June 12, 2008

• Biblical Eschatology Revisited
  
  
  
  Implications of the Sixth Seal as the “harpazo” – Part 2

  In Part 1, we discussed how various related scriptures dealing with the
  “harpazo” (aka “rapture” to some) interrelated with our discovery of
  the outcome of the sixth seal of Revelation.  We were able to determine
  that all of our present understanding of these verses remained intact. 
  We also saw how it supported what we see in our world today and in
  history about the martyrdom of believers all over the world and that
  the Lord knows who will glorify Him in this way and how many.

  We also examined how we can observe the changes in our world moving
  toward a more intolerant view of any belief other than that which
  promotes sin and debauchery in every sort of form. Yet there is more
  that we need to discuss regarding this subject in order to fully
  develop what the Lord has given us to understand. (It would be good for us to re-read Revelation 6 to refresh our memories before we proceed further. By doing this, this post can avoid being too long..)

  So far we’ve touched on the fifth and sixth seals so taking a look at
  the rest of them are in order. To do so, we must carefully consider
  what we see here since we seem to have an obviously symbolic sort of
  account given. Why is that so? First, we see Christ referred to as the
  Lamb and while He certainly is that such a reference tells us that we
  are to consider what we see carefully to their true symbolic meaning
  hopefully without stretching things too far.

  So let’s take a look at this and bear in mind that we are working with
  symbols here and it is quite possible that the interpretation of them
  may be incorrect. This attempt merely represents a possible outcome
  from the symbols shown using biblical references, information, and
  likely conclusions known about human nature to attempt to derive a
  possible message and meaning. If there are any references to people or people groups, this is only incidental to the discovery of the information that is given. Since we have no control of what was written in the  scriptures, we are merely trying to find out what it says.

  In comparative scriptural terms, the first seal appears to have the following information to convey to us:

  1.    A false messiah: there is only one other rider mentioned in
  scripture that rides a white horse, Jesus Christ 
         when He returns in
  Revelation 19. Since Christ is opening the seal, He is obviously not
  riding the horse. This
         indicates that the rider is an messiah imposter.
  2.    Horses with riders appear in the first four seals but not the
  fifth and suggests that the first four seals are
         interrelated. If this
  is true, then seals 2 through 4 are results of what the rider in the
  first seal does.
  3.    This false messiah is given a crown which is a symbol for authority, dominion, and rulership.
  4.    The rider posseses a bow. The Greek word for “bow” means the type for shooting arrows.
         a.    The meaning for the bow could involve warfare or hunting.
               
  i.    Warfare, or the effects of it, are related in the other three
  horsemen.The sword is used as the
                      symbol for this. So we will
  examine “hunting” as the most probable meaning.
               ii.    If the fifth seal is any indication of what the bow is used for
  it might mean that this false messiah hunts
                     down those who believe in
  the Word of God and maintains a good testimony.
              iii.    Who were hunters named in the Bible?
                    
  1.    Nimrod – founder of Babylon and Nineveh (Gen 10:8-12)
                            a.    A mighty hunter before the Lord
                           
  b.    Founded cities that were later adversarial to Israel
                     2.    Ishmael – forefather of many indigenous peoples of the Middle
  East (Gen 21:20-21). He
                            became an archer and hunted in the Wilderness
  of Paran. He is the son of Abraham whom the
                            promise did not come nor
  would Abraham’s descendants be named. (Gen 21:12)
                    
  3.    Esau (Edom) – the brother of Jacob who despised his birthright;
  he became a skillful hunter.
                            (Gen 25:27) The forefather of the Edomites
  who committed gross offenses to Israel during the
                            Babylonian Captivity
  as recounted in the book of Obadiah.
  5.    The first rider’s goal is conquest
        
  a.    going out conquering and to conquer… from the rest of the context the whole world is strongly inferred.
  6.    A summary statement of the possible meaning of the first seal is
  a compilation of related data considering the
         information we know about
  each of these points and the characteristics we learn about them in the
  scriptures.

       Someone/Some group who numbers among or is related to the descendants of
  Nimrod, Ishmael, and/or Esau
       will assume authority and will go forth
  intending a worldwide conquest. He/They will emulate his/their
       forefathers by
  creating a new order like that done in Babel (could be secular or
  religious) instead of trusting
       God by faith. He/They will resent the claim
  that the promise of God belongs to Isaac’s line and claim the
  
       inheritance of Jacob for himself/themselves.

  Please note that this doesn’t mean ALL of the descendants of these Old
  Testament people. The symbol seems to imply that the rider is someone
  that was somehow related to those people.

  In comparative scriptural terms, the second seal appears to have the following information to convey to us:

  1.    Subsequent to the first rider, the second rider removes peace
  from the world causing men to slay one another
         and the magnitude of the
  killing is great.

