In Revelation Chapter 5 we have witnessed a glorious scene in Heavens Throne Room. With the four Living Creatures crying Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty and with the twenty-four elders bowing down on their knees and casting their crowns before the feet of God, God holds out the TITLE DEED OF CREATION, THE SCROLL OF DESTINY; and the Mighty Angel asks, Who is worthy to open the scroll? Then the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore our sins on Calvarys cross, stepped forward and took the scroll from the hand of His Father. When He did, the residents of Heaven broke out in song singing, Worthy Is the Lamb Who was slain. And they all fell on their faces and worshipped. But now the scroll must be opened, and the only way it can be unrolled is for the Exalted Christ to break each of the seven seals. And so He does, one at a time. When the first seal is broken, the Tribulation begins. What is about to happen is no ordinary time of trouble. The days that are being initiated are the days of which Jesus spoke when He walked upon the earth. Matthew 24:2122 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elects sake those days will be shortened. When the Lord Jesus breaks the first seal on the scroll, THE WORST DAYS OF PLANET EARTH BEGIN. The breaking of each one of the first four seals causes one of the four Living Creatures to call forth a horse and a rider. These are often called The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Revelation 6:12 1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, Come and see. 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. The First Horseman The Rise of the Antichrist to Power The Rise of Antichrist was prophesied by Daniel. His first act will be to make a covenant with Israel. The Rise of Antichrist was prophesied by Daniel. His first act will be to make a covenant with Israel. The Second Horseman War Revelation 6:34 3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and see. 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. We cannot be certain, but this is probably the war of Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel 38 & 39. The results of the battle of Gog and Magog All attacking armies will be destroyed. God sends attacks back on the homelands of the invaders. It takes 7 months to bury the dead and 7 years to burn the abandoned weapons of war. The results of the battle of Gog and Magog All attacking armies will be destroyed. God sends attacks back on the homelands of the invaders. It takes 7 months to bury the dead and 7 years to burn the abandoned weapons of war. The results of the battle of Gog and Magog All attacking armies will be destroyed. God sends attacks back on the homelands of the invaders. It takes 7 months to bury the dead and 7 years to burn the abandoned weapons of war. The results of the battle of Gog and Magog All attacking armies will be destroyed. God sends attacks back on the homelands of the invaders. It takes 7 months to bury the dead and 7 years to burn the abandoned weapons of war. The results of the battle of Gog and Magog All attacking armies will be destroyed. God sends attacks back on the homelands of the invaders. It takes 7 months to bury the dead and 7 years to burn the abandoned weapons of war. The defeat of Russia and Iran will leave a power vacuum in that part of the world which the Antichrist will exploit. The defeat of Iran would leave Iraq as the major power in the Middle East. It is easy to see how An alliance with the Antichrist could lead to the rapid rebuilding of the ancient city of Babylon as the commercial center of the Antichrist's empire. The defeat of Russia and Iran will leave a power vacuum in that part of the world which the Antichrist will exploit. The defeat of Iran would leave Iraq as the major power in the Middle East. It is easy to see how An alliance with the Antichrist could lead to the rapid rebuilding of the ancient city of Babylon as the commercial center of the Antichrist's empire. The defeat of Russia and Iran will leave a power vacuum in that part of the world which the Antichrist will exploit. The defeat of Iran would leave Iraq as the major power in the Middle East. It is easy to see how An alliance with the Antichrist could lead to the rapid rebuilding of the ancient city of Babylon as the commercial center of the Antichrist's empire. The defeat of Russia and Iran will leave a power vacuum in that part of the world which the Antichrist will exploit. The defeat of Iran would leave Iraq as the major power in the Middle East. It is easy to see how An alliance with the Antichrist could lead to the rapid rebuilding of the ancient city of Babylon as the commercial center of the Antichrist's empire. The Jews will turn away from their predominate atheism and begin again to worship God, and Many Gentile nations will recognize that God delivered Israel (Ezekiel 38:23), opening the door of receptivity to the gospel. The Jews will turn away from their predominate atheism and begin again to worship God, and Many Gentile nations will recognize that God delivered Israel (Ezekiel 38:23), opening the door of receptivity to the gospel. The Jews will turn away from their predominate atheism and begin again to worship God, and Many Gentile nations will recognize that God delivered Israel (Ezekiel 38:23), opening the door of receptivity to the gospel. The Third Horseman Revelation 6:56 5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine. What does this mean? We are told that something is happening to food prices, but to understand what, we must use our Bible Dictionary. Quart choinix 1.2 dry quarts (1.3 liters) How many people can you feed with 1.2 quarts of wheat? 