In-Depth: How Will You Respond To The Book of Revelation's Warning?

The Book of Revelation opens with great encouragement and unflinching affirmation of Jesus Christ as Lord of all. He is “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” who loves us so much that He “released us from our sin by His blood” (1:5). The book is presented as His own revelation, “which God the Father gave Him to show His bondservants the things which must soon take place” (1:1).

Grace and peace are offered “from Him who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4).

John faithfully recorded the vision he had on the island of Patmos as well as the seven letters Jesus dictated for distribution to seven churches in Asia (modern-day Turkey) late in the first century. Chapter 4 opens with a “rapture in type” as John is told to “Come up here” and whisked away into Heaven (4:1). The throne room scene climaxes when a sealed book is produced that “no one in Heaven or on the Earth or under the Earth was able to open” (5:3)—until Jesus steps forward to take the book and open the seals.

John’s description of Jesus conveys the perspective of fulfilled prophecy. Jesus is called “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah,” “the Root of David,” “a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God” (5:5-6). The assembled host of Heaven rightfully breaks out into song and worship, celebrating the beloved Son of God, very God of very God. Their chorus should fill the heart of every follower of Christ who longs for His coming: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever” (5:12-13).

If the book of Revelation ended at chapter 5, we would have ample reason to praise the Lord. His encouragement and admonition to the Church were clearly conveyed in chapters 2 and 3, and His worthiness to receive everlasting praise was affirmed once again. We could rest assured that His plan for the ages is proceeding according to His will and serve knowing that we will eventually join the throng gathered around His throne in Heaven.

But Jesus’ charge to John in 1:18 was to write the things which he had seen (chapter 1), the things which are (chapters 2 and 3), and “the things which will take place after these things.” With that revealed outline, what follows the throne room scene of chapters 4 and 5 is clearly meant to offer a glimpse into the not-too-distant future. With that in mind, if it was important enough for Christ to choose to reveal what lies ahead in human history, we can rightfully understand that He expects us to heed His words as we would any other.

Lest there be any doubt about His expectation to that effect, we are told just that in chapters 1 and 22—“Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book” (22:7). The urgency of our heeding is made clear at the outset of the book: “for the time is near” (1:3).

A Divergence of Options

The book of Revelation is clearly addressed to a specific audience: the bondservants of Jesus Christ (1:1). The initial recipients were the Christians in the Seven Churches listed in the text: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (1:11). The specificity of the letters obviously touches on attributes (both positive and negative) of those particular churches. But the affirmation and/or reproach each one was given finds application in local bodies of Christ throughout the Church Age—and even to time periods within the Church Age.

It is hard to envision non-believers finding application to their situation in the first five chapters of Revelation, other than a general desire to be among those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation who have been purchased for God by Christ’s blood and given a promise to reign alongside Him on the Earth (5:9-10).

But in chapter 6, the narrative takes a dramatic turn. As one after another seal is broken, the action in Heaven unleashes a great calamity on Earth. No longer the meek and mild suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, Christ is now the Worthy One who breaks the seals that send forth riders and catastrophes to inflict great suffering on the Earth. This reality alone does not align with the false prophets of prosperity who proclaim that Jesus would never hurt a fly. The image here is of Jesus exercising the will of the Father to pour out judgment on an unrepentant world devoid of Church Age saints who have been swept up at the Rapture.

In a series of terrors that run through the Seal, Bowl, and Trumpet Judgments, the stark contrast presented in John 3:36 is glaringly apparent: those who believe in the Son are already glorying in the joy of eternal life with the Savior, while those who reject His offer of salvation experience the wrath that abides on them from the day they were conceived.

It is that contrast that presents the either/or, black-or-white, diametrically opposed options that every person faces during this life. It really is simple enough to be summed up in bumper-sticker starkness: “Know Christ, know peace. No Christ, no peace.”

Those two statements may seem trite, but as my friend Paul Wilkinson would say, they convey a beautiful simplicity of options. With that in mind, let’s take a longer glance behind Door # 1 and Door # 2.

What’s a Seal?

