{"id":10236,"date":"2022-03-01T07:07:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T12:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?p=10236"},"modified":"2024-03-13T09:08:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T13:08:28","slug":"revelation-the-seals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?p=10236","title":{"rendered":"Revelation &#8211; The Seals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"seriesmeta\">This entry is part 4 of 12 in the series <a href=\"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?series=revelation\" class=\"series-112\" title=\"Revelation\">Revelation<\/a><\/div><p>On previous post we learned about the 4 first seals or the <a href=\"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?p=10139\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">4 horses<\/a> of the Book of Revelation, &amp; that is our <strong>Lord Jesus<\/strong> who opens the seals of the scroll. Here we will continue reading the rest of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Revelation%206&amp;version=KJV;AKJV;RVA;MEV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">seals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>9 When He opened the<strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\"> fifth seal<\/span><\/strong>, I saw under the altar the <strong>souls of those who <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">had been slain for the word of God<\/span><\/strong> and for the testimony they had held. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, \u201cHow long, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?\u201d 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them, and<strong> they were told to rest a little longer,<\/strong> <strong>until<\/strong> the number of their fellow servants and brothers should be completed, <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">who would be killed<\/span> as they were.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>12 I watched as He opened the <strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">sixth seal<\/span><\/strong>. And suddenly there was <span style=\"color: #800000;\">a great earthquake<\/span>. The <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">sun<\/span><strong> became black, like sackcloth made from goat hair, and <\/strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">the moon<\/span><strong> became like blood. 13 And<\/strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"> the stars<\/span><strong> of heaven fell to the earth<\/strong>, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind. 14 Then the heavens receded like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.<\/p>\n<p>15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the commanding officers and the strong and everyone, slave and free, <strong>hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains<\/strong>. 16 They said to the mountains and rocks, \u201cFall on us, and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 <span style=\"color: #800000;\">for the great day of His wrath has come<\/span>. <strong>Who is able to withstand it?<\/strong>\u201d <span id=\"en-MEV-30811\" class=\"text Rev-6-17\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=revelation+6%3A9-17&amp;version=KJV;AKJV;RVA;MEV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rev.6:9-17<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>No doubt that if we are still on earth that <strong>we all will notice when the 6th seal is opened<\/strong>, not only we&#8217;ll experience a great <strong>earthquake<\/strong>, but also the <span style=\"color: #800000;\">sun will get dark &amp; the moon red<\/span>, but something that will happen also for everybody to see is the <span style=\"color: #800000;\">stars of heaven falling<\/span> on earth. This is a very unique cosmic cataclysm. (Please compare with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew+24&amp;version=KJV;AKJV;RVA;MEV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Matthew 24<\/a>, the time of the events that happen when <strong>the seals <\/strong>are opened, is called<strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\"> &#8216;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>great tribulation<\/em><\/span>&#8216;<\/span>, <\/strong>vs 21 &amp; 29).<\/p>\n<p><strong>After the 6th seal<\/strong> in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Revelation+7&amp;version=KJV;AKJV;RVA;MEV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Chapter 7<\/a> we see 144,000 descendants of the 12 tribes of the children of <strong>Israel<\/strong>, that are sealed in their foreheads.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The 144,000 of Israel Sealed<\/p>\n<p>7 Then I saw <strong>four angels<\/strong> standing at the <span style=\"color: #800000;\">four corners of the earth<\/span>, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind would not blow on <span style=\"color: #800000;\">the earth or on the sea<\/span> or on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having<span style=\"color: #800000;\"> the seal of the living God<\/span>. He cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power <strong>to harm the earth and the sea<\/strong>, 3 saying, \u201c<strong>Do not harm <\/strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">the earth or the sea or the trees<\/span><strong>, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">until<\/span> we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads<\/strong>.