  In comparative scriptural terms, the third seal appears to have the following information to convey to us:

  1.    The third rider has a pair of scales in his hand indicating measuring or controlling the distribution of something.
  2.    A voice explains something related to this… a quart of wheat and
  three quarts of barley for a denarius
         (typically a day’s wage)… the oil
  and wine were not to be damaged or hurt perhaps symbolizing the “best”
  
         of things were reserved for themselves.
  3.    Note that famine has not yet hit the world. Food is expensive
  and perhaps scarce but there is still yet enough
         to eat requiring every
  bit of one’s resources to purchase it.

  In comparative scriptural terms, the fourth seal appears to have the following information to convey to us:

  1.    The rider is Death and Hades follows him.
  2.    Authority is given to them over 1/4th of the earth.
  3.    This authority includes killing men with the sword, starvation, pestilence, and by using wild beasts of the earth.

  Now we have already mentioned the martyrs of the fifth seal who were
  killed because of the Word of God and their testimony that they had
  maintained.  When asked when God would finally avenge their deaths, we
  learn that there were still more to die the same death they had and
  that had yet to be completed. Now we can also note that they were told
  to wait a little longer meaning that that avenging would be
  accomplished at the right time.

  Summarizing what seems to be the entire message of the first five seals of Revelation…

       Someone/Some group who numbers among the descendants of Nimrod, Ishmael, and/or
  Esau will assume
       authority and will go forth intending a worldwide
  conquest. He/They will emulate his forefathers by creating a
       new order like
  that done in Babel (meaning the gate of God) instead of trusting God by
  faith. It is most
       probable that he/they will resent the claim that the
  promise of God belongs to Isaac’s line and will claim the
  
       inheritance of Jacob for himself/themselves.

       He/They will remove peace from the world by causing the massive slaying of
  men.  He/They will, in some way
       be able to measure out or control the
  distribution of food but preserve the best for himself/themselves.

       His/Their way leads to death and those who follow him/them have their ultimate
  home in Hades.  He/They will
       ultimately control 1/4th of the earth at that
  point and will exert their authority by the use of various means
  such
       as the sword, by starvation, pestilence, and by using wild beasts
  of the earth.

      
  Ultimately, he/they will hunt down and martyr those who trust in the Word
  of God and those who live their  
       lives by it.  The Lord Himself knows
  what is going on and will deliver fair and just retribution at the
  proper
       time.

  Again, this is not conclusive nor is it claimed to be accurate, it is
  just a possibility.  Yet there remains some nagging bits of biblical evidence
  that are pertinent to what we are investigating.

  In my post regarding Daniel 2 and its reference to the final kingdom
  which shares the common thread of possessing the land of Israel and
  Jerusalem and of course, the Temple Mount, it is more than historically
  obvious that the final kingdom did take control of Jerusalem in 638 AD
  and with only brief interruptions, historically speaking, have held
  onto the Temple Mount to this day.  Without any speculation at all, we
  already know that these people are descendants from any one or all of
  the Old Testament men that were listed earlier with intentions
  consistent much like the “proposed interpretation” of the seals above.

  We also discovered in my post regarding Daniel 7, we learned that the
  fourth beast in that vision (relating to the fifth one in Daniel 2
  because Daniel was then in Persia, the second kingdom, instead of
  Babylon, the first) is the same one that represents the final kingdom
  by which Christ will destroy. If we study the actions of this beast, it
  matches the activities of persecuting believers and overcoming them
  until Christ returns to remove this final Gentile kingdom from the world and to
  rule in Jerusalem in righteousness.

  With the testimony of these two critical prophetic passages, it is
  difficult to attempt to associate another group with who will happen to
  be in power when all this has come down… indeed if we aren’t seeing it
  with our own eyes now. It seems entirely plausible within the information given that both the first rider and the kingdom could be somehow all one in the same for all practical purposes.  Still, the time frame is not perfectly certain
  and while things we see today may only be a prototype for sometime in
  the future we are well advised to wait, and watch and assess what
  transpires, looking to the Word of God for any additional clues which
  might give us a signal to where we are on the prophetic timeline and who exactly is involved in this action of conquest.

  It is admitted that this is more speculation than is usually offered here but if what we see transpiring in our world today has any correlation with what we can read in the scriptures, it would stand to reason that we should be paying close attention to what is going on. A tough message to bear, isn’t it? It is. Yet what would we expect from
  the world that has invested itself in the message of ignoring what God
  has said in the Bible and creating any sort of message for themselves
  to do as they would like including destroy themselves with every sort
  of sin imaginable even though it might have religious trappings. It’s a
  very sad picture and we must stop and remind ourselves how patient the
  Lord is with all this. Yet He is never too soon and never too late.
  Will we see the persecution and martyrdom? We hope not for ourselves and everyone else. Yet
  no matter what, it seems that either way, we won’t have to wait too
  long before He comes for His own.  Isn’t that why its called the
  “blessed hope”?  Indeed it is. Place your hope in the Lord, beloved, who loves all peoples everywhere from nation, tribe and tongue, encouraging them to trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, in order to be saved from their sin and have eternal life with Him. 
  As He told Abraham, He intended to bless all the families of the earth… and He is and will continue to do so and the best is yet to come after all this.  Blessings, Mr.Vee

  • 9:54 pm
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