by Susan Kohler
“Do the dates match the timeline?”
“Yes. Additionally, the prophecy of the seventy sevens reveals what it will be like during the times of the tribulations. There will be wars, natural disasters such as volcanoes and earthquakes, and plagues until His second coming,” she told him. “Jesus predicts that the Jews will be deceived by the Antichrist. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. John 5:43.”
“I understand now why He is so angry.” Adam’s voice was quiet but firm.
“The Tribulation is the seventieth seven of Gabriel’s prophecy. Revelation chapters 6-19 which we’ll cover next time, describes it in detail. The tribulation is divided into two halves, the second half is known as the Great Tribulation. The Antichrist will stop all worship at Israel’s Temple and exalt himself over God and force the world to worship him and his image. The abomination that causes desolation will end. This is the time that the Antichrist will put an end to sacrifices and offerings until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. This happens when Christ returns in all His glory and defeats him at Armageddon.”
“Will He come soon?”
“I believe He will come any day now,” she smiled, “any day.”
“So what’s next?” Adam wondered.
“Next we study Revelation.” Her smile was wicked. “Read it tonight, and Adam…”
“What?”
“Read it carefully. Daniel was pretty straightforward.” She grinned. “Revelation is um, very complicated.”
As she left the room, Adam was banging his head on the table. She laughed.
When she got to her car, she banged her head on the steering wheel.
Chapter Twenty
“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”
(Revelation 1:3)
“Well, did you take my suggestion and read Revelation?” Nicole smiled at Adam.
“Yes, I did,” Adam told her, “even though I got confused while I was reading it.”
“So you did find it difficult to understand? And confusing?”
“Yes, it was confusing.”
“I thought so too, which is funny because like the book’s title means, everything is revealed.” Nicole smiled softly. “I’m no expert so if we cover this, it’s from a normal person’s point of view. I will probably mess some things up.”
“Okay, I understand.”
“I’ve been wanting to go into it in some detail, are you game?”
At his nod, she began, “Well it starts as John sends greetings to the seven churches, he sends them grace and peace and speaks of Christ’s return: Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. Revelation 1:7. Did you notice that it says the ones who pierced him, meaning crucified him, shall see him?”
“Yes, and it talks about kindreds of the earth wailing because of him. Are those the ones who had rejected him?” Adam asked.
“I think so, yes.”
He leaned back in the chair. “I wouldn’t want to be one of them. I was, but not anymore, thanks to you.”
“You are very welcome.” She smiled and continued reading. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. Revelation 1:11. So Christ wanted John to write his visions down and send them to these seven churches.”
“That makes sense, and then it says that he turned to see the voice who spoke to him and saw the Son of Man standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks. To me, that means the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. So Christ is the center of the churches.” Adam smiled. “Am I right?”
“I believe so, keep going.”
“So he writes to the church at Ephesus, and he complains about those who need to remember how they loved the church at first, but have forgotten their first love and devotion. He wants them to repent and go back to their first works.”
“That happens, people come to Christ but slowly the earthly world creeps in and they move away from the church,” Nicole told him.
Adam read the verses, and put them into his own words. “Next he writes to the church at Smyrna. He told them that even though they are going through tribulation, they were rich. Shouldn’t they have lost their possessions during a tribulation? If they held true to their Christian faith, he would give them the crown of life, and they would not suffer the second death.”
“Next, he writes to the church of Pergamos,” Adam continued. “And he writes about some of the people there who believe in Balaam, who was a prophet who had turned against God and taught Balak how to seduce the men of Israel into fornicating and holding an idolatrous feast. They also had people who followed Nicolaitanes who believed the laws do not matter because God’s grace covers them. Then he ordered them to repent.”
Nicole took the next church. “The citizens of Thyatira were mostly poor and humble laborers. Their sin was that they let Jezebel teach. A woman represents a church in prophesy. Obviously a pure woman is a pure Church and an impure woman represents an impure Church. Jezebel was a very impure woman who never repented. He told the church to repent. And the church at Sardis was told not to be dead while still alive, they needed to wake up and be watchful, so Christ could give them more light.”
“They were asleep on the job, so to speak,” Adam commented.
“And he warned them: Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Revelation 3:3. A good warning for us all,” Nicole finished.
“And in Philadelphia he writes: I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Revelation 3:8. He tells them because they’ve kept the word, he will keep them from the temptation which will come to the world. He tells them to hold fast, and that if they do, they will become a pillar in the temple of God.” Adam sipped his water. “We sure have temptation today.”
“All around us,” Nicole agreed.
