Read Revelation 7:4-8. What is the number of God’s sealed people? What is the meaning of that specific number? The announcement of the number of those who are sealed marks the completion of the sealing. John hears that their number is 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel. The reference here is not to a literal … Continue reading –>
Read Revelation 7:1-3 along with 2 Peter 3:9-14. What does John see? How long are the angels supposed to restrain the winds? What will happen when the sealing is concluded? In the Old Testament, winds stand for destructive forces by which God executes judgments upon the wicked (Jer. 23:19-20; Dan. 7:2). “As the angels of God cease to hold in … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Revelation 7; 2 Pet. 3:9-14; Deut. 8:11-17; Rev. 14:4-5, 12; Rev. 17:5; Rom. 3:19-24. Memory Text: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14, NKJV). The opening of the seven seals shows us that every person who claims to believe … Continue reading –>
Adopted at a Funeral By Andrew McChesney Mourners gathered for the funeral of the young mother at the Seventh-day Adventist church in Milange, a town just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from Mozambique’s border with Malawi. The woman had died of HIV complications just five days after giving birth to a baby boy. Her HIV-positive … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The World’s Need”, pages 457-460, in Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers. The vision of the opening of the seven seals points symbolically to God’s care for, and discipline of, His people on earth. As Kenneth A. Strand has pointed out: “In Scripture there is assurance that God has always cared for … Continue reading –>
In the fifth seal, we see God’s people suffering injustice in a hostile world, crying for God’s intervention on their behalf. The time has come for God to intervene in answer to the prayers of His people. Read Revelation 6:12-14 along with Matthew 24:29-30 and 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. What is being revealed here? The last three signs of the sixth … Continue reading –>
Read Revelation 6:9-10. What is happening here? The word “soul” in the Bible denotes the whole person (Gen. 2:7). The martyrdom of God’s faithful and persecuted people is portrayed here in terms of the sacrificial blood poured out at the base of the earthly sanctuary’s altar of sacrifice (Exod. 29:12, Lev. 4:7). God’s people have suffered injustice and death … Continue reading –>
Read Revelation 6:7-8. What scene is portrayed here? How is this scene related to the previous one? The color of the horse in the fourth seal is expressed with the Greek word chloros, which is the ashen-gray color of a decomposing corpse. The rider’s name is Death; meanwhile, Hades, the place of the dead, accompanies him. These … Continue reading –>
Read Revelation 6:3-4. On the basis of the description of the red horse and the rider, what is being talked about here in reference to the gospel? Red is the color of blood. The rider has a great sword and is allowed to take peace from the earth, which opens the way for people to kill … Continue reading –>
Read Revelation 6:1-8 along with Leviticus 26:21-26 and Matthew 24:1-14. Note the common key words in these texts. What do you learn about the meaning of the first four seals on the basis of these parallels? The events of the seven seals must be understood in the context of the Old Testament covenant curses, specified in terms of sword, famine, … Continue reading –>
