The
Glorious Victory. overview: Rev ch. 4-9
The book of Revelation from chapter four onwards is unfulfilled
prophecy. Much of what Jesus taught is unfulfilled, so the study of prophecy is
a complex study that demands putting together numerous passages and an
understanding of the Scripture in a mega-narrative way. Often that is
overwhelming for people, so we try to take the time now and then to stop and do
an overview.
We learn that Revelation was written for four reasons. First of all, to
encourage believers in the midst of opposition and persecution because God
controls history. John’s initial readers were often involved in persecution
from the local pagan population. Secondly, it was written to challenge
believers with a future goal for church age believers to reign with Christ. Our
destiny is to be kings and priests, to rule with Christ, to be part of that
administration of the kingdom that He establishes on the earth. Thirdly, it is
to provide information for the Tribulation saints to persevere during those
unimaginably dark days. It is going to be a time of incredible sorrow, a time
of unprecedented violence and destruction. In the period of just the first part
of the Tribulation, the first three and a half years, half of the world
population will die. Fourth, it is to be a model for the worship of the Lamb.
Jesus Christ is referred to as the Lamb twenty-eight times in the book of
Revelation.
Revelation 4:1: “After these
things I looked…” The “after these things takes us right back to
We see that the culmination is the final war between rebellious man and
God. This is pictured in the Old Testament in Psalm 2:1-4. The picture
prophetically in Psalm 2 is that at the end of the age mankind as a collective
whole unites in internationalism and globalism against God, and that no matter
what God does in terms of judgment and revelation during the Tribulation
period—for it will be a time of prophets, a time of grace, and there will be
many who do get saved, who do trust in Christ as their savior during the
Tribulation period—the vast majority of mankind continues to harden in their
resistance and antagonism to God. So Psalm 2 in its prophetic sense says, NASB
“Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? he
kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together
Against the LORD and against His Anointed [Jesus Christ], saying,
Psalm 2:4 is a picture of God laughing, scoffing at mankind, this little
almost insignificant creature that thinks that he is so great that he can
redefine reality on his own terms and rebel against God. What we see in these
chapters of Revelation is that on the one hand there are images of the glory of
God, the power of God, the majesty of God, and on the other hand we have these
pictures of mankind standing in rebellion against Him, and all of the evil in
human history comes to its culmination in the most horrendous events possible
during this period known as the great Tribulation.
As we go through Revelation it is important to understand the drama that
is here. This is one of the most dramatic books in Scripture. It is like
reading a historical narrative ahead of time. But it is important to understand
the scene shifts. There is a lot of symbolism here. There is constant movement,
so we have to ask ourselves whether it is talking about events in Heaven or
events on the earth. It starts off in chapters four and five with a scene in
heaven. It is a scene where all the angels are before the throne of God. The
throne of God is a picture of His justice and it is time for the justice of God
to be fully worked out in human history. There is a scroll that is brought
forth and this scroll is somehow related to the establishment of God’s kingdom.
On this scroll there is information written related to the events, but it is
sealed and there are seven seals on it and there is this problem. Who can open
the seals, who is worthy to break the seals? It is a magnificent scene out of
which we will learn a lot about corporate worship. After the seals are broken
we see the beginning of those judgments in chapters 6-7:8 where the scene
shifts to earth and we see the outworking of the seal judgments. From 7:8 to
8:6 the scene shifts back to heaven, and back to the earth from 8:7 through
chapter 9. Then back in heaven again in chapters 10-11:6, and back to the earth
in 11:7-14;; 11:15-19 is in heaven; 12:1-6 is on the earth; 12:7-11 in heaven;
12:13-14:5 on the earth; 14:6-15:8 is in heaven; 16-18 on the earth; 19:1-16 is
when we go to heaven and see the Lord Jesus Christ gathering His armies
together, and then He comes to the earth to establish His kingdom, 19;17-20:10.
The events taking place on the earth are taking place at the same time as the
events in heaven, so we have to realize that the chapters are not necessarily
in consecutive order.
As we go through this organize it in terms of three events: seal
judgments, trumpet judgments, bowl judgments. There is a problem initially,
chapters four and five. Who is qualified to open that scroll? Who is qualified
to judge mankind? Who can we find who can execute judgment on the human race?
Then we have the scroll opened and the first two sets of judgments, the seal
judgments and the trumpet judgments. Then there is an interlude and we are
introduced to the key players. There are seven key players in the book of
Revelation and they are introduced in chapters 12 and following. Then we have
the final conflict, which is the battle of Armageddon.
