Those who teach that the wrath of God commences at the beginning of the 70th week fail to understand that the seals are not God’s wrath. The first four seals are the wrath of Satan vented on humanity through man’s inhumanity to man. As we have pointed out severally, the first three seals, the emergence of false christs, wars and rumours of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes occur within the first half of the 70th of Daniel. These seals, including the fourth occur in sequential chronology. They are consecutive and progressive. The fourth seal is the Great Tribulation proper which begins in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel with the unveiling of the man of lawlessness and the Jerusalem campaign when the antiChrist surrounds Jerusalem with the armies of his three power base nations of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval.
Biblical scholars of prophecy have long identified the parallelism between the Olivet Discourse(Matt.24,25; Mk.13; Luk.21), and Rev.6. But in the Olivet Discourse, there is no segment that corresponds with the fifth seal of Rev.6:9-11.
“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”
The reason is that the fifth seal is a heavenly scene. It has no parallel in the Olivet Discourse which deals strictly with earthly events. Under the fourth seal, the Great Tribulation, the saints are being martyred for their faith. The fifth is superimposed on the fourth. They are coincident, concurrent, and simultaneous. The fourth and the fifth seals are the only two of the seven seals that are concurrent and simultaneous. This is so because the martyrdom of the saints here on Earth are reflected in heaven by their arrival and accommodation under the golden altar of incense in the Holy place of the temple of God in Heaven. Their disembodied spirits and souls are arriving in Heaven as soon as they are martyred. There is no distance in the realm of the spirit. These dear souls are being kept under the golden altar of incense in The Holy Place in the Temple of God in Heaven waiting till the full complement of saints are martyred. The full complement of saints to be martyred is a secret number because it is not revealed to us in the Scriptures.
“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” ( Deut.29:29 ).
These dear souls are demanding from God vengeance on their killers here on Earth. God answers them in the affirmative, but they have to wait until their fellows saints who are destined to be martyred are also killed by the living wicked earth-dwellers.
“If any man is destined to captivity, into captivity he goes, if any man is destined to be killed with the sword, with the sword, he shall be killed; here is the patience and faith of the saints”(Rev.13:10).
It will be only after their number is complete that God Almighty will terminate the killings on here on Earth and avenge their death. God promised tribulation on those that trouble us, and eternal rest for us who are troubled at His coming.
“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”(2 Thess.1:6-10).
We see that the divine promise to punish the wicked murderers of the saints shall begin at the coming of the Lord when the saints are rescued, and the living wicked earth-dwellers punished.
Obviously the fourth seal is not the wrath of God. We can also see that the fifth seal promises the wrath of God which clearly indicates that the first four preceding seals are not the wrath of God. If the wrath of God had begun at the commencement of the 70th week, the fifth seal Martyrs could not possibly demand that God punish their wicked murderers when the divine retribution on them has already commenced at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel, over three and one-half years earlier. Secondly, God would be ultimately responsible for the brutal killing of His saints perpetrated by the antiChrist and his acolytes. It would therefore be hypocritical on the part of God to punish the living wicked earth-dwellers and adorers of the Beast-antiChrist for carrying out His will because He gave tacit approval for the execution of His saints. Unreasonable and illogical you would say, and that is absolutely the case. If the wrath of God had begun with the breaking of the first seal, why would the fifth seal Martyrs demand God punish the wicked after the breaking of the fifth seal which occurs over three and one-half years later? Why would God exhort them to be patient till after the complement of the saints to be martyred had been met? It would have been more appropriate for God to answer them that the divine retribution on the wicked had already began with breaking of the first seal. It is evident that up to this time in the eschatological timeline and the chronology of events within the 70th week of Daniel the Lord had not yet appeared. The rescue of the saints and the commencement of the punishment of the wicked occur at the revelation of Christ from heaven with His mighty angels.
“In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” (2 Thess.1:8-10).
Admittedly, when the fifth seal martyrs made the request that God punish the perpetrators of the murderous atrocities committed by the antiChrist and the living wicked earth-dwellers, the killings were still going on here on Earth; hence the need for them to wait until the full complement of martyrs had been reached. When the full complement of saints to be martyred has been reached, God terminates the killings with cosmic and celestial disturbances. Therefore the Great Tribulation, which begins with the breaking of the fourth seal at the midpoint of the 70th week shall not last till the end of the 70th week of Daniel. The period allotted to the antiChrist to reign will be three and one-half years which corresponds with the second half of the 70th week of Daniel. If God does not terminate the persecution by the antiChrist, no flesh would be saved. In other words, no one without the mark of the Beast shall remain alive, because of the economic boycott, and because they shall be hounded, hunted down and killed. For the elect’s sake, those days shall be cut short(Matt.24:22).