1.2 qts x 37 oz/qt = 44.4 oz. 44 oz of wheat x 90 calories/oz = 4,000 calories. With barley it would be 12,000 calories. Avg intake per person is 2700/cal/day = 4.4 days food for one person. Quart choinix 1.2 dry quarts (1.3 liters) How many people can you feed with 1.2 quarts of wheat? 1.2 qts x 37 oz/qt = 44.4 oz. 44 oz of wheat x 90 calories/oz = 4,000 calories. With barley it would be 12,000 calories. Avg intake per person is 2700/cal/day = 4.4 days food for one person. Denarius The most basic Roman coin made of silver. What was its value? Matthew 20:2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. One days wage. Denarius The most basic Roman coin made of silver. What was its value? Matthew 20:2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. One days wage. Denarius The most basic Roman coin made of silver. What was its value? Matthew 20:2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. One days wage. So, a man has a wife and two children, and he earns five days wages per week, but he has strange children. They want to eat seven days a week! So he needs to be able to buy 7 days x 2700 cal/day x 4 people = 75,600 calories worth of food a week to keep them alive. But with what he earns, he can only buy 20,000 calories of wheat or 60,000 calories of barley, and that uses his entire pay check! The Third Horseman Scarcity, Inflation and Famine The Fourth Horseman Death Revelation 6:78 7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. The results of the war and the famine that follows is that the wild animals become more aggressive, and they also begin to kill people. During the first four judgments of the twenty-one described in Revelation, one- fourth of the people on the earth die. The results of the war and the famine that follows is that the wild animals become more aggressive, and they also begin to kill people. During the first four judgments of the twenty-one described in Revelation, one- fourth of the people on the earth die. The Fifth Seal Martyrdom Revelation 6:911 9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. Many will be slain for the Word of God and for their testimony during the fifth seal. Many more will die in the Lord in the years to come. The Sixth Seal Cosmic Disturbances Revelation 6:1214 12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. THE WORST DAYS HAVE BEGUN IN ORDER TO USHER IN THE BEST DAYS. Why does God deal so harshly with the world? Because righteousness matters. Because God wants people delivered from sin and the result of sin death. Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: As I live, says the Lord G OD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel? Why does God deal so harshly with the world? Because righteousness matters. Because God wants people delivered from sin and the result of sin death. Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: As I live, says the Lord G OD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel? Why does God deal so harshly with the world? Because righteousness matters. Because God wants people delivered from sin and the result of sin death. Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: As I live, says the Lord G OD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel? By the end of the Sixth Seal Judgment, there are few atheists left in the world. There will still be many unbelievers who refuse to follow Christ, but by and large, people know there is a God in Heaven, and His One and Only Son is known as the Lamb. Revelation 6:1517 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? By the way, we should note that the wrath of God has definitely begun to fall upon the earth, even though we are still in the first half of the tribulation. Believers are promised that we will not experience the wrath of God (1 Thess. 5:9). Therefore, we have to be raptured out before the beginning of the tribulation, not in the middle or at the end. Before the Lamb of Heaven breaks the seventh and final seal on the Scroll of Destiny so that it can be unrolled, Jesus reveals one other thing that has been happening throughout the Seal Judgments. The severity of Gods judgments upon the earth set the stage for the greatest revival in the history of the world which we shall read about next week in Revelation, Chapter 7.