The Seal Judgments

The seven seals are released by Jesus, the Lamb of God (Rev. 5:5; 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12; 8:1).

1 I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals... (Rev. 6:1)

First seal (white horse): Antichrist's political aggression (Rev. 6:1-2)
Second seal (red horse): bloodshed and world war (Rev. 6:3-4)
Third seal (black horse): famine and economic crisis (Rev. 6:5-6)
Fourth seal (pale horse): disease leading to the death of one-fourth of the earth (Rev. 6:7-8)
Fifth seal (prayer movement): prayer movement strengthened by the martyrs (Rev. 6:9-11)
Sixth seal (cosmic disturbances): cosmic crisis (Rev. 6:12-17)
Seventh seal (anointed prayer): prayer movement strengthened to release judgments of Rev. 8-9

There is a recognizable relationship of the first four seals to each other. The points of similarity between them are a horse with a distinct color (white, red, black, pale) with a rider released by a prophetic decree of one of the living creatures. The four horses here are parallel in color to the horses (red, black, white, dappled) seen by Zechariah (Zech. 1:8-11; 6:1-8).

The seal judgments target the kingdom of darkness (Harlot Babylon, etc.). The events include the Antichrist conquering the evil nations that aligned themselves with the Harlot Babylon (Rev. 17:16-17) resulting in a world war, economic crisis, famine and disease, etc. The Antichrist acts against the Harlot with the devastation also affecting the resources in his growing empire.

The first four seals release God’s judgments in an indirect way because God lifts His restraining hand off evil men so they attack and destroy one another’s resources. The restraints on man’s sin are lifted so that the truth of their lawlessness is seen. These judgments involve earthly actions. The fifth, sixth and seventh seals involve heavenly activity (Rev. 6:9-17; 8:1-6).

Responses of the Church to God's End-Time Judgments

Offense (fear, confusion, anger) will be the first reaction of believers with an unrenewed mind. These judgment events are offensive to the natural mind without the light of the Spirit. God will use the least severe means to reach the greatest number of people at the deepest level of love without violating anyone’s free will. God’s judgments remove all that hinders love.

6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. (Mt. 11:6)

Understanding will be given by the Holy Spirit to the end-time Church.

20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly. (Jer. 23:20)

Partnering with Jesus in intercession to release His judgments (Rev. 8:3-5).

Forerunners are messengers who proclaim “now” what the Holy Spirit is soon to emphasize in a universal way. They are one short step ahead of what the Spirit is about to openly release. By gaining understanding of these judgments, we can function as forerunners who prepare many.

The Significance of Understanding Judgment Events

God gave us four chapters of strategic information in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 6; 8-9; 16) about the most severe crisis in history. This information concerns the personal welfare of our families, friends, and cities. In other words, this information is an issue of life or death.

21 There will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world…22 Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved... (Mt. 24:21–22)

The weather service provides information of a soon coming tsunami or hurricane so that the people can prepare for it. Military leaders are held responsible for a crisis that results from ignoring military information. In a similar way, prophetic leaders will be responsible to act on prophetic information. This information must not be ignored as unimportant.

6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. (Ezek. 33:6)

Forerunners prepare the way for the Lord, by preparing people to respond rightly to Him. They make known His plans, so that the people can understand and agree with Him as it happens. The highway God walks on is the voluntary agreement of His people as they partner with Him.

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God…5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together (at Jesus’ Second Coming)… (Isa. 40:3-5)

Purpose of Judgment Series

Judging the Antichrist: destroying the Antichrist’s resources and discrediting his leadership by showing his inadequacy to solve the crisis. God’s judgments will cleanse the earth (Zech. 13:2).

Winning the harvest: some will be moved to cry out for salvation as they observe believers accurately prophesying the crisis events. The judgments will remove the false props that they lean on and warn the lost as they face the reality of eternity in witnessing the death of so many.

Directing prayer: provides prophetic insight to direct the prayer movement (Rev. 8:3-5)

Vindicating the saints: who stood faithful in their love for Jesus and the truth (2 Thes. 1:7-10)

Preparing the Church: in understanding so they have confidence by knowing what is coming next and why. The judgments signal the certain victory that is soon to come for God’s people. Unbelievers will be filled with fear and confusion.

Understanding God's Numbered Judgments

The 3 judgment series are literal events that must not be explained away symbolically or historically. Our method of interpretation is the plain, literal, common sense approach. All the events and numbers in the Book of Revelation are to be understood in their plain meaning unless they are specifically indicated as symbolic as in Rev. 1:20; 5:6; 11:8; 12:1, 3, 9; 17:7, 9.

The 3 judgment series are future. They have not yet occurred in history. The Preterists view wrongly sees much of Revelation as having been fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of Rome (in the first three centuries after Jesus’ death). The Historicists view wrongly interprets Revelation as a progressive unfolding of Church history in seeing many of these prophecies as being already fulfilled in history. The Idealists view does not see a unique end-time application of the Book of Revelation, but wrongly interprets it merely as a symbolic picture of the spiritual conflict between good and evil that has occurred throughout history.

The 3 judgment series are numbered according to the chronological order in which they occur. For example, the first seal is followed by the second seal, which in turns leads to the third and so on. Because God’s judgments occur according to a numbered sequence, the Church will become greatly unified. Momentum will build as the Church sees them released according to their order.

The 3 judgment series are redemptive. They will create a global crisis that results in many crying out for salvation, while hindering the Antichrist’s persecution of the saints and destroying all the evil governments on earth. Revelation is not a doomsday prophecy about the world coming to an end. It is about God’s new beginning for the world. The birth of a baby is the end of a pregnancy, but it is mostly about the beginning of a new life. We are coming to the end of the dark night of Satan’s oppression of human history, to the dawning of a new day.

The 3 judgment series are progressive in that they increase in intensity as each series is released. The 7 seal judgments are surpassed in severity by the 7 trumpet judgments which are surpassed by the 7 bowl judgments. For example, 1/4 of the human race dies in the fourth seal (Rev. 6:8), yet at a later time this increases to 1/3 dying in the sixth trumpet (Rev. 9:15).

1. The seals alert us of something important to come. They are preparatory in being analogous to the wrapping on a gift that conceals the contents inside the package. The wrapping anticipates that which is mysterious. The nature of a seal is to keep private something that is anticipated. The contents inside of a scroll are always much more important than the seals that secure its privacy. The 7 seals around the scroll must be broken to open the scroll to release the mysterious contents inside (Jesus’ battle plan).

2. The trumpets warn us of something more severe to follow. They speak of impending disaster that requires extreme, desperate, emergency actions.

3. The bowls pour out in fullness without any delay or hindrance.