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Friday, 21 November 2008

Decipher the heavenly court scene (II)

We continue to decipher the heavenly court scene in chapters 6 and 7 of Revelation.
The Lamb began to open the seals one by one. When each of the first four seals was opened, one of the four living creatures would say "Come!". Then a horse of different colours would emerge.
And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer (Revelation 6:2).
And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given a great sword (Revelation 6:4).
And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a balance in his hand (Revelation 6:5b)
And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth (Revelation 6:8).
In summary, opening a seal would invite the appearance of one of these horsemen. Opening a seal starts a series of "End of the World" sequence. A white horse symbolizes conquering; a red horse, war; a black horse; exploitation (??) and a pale horse, death. These are all preludes to the End.
When the fifth seal was opened, souls of martyrs came out from under the altar. They were given white robes and were sent back to sleep until the total number of martyrs is complete (Revelation 6:11).
When the sixth seal was opened, our familiar "End of the World" scene appears: earthquakes, chaos, stars of the sky fall, the sky vanishes like a scroll that is rolled up etc. This agrees with what the gospels tell us. So, all Christians believe that disasters and chaos will be rampant before the End comes.
Then, 4 angels appear at the 4 corners of the earth and still her four winds. The fifth angel appears in the East. He will leave on the foreheads of 144000 children of Israel a seal. This is the mark of salvation but each tribe only carries 12000. Is it fair? Big tribes and small tribes are given the same quota. Can this be a good quota system?
This particular passage was read in the blog entry on November 1. So, let's proceed without further ado.
Then an even greater number of people, from different walks of life, come before God. Therefore, at the end of the world, the number of people saved must be greater than 144000. This number is the quota for the Israelites only. For us Gentiles,  we have an unspecific number of people saved.
Therefore are they before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night within his temple;
and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his
presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;
the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water;
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes
(Revelation 7:15-17).
What a dreamland for slaves! No hunger, no thirst, no scorching sun, no cruel foremen but the Lamb! There will be no more sadness for God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

My Lord, deliver us from evil. Amen.

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