The 7 Seals

Once you begin looking at the 7 Trumpets as literal eschatological events, it becomes apparent that the 7 Seals might be viewed in the same light. The seals are a little more difficult, because the first two are not very descriptive. The seals are certainly symbolic, but their effects on the earth should be considered to be very real. The 7 Seals are introduced by a sanctuary scene, just like the 7 Trumpets are. Also, like the 7 Trumpets, they follow a pattern of 4-2-1. The first four are similar to each other, but different from the fifth and sixth. There is an interlude scene that divides the sixth from the seventh. This pattern is the same as that of the 7 Trumpets.

The Introductory Sanctuary Scene

The introductory scene of the 7 Seals shows all heaven gathered together to witness the opening of a scroll. No one is qualified to open the scroll except the Lamb who was slain. Remember that these introductory scenes do not hold chronological significance, but serve to characterize the nature of the scenes that follow. The Lamb is obviously Jesus. The Lamb appears before the throne of God, but for what purpose? The scene centers around one significant symbol – the scroll. What is the scroll? Why is Jesus the only one who can break its seals and open it? The answers to these questions will help us to characterize the nature of the 7 Seals. Let’s take a look at the introductory sanctuary scene.

Rev 5:1-14
1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?"
3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth."
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
12 saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"
14 Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. (NKJ)

There are several parallel passages in the Old Testament that mention scrolls. You can look these up for yourself to discover meanings for the symbols. Ezekiel 2:9-3:21 talks about a scroll and Ezekiel’s mission to prophecy to the exiles of Jerusalem in Babylon. His message was essentially the Elijah message. This passage has very strong links to the interlude scene between the sixth and seventh trumpets as found in Rev 10:8-11. You should do this study.

The following are two more passages on scrolls that parallel the scroll of Revelation 5, which contains the 7 Seals.

Jer 36:2-3
2 "Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel, and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
3 "Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin." (NAS)

Zech 5:2-4
2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits."
3 Then he said to me, "This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the whole land; surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side .
4 "I will make it go forth," declares the LORD of hosts, "and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and consume it with its timber and stones." (NAS)

But the most significant passage on scrolls is this one in Jeremiah. I believe that it reveals the identity of the scroll in Revelation 5.

Jer 32:6-15
6 And Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
7 'Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, "Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it. '
8 "Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, 'Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9 "And I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver.
10 "And I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.
11 "Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy;
12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.
13 "And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying,
14 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase, and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time."
15 'For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land."'

Notice that Jeremiah had the right of redemption. In Hebrew terms, he was qualified as a kinsman redeemer. He could purchase the land and bring it back to the proper family of inheritance because he was the nearest living relative to the person who had originally sold it. Not only land, but people could also be redeemed in this way. This is how Boaz redeemed Ruth out of servitude and into the family of Israel.

Notice also in Revelation 5:10 above that Jesus was the only One found worthy to open the scroll, and that He was identified as our Redeemer. Jesus is our kinsman redeemer. He came to the earth in the likeness of human flesh in order to become our Brother. He redeemed us back into the family of God. The price was His life.

1 Cor 6:19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own ?
20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (NAS)

1 Cor 7:22-23
22 For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord's freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ's slave.
23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. (NAS)

1 Pet 1:18-19
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Notice also that there were two deeds – a sealed copy and an open working copy. I believe that the scroll of Revelation 5, which is sealed with the 7 Seals, is the lamb’s Book of Life. I believe that there are two copies of the book – a sealed copy and an open copy. I believe the dead are being judged right now out of the open copy. This one was opened in 1844 to allow the unfallen angels to review the judgements that have been pronounced on those who have already died. The copy that has the seals will be presented to redeemed men after Jesus' Second Coming for the same purpose – to vindicate God’s judgements. We will have 1000 years to review these documents in heaven before God executes the final punishment on the wicked at the second resurrection after the millennium.

Imagine Stephen and Paul popping up next to each other in the resurrection. The last thing Stephen saw as he was being martyred was Saul of Tarsus urging on the crowd to stone him. He will naturally have questions as to why Saul was raised up with him to inherit eternal life. God will allow Stephen to review the books to see how Saul repented and went on to become Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, and author of most of the New Testament. God wants us to know that His judgements are correct before He executes the final death sentence. He wants us to follow Him out of love, not fear.

We were purchased by the blood of Jesus. He is our Kinsman Redeemer, and the only one qualified to open the sealed deed. I believe that the breaking of the seals symbolizes the time when judgement is passing from the dead to the living. Remember that judgement is really redemption from the perspective of the innocent. As long as we accept Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, then we are viewed by God not as forgiven sinners, but as if we had never sinned. He says "I will remember their sins no more." When was the document sealed? "…everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." Rev 13:8 (NAS). "For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world ." Heb 4:3

As Jesus breaks each seal, events happen which cause the living to accept or reject Christ. Breaking the seals are acts of redemption and of judgement. As each individual experiences the events of the seals, he or she will turn toward or away from Christ, and bring redemption or judgement upon himself. When the last seal is broken, the book will be open for us all to see. "For nothing is hidden that shall not become evident, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light." Luke 8:17

The First Four Seals

Zechariah and the First Four Seals

There are two sections in Zechariah that parallel the first four seals very closely. Unfortunately, I have not been able to draw much meaning out of the passages. I include them here so that you might study them for yourself. Perhaps you will be able to discover more than I have.