“The Church of Laodicea he calls neither hot nor cold but lukewarm. I think that describes far too many Christians in the world now. In fact, he would prefer us either hot or cold, he said he would spit us out for being lukewarm. He also says: Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Revelation 3:17. They don’t know how poor they are spiritually,” Adam read and commented.
“Two of the most beautiful verses in the Bible come next: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:19-20. That covers the letters to the churches, now we get into the hard part.”
She gritted her teeth and read on. “This is not a continuation of the letters to the churches. John is now introducing a new vision. He sees a door opened in heaven and he saw a throne and heard a voice like a trumpet inviting him to enter. He is going to be shown things that will happen in the future. He saw Christ sitting on the throne, covered with jasper, and sardine stones, and a rainbow. There were twenty-four elders sitting around the throne, and seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. The lamps are the seven spirits of God. In front of the throne was a sea of glass and around the throne were four beasts full of eyes. The first beast was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a man’s face, and the fourth was like an eagle. Day and night they pra
ised God saying Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God almighty. To understand the four beasts, you need to remember that when Israel was in the wilderness the tribes were divided into four groups with the symbols of the lion, the man, the ox, and the eagle. The symbols also represent Christ, the lion means his kingship, the man is his humanity, the ox his service and sacrifice, his divinity. The eagle’s eyes suggest vigilance.” Nicole paused and got up to get more water.
She continued, “The elders fall down before him, toss their crowns before the throne and say: You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created.”
Nicole looked up, “Oh, we’re up to the seals. John says that he saw one sitting on the throne that had a book in his right hand that was sealed with seven seals. An angel asked in a loud voice: Who is worthy to unseal the book and open it? No man was worthy but the lion of the tribe of Judah can open the book and break the seven seals. In the middle of everything, the throne, the elders, and the four beasts there stood a lamb that had been killed, he had seven horns and seven eyes. A horn is a symbol of power, and the seven eyes are the seven spirits of God. He took the book out of the hand of him that was sitting on the throne. And the beasts and elders fell down before the lamb, singing praise that he was worthy to open the seals because he was killed and redeemed us to God with his blood. There were multitudes of angels, beasts and elders singing around the throne. And every creature which is in heaven, on earth, under the earth and in the sea worshiped and praised him.” She looked up at Adam. “Your turn.”
“Jesus opened one of the seals and one of the four beasts said: Come and see, and I saw a white horse, and the rider had a bow and a crown, and went out conquering. The white horse is a symbol of purity, the bow symbolizes God’s word. The crown symbolizes a wreath of victory, so conquering means winning people to Jesus,” Adam said, hesitating as he thought. “And when the second seal was opened a red horse came out. Red is the color of two things, sin and blood. So the rider of the red horse has the power to take peace from the earth and cause war.”
“Wow! Very good Adam!” Nicole was really surprised.
“The third was a black horse, the exact opposite of the white horse. The rider holds scales, the kind that balances two sides. The scales represent judgment, but the oil and the wine were not supposed to be hurt, they were meant to be preserved. The voice says not to hurt the oil and wine. The oil means light. I think it means the light of the Holy Spirit living inside us. I’m not sure about the wine but I think it might represent doctrine. We are supposed to preserve doctrine.” He paused. “The pale horse is next, and this one is especially dramatic: 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. Revelation 8. The faithful were persecuted in many ways, including being fed to lions.”
“And when the next seal is opened, he saw the souls of those who were killed for the word of God and their testimony under the altar. They were calling out for God to avenge them and punish the ones who persecuted them. Why are they under the altar if they died for God’s word?” Nicole wondered. “I think this has to do with the layout of the temple. I don’t think it means they were being um, slighted. I think it means their blood was poured out at the base of the altar on the earth. They are given white robes, a symbol of righteousness, and told to wait a while.” She answered her own question.
“When the sixth seal was opened, wow, there was a great earthquake, and the sun went black, probably from the ash, and the moon looked blood red. There were showers of falling stars, like the fruit falling off a tree shaken by a very strong wind. And the heavens opened up, moving mountains and islands. This is a very massive earthquake. It happens when Christ returns, this is the second coming.” Adam’s eyes were wide. “And the kings, the rich, and the mighty, well, everyone who is not saved will hide, some in caves, and they will even ask the mountains to hide them from Christ’s anger. They never prayed to Him, but now they pray to be hidden from Him. It’s too late, they cannot conceal their guilt or escape their punishment.”
“I’ll take chapter 7, and we can trade off, okay,” Nicole asked. Adam nodded and she began. “After the sixth seal, four angels, the faithful, are holding the four corners of the earth; in other words the whole earth. They are holding back the winds of destruction. Another angel comes from the east with the seal of the living God. He cries out to the four angels and tells them not to hurt the earth until the servants of the living God are sealed. There were 144,000 of the tribes of Israel; 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes. After this, a multitude so great no man could count them stood before the throne of God and Jesus, clothed in white robes and saying salvation to our God and to the Lamb. Around them were the angels, the elders, and the four beasts. They fell and worshiped God, saying Amen, Blessing, Glory, Wisdom, glory and thanksgiving honor, power, and might unto God forever, amen.” She paused.
