The Wrath Of The Lamb And The Coming Tribulation Revelation 6 Only God can prophesy. You don’t know the future and Satan doesn’t know the future. The only thing we know about the future is what God has revealed to us. And one of the things God has revealed is that this world is on a collision course with judgment. One of the ways God is going to judge this world is to let this world have its own way. And when this world gets what it wants, it’s not going to like what it gets (sort of like Obamacare!). A time is coming which is known as the Great Tribulation…or as The Wrath of the Lamb. Take a look at Revelation 6:15-17. “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of the wrath of the Lamb….” When you think of a lamb you don’t think of wrath; but that’s what John calls it here. Jesus warned us of a time called the wrath of the Lamb. In Matthew 24:21 Jesus said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” So far in the Book of the Revelation we’ve seen a vision of the glorified Christ, we’ve seen letters sent to the seven churches in Asia Minor, we’ve seen the church age end at the Rapture, and Jesus takes the church out of Earth and into Heaven. Jesus teaches that the church is salt and light to this world. When you take the salt out, putrefication begins. When you take the light out, darkness ensues. Then we saw Jesus receiving a scroll…a book. The scroll has seven seals. You’d break a seal and read so much; then you’d break another seal and read a little more, etc. We’ve now come to the time where these seven seals are going to be opened and the great tribulation begins. The first seal has to do with militant conquest. Look at Revelation 6:1-2. “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” Before we get too far into this, some people ask who the four beasts are. The Greek word here is zoon. We get our word zoo from this word. It’s not wild snarling beasts like we sometimes think of: it just means living creatures. Look at Revelation 4:7. “And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.” It doesn’t say that they are a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle: it says they are like a lion, a calf, a man and an eagle. I believe these are cherubim…the highest class of angels. They deal with the grace, the glory, and the government of God around the throne of God. When you think of a lion, you think of majesty. That speaks of the majesty of Jesus. When you think of a calf or an ox, you think of servitude and sacrifice. That speaks of the ministry of Jesus. The next one had the face of a man, which speaks of the humanity of Jesus. The next one is like an eagle in the sky. That speaks of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are four Gospels. Matthew deals with the lion Christ. He speaks of Him as the King of the Jews….His majesty. Mark deals with the suffering servant….the ox or calf…speaks of the crucified Son of God. Dr. Luke speaks of His humanity. He tells us about the virgin born Son of God. But John speaks of the Lord from Heaven, and that’s the face of the eagle in the sky. These four beasts reflect the glory of God. But let’s see what they say. In Revelation 6:1 they say, “Come and see.” And then John says, “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him….” Who is the rider on the horse? I believe it’s the antichrist….the beast…the man of sin who is going to come. A conqueror comes riding on a white horse. That was especially true in Bible times, but it’s even sometimes true today. He has a bow in his hand, and that’s a symbol of power. He has a crown on his head which is a symbol of dominion. As these seals are opened, one comes full of pomp, and circumstance, and power, and he’s ruling. You say, “Couldn’t this be the Lord Jesus Christ?” No. Jesus appears in Revelation 19 riding on a white horse to rule and to reign, but this is someone who is imitating the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the antichrist. The prefix “anti” means two things. It means against, but it also means instead of. The antichrist is the devil’s false messiah. Jesus said this false messiah would come and that the whole world would wonder after him. In John 5:43 Jesus said, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” This world is ripe for the devil’s messiah. He will come in like a hero on a white horse. Look at how he’s described in Daniel 8:25. “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand (in other words he’s a man with crafty policies); and he shall magnify himself in his heart (he will be the consummate egotist), and by peace shall destroy many (talk about Orwellian concepts!): he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes (that’s Jesus); but he shall be broken without hand.” Indeed he will! When the antichrist shows up, people will say, “At last, someone who can bring us world peace!” And the world will worship at his feet! Little children will speak his name with reverence. Men will lay down their lives for this devil’s messiah. But he’s Satan’s superman. He will be all the Caesar’s and the Napoleon’s and the Hitler’s and the Stalin’s and the Saddam Hussein’s rolled into one. But the world will follow him. Jesus said, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” Now let’s look at the second seal. The second seal is murderous conflict. Look at Revelation 6:3-4. “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.” When a devil-inspired leader appears on the world stage with ideas of world conquest alive in his evil brain, war will follow as night follows day. Red is the color of blood. Jesus warned that the last days would be days of wars and rumors of wars. The Bible doesn’t prophecy that the world is going to get better and better; but it says it will get worse and worse. When antichrist comes, a spirit of hatred will inflame men’s depraved hearts. Brother will kill brother and fathers will gladly slay their sons. Without the Prince of Peace there will be no peace. Without the salt and light of the church, hatred will go unrestrained and swords will drip with blood. There will be the stench of decaying human flesh everywhere. Verse 4 says they will kill one another. It’s not just wars between nations: this speaks of class wars, and race wars, and religious wars, etc. Ezekiel 38:21 says, “And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.” The second seal is murderous conflict. The third seal is meager crops. Look at Revelation 6:5-6. “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” The black horse speaks of famine. Famine follows war as night follows day. This rider has an old fashioned set of scales in his hand. This speaks of food that is going to be measured out. It speaks of rationing. The word “penny” comes from the Greek word denarion, and it speaks of a day’s labor. A measure of wheat is about a quart. It takes about a quart of wheat to be milled and baked to feed a man. In other words, you would have to work all day for a loaf of bread….just enough to make one meal for one person. This is going to be a time of limited production and economic deprivation. When people go to war they no longer plow the fields. Transportation that carries the crops becomes immobilized. So starvation is going to stalk the world. This man who’s fortunate enough to have work brings home a loaf of bread. Does he eat it all himself? Does he break it in pieces so they can all starve together? Does he feed one child and starve