\u201d 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand out of every tribe <strong>of the children of Israel<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>5 Twelve thousand from the<strong> tribe of Judah<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>twelve thousand from the <strong>tribe of Reuben<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>twelve thousand from the<strong> tribe of Gad<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>6 twelve thousand from the <strong>tribe of Asher<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>twelve thousand from the <strong>tribe of Naphtali<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>twelve thousand from the <strong>tribe of Manasseh<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>7 twelve thousand from the <strong>tribe of Simeon<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>twelve thousand from the <strong>tribe of Levi<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>twelve thousand from the<strong> tribe of Issachar<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>8 twelve thousand from the<strong> tribe of Zebulun<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>twelve thousand from the <strong>tribe of Joseph<\/strong> were sealed,<\/p>\n<p>and twelve thousand from the <strong>tribe of Benjamin<\/strong> were sealed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The twelve tribes of Israel came from the twelve sons of Jacob (who was later named Israel). His twelve sons were <strong>Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin<\/strong>. This selection of the twelve tribes in Revelation does not include the name of <strong>Dan<\/strong> (son of Jacob with Rachel&#8217;s maidservant Bilhah), although their names were used for the twelve tribes that settled in the Promised Land. You can notice this tribe is replaced with <strong>Manasseh<\/strong> one of the 2 tribes of Joseph. It has been suggested that this could be because of the pagan practices of the tribe of Dan.<\/p>\n<p>Dan in Hebrew means <strong>&#8216;judge&#8217;.<\/strong> Rachel (who was childless) named him Dan because she felt that God had<strong> judged and vindicated<\/strong> her through the child\u2019s birth (Gen.30:1-8). In Genesis 49:16 says : &#8220;<em><span id=\"en-KJV-1490\" class=\"text Gen-49-16\"><sup class=\"versenum\">16\u00a0<\/sup>Dan shall <strong>judge<\/strong> his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.<\/span><\/em><span id=\"en-KJV-1491\" class=\"text Gen-49-17\"><em><sup class=\"versenum\">17<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/sup><strong>Dan shall be <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">a serpent<\/span><\/strong> by the way, <strong>an adder<\/strong> in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward<\/em>.&#8221; Samson was a judge descendant from the tribe of Dan, also Deborah the prophetess was a judge from the tribe of Dan.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But also in the book of Amos 8:14 God\u2019s declares judgment on Dan for its allegiance to its false gods. For this reason &amp; because Gen:49:16 also says Dan should be a serpent or a viper, it is believed (since Irenaeus &amp; Hyppolytus of Rome wrote about it) that the Antichrist could be a descendant from the tribe of Dan.<\/p>\n<p>Then in Rev.7:9 -10 we read:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><span class=\"text Rev-7-9\"><strong>After this<\/strong> I beheld, and, lo, <span style=\"color: #800000;\">a great multitude, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">which no man could number<\/span>, of<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong> all<\/strong><\/span> <strong>nations <\/strong><\/span>(G1484=ethnic groups), and <strong>kindred<\/strong> (race, lineage=G5443), and people, and tongues, stood<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> before the throne, and before the Lamb<\/span>, <\/strong>clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>10 They cried out with a loud voice:\u00a0 \u201c<strong>Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!<span id=\"en-AKJV-30820\" class=\"text Rev-7-9\"><\/span><\/strong>&#8220;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Notice the 144,000 were <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">in the earth<\/span> <\/strong>sealed for <strong>protection<\/strong>, but even if someone believes they were already in heaven, they still could be counted, <strong>but there was<\/strong> in heaven so many people from all nations &amp; races (ethnic groups) that <span style=\"color: #800000;\">no man could count.<\/span> Which means the dead in Christ where risen &amp; the rapture already occurred\u00a0 &amp; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">the true believers, the Church is in heaven<\/span>!!<\/p>\n<p>The 7 years of what many call &#8216;the Great Tribulation period&#8217;, is really the <strong>wrath of God<\/strong> (or days of Jacob&#8217;s trouble) &amp; can still happen during the 7 trumpets &amp; the 7 bowls. &#8220;<em><span id=\"en-KJV-30914\" class=\"text Rev-13-5\">And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and <strong>power was given unto him<\/strong> to continue <strong>forty and two months<\/strong><\/span><\/em>&#8221; (3\u00bd years), Rev.13:4-7.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces <strong>before the throne<\/strong> and worshipped God, 12 saying: \u201cAmen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>13 Then one of the elders asked me, \u201c<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Who are these clothed in white robes, and where did they come from<\/span>?<\/strong>\u201d 14 I said to him, \u201cSir, you know.\u201d He said to me, \u201c<span style=\"color: #800000;\">These are those who came out of<strong> great<\/strong><\/span><strong> <span style=\"color: #800000;\">tribulation<\/span><\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20181104032524\/http:\/\/www.kingjamesbibledictionary.com:80\/StrongsNo\/G2347\/Tribulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">G2347<\/a>= <span style=\"color: #000000;\">affliction<\/span>, <strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">persecution<\/span><\/strong>)<span style=\"color: #800000;\"> and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb<\/span>. 15 Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.<br \/>\n16\u00a0 <span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u2018They shall neither hunger any more, nor shall they thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them,\u2019 nor any scorching heat; <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">17\u00a0 for<strong> the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them<\/strong> and \u2018He will lead them to springs of living water.\u2019 \u2018And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.