“One of the elders asked who the people in the multitude were and he said, you know, they are the ones who came out of the great tribulation, and have washed the blood from their robes, making them white and pure in the blood of the lamb.” She began again, “Because of the experience of going through the tribulation and their victory over sin because of Christ, they are very near to God and desire to serve Him. In heaven they will never face hunger or thirst again. They will not be burned or blinded by the sun, Christ will free them and lead them to the living water, and God shall wipe the tears from their eyes.”
Adam started his chapter, which was chapter 8. “When the seventh seal is opened there was silence in heaven, why?” He answered himself. “Before this there was continual praise in heaven. I think the silence is because there is no one there, except God. I think the angels, and everyone else is with Christ. This is the second coming. I’m not sure about the time, but it must be time measured by God’s time, not measured by a clock on the wall.”
“I agree, and I think it’s easy to get bogged down with time instead of the message.” Nicole sighed.
“The seven angels are each given a trumpet. Trumpets are associated with warning or signaling a war. Another angel stands in front of the altar, and he offered a lot of incense, with the prayers of the saints to the golden altar before the throne. The throne of God?” He wondered.
“I think so.” She nodded
“And the angel is Christ?”
“Again, I think so.”
“The smoke from the incense rose to God. The angel took the censer and filled it with fire and cast it to the earth, which means the incense was gone and the intercession is over, and there were voices and thunder, lightning and an earthquake.”
“You’ve really studied the books and online studies I sent you.” Nicole was proud of him.
“The first trumpet sounded, followed by hail and fire mingled with blood, which burned trees and green grass. The second trumpet sounded and a great mountain, or nation, burning, was cast into the sea. And a third of the sea turned to blood, and a third of the sea creatures died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Then the third trumpet sounded and a great star fell from heaven, a star is the symbol of a leader, and a falling star is an apostate leader. Was this a meteorite? It fell on the third part of the rivers. The name of the star is wormwood which means bitterness, so wherever this leader went he caused bitterness, and many men died because of it.”
He sipped some water. “The fourth trumpet sounded and a third of the sun, moon, and stars were damaged. Does that mean darkened? These were the leaders, their consuls, and the senate. So these are extinguished.”
“Who’d miss them?” Nicole said dryly.
“And there was an angel saying woe, woe, woe to the unrighteous because of the other trumpets yet to come.”
Nicole took up her chapter. “The fifth trumpet sounded and
a star fell from heaven, remember a fallen star is an apostate leader. To this fallen leader is given a key to the bottomless pit. Smoke rose out of the pit as he opened it, so much smoke that the sun and air were dark. The sun is Jesus and his word. So the smoke from the bottomless pit is the opposite of the light and hides the truth, and locusts came out of the smoke. They came from the false teachings and were given power by the lies from the false prophets, but they were ordered not to hurt the earth or any green thing or trees. They could only hurt those without the seal of God. And to them, they were told not to kill them but to torment them five months. I think the order not to kill them applies to the whole group and not to the individual people. The time period? Again, I’m not thinking it’s our time, but is based on God’s time. The torment causes tremendous pain but not death, like a scorpion sting. It’s so bad that men seek death, but don’t find it.” She shrugged her shoulders. “The shape of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle, I’m not sure of what that means, but the golden crowns on their heads? A turban, richly embroidered. They had men’s faces, with beards, and long hair. The teeth? Symbolic of how they tore into their victims. They wore breastplates of iron, and made a loud sound. I’ve heard some people think the locusts are helicopters, and that John was describing something he had no other words for. It’s possible. They had tails like scorpions with the power to hurt men. Their ruler was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name means destroyer. I looked it up. This is the first woe, two more to come.”
“Not very encouraging, is it?” Adam got more water.
Nicole ignored his comment and continued, “The sixth trumpet sounded and a voice from the altar before God told the sixth angel to loosen the four angels that are held in the river Euphrates. And the angels were let loose to kill a third of the men. The army was huge, two hundred thousand thousand. I don’t think such a large army was possible until today; no country had enough men. China does now, for whatever it’s worth. The ones riding had breastplates, and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions, does that represent strength and ferocity? And out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone which killed a third of the men. The serpent tail I think refers to lies. The ones that were not killed by these plagues and did not repent still worshiped devils and idols and refused to repent of their murders, fornication, and thefts.”