another? Does he steal another man’s bread? These are the kinds of decisions men will have to make. Little children will have bloated bellies and little babies will gnaw at dry breasts. How do I know all this? Becky and I have been among starving children in Haiti. We’ve seen it for ourselves. No wonder Jesus said of those who will go through this Great Tribulation, “Woe unto them who are with child at this time!” The black horse speaks of starvation. Then there is the fourth seal which we will call manifold carnage. It will be worse than the war. Look at verses 7-8. “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” The word “pale” is the Greek word cloros. Some of you ladies use Clorox and you know that it’s a pale, greenish yellow. It’s the color of death. It’s the color of a corpse. But death has some riders that follow with him. It says that Hell followed with him. A fourth part of the earth means that about 2 billion people are going to die when this fourth seal is opened. What we’re seeing is a chain reaction. The antichrist comes riding upon the white horse. Then war comes riding on the red horse. Then famine comes riding on the black horse. Then death ensues. Sin causes hatred, hatred causes war and bloodshed, war causes famine, and famine produces death. And after death comes Hell and the judgment. Many times the aftermath of war brings more casualties than the war itself. There can be epidemics and famine and cholera, etc. And what about these “beasts of the earth” that John speaks of? What do you think of when you think about beasts of the earth? I think one of the things it may be speaking of is rats. David Jeremiah writes about this. He says, “One of the most destructive creatures on the earth is the rat. He is a menace to human health and food supplies and comes in more than 100 species. They are extremely prolific, producing five or more litters per year of 8 to 10 babies each year. It is estimated that they are responsible for the loss of more than one billion dollars of food each year in the United States alone. Their fleas carry bubonic plaque which destroyed one third of the population of Europe in the 14th century. Typhus killed an estimated 200 million people…and the disease was transmitted by rat fleas.” But now we open the fifth seal which is martyred Christians. Look at verses 9-11. “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” These are martyrs who died during the tribulation. These are not the saints who were raptured and taken to Heaven. There will be souls saved during the tribulation. Perhaps millions will be saved during the tribulation; but these are the ones who died during the tribulation because they refused to take the mark of the beast. Refusing to take the mark caused Satan’s hatred to be focused upon them. Jesus spoke of these people in Matthew 24:9. “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” The chief weapon that Satan will use against those who are saved during the tribulation will be the guillotine. Or, if it’s not the guillotine, it will be some form of decapitation. Look at Revelation 20:4. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Satan can take off their heads, but he can’t destroy their souls. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” During the tribulation there will be those who turn away from Satan and his lies. They will refuse the mark of the beast and will not bow down to worship his image: and they will be martyred. Now you may be saying, “Pastor, if people are going to be saved during the tribulation, and if I don’t receive Jesus here in the church age before the rapture, then I’ll see that all of this is true when people are raptured out, and I’ll be one of those who gets saved during the tribulation.” No you won’t. You will believe a lie. II Thessalonians 2:11 says, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” So, if there’s anybody here who’s saying, “I’m going to wait and see how it all works out, and then maybe I’ll give my heart to Jesus,” you’re very foolish. You will believe the devil’s lie as surely as I’m standing here if you knowingly refuse to receive Jesus in this age. We’ll talk more about that later on. But the fifth seal is martyred Christians. The sixth seal is massive cataclysm. Look at Revelation 6:12-14. “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake: and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” There will be severe disorders on earth and in space and the forces of nature are going to be let loose on the ungodly. Those who are left here on the earth after the rapture who had spurned Christ and who wanted nothing to do with Him will be blinded and deceived. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus, “By Him all things consist.” By Him all things are held together. But just suppose He relaxes His grip on nature. There will be earthquakes of such magnitude that they will be felt around the world. There will be darkness because the light of the sun will be shut out. The moon will hang in space like a clot of blood and meteorites and asteroids will fall to the earth. We’ve had several near misses from asteroids in recent years. The last asteroid to hit the earth hit in a sparsely populated area of Siberia in 1908. 700 square miles of forest land was devastated. In 1994, an asteroid came within 54,200 miles of earth. If it had hit on land, it would have destroyed everything within a 100 mile radius. If it had hit in the Pacific, it would have destroyed the entire Pacific Ocean basin with great tidal waves. Astronomers tell us that there are about 2000 asteroids larger than a kilometer in diameter that could hit at any time. They are capable of generating waves 16 foot high and threaten a nuclear winter. Verse 14 talks about the heavens being rolled up like a scroll. Do you know what a nuclear blast does? It pushes the air out and creates a vacuum, and then the air rushes back into that vacuum. The heavens just roll up upon themselves. This Book is not as far fetched as some think that it is! There is coming a day when these seals are going to be opened one by one. When all that happens, there’s going to be a colossal prayer meeting. Look at verses 15-17. “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Isn’t that amazing? They rejected the Rock of Ages and pray to the rocks! Here are the earth cult people praying to the forces of nature! “I went to the rock to hide my face, but the rock cried out, No hiding place.” You say, “Pastor, are you trying to frighten me?” YES!!! You say, “I don’t believe in a religion built on fear.” Well, the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But most Americans are ego-maniacs strutting to Hell thinking they’re too good to be damned! But I’m telling you, based on the authority of the Word of God that there’s coming a time called the Great Tribulation. Jesus said that there’s never been a time like it. But I Thessalonians 5:9 also says, “God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thank God there’s a way out: it’s the way up! It’s Jesus. Do you know the Lamb, who is also the Lion? How would you like to know that your past is forgiven, that your present is secure, and that your future is wonderful? There’s only one way to do that….to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Would you do it today?
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 04:33:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015