<\/span> Rev. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Rev.7%3A+11-17&amp;version=KJV;AKJV;RVA;MEV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">7: 11-17<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Verse 14 says they came out of the big affliction or &#8216;<strong>great tribulation<\/strong>&#8216;, <span style=\"color: #800000;\">but only <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>6<\/strong><\/span> of the 7 seals have been opened!!<\/span> &amp; still the worst part, <strong>the wrath of God<\/strong>, (the 7 trumpets &amp; 7 bowls) have <strong>not<\/strong> passed yet. Then Revelation chapter 8 talks about the <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">seventh<\/span> seal, after which starts the<strong> wrath of God<\/strong>, &amp; as we explained on previous post, the Church cannot be here on earth anymore.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"chapter-1\"><span id=\"en-KJV-30829\" class=\"text Rev-8-1\"><span class=\"chapternum\">8\u00a0<\/span>And when he had opened the<span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong> seventh seal<\/strong>,<\/span> there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. <\/span><span class=\"text Rev-8-2\"><sup class=\"versenum\">2\u00a0<\/sup>And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them <strong>were given seven trumpets<\/strong>. . . .<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"en-KJV-30833\" class=\"text Rev-8-5\"><sup class=\"versenum\">5\u00a0<\/sup>And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: <span style=\"color: #800000;\">and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"en-KJV-30834\" class=\"text Rev-8-6\"><sup class=\"versenum\">6\u00a0<\/sup>And the <strong>seven angels which had the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">seven trumpets<\/span> prepared themselves to sound<\/strong>. Rev.8:1-6<\/span><span id=\"en-KJV-30830\" class=\"text Rev-8-2\"><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It is important to know that understanding this completely is <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>not<\/strong><\/span> one of the essentials for salvation &amp; it&#8217;s ok to disagree in some points because the Bible doesn&#8217;t give us the exact timing of these events, we only know for sure these prophecies are for the last day,\u00a0 but still it is very important to study this book of Revelation because it was written for a reason &amp; at the beginning says:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em><span id=\"en-MEV-30701\" class=\"text Rev-1-3\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Blessed<\/span><\/strong> is he who <strong>reads<\/strong> and those who<strong> hear<\/strong> the words of this prophecy <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and <span style=\"color: #800000; text-decoration: underline;\">keep<\/span><\/span> those things which are written in it<\/strong>, for the <span style=\"color: #800000;\">time<\/span> <strong>is near<\/strong>.<\/span><\/em>&#8221; Rev.1:3<\/p>\n<p>I believe we Christians will go through <span style=\"color: #800000;\">a short time of great persecution &amp; suffering<\/span> <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">before the rapture of the Church<\/span>, &amp; that God will allow it in order <strong>to clean His Church<\/strong>, since <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">judgment begins at the house of God<\/span> (1 Peter 4:17), so this judgment of the Church will happen <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">before<\/span> the judgment to the nations, or <span style=\"color: #800000;\">the wrath of God<\/span> is poured <em><strong>upon the children of disobedience<\/strong><\/em> (Eph. 5:6, see also Eph. 2:1-3). Unfortunately many think\u00a0 &#8216;<em>The Great Tribulation<\/em>&#8216;,\u00a0 &amp; the wrath of God are the same thing. But according with Rev.7:13 (&amp; Matthew 24) the &#8216;great tribulation&#8217; happens during the 7 seals.<\/p>\n<p>Many Christians think they<strong> won&#8217;t<\/strong> suffer any <strong>persecution<\/strong> &amp; aren&#8217;t prepared for harsh times, so when difficulties come, many of them will have doubts &amp; many others will depart from the faith.\u00a0 &#8211; Beloved I really hope I&#8217;m wrong, &amp; we won&#8217;t have to see difficult times before the rapture, but isn&#8217;t just better to be <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">prepared?<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span id=\"en-MEV-25863\" class=\"text Luke-21-36\"><span class=\"woj\">Therefore <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>watch<\/strong> always and <strong>pray<\/strong><\/span> that you may be counted worthy <strong>to escape all these things<\/strong> that <span style=\"color: #800000;\">will happen<\/span> and <strong>to stand before the Son of Man<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/span> Luke <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke+21%3A+36&amp;version=KJV;AKJV;RVA;MEV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">21:36.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"seriesmeta\">This entry is part 4 of 12 in the series <a href=\"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/?series=revelation\" class=\"series-112\" title=\"Revelation\">Revelation<\/a><\/div><p>On previous post we learned about the 4 first seals or the 4 horses of the Book of Revelation, &amp; that is our Lord Jesus who opens the seals of the scroll. Here we will continue reading the rest of the seals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[113],"series":[112],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10236"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10236"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12671,"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10236\/revisions\/12671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10236"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cristolaverdad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=10236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}