John 6:27 provides the first reference to the seal of God. Jesus testifies that His disciples should not merely work for food that perishes, “but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” The word that is translated “seal” is the Greek word sphragízō, meaning “to stamp for security, preservation, or attestation.” We can envision this as the impression of a signet ring in hot wax. In this context, Jesus was clearly affirming the Father’s attestation of His authority to forgive sin and bestow eternal life.

This is the type of seal that Matthew 27:66 indicates was used to seal the tomb of Christ: a seal of finality that no one but the rightful authority would dare to break.

Paul uses this word metaphorically in Romans 15:28, 2 Corinthians 1:22, and Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30. Then, in 2 Timothy 2:19, he writes, “the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and ‘Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.’” The Greek word in this case (sphragís) is a derivative referring specifically to the stamped impression, whether literally or figuratively.

The image of the “book” in Revelation 5:1, that is “written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals,” conveys this exact imagery. Given our understanding of a “book” as a bound publication, a better translation would be a scroll, for John would have seen a written instrument not unlike a Torah scroll, but sealed (as with wax) seven times. For many years, the only way to ensure the unbroken security of a private communication was to use a wax seal. Without the original signet or stamp, any breach of the seal could not be counterfeited. And, if the original signer was a person of great power, it would have been unthinkable for an unauthorized person to break the seal.

Clearly, this is the context of Revelation 5 and 6. Nobody but Jesus Christ was found worthy to break the seals of the book/scroll held by God the Father. Only Christ had overcome so as to break the seals. Overcome what, a skeptic might ask? Death, by the power of His own authority.

The fact that Jesus is worthy evokes the praise I discussed already. But before the seals are broken and the consequences unleashed, the heavenly chorus praises Him for purchasing men who have been made to be a kingdom and priests to God (Revelation 5:10). And that realization brings us back to the Door #1 option available to all mankind: the seal of God.

Sealed for All Eternity The idea of God sealing His bondservants is taken directly from Revelation 7:2-3. The angel ascending from the rising of the sun (to the east)—“having the seal of the living God” Himself—cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bondservants of God on their foreheads.” The next verse describes the number of those who will be sealed: “one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel” (7:4).

This begs a question: Are only those 144,000 sealed by God, or is that a special subset of God’s bondservants throughout human history who are sealed by Him and for Him? One insight is offered during the blowing of the fifth trumpet in Revelation 9. The demonic locusts who emerge from the bottomless pit are given strict parameters for their torment and destruction. They are told not to hurt the grass or any green thing or tree, “but only the men who do NOT have the seal of God on their foreheads” (9:4).

This is the first indication that there are countervailing seals or marks—one identifying a person as a bondservant of the Most High God, and one marking others as loyalists of the Beast. Since that nefarious mark (infamously known by its numeric code of 666) is described after the passage disclosing the seal of God, it is quite possible that Satan’s beastly mark is a cheap counterfeit of the holy seal.

Paul’s description to Timothy captures the essence of the contrast—and the blessedness of our assurance. Because “the Lord knows those who are His,” He seals us. The biblical concept of bondservant is also instructive. Contrary to any negative connotation the word “servant” conveys in our culture, Scripture emphasizes the humble nobility of such a role. Abraham, Joshua, David, Isaiah, and the Messiah were all referred to as servants of the Lord. As described in Exodus 21:5-6, a willing bondservant would bear permanent evidence of his relationship with the master: a pierced ear.

This realization leads me to understand that the 144,000 bondservants of Revelation 7 are a special group sealed from the tribes of Israel. But all those who come to Jesus, take on His yoke and find rest for their soul are sealed as bondservants of the Most High (Matthew 11:28-30). Similarly, Jesus’ sheep who hear His voice and follow Him will never perish, for “no one will snatch them from [His] hand” (John 10:27-30). Whether His seal is visible to mortal eyes during the Tribulation, it is recognizable even by demonic beings (Revelation 9:3- 4) and eternally indelible. Perhaps like Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story—and the overcomers at the church of Philadelphia—those who belong to Christ have the name of our Master emblazoned on them forever.

