For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Revelation 6:17
For further study - Revelation 6:1-17
This sixth chapter of Revelation is the prophecy of six of the seven Seal Judgments that will come upon the earth and its inhabitants during the seven year long period of judgment known as the Tribulation Period.
Throughout the entire time of the Tribulation Period there are twenty-one judgments, “three sets of seven,” seven "seal" judgments, seven "trumpet" judgments and seven "vial" judgments that unfold.
These twenty-one judgments get progressively worse and will intensify as the Tribulation Period unfolds. These initial six judgments in Revelation 6 are the beginning of the terrible time to come upon the earth.
A quick look at the six judgments reveal how the seals are broken on the “sealed book”, most likely a single scrolled book, and each seal is broken by the Lamb, verses 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 12. The “Lamb”, of course, is the person of Jesus Christ, who will bring these judgments upon the earth in the Tribulation Period.
The judgments are released upon humankind on the earth, after the Rapture. All six of these judgments happen in the first three and a half years of the seven-year long judgment period.
In verses 1 and 2 we see a man on a "white horse", who is the "Antichrist". This satanically energized person is the one who tries to fool the world into believing that he is the long awaited Messiah.
Verses 3 and 4 reveal a man on a "red horse" who comes to take peace from the earth, it's the judgment of "war" released upon humankind.
The man on a black horse, verses 5 and 6, is the judgment of famine, which when it calls for a "measure of wheat" for a "penny" that is referring to enough wheat to make bread for a family of four for one day at the cost of a days wages, a "penny" in the times of the writing of Revelation.
The fourth seal is depicted as a man on a "pale horse". When this judgment is released "one-fourth of the earth's population is killed." That will mean over 1.75 billion people killed as a result of this judgment.
Verses 9 - 11 describe those who will be "martyred" for their testimony. They are not Christians but people, Jews or Gentiles, who will come to Christ after the Rapture, during the first of the Tribulation Period.
The sixth seal, verses 12 - 14, will be "ecological" judgments upon the earth, earthquakes, and in the heavens.
These judgments that happen early in the Tribulation Period are events that seemingly are in the process of coming about today. Jesus said when you see these things happening, Matthew 24:4-7 and 32-34, you can recognize that this is the time of His return to the earth.
However, remember that the Rapture of the Church takes place seven years before He comes back to earth. The fact that we can see the stage being set for these six seal judgments, indicates that the Rapture could not only happen at any moment but it could happen soon, even today.
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