As we have pointed out, the way God terminates the killings is with cosmic disturbances. This is the breaking of the sixth seal.
“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell 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. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”(Rev.6:12-17).
At the breaking of the sixth seal, the sun is darkened, and the moon turned into blood, and the stars shall fall from the heavens. This event anticipates the wrath of God. If the wrath of God began with the breaking of the first seal, why have the wicked earth-dwellers and adorers and worshippers of the Beast not recognized it? Why is it at the breaking of the sixth seal that they scurry for cover under the rocks and the mountains in anticipation of the wrath? Th sign given in the sun, moon, and stars signal the wrath of God.
“For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”(Rev.6:17).
The day of His wrath has not yet begun. It is overhanging, about to begin. When it begins, no one shall be able to stand, no, not even the antiChrist and his acolytes. As our brother Alan E. Kurschner has pointed out, the sixth seal portends the wrath of God.
Continuing with the parallelism between the Olivet Discourse and Rev.6, the cosmic disturbances which are associated with the breaking of the sixth occur after the tribulation of those day.
“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 heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other(Matt.24:29-31).
Interlude Between The sixth And The Seventh Seal
There is a brief interlude between the sixth and the breaking of the seventh seal. Within this interlude, the Shechinah appears in the heavens. The Shechinah is the appearance of the sign of the coming Son Of Man in the heavens. It, together with the sixth seal, is the sign of His coming and of the end of the ages(Matt.24:3c). It is the back-to-back sign that occurs in the sun, moon, and stars. The Shechinah in the heavens terminates the earthquake, dispels the darkness and defrosts the Earth, three very severe consequences of the cosmic disturbances associated with the breaking of the sixth seal. Within this interlude, the 144, 000 are sealed and the Church raptured. Therefore the essence of the interlude between the sixth and the breaking of the seventh seals is to protect the true believers who had refused the mark of the beast, and are still alive up to this time, and the 144,000 Jews who are branded with the invisible seal of the Almighty, from the wrath of God which is about to begin at the breaking of the seventh seal.
The breaking of the seventh seal: The Day Of The Lord Begins
The very same day that the rapture takes place, the wrath of God begins. Therefore the seventh seal pronounces and announces the wrath of God. The wrath of God occurs at the sounding of the last trump which corresponds with the breaking of the seventh seal. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the day when the Son Of Man is revealed. The same day that Noah entered the ark, the rain deluged the heavens.
“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”(Matt.24:37-39).
“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.”(Gen.7:11).
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” Luk.17:26-27).
So was it also in the day of Lot. The same day Lot left Sodom and Gomorrah, fire and sulfur fell from Heaven and destroyed them all.
“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”(Luk.17:28-30).
We can see from these scriptures that there is no gap of time whatsoever between the rapture of the Church, and the commencement of the wrath of God, because the very same day the Church is raptured, the seventh seal is broken and the wrath of God commences.
The trumpet is blown on Israel’s feast days, on the new moon, to call a solemn assembly , and to prepare for war, and in their wilderness journeys(Num.10:1-10). When the last trump is blown, the saints are gather before the Lord. What a solemn assembly? Then God goes to war with His enemies, to recompense tribulation to those who trouble us.
“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”(2 Thess.1:3-10).
God will recompense tribulation to those who trouble us. There is no way the Church can be taken away before the Great Tribulation which is the ultimate tribulation which the saints shall suffer at the hands of Satan and his acolyte, the antiChrist. The wrath of God will come upon the children of disobedience after the tribulation by the antiChrist which is the great wrath of Satan mated out on children of God.
The seventh seal has no judgments of its own, but opens into the seven trumpets. In like manner also, the seventh trumpet has no judgments of its own, but opens into the seven bowls. The seventh bowl culminates in the war of Armageddon. Therefore the wrath of God is contained in the seventh seal, and consists of the seven trumpets and seven bowls.
Avraham Shallom.
Mt Zion Heritage Ministries 