Chapter
VII - Unit A
The Seven Sealed Book and What they Reveal
Revelation 5 & 6
Chapter 5 of the book of Revelation states that the
Lamb of God (Jesus) has a book (a scroll) in His Hand. This scroll is sealed with seven seals. Seals are drops of wax, placed along the
edge of the scroll which seals the scroll shut. As the wax is cooling down, the authority in charge of the scroll
will use the ring of authority (usually it’s a king’s ring with his raised
emblem on it) to place his “seal of authority” in the wax, revealing who it
comes from and proof that the scroll has not been opened or altered. By this we know that the document that the
Lamb is about to open is a direct message from God to man. Let’s see what is revealed.
Unit B
The Removal of the First Seal
Introduction of the Antichrist
“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’. 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 four
seals reveal four horsemen. This first
rider comes out on a white horse and with the power to conquer. This represents the Antichrist. He cannot be revealed until the church is
gone. Let’s see what the Word says
about him. II Thessalonians 2:1-9 gives
us a time line by which we can judge the rapture and the 2nd coming
of Christ. Notice that the Apostle
Paul talks about two separate happenings.
“Now, brethren,
concerning 1) the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and 2) our gathering together
to Him,”--Paul makes it clear that he will discuss two events. The rapture must take place first, and then
the revealing of the Antichrist can happen.
At the end of the tribulation, the 2nd Advent of Christ would
happen. (It is referred to as the 2nd
Coming or Advent because, at the Rapture, Jesus does not touch the earth. We will meet Him in the air.) Paul wanted to clarify the two events and
ease their troubled minds.
“We ask you,
not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or
by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means;
for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first.”
The phase “falling away” comes from the Greek word,
‘apostasia’. This is the only place
this word is used and means “a departure of”.
Some students of the Bible believe that it means that many from the
church would backslide and leave the church.
But what the scripture is really saying (because of the context around
it) is that the church must depart or be raptured out! The translation should have read, “for that
Day would not come unless the church departs or has its rapture first. The next text in scripture gives us the
confirmation that it is the church that hinders the Antichrist from taking his
position. Not until the church is
raptured can he show his face.
“And now you know what is restraining him (from being revealed at this
time), that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He,(being
the body of Christ or the church) who now restrains (the Antichrist) will do so until He (the church) is taken out of the way.” (Amplified
Version)
The next portion of scripture (from II Thessalonians
2) talks about the revealing of the Antichrist. Now let me introduce you to the Antichrist. There are several scriptures that reveal his
personality, where he comes from, what he will do as a world leader, and what
will be his end. Notice here that he is
called the son of perdition (a child from hell)!! “and the man of sin is
revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that
is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God....”
The Book of Daniel gives us a clear picture of the
personality of the Antichrist. (Daniel
7:2-8 in conjunction with 8: 3-25) “Daniel spoke, saying, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the
four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from
the sea, each different from the other”--