Study – Grow – Know

Rethinking Revelation 6 Part 3

June 22, 2023 at 1:23 PM 2 comments

Audio for this article here: SermonAudio.com/StudyGrowKnow

In the second installment [1] of this series, I took the time to expand on the first seal of Revelation 6:1-2 dealing with the Antichrist and what I believe is actually the process highlighted in those two verses, allowing him to climb to the top of the political heap. He will ultimately gain enough power to confirm a covenant that will be in existence at that point between Israel and neighboring nations.

I came to that conclusion simply because unlike the specifics in places like Zechariah 9:9-10 (or in Daniel 9:24-27), there is absolutely nothing mentioned in Revelation 6:1-2 that shows a specific point when Antichrist actually confirms a covenant and in fact, a covenant is not even mentioned. The Revelation 6:1-2 verses are general in pointing out his rise to prominence over time. Though the start of the Tribulation may well be built into those two verses, there is nothing in them that clearly denotes the exact start (as Daniel 9:24-27 does).

In Revelation 6:1-2, a white horse and rider ride out and begins conquering over time. I noted he is likely in the world now and already well established within political circles, climbing to the top where he will take the reins of the world and rule as a tyrant forcing the world to worship him or die. All things point to the fact that the Antichrist will likely rise within the political circles in Western Europe, not the USA.

This cannot occur overnight. But we could be on the cusp of seeing one man rise above the rest. Aside from the potential ramifications of the first seal, I also asked previously whether or not it is possible that some of the other seals might also be starting to open up as well? It’s possible, but I’ll say it again: I could be wrong. I’m simply wondering out loud. If the start of the Tribulation is built into Revelation 6 someplace, we cannot point to a specific verse or part of a verse and say, “See? There is the start.” We can simply assume. But assumptions are not necessarily facts. The specific starting point of the Tribulation called out in Revelation 6 is just not obvious to me.

I also previously began talking about the second seal of Revelation 6:3-4. [2]

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.

The rider on the red horse is tasked with removing peace from the earth. I don’t believe the verse is limited to conventional war either (“…and that people should kill one another“), but could also include general unrest created by political division, throughout society. We see conventional war using the military (Ukraine), and war using militant Marxist groups like BLM, AntiFa and even the LGBTQ+ throughout America to upset and overturn society’s status quo.The mass movement of “refugees” throughout the world also creates disharmony and upheaval.

If we then consider the third seal, we learn that a huge global scarcity is coming to this planet (Revelation 6:5-6).

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.”

Consider the many economic experts warning that the current economy is on the verge of collapse. Added to this is the constant talk of digital currencies. Shortages, inflation and more are allegedly on their way, creating growing panic and uncertainty though the wealthy will remain exempt in large measure.

So seal one is Antichrist who begins his political rise to ultimately become the ruler over the earth after ten kings take up their reign over their tenth part of the globe. Seals two, three and four may happen right alongside the Antichrist’s political rise, actually aiding him in that rise. All of this could be happening behind the scenes now in preparation for the reveal at some point in the near future or before 2030. We do not know when the seals will open or how long each will last.

In the end, are we seeing the beginning of the second seal of Revelation 6:3-4 and the third seal of Revelation 6:5-6?  It’s possible, especially considering the fact that the very first seal has absolutely nothing contained in it that helps us pinpoint the start of the Tribulation. As I’ve noted, that start could be implied in the first seal but doesn’t have to be. If there is no real start in the first seal and it has opened to allow the process to begin, the second, third, fourth and possibly the fifth could occur as well, providing needed support to Antichrist as he gains power over the earth.

I do not believe each seal is separated cleanly from another and I believe there is some overlap. Moreover, it doesn’t appear the seals, once released, are recalled (have a noted end point in Scripture). They are released and simply play themselves out. For instance, many economic experts are saying that the next “recession” (likely another great depression), will last for years, not months. Will an increase in deaths from famine and pestilence coincide with that?

It appears to me that seals two, three and four support Antichrist’s rise to the top to gain world dominance, making Antichrist’s rise to power that much easier. Seal two is conflict on the earth/removal of peace. Seal three is scarcity or famine (along with  severe inflation). Seal four is widespread death. These issues will cause people to increasingly call for someone to solve the problems that exist. These terrible events will ultimately aid Antichrist in his grab more power, ultimately becoming the most powerful human to ever live, who will become the ruler of the world.

Remember, this coming Antichrist is not one of the original ten kings mentioned in Revelation 17:11-13, though he gains dominance even over them.

11The beast that was, and now is not, is an eighth king, who belongs to the other seven and is going into destruction. 12The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive one hour of authority as kings, along with the beast. 13These kings have one purpose: to yield their power and authority to the beast.

The ten kings take their positions as rulers of the world (by 2030?). Notice the words “along with the beast” (v 12). Verse 13 tells us that the kings have one purpose (which they will not realize until they get to that point), and that is to “yield their power and authority to the beast” (v 13). The book of Daniel goes further into this for us.

7 ‘After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.’ (Daniel 7:7-8 NKJV)

Daniel describes this fourth empire as “…dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong”. This fourth beast will literally devour everything in its path, destroying it into submission. It seems to me this fourth and final empire is being built now. Seals two, three and four may aid in ushering it in and if so, may also be occurring to some degree now.

This fourth and final beast has ten horns (cf also Revelation 17). As Daniel looked he noticed another horn, a little horn that came up among the other ten (but not one of those ten). However, this little horn “plucked” up (murdered?) three of the ten horns by the roots. This little horn is not afraid to kill people who stand in his way. After eliminating three, the other seven remaining kings pledge their allegiance to this little horn (Antichrist).

What is occurring in this world is the obvious building of this final fourth beast. Everything that’s happening now may well be preliminary to the official start of the coming Tribulation. If Seals one, two, three and four have not begun opening yet, we can only assume that when they officially do, their effect on the world will be much worse than what we are seeing now and what experts are predicting and telling us to expect.

In conclusion then, I believe it is very possible we are seeing and experiencing aspects of the second seal of Revelation 6. The contents of the third seal may be just around the corner, with the fourth seal naturally following that. Again, while I could be 100% wrong, it seems to me this scenario is very possible while we are still before the official start of the coming Tribulation period. If the first seal had a built in, obvious timeline or specific starting point where the rider on the white horse does something very specific that cannot be ignored, then we could correlate the first seal with the actual start of the Tribulation. It seems to me that the first seal provides a general view of the things that will occur, but no specific point we can look to as we can in Daniel 9:24-27 or Zechariah 9:9-10.

Seal one appears to be general language that implies a period of time for it to occur, unlike the events that are pinpointed in other areas of Scripture. In fact, if we look carefully, seals one, two, three and four really have no specific time that we can see that helps us understand exactly when they will occur or how long they will each last. They could unroll slowly over time or occur quickly. It’s difficult to know.

Thoughts? Comments?

[1] https://studygrowknowblog.com/2023/06/07/rethinking-revelation-6-part-2/

[2] https://studygrowknowblog.com/2023/06/02/rethinking-revelation-6-part-1/

Entry filed under: agenda 2030, Atheism and religion, christianity, Religious - Christian - Prophecy. Tags: tribulation.