THE DAY OF THE LORD Deena Robertson Daniel/Revelation 450 November 11, 2012 INTRODUCTION This exegetical paper will look into the Sixth Seal in Revelation 6:12-17. The goal of this paper is to follow principles of interpretation that accept the meaning of Scripture in its most normal, natural and literal sense. This paper seeks to take the Scriptures in their context, taking into account the historical settings, the persons that are being spoken to through the passage, and the reasons and situations that are taking place during the time that the passage is being given. A very important part of an exegetical paper is to compare Scripture with Scripture, and this paper will investigate relevant passages that shed light on the main text of Revelation 6:12-17. This paper realizes importance of a harmonization of Scripture, if Scripture contradicts Scripture; the truth has not yet been discovered. The main focus of this paper is to present the timing of the Day of the Lord and encourage believers to search the Scriptures to find out for themselves, what and when is the Day of the Lord. In Acts 17:11 it says that the Bereans “were noble minded than the Thessalonicans, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” May it be so again today. “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; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then 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; 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; for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” To be able to understand the opening of the sixth seal and the significance of it, one must look back to John’s vision of the scroll sealed with seven seals. “I saw a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.” (Revelation5:1) The seals are on the outside of the scroll, and all seven of them must be broken before the scroll can be opened. With the opening of each seal a new circumstance would come upon the earth. All of the seven seals and their effects upon the earth must take place before the contents of the scroll can be revealed. There is only One who is found worthy to open the scroll. (Revelation 5:2-5:5) He came first as a Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and the next time that Jesus Christ comes, He will come in judgment. “He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) Jesus spoke of the seals in His Olivet Discourse, He called them the “birth pangs.” Looking at them in that light, and comparing them to a woman who is about to give birth, they are the things that must take place before the baby is born. In Matthew 24:3 His disciples asked Him “When will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many.” (Matthew 24:4-5) This is the opening of the first seal—The False Christ—“Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals. I looked and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:1-2) Jesus went on telling the disciples, “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not the end yet. ” (Matthew 24:6) This is exactly what takes place in the opening of the second seal—War—“When He broke the second seal a red horse went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.” (Revelation 6:3-4) Jesus reassures them while He is talking with them and tells them not worry, because all of these things must take place before He can come back. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” (Matthew 24:7-8) This ties right into the opening of the third seal—Famine—“When He broke the third seal, I looked and behold a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying “ A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6) Then Jesus tells them “all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” (Matthew 24:8) The next circumstance that Jesus describes is the intense persecution that will take place, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another” (Matthew 24:9-10) This ties right into the opening of the fourth seal—Death—“When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I looked and behold an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence, by the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:7-8) This next event that Jesus describes shows the element of timing. “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” (Matthew 24:15-16, 21) Jesus instructs them here that what He is telling them was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet. The prophecy of Daniel vividly describes the events that will take place during the tribulation and gives the exact sequence of how things will take place. “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate.” (Daniel 9:27) Here it is saying that when the False Christ of Revelation 6:1 comes on the scene, that he will sign a peace treaty with Israel for a seven year period, the “week,” which will be the final seven of the seventy weeks of Daniel, and in the midpoint of that period, three and a half years, he will break the treaty, stop the regular sacrifices and grain offerings, set up an idol in the temple declaring himself as god, and demand to be worshipped. In the book of Daniel, the Antichrist is described as the “Little Horn,” “I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them. He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One; and they will be given into his hands for a time, times, and half a time.” (Daniel 7:21, 25) This describes an element of timing, and that God has given him authority during this time period. “Time, times, and half a times” “in the middle of the week” describes the midpoint of the seven years, where the abomination of desolation will be set up and the Great Tribulation will begin—Martyrdom—the Fifth seal, and authority will be given to him for three and a half years. Daniel gives a clear picture of what will take place, in Daniel 11:31-33, 35 “Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at an appointed time.” All of these events tie right into the—Martyrs—in Revelation 6:9, “When the Lamb 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.” Jesus told them that “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:22) The Lord has obviously appointed certain people to be martyred (Daniel 11:35) and He was holding back the Day of His wrath “until the number of their servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been would be completed also.” (Revelation 6:11) The souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony that that had maintained are crying out to God with loud voices and asking Him, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:9-10) This verse clearly shows that God’s Wrath upon the wicked hasn’t begun yet. But, “He is near, right at the door.” (Matthew 24:33) One important thing to see here is that the first five seals were Satan’s wrath against the righteous (Revelation 12:12), which is in polar opposite of God’s judgment upon the wicked after the opening of the seventh seal. God’s Wrath ends Satan’s wrath. “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10) The seals themselves are not the Wrath of God, only the contents of the scroll are the Wrath of God. The seals are what must take place first, the birth pangs, before the Day of the Lord begins. The Day of the Lord is the specific time period where God’s Wrath is poured out on the unrighteous. The Day of the Lord is mentioned throughout the Old and New Testaments. The Day of the Lord is much longer than just one day; in fact it must be a lot longer than five months because the fifth trumpet is a plaque that lasts for around five months (Revelation 9:5). The Day of the Lord is a time of unparalled Wrath, that has never been seen before. “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s Wrath; and all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.” (Zephaniah 1:18) On that Day the Lord alone will be exalted, and on that day the haughtiness of man shall be brought low. “The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased; and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.” (Isaiah 2:11, 17) This ties right into Revelation 6:16 “they said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Peter spoke about the Day of the Lord when he said, “By His Word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:7,10) Because of the severity of the Day of the Lord, the Lord promised to give us a sign announcing the Day of God’s Wrath. This will fill the ones who have received the mark of Antichrist with terror, and the ones who have held to the Testimony of Jesus Christ with hope and expectancy at the coming of their Lord and Savior. “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” (Joel 2:30-31) The time word “before” is very significant in this passage. Again over in Acts 2:20 “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.” Here again is the time word “before.” That means “before” the Day of the Lord shall come these signs “must” take place. Luke also mentions these signs in verses 21:25-28 ‘There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Here again is a feeling of sheer terror within the wicked, men are fainting in fear because they know the great and terrible Day of the Lord has come, and the believer is filled with great hope and joy, and told to “look for and hasten the coming of the day of God.” (2 Peter 3:11) Again the signs are mentioned in Matthew 24:29-31 “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. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 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.” These signs tie right into the signs that appear at the opening of the sixth seal—Terror—“The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood.” (Revelation 6:12) It is at this point is where the Rapture will take place and the Day of the Lord will begin. Parallels on the Second Coming Paul Believed and taught the Thessalonians that the Rapture would initiate the Day of the Lord. “With regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2), Paul’s subject in this passage never changed he just simply refers to the gathering together as the Day of the Lord. The Rapture and the Day of the Lord are back to back events, on the same day God rescues the righteous and begins to judge the unrighteous (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10). Paul didn’t want the Thessalonians to be uniformed about the coming of the Lord, he told them he was speaking to them “by the word of the Lord.”(1 Thessalonians 4:13) Did he receive this word through direct revelation or was he drawing from Jesus’ words while He was still here on earth? “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord (the words of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse?) that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, 5:1-4) This same sequence is over in Matthew 24:30-31 and 24:36 “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand, until the flood came and took them all away.” The sequence of events that will take place, the Signs, the Coming, the Gathering and the Judgment. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 Paul speaks about the Day of the Lord and “our gathering together to Him” The Thessalonians had obviously been taught that they had missed the rapture, and were in the Day of the Lord. Paul told them “not to be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” Paul wanted to reassure them and remind them of the Bible studies that they had together, and all of the insights that he had given them on the coming of the Lord. “Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?” (2 Thessalonians 2:5) The sequence that Paul lays out for them in this passage looks a lot like what the Lord lays out for His disciples in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. “Now we request you brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” (2 Thessalonians 1) In Matthew 24:4-31 Christ describes all of the events that must take place before the coming and the gathering. Paul is speaking here of the same coming and gathering of Matthew 24:30-31. Paul then tells them “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (falling away) comes first.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) This same “falling away” is mentioned by Christ in Matthew 24:10, which happens before “the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God.” This ties right into Matthew 24:15 where directly after the falling away the “abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stands in the holy place.” Jesus instructs them to look back to Daniel for the exact details of this event. “ Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods.” (Daniel 11:36) Paul being a “Hebrew of Hebrews, and to the Law, a Pharisee.” (Philippians 3:5) was very well versed on the prophecies of Daniel the Prophet, and would take them to theses prophecies during their studying together, and they would do exactly what Jesus told them to do, and that was refer to the words of Daniel if you want to know more on this topic. This must have been what he meant when he told them, “Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?”(2 Thessalonians 2:5) Paul was speaking these things to them, “by the word of the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15) Paul was shaking them out of the deception that they had come under, continuously bringing them back to the truth that they had already been taught. Paul told the Thessalonians, “You know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.” (2 Thessalonians 2:6) The point here is that Paul said to them “you know what restrains him.” Well how would they know unless they had been taught what restrains? Was this the verse that Paul was referring to? “Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time.” (Daniel 12:1) If they were studying the “word of the Lord” on the Second Coming and done what He instructed then they would have found themselves in Daniel 12, which would have shown them that Michael is the one who restrains. This point ties right into Revelation 12:1, 9-10, 12, “And there was a war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is now called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” It appears that Michael “stands up” from guarding Israel, “I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed.” (Isaiah 5:5) just before the midpoint of the seventieth week of Daniel and casts Satan out of heaven, where he then comes down to the earth “having great wrath.” (Revelation 12:12) This would tie right into the devil indwelling the Antichrist, and he “will be revealed” (2 Thessalonians 2:8) and the great tribulation will begin. “For then (after the abomination of desolation is set up in the holy place), there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” (Matthew 24:15, 21) Conclusion In conclusion, The Day of the lord is one of the most important subjects to be able get light on when studying the events that will take place in the future. On that Day, it will be a two phase event. The Lord will deliver and rescue the righteous, (1 Thessalonians 5:9) “For God has not appointed us to wrath.” And He will pour out His judgment upon the wicked (Zeph. 1:18, Matthew 24:37-39). The Lord speaks throughout the Old and New Testaments about the signs that will be given before the Day of the Lord comes (Joel 2:30-31, Matthew 24:29-20, Mark 13:24, Luke 21:25-27, Acts 2:20) these are the signs that are in the sixth seal—Terror—At that time the prophet Joel says, “Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near. Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness. For strong is He who carries out His Word. The Day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it?” (Joel 2:1, 10-11) “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.” (Matthew 24:31) On that Day “The Lord alone will be exalted. Men will go into caves of the rocks and into holes in the ground before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, when He arises to make the earth tremble.” (Isaiah 2:17-19) “ 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; 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; for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17) BIBLIOGRAPHY Zondervan. New American Standard Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2000. Van Kampen, Robert. The Rapture Question Answered Plain and Simple. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Fleming H. Revell, 1997. Cooper, Charles. God’s Elect and the Great Tribulation. Bellefonte, PA: Strong Tower Publishing, 2008. Van Kampen, Robert. The Sign. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1992 Rosenthal, Marvin. The Pre-Wrath Rapture. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1990.
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