REVELATION
John was a witness to many events in
the future. He was told to write them down where he
could pass it on to the church. Many of the events that he wrote down are now
coming to past and taking place in real time. Unfortunately, there is a large
sum of people who are unaware of the seriousness of the hour that we now live
in and how close we are to the Lord’s return. Therefore, they will be left
unprepared unless they stop hitting the snooze button and allow God to reign
supreme in their lives.
The world has turned their back to God in defiance and
has shown through their actions that they do not want Him. People are too busy
with their everyday lives, which involve making money, school, homes, family
and friends to give God a piece of their time. However, Jesus is soon to return
and those who are righteous will remain righteous and those who are wicked will
remain wicked.
God will have given every individual
enough time to get it right and turn to Him. It is going to be a sad day for
many when Jesus returns and they are found unworthy to be caught up in the air
to meet Him. What a day of sorrow that will be when they cry out to the rocks
and mountains to fall on them, so they can hide from His presence.
We do not want to be one of those unfortunate lost
souls. We want to be ready when Jesus comes. Let’s take the time to ensure that
we learn all we can about God and give great attention to what He has to say to
us during these last days. May God bless you as you remove the prophetic veil
of His word.
Quick Review from
Lesson 4
a.) The rider of the white horse held a crown and a
bow. He rode out as a conqueror in order to conquer.
b.) The rider of the red horse was given power to
take peace away from the earth to make people kill and was given a sword.
c.) The
rider of the black horse was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Two pounds
of barley for a day’s wages, preservation of the oil and wine was heard being
cried out from the four living creatures.
d.) The riders of the pale horse were Death and
Hades. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by the sword,
famine, plagues and wild beasts.
e.) The
martyrs were given a white robe and told to wait until their other brothers and
sisters were killed before their blood would be avenged.
f.) The
four angels who were given the power to harm the land and sea were told to wait
until the saints had been sealed on their forehead.
g.) The
144, 000 who were sealed were from the tribes of Israel.
h.) People
of every language, nation, and tribe stood before the throne of the Lamb
wearing white robes and holding palm branches.
i.) The angels, 24 elders, and 4 living creatures
worshipped God before the throne.
j.) The Lamb is the shepherd and will lead all
saved to the springs of water where hunger and thirst will be no more.
k.) God will wipe
all tears away from their eyes.
The Seventh Seal
and the Golden Censer
Silence in Heaven
Seven angels were standing before God and seven
trumpets were given to them. These angels were the messengers who would give
the judgments that were to be handed down from God upon the face of the earth.
Angels were often used to administer the judgments of God all throughout the
Bible. We find examples of this in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as
an angel being sent to administer the judgment given to Herod Agrippa when he
did not acknowledge God; he allowed for himself to be worshipped as a god. Acts
12:23 Immediately, because Herod
did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was
eaten by worms and died. (NIV) Trumpets were also used to
warn the people that judgment was soon to come. These angels who
would administer the judgment of God was given these trumpets to warn that they
inhabitants of the earth were about to be judged for their wickedness. Joel
2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the
day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand…(NIV)
There was another angel who
came before the golden altar holding a golden censor
and was given a lot of incense along with the prayers of the saints before God.
When the saints of God pray, it is like a sweet smelling fragrance released
before the throne of God. Just as lit incense cannot be in a room and go
unnoticed, due to the aroma that it puts off into the air, so it is with God
when His people cry out to Him in prayer. He always hear the petitions of the
saints and they will never go unnoticed. Psalm 141:2
May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be
like the evening sacrifice. (NIV)
The angel filled the censor up with fire from the
altar and threw it down to the earth. Afterwards, the earth had thunder,
lightning, noise and an earthquake. This was an answer to the prayers of the
saints who had been under attack. Their prayers had not gone unheard and God
was administering
judgment upon the earth. Romans 12:19 Do not
take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is
written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. (NIV) The
wicked may think that they are getting by with all sorts of evil,
however, God will have the final say and the day of reckoning is coming.
We will continue our study in the book of Revelation on Monday. If you would like these lessons in print, they are available on Amazon.com.
Revelation: Removing the Prophet Veil Bible Lessons 1-10. Lesson 11 will be available the end of December 2015.
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