Sealed for Wrath

It is hard to fathom how anyone could comprehend the blessing Jesus offers and choose the curse instead. But throughout Scripture, there is a clear distinction between those who hear His voice and those who reject the grace, mercy, and love of God. Through Moses, He said, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him…” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).

Yet, like Pharaoh, many, if not most, will harden their hearts and seal their own fate by their unrepentant rebellion. Those who are alive when the Tribulation begins will be subjected to the outpoured wrath of God as He administers justice, pours out wrath (still remembering mercy), and orchestrates His purpose to bring the Jewish people to the end of themselves. As Jesus Christ—the worthy Lamb who was slain—breaks the seven seals on the book held by the Father, successive waves of devastation will be meted out. In rapid progression, they are:

First – a rider with a bow and crown on a white horse, sent out to conquer

Second – a rider with a great sword on a red horse, sent to provoke war

Third – a rider with a pair of scales on a black horse, sent to unleash famine

Fourth – a rider named Death on an ashen horse, given authority to kill ¼ of mankind

Fifth – a clamor from the martyrs in Heaven that their blood would be avenged

Sixth – natural calamities, including a great earthquake and darkened sun and moon

Seventh – silence in Heaven, before a censer is thrown to Earth causing thunder, lightning, and an earthquake

Some have asserted that these judgments do not represent the wrath of God because that phrasing is not used until Revelation 16, when “seven bowls of the wrath of God” are poured out. But that is a distinction without a difference. The instigator who authorizes and sets the parameters of the Seal Judgments is Jesus Christ. The first horseman is given a crown, the second is given a sword, and the fourth is given authority to kill with the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. (I’m reminded of the Disciples’ astonishment at realizing, “even the winds and the sea obey Him” [Matthew 8:27]—let alone the demonic realm).

By the breaking of the sixth seal, billions will be dead (based on the current world population). Yet the rebellion continues unabated as “kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man” will hide in caves and among the rocks of the mountains (Revelation 6:15). Their testimony, captured in verses 16 and 17, confirms our understanding that the wrath they are experiencing is from God. They will cry out, “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?”

That rhetorical question would suggest that none can stand, but chapter 7 of Revelation tells us otherwise. As I have already explained, John describes an angel “having the seal of the living God” issuing restraining orders to four other angelic beings standing at the four corners of the Earth. Although they had been authorized to harm the Earth and the sea, they are told to wait until the bondservants of God are sealed.

Then, beginning in verse 9, John records that after these things he saw “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” This takes us back to another rhetorical question posed by King David: “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in His Holy place?” (Psalm 24:3).

David answers his own question: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Psalm 24:4-5).

David rightfully understood that salvation comes only from God, who washes His own white as snow, cleansing them of all unrighteousness and crediting them with the blessing of righteousness.

Alternatively, those who endure the wrath of God during the Tribulation—beginning with the Seal Judgments—are being punished because they did not obey the Son by believing in Him, but chose to abide under that righteous, terrible, justified wrath. And although those who pass from this life before the Tribulation may escape the various judgments during those seven years, they too will be judged before the Great White Throne and be condemned to everlasting suffering apart from God.

In that regard, the horrors of the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl Judgments will pale in comparison to the unending terror that awaits those who have rejected the seal of God.

Choose Now—Before It’s Too Late!

Even the alarming words I’ve chosen cannot adequately describe the Seal Judgments and the everlasting suffering that awaits those who reject Christ. As we’ve said many times, it is a fate we would not wish on our worst enemy—because God loved those lost souls enough to send His own Son on their behalf. (Contrast that compassionate love with the attitude of Pope Gregory I, who said Christians should eagerly anticipate looking down from Heaven across the abyss to “enjoy the agonies of their brethren in eternal fire.”)

What a contemptible contrast to the love of God, who said, “As I live! I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!” (Ezekiel 33:11). Even now, while Christ tarries, the Lord is demonstrating His merciful patience because He does not wish “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

My prayer is that the warning within this article will pierce the heart of any reader who is not yet sealed by God. While you have breath, it is still not too late to turn to Christ and be saved. If you reject Him, instead of being sealed by Him you will endure His wrath as He unleashes the Seal Judgments.

Choose this day—and please, choose wisely.