When we come to Revelation chapter four it is the scene in heaven, the
throne of God. In verse 2 John says, “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and
behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.” “In
the Spirit” is not a reference to being filled with the Spirit, it is a
specific prophetic state wherein God gives revelation where he is able to see
things he would not normally see. God is opening up his mind to these future
events. He sees a throne, and the only throne in the book of Revelation is the
throne of God the Father. It is a throne of judgment, a place of judgment, and
this is a picture of God sitting on His throne as the supreme judge of heaven
and earth about to execute His judgments. Then as we go through the chapter
there is this search for someone who is worthy to open the scroll, and finally
in chapter five a dramatic scene where John bursts out weeping intensely,
overwhelmed by the fact that there is no one who can do this. There are no
angels or human being who can open the scrolls, and then suddenly, in comes the
Lamb. The Lamb is worthy to open the scroll because it is the Lamb of God who
paid the penalty for sins. In chapter five is a heavenly chorus made up of
angels and church age believers singing: “Worthy are You to take the book and
to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood
{men} from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
So the Lord Jesus Christ then takes the scroll and begins the break the
seven seals. The first four are often referred to as the four horsemen of the
apocalypse. In chapters 6 through 7 we see the outline of what happens in each
of these judgments. At this stage, within the first 20 months of the
Tribulation period there will be the death of one quarter of the earth’s
population. This is followed by martyrdom because there are many who come to
Christ during this time and the powers of the earth will be in opposition to
them and there will be hundreds of thousands of believers killed for their
faith during this time. There will be geophysical disturbances, meteorological
disturbances, in the sixth seal. The sun becomes black as sackcloth, the moon
like blood, the stars of heaven fall to the earth. So there are all these
various disasters and they are described as the wrath of the Lamb. Chapter
In chapter seven is a shift. Instead of talking about the seventh seal
it goes back to what happens on the earth at the beginning of the seal
judgments. There are angels mentioned who are holding back the winds of the
earth, and it is this meteorological disaster that is being halted for a brief
time. Imagine if all winds stopped, how it would affect climate, temperature,
agriculture, everything. Then another angel shows up from the east and he has
the seal of the living God. He says, ““Do not harm the earth or the sea or the
trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
There is a seal of protection placed on 144,000 Jewish believers so that they
survive the Tribulation period. Nothing will harm them, and it is this 144,000
that will go forth as evangelists throughout the Tribulation period proclaiming
the gospel, and it is through their testimony that hundreds of thousands will be
saved during the Tribulation period.
The scene then shifts again after that to show that at the beginning
there is witness from these saints and then a shift to a heavenly scene in 7:9
where John says: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude
which no one could count, from every nation and {all} tribes and peoples and
tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white
robes, and palm branches {were} in their hands;
In chapter eight we come to the seventh seal and the prelude to the
seven trumpet judgments. When the seventh seal is opened the horror of it is so
incredible that there is silence in heaven for about half an hour. The angels
and resurrected saints are stunned in silence as they see the horrors of this
judgment that is the result of angelic and human evil. The first trumpet
judgment is hail and fire upon the earth. This results in the deaths of
numerous people once again. A third of the trees are burned up, the grass is
burned up. There is a burning mountain, some sort of meteor or asteroid that
falls into the ocean and one third of the sea creatures are killed and one
third of the ships are destroyed, and one third of the sea water is turned to
blood. When the third trumpet judgment comes it falls upon the fresh water and
the fresh water is made undrinkable, it is turned bitter, and a third of the
life that is in that water also dies. The fourth trumpet judgment: A third of
the sun is struck, a third of the moon, a third of the stars are darkened, a
third of the day does not shine, and life on earth will become much colder.
Then there is a release of demons from the abyss described in chapter 9, the
fifth trumpet. This is followed by another demonic judgment where angels who
had been kept imprisoned under the
But there is an interlude that takes place. In chapter ten we are
introduced to a mighty angel who has a little book, a book related to judgment.
Then we are told about two witnesses that are on the earth during this time.
They are living in the power of Moses and Elijah. They have ministries that are
like theirs, and they will be on the earth for one thousand two-hundred and
sixty days—three and a half years, half of the Tribulation period—and no one
can harm them. They are performing miracles to authenticate their message from
God, and finally the Antichrist will kill them. After three days they will be
resurrected and all the world will see them.
In chapter twelve we have the seven key figures that are presented. It
starts off with the woman who represents
In chapter 13 we are introduced to the two evil personages, the first
beast and the second beast. They are called beasts because man in his
sinfulness is not honourable, he is beastly, vicious, filled with violence and
destruction. The first beast is the Antichrist who comes out of the sea and the
second beast is the false prophet who rises out of the earth.
In chapter 14 we are introduced to the final events. John says: “Then I
looked, and behold, the Lamb {was} standing on
All of this ends when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to the earth with
His victorious bride, the church. Revelation 19:11 NASB “And I saw
heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it {is} called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes {are}
a flame of fire, and on His head {are} many diadems; and He has a name written
{on Him} which no one knows except Himself.
That takes us to the end of the next section in Revelation covering the
Tribulation period. The point that we all need to remember from this is that
human history is headed to a conclusion. Human history has a purpose, it fits
within the overarching conflict that began when Lucifer first rebelled against
God in eternity past. All of human history fits within that, and our history
fits within that. And the question that everyone needs to answer for themselves
is: Where am I and how am I prepared for what is coming?