אבנימ

The Interpretation of Prophecy Part Two Chapter 3 Section 3

In the third section of four in his final chapter on the prophetical future of the Church and the Kingdom of God, the author presents a synopsis and explanation of Revelation 5 -19. His stated purpose is to help his readers better comprehend the books’ overall plan, purpose and conclusion. In this undertaking he focuses particularly on the character and import of the visions of the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls.

When first encountering the seven seals in Revelation 5.1-8.1, the reader is struck by the number seven, that symbolic number of divine completeness, but then even more so by the fact that in the vision there is none found able to open the seals, save One. It is clear from this that what is in view is not merely the revealing of the contents of the sealed scroll, but also the actual accomplishment the events described therein. The seven seals present in a general view Christ’s conquest of the world by His atonement and the gospel, i.e. the unfolding of the mystery of the cross and the crown through history until the glorious victorious conclusion.

The series of the seven seals follows the usual pattern of biblical visions in being synchronic, which is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “relating to the study of phenomena … such as events of a particular time, without reference to their historical context.” In other words, we should not try to view the events described in the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls, or the other visions in Revelation as being chronological with respect to each other. In the case of the seven seals, the “particular time” in view is the entire course of redemptive history. We have seen this before in the two visions of Daniel, of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, and of the beasts and the Son of Man, which both portray the same grand events, but from different perspectives. Likewise in these three series the material is roughly parallel, as evidenced by that fact that each series concludes with a cataclysmic earthquake (Revelation 6.12, 11.13, 11.19, 16.18). The successive series present the same material from different viewpoints, each becoming more specific.

The opening of the seven seals begins with the warrior going forth on a white horse, “conquering and to conquer.” This is clearly Jesus Christ, the triumphant Son of Man previously manifested in chapter 1, who appears again in Revelation 19.11-13 as the “Faithful and True” one who “makes war” and “whose name is called the Word of God.” His purpose in going forth to war is to win back the rebel world to God by His gospel, until “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” The second, third and fourth seals display the consequences through human history of man’s continued rejection of the Lord and His salvation, viz. war, famine and death. As mankind in its fallen pride attempts to build its own kingdom apart from God, refusing to accept the gospel of peace, these are the inevitable results. These are in effect not the direct workings of the Lamb of God, but rather the natural result of mankind being “given over” by God to pursue their own ends, since they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, or give Him due honor as God (Romans 1).

The fifth seal is entirely different in character from the preceding three, in that it reveals something not in the visible sphere, but the invisible. Here we see the travail of the true church of God throughout history, persecuted and hated by the world, whose cries ascend to God, cries not only of their prayers, but of their blood. This state is to continue until the number of the elect is full. The sixth seal naturally follows the cries of the fifth to reveal the great cataclysm, the Day of God, in which judgment at last falls upon those who persist in unbelief. Now the number of God’s elect is complete and they are sealed and protected from His wrath. And so it is with that with the seventh seal there is but silence. The subjugation is complete, and all the earth is silent before Him. [Aside: I note the parallel here between the silence of the 7th seal and the Sabbath rest of the 7th day of creation. In each God’s work is completed and there is rest.]

After the silence of the seventh seal, we pass to the series of the seven trumpet blasts, blown by “the seven angels who stand before God.” Whereas the scroll sealed seven times betokens a mystery hidden, but now revealed by the power and authority of the Lamb, the symbol of the trumpet speaks of open proclamation, and call to battle. Remembering the synchronic nature of these visions, we observe that the seven trumpets cover essentially the same events as the seven seals, but from a more focused perspective, expanding upon their theme. The seven seals were general in scope, but the trumpets are more specific, proclaiming the particular chastisements of the Lord who has gone out to conquer, trumpet blasts that are judgments but at the same time calls to repentance to the stubborn world of men.

The first four trumpets proclaim judgments on the physical realm of nature: vegetation, seas, waters and skies. But just as the fifth seal revealed a spiritual reality, viz. the church militant, we find that the fifth trumpet also discloses events in the spiritual realm, namely the unleashing of demonic powers from the bottomless pit. With the sixth trumpet are released the great armies at the river Euphrates for judgment. As we know from the precedents of history recorded in the Old Testament scriptures, God at times uses heathen nations to execute His just sentences on His adulterous people. So here the author takes the river Euphrates as an unmistakable link to Babylon, later revealed as the great whore, i.e. the apostate church. Hence he takes the sixth trumpet as showing the nations of the world turned against Babylon to execute God’s judgment against her.

Throughout the series of the seven trumpets, God’s redemptive purposes are seen, each blast calling men to repentance. With the sixth trumpet, that is made explicitly clear, and manifestly efficacious with the account of the little book and the two witnesses. The little book is the gospel of Christ, by which men are called to salvation. The two witnesses are the faithful church, who when their testimony is complete and they have been taken up into heaven, we read in Revelation 11.13 that there is a great earthquake, and that the rest of mankind “were afraid and gave glory to the God of Heaven.” Hence we are shown that the physical judgments upon land and sea were preliminary and preparatory, but that it was at the end the Word of God in the gospel, and the faithful testimony of the Church, which accomplished God’s redemption of mankind. The seventh trumpet is simply the concluding glorious proclamation of Christ’s final triumph.

The seven bowls bear roughly the same relation to the seven trumpets as the seven trumpets bear to the seven seals. The bowls cover the same material as the trumpets, but whereas the trumpets were proclamations of chastisement mixed with mercy to bring men to repentance, the bowls are the final unmixed outpouring of God’s wrath upon the unrepentant. The symbol of the bowl or vial is employed because it is something that is gradually filled up, and then when at last it is full, it is poured out until empty. Such we know from scripture is the nature of God’s longsuffering and wrath. The first four bowls correspond directly to the first four trumpets: in each the realms of nature are struck in succession: earth, sea, rivers, sky. But in the bowls the penal nature of the judgments is more strongly stated, the hurtfulness of their effects, and the absence of any call to repentance. As with the fifth seal and the fifth trumpet, the fifth bowl turns from the physical to the spiritual realm, and His wrath is poured upon the “seat of the beast.” The sixth bowl, like the sixth trumpet, references the Euphrates, and so we may see the judgment of Babylon, the great whore, i.e. the apostate church. And finally with the seventh bowl, like the seals and the trumpets, we have the conclusion of judgment with the declaration of finality: “it is done.”