Zech 1:7-11
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows:
8 I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse , and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel, and white horses behind him.
9 Then I said, "My lord, what are these?" And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
10 And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, "These are those whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth ."
11 So they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is peaceful and quiet." (NAS)

Zech 6:1-8
1 Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains.
2 With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses,
3 with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot strong dappled horses.
4 Then I spoke and said to the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these, my lord?"
5 And the angel answered and said to me, "These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth ,
6 with one of which the black horses are going forth to the north country; and the white ones go forth after them, while the dappled ones go forth to the south country.
7 "When the strong ones went out, they were eager to go to patrol the earth." And He said, "Go, patrol the earth." So they patrolled the earth.
8 Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, "See, those who are going to the land of the north have appeased My wrath in the land of the north." (NAS)

The Four Seals and the Four Trumpets

Notice that the first four seals are grouped together and are different than the fifth and sixth ones. The first four appear under the symbolism of four horsemen. The fifth and sixth drop the horseman motif. The fifth and sixth are separated from the seventh by an interlude scene. This gives us the 4-2-1 pattern that is just like the 7 Trumpets.

The first four trumpets and the first four seals do not describe the same events, but the events they describe may be intertwined. Certainly the forces described by the seals have been with us throughout human history. But they may be either more common or more severe in the last days. God causes circumstances that will force us to make a decision to accept or reject Christ. God will not make the decision for us, nor will He force us to make a perticular choice. He will, however, force us to make a decision. Crisis can bring about this decision. As such, the seals might be most significant as end time events that describe the final scenes of the plan of salvation.

I believe it is possible that the first two seals precede the sounding of the first trumpet. I arrived at this conclusion based primarily on a text in Zechariah.

Zech 9:13-14
13 For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; and I will make you like a warrior's sword.
14 Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning; and the Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and will march in the storm winds of the south. (NAS)

Verse 13 uses the symbols of the first two seals - a bow and a sword. Then verse 14 says that God will blow the trumpet and bring forth "storm winds", which usually connotate strife or calamity. I believe that this passage could refer to the sounding of the first trumpet after the second seal is broken. I know that this is not a strong conclusion.

Think logically about the first four trumpets and what the results would be. Wouldn’t there first be widespread famine as crops are destroyed by fire and by the chaotic changes in the climate? Following that, would there not be many deaths as a result of famine, plague, and nations fighting each other in the chaos? Don’t the third and fourth seals describe the natural results of the effects of the first four trumpets? To a certain degree, they also parallel some elements of the fifth trumpet. See the diagram at the end of this section on the 7 Seals.

The Fifth Seal and the Sixth Trumpet

9 And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.

These are not literal souls crying out. The Bible teaches that death is a sleep where each person will rest until the resurrection – but that is another study. Here these souls cry out in the same sense that the voice of Abel’s blood cried out to God from the ground when he was slain by Cain (Gen. 4:10). These souls represent the fallen Christian martyrs of the last days. In this way, the fifth seal parallels the Christian martyrs of the sixth trumpet.

The Sixth Seal and the Fifth and Seventh Plagues

12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.
14 And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
17 for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?" (NAS)

I’ll give you a quick preview of the fifth and seventh plagues (of the 7 Last Plagues). I am sure that you will note the similarities.

Rev 16:10-11
10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,
11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. (NAS)

Rev 16:17-21
17 And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air; and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is done."
18 And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.
19 And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found .
21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe. (NAS)

The sixth plague would obviously fit in between the fifth and seventh plagues and would fall into this section. The language of the sixth plague is not included in the language of the sixth seal. The sixth plague is the battle of Armageddon. We will look at this in more detail in the section on the 7 Last Plagues.

The Seventh Seal

Diagram of the 7 Seals

The Seven Seals and Matthew 24 (The Signs of the Times)

Probably the best parallels to the 7 Seals are the signs of the times that Jesus gives in Matthew 24. Look at the order of the signs as given in Matthew and notice their direct correlation to the 7 Seals. Almost all Christians believe that the signs of Matthew 24 are last day events and not events scattered throughout history. This is the strongest argument in favor of the 7 Seals being end time events. Look at Matthew 24 and notice the similarities. Note that the parallelism here requires that the first seal be interpreted as a false Christ – or the rise of an anti-Christian or false Christian religio-political system such as the papacy or the ecumenical movement.

Matt 24:1-31
1 And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.
2 And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."
3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.
5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
6 "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you , and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.
10 "And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another.
11 "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.
12 "And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.
13 "But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.
14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.
15 "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
17 let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things out that are in his house;
18 and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak.
19 "But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days!
20 "But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath;
21 for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.
22 "And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.
23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him.
24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
25 "Behold, I have told you in advance.
26 "If therefore they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go forth, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.
27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken,
30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
31 "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (NAS)
Here is a table that shows the correspondence between the 7 Seals and Matthew 24.

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