General Features Of The Opened Seals
Before we look at the details of what the seals contain, let us examine some general features of the opened seals. As mentioned earlier, the seals contain nothing but bad news. The calamity or bad news unleashed by the opening of each seal IS NOT TIME BOUND. It does not have a life span. Sometimes, it rolls into the next one and works together with the next one. For example, we are witnessing the opening of the fourth seal now, yet the effects of the calamities of the opened first three seals are still clearly obvious, even to the undiscerning eyes. We shall come to understand this, as we examine what each seal contains.
The four horses and their riders revealed in the opening of the seals are called the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Apocalypse is the book of Revelation. They are to bring selective judgments upon the world before the Rapture. Please, note that the origin of these visions is in Zechariah 6:1-8. Zechariah saw four horses, which are let loose upon the earth to deal vengeance on Babylon and Egypt (which are types of the world) and also the nations which have oppressed God’s people. There is something interesting to note here. These horses are going forth to the four winds of Heaven AFTER PRESENTING THEMSELVES BEFORE THE LORD OF ALL THE EARTH (Zech. 6:5). Here, we see the devil is not capable of any independent action. He can only operate as He is empowered or permitted or allowed, as I have tried to explain earlier in this book.
The horses stand for the four mighty winds (spirits) (Zech. 6:5), which God is about to let loose on the earth with a blast of destruction. The details are not the same as related by John, but for him also, the horses and their riders are the instruments of the avenging judgment of God. They are four great destructive forces, which are in the times before the end to be dispatched against the evil world by the Holy God.
The final thing to be noted is the similarity between the prophecies of Jesus in Matt 24 and the calamities that break forth with the opening of each seal in Rev. 6. The first sign in Matt. 24:4 is Deception. The first seal reveals the greatest deception of all, when a man riding a white horse like Jesus claims to be the messiah and the last and greatest of God’s prophet. He is ANTICHRIST. In Matt 24:6-7, Jesus speaks about wars and rumours of wars and nations rising against nations. The second seal speaks about the greatest of all wars – the first and the second world wars. The same verse speaks about famines, hunger and pestilences. The third and fourth seals reveal hunger, famines, pestilences and epidemics. Surely, the spirit of God is one. Dear Lord Jesus, open the seals for us now. Grant us understanding and Light from Heaven that we may see through the darkness of this Hour.
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Bro. Kunle Adigun, Friends of the Bridegroom International Ministries (FOBIM)
