Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken."
Continuing with Jesus opening the Seven Seals in the book of Revelation. In the beginning of his vision, John was shown the seven golden candlesticks, and the Son of man walking in the midst of them, and telling him to write about his vision to the seven churches. After John writes messages to each church, he continues writing about his vision. First he is taken up to heaven, and sees the throne of God with twenty four elders seated around it, and four beasts also. Then he sees "as it were a Lamb that was slain" in the midst of the throne. "He that sitteth upon the throne," is holding a scroll with seven seals, and the Lamb, Jesus Christ, is found worthy to open the scroll and loose the seven seals.
The seven candlesticks represent the seven churches of Asia that John is writing to. Who are the twenty four elders? They are mysterious leadership of the righteous in heaven. Who are the four beasts? Another mystery. But I'll take a stab at it. Why is Jesus called the Lamb that was slain? Because we require a sacrifice for our sin to make us sinless and able to have a relationship with God. And that sacrifice had to be the ultimate sacrifice, which only Jesus could be. Why is it possible for so many people and God and Jesus to be in the midst of the throne at the same time? I have heard that the thrones of the middle east of the time were something more like couches that several people could sit on, and so someone could sit with the ruler on the throne if he pleased. What is the scroll with the seven seals? In Roman times, an inheritance was a scroll sealed with seven seals. I'm not sure, but I think it may be that in the Roman legal system legal documents of various types were scrolls sealed with seven seals. It is some type of legal document. If the earth were about to be judged by God, it would make sense that all the legal papers would be drawn up. It's all there, theft of cookies, everything. The seven seals of the document are seven judgments coming from God upon the earth. As Jesus opens each seal, a judgment happens on earth.
There are three sets of seven judgments. The Seven Seals of Chapter 6 is the first set. The next set of seven judgments are the Seven Trumpets, and the final set of seven are the Seven Vials. The Seven Seals as well as the Seven Trumpets judgments are broken into two parts, four judgments of the first part, three of the second.
The judgments begin with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first time I ever read a book about this, it said that the first horsemen, riding a white horse, and given a crown, and going forth to conquer, was Jesus Christ. This is probably not correct. Others have said it was the Antichrist. I think this is getting warm.
John had written earlier about the four beasts before the throne of God, and in the first four judgments, the four beasts introduce the four horsemen. I feel it is important to examine the beast that introduces each horseman to get a better understanding of the horseman. The first beast was already described earlier by John as looking like a lion. The horseman he introduces is riding a white horse, has a bow, is given a crown to wear, and rides away to conquer. Who is he? Who is the beast? While I think the beast may be an actual being in heaven, I think his description tells of his personal characteristics, his role, not what he looks like. And so he, being like a lion, introduces a king. Is the horseman a literal person? Well, I've noticed that people tend to jump on the idea that he is an actual person, but they don't often ask, "Who is the horseman on the red horse? On the black horse? On the pale horse?" They can see that the rider on the red horse represents war. Many say that the rider on the black horse represents famine. And John tells us that the rider on the pale horse is Death and his friend Hell. No one worries about who Death is. They've seen "the grim reaper." They understand that he represents death, but he is not likely a real person.
So I think that the first horse is speaking of the political climate on earth at the time of the Tribulation. And the second beast looked like a calf, and he introduces the second horseman on the red horse. This horseman is given power to take peace from the earth.
"Is given, is given." Who is the giver? Who gave the first horseman a crown? Who gave the second horseman power to take peace from the earth and a great sword? Anyway, he represents war.
The third beast has a face like a man, and the third horseman sits on a pale horse holding a pair of balances that merchants used to use to weigh things in a market. A voice from the four beasts says, "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." What does that mean? One must understand, first, that I'm guessing, as is everyone else. I have heard that a penny was usually an entire day's wage at the time John wrote this, so connecting the dots, I think that an entire day's wage would be a lot to pay for maybe a pound of wheat. But does this speak of famine? Why not go ahead and hurt the oil and the wine? I think it speaks of hyperinflation and economic chaos. I don't quite know what to think about hurting the oil and the wine. How would they be exempt from hyperinflation? I think there will be a problem paying for food, and other things, but there will be enough food - for an exorbitant price. The prices of everything will go through the roof.
"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth beast say, Come and see." The fourth beast looks like a flying eagle and he introduces the rider(s) on the fourth horse, a pale horse, and their names are Death and Hell. They are given the power to kill one fourth of the earth with the sword, and hunger, and death, and the beasts of the earth. I guess they'll be in charge of the department of health and human services. I find it curious to say someone will be killed "with death." I suppose since it isn't mentioned, it may mean such things as epidemics and plagues. Also, the beasts of the earth? Maybe this is something like the way the Romans threw people to the lions in the Colosseum. Maybe the lions and tigers and bears suddenly become much more numerous and attack us in the parking lot when we go to WalMart.
So that's the four judgments in the subset of the Seven Seals. Then the three judgments come.
The fifth judgment is, to my understanding, more martyrdom for the word of God.
The sixth judgment is very interesting to me. I thought the language in presenting it was beautiful.
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell from heaven 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."
So the sixth judgment includes an earthquake, but the strange thing is stars falling from the sky. I can hear the sudden increase in the wind, rustling the leaves of the fig tree, and her unripe fruit falling with thumping noises on the ground. The sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair? What is that? I looked it up. People used to make sacks out of goat hair, and just like flour sacks used to be, sometimes people made clothes of the sackcloth, scratchy clothes. And sackcloths were black.
What is going on here? Earthquakes, stars falling, the sun black, the moon like blood, and the mountains and islands being tossed around like sacks of potatoes... Well, anyway, that's the sixth judgment.
The seventh judgment is the entrance of the Seven Trumpets series of judgments. It's like a computer program: first line, Do white horseman, second line, Do red horseman, third line, Do black horseman, fourth line, Do pale horseman, fifth line, Do martyrdom, sixth line, Do the stars falling, seventh line, Go to the Seven Trumpets.
But going back to the verse I began with about the sun being darkened, the moon not shining, the stars falling from the sky, and the power of heaven being shaken.....Jesus said these things happen immediately after the tribulation of those days. But John places them at the beginning of the tribulation. I still haven't heard anyone explain that. The only thing that occurs to me is that these judgments may not all be presented in the order they happen in. The horsemen may be the political, martial, economic, and health environment of the entire period, and the martyrs wouldn't all be killed at once, but throughout the tribulation, and then the stars begin to fall.
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