the busy bees of Ancient World."

The Wheat and Barley: One measure of wheat to 3 measures of Barley for a   penny! Penny = eternal life 

One measure = 1 hour.  3 measure = 3 hours - the first and last hour labourers compared:
Wheat = saints - the 144 000 and Great Multitude - the last group which worked in 1hr the work of 3hrs to some other workers.  Therefore the 3 measures,
Barley = The Jews and their work - the first group in the vineyard.  The announcement starts with the wheat, meaning the first shall be the last, and the last to be the first: The 144 000 get their penny (eternal life) first before the Jews!

"Do not hurt the oil and the wine" (Rev 6:6): This voice came from the Throne (Rev 4:6) - from God.  Oil = Holy Spirit - Inspired Truth (See Lesson 1:2).  Wine is a symbol of the blood of Jesus.  As life is in the blood, it means eternal life is only through Jesus. 
Oil and wine = Bible and life.  The warning was that the Bible should not be hurt (destroyed).  It has survived all these generations through hatred and opposition and misinterpretations.  The 3rd seal shows the generation that received the first written Bible. 
Time: Call of Abram to 31AD. 

THE 4TH SEAL - REV 6:7,8  “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” 

Pale - a non-descript colour, similar to the non-descript beast of Dan 7:7-8 = pagan and papal Rome.  Rider - death = a persecuting power. 
They ruled the 4th part of the earth - then declined:  The earth's probationary time = 6000 years.  Therefore, 6000 ÷ 4 = 1500. 31AD (Jesus martyred) + 1500AD = 1531 AD.  It takes us to the time of Luther (1530 = Luther's separation   and the Augusburg Confession).  Then the papacy began to decline. (See GC 155, 162, 190 / IT .373). 
Time: 31AD to 1530AD.

THE 5TH SEAL - REV 6:9-11  “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled.”

Souls under the alter must be figurative of those who died in the 4th Seal, who then symbolically demanded immediate judgment on the papacy.  Alter, symbol of Reformation: The Protestant Reformation.  They, being told to rest until others in the 6th Seal should die, proves that despite the, Reformation, Martyrdom continued even during the 6th Seal. 
Time of 5th seal = 1530AD to 1844AD.

THE 6TH SEAL - REV 6:12-17/REV 7:1-4  “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?.... And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” 

The seal in which we live in - us the living, to whom these truths are revealed, is the longest.  These universal symbols were the signs of the times: Lisbon earth quake (Nov 1, 1755 - GC 304), Eclipse of the sun (May 19 and 20, 1790 - GC 306), falling of stars (Nov.13, 1833).  Though they were signs of the 2nd coming they were actual signs of the start of the Investigative Judgment in 1844.  If so, then the same symbols should have a second application to the warning about the Judgment of the Living: The Earthquake points forward to the shaking and slaughter of Ezek 9. 
Eclipse of the sun = Judgment of the Living = the Great and dreadful day of the Lord Mal 3:1-3 / Joel 2;3. 
Falling of stars = The shaking and separation in the church when "many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat…. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church" 5T. 81. 

This is not yet the 2nd Coming because the Investigative Judgment is still in progress - still with the dead!  Not yet on the Living! The 6th Seal only bring us to the Sealing of the 144 000 (today) and telling us of the purification of the church (Ezek. 9). Rev. 6:16 - Jesus still a bleeding Lamb (atoning = probation still on).The wrath of the Lamb cannot be the wrath of God, the 7 plagues.  It is the slaughter of Ezek. 9 in the church which He and His angels come to conduct in the Church (Mal 3:1-3) = the Judgment of the Living starts with the SDA church.

The question." Who shall stand" in the wrath of the Lamb is also found in Mal 3:1-3, when Jesus comes suddenly to His church to purify it (see 5T. 690).  Those who shall stand are then revealed in Rev. 7:1-9 = the 144 000 and Great Multitude!  Thank God that we are the generation blessed with "clear understanding of truth" (6T.420). 9T. 268 (see next paragraph) tells us that Rev 6:12-17, is applicable to the church not only to the world at the close of world probation.  A similar situation of panic, of want of this extra oil we are enjoying now, will take place at the close of the church probation, just before and at the beginning of Ezek 9.  Remember, the foolish virgins' experience (Matt 25)

After Rev 6: 12-17 to Rev 7:1-11 is quoted, 9T. 268 says: "In this scripture two parties are brought to view. One party permitted themselves to be deceived and took sides with those with whom the Lord has a controversy.  They misinterpreted the messages sent them and clothed themselves in robes of self-righteousness.  Sin was not sinful in their eyes.  They taught falsehood as truth, and by them many souls were led astray" 9T. 268. 
The 2 groups refer to the lost who run to hide anywhere they can find at the start of the slaughter of Ezek 9!  The inner deceivers are more dangerous than false teachers outside the inner circle!.  That is, the men of learning and influence, idolized by the common people are the deadly deceivers! see the idols that speak vanity in Zech 10:1-2 - "God has shown me that these men are Hazaels to prove a scourge to our people.  They are wise above what is written." 5T.79. They , like Cain their father, do not teach " to the law and to the testimony" - but their own science and human wisdom! 
Time of 6th Seal - from the signs of the times and 1844 to the sealing of the 144 000 (today).

THE 7TH SEAL REV. 8:1-5  “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, [which came] with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast [it] into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” 

The half - an hour (7 days) silence is not the 2nd Coming! It is a silence from the thundering and lightening’s, Rev. 4:5 and Rev 6:1, which is the sound of the Investigative Judgment since 1844.  When this breaks for 7 days, it means change over from Judgment of the dead to Judgment of the living.  The slaughter of Ezek 9, which event opens the Judgment of the Living (5T. 211) takes place 7 days, during this 1/2 hour silence. 

When the (Judgment in the books of heaven), resumes, its sounds extends to the earth - showing that the separation among the Living takes place first as a literal separation of  wheat and tares in the church (Ezek 9 slaughter), then the separation of the names in the books of heaven after the slaughter and 1/2 hr silence.  Therefore Jesus and His angels during the 1/2 hr silence - suddenly come to purify the church (Mal 3:1 - 3 / 5T. 690 / Ezek 9 / Amos 9:9-10 / Isa 66:15 - 20 etc).

After the 1/2hr silence (Rev 8:4) - the prayers of the saints still ascend to the Holy of holies - meaning, probation still open! Isaiah 66:15 - 20 is clear - that Ezek 9 slaughter takes place when probation is till open to the world!  Then the judgement of the living in the world will follow on earth (bodly) and heaven (names of Great multitude written in Book of life).

The fire = Acts 2:1 - 4 /Ezek 9:11 / Ezek 10:1-2 / GW 23 = The Holy Spirit in Pentecostal power to the 144 000 survivers, so that they can gather the Great Multitude. 
Time of the 7th Seal = Ezek 9 Slaughter 1/2hr silence to the end of Loud Cry and the close of world probation. 
The 144 000 are sealed in the 6th Seal, and the Great Multitude in the 7th Seal - The last saints to be gathered!

CONCLUSION

The 7 Seals are the 7 chapters of the Book of Life which contains the 7 sealed periods of the earth’s history. In each chapter, are names written  and are the ones being investigated upon, starting with chapter 1 – the first generation to be judged. Those who teach that the 7 Seals start with the New Testament, do not understand the whole chapter and are confusing themselves and the church! They are actually the false teachers!.             

THE  END