THE SEVENTH SEAL

THE SEVENTH SEAL

Revelation 8:1-4, "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."

THE SEVENTH SEAL
Even though the first six seals have taken over two thousand years to open and are still not quite finished, the seventh seal has a timeframe associated with it. For one half-hour after the seventh seal is opened heaven is silent and the seven trumpet angels prepare to sound the seven trumpet warnings, which begin the great tribulation.

ANGELS PREPARE TO SOUND

This verse reenforces the pre-tribulation exodus of all believers minus the remnant. Notice that the verse does not say, `all the prayers of the saints' but it says `the prayers of all the saints'. Again this is another indicator that all of the saints will not be on the earth at this time but before the throne which is in heaven. The only exception to this will be the 144,000 Jewish men who were set apart before the rapture of the church that some might be saved from the fire.

The angel who carried the incense takes the now empty censer and fills it with fire from the altar and cast it upon the earth. Fire represents purification and that is the reason for the seven trumpet warnings. God is going to put the earth through a refining process to separate the gold from the dross. There will still be many "good people" upon the earth who have never received Jesus as the Sacrifice Lamb. This will be a great time of harvest and that is why the 144,000 remain on the earth. The 144,000 will be a witness for Jesus during the greatest time of suffering ever known.

All of the gifts of the Spirit will be utilised now far more than ever before including the book of Acts. Also, only those who are Spirit filled will be immune from these catastrophes.

During the time of the great tribulation and only because the majority of Church has been removed, Satan will have free reign to attempt to bring his evil plans to fruition. Plans long laid in the minds and hearts of evil men will quickly be made manifest. The world will reel between natural disasters and the false promises of those who take advantage of the chaos resulting from the trumpet warnings.

This will be a time of decision. Clear lines will be drawn. Those who worship the beast will rage against those who follow the Lamb. Later in the great tribulation The beast from the sea will be given power to wage war against those who are called Christian and he will overcome them. Revelation 13:7 states this concerning the beast from the sea:

Revelation 13:7, "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations."

If the seven seals are indeed mile markers through the time of the gentiles then it should be possible to know in a general way where we are on that road to the end of the age. Let's make a checklist using the question we asked earlier. Has this happened yet?

First seal - Conquering and to conquer. - CHECK
Second seal - Peace taken from the earth. - CHECK
Third seal - Runaway inflation. - CHECK
Fourth seal - Bloodshed, famine, pestilence. - CHECK
Fifth seal - Martyrs. - CHECK
Sixth seal - Natural Disasters. - Not as of yet.
Seventh seal - Silence in heaven. - Not as of yet.

This indicates that the Lord has opened five of the seven seals. The time of the end is fast approaching. Are you ready yet?

The Christian Counter