Your claim depends who the scholars and the theologians are saying that we endure the seals. Not all pastors have the same view either. Often pastors repeat what the different scholars and theologians teach at the seminary they obtained their degrees. Not all scholars agree and not all theologians agree.
Disagreements exist over the date the book of Revelation was written. This puts scholars at variance with one another. Theologians rely upon scholars and they are at variance. Then there is the matter of hermeneutics—interpretation of Scripture.
The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. If anybody sees it as anything else, then they are disregarding the first statement that has been made. If anybody interprets this book without understanding why this book of prophecy is the revelation of Jesus Christ, then they are speaking not from the Spirit of God but from their own fantasy.
Those are strong words, but the truth is solid. The book of Revelation of Jesus Christ is also a prophecy. Now prophecies are not about past events, yet many people have a habit of quoting the book of Revelation to refer to past events. This automatically disqualifies them as speaking the truth. Since when has prophecy been about events in the past. I earned a doctorate; a past event—so what. Unless a person has understood the way to life is by growing in experiential truth, then the person is talking theory, just as the future is theoretical until proven.
Gamaliel taught Saul. Gamaliel was considered one of the greatest theologians the Jews ever had. Evidently, Gamaliel did not know the first truth about salvation or the Son of God. His star pupil was intent on killing those for whom the Son of God died. Doesn’t say much for Gamaliel and his theological understanding, or his intellectual prowess—yet people seem to marvel at this exalted rabbi, because he said that if God is in a thing we cannot stop it, but if he is not, the thing will fizzle out.
- The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near. (Revelation 1:1-3)
Many people think that because this is about what must soon take place, the book was written before the fall of Jerusalem. The word “soon” could not mean 2000 years or more, not even 200 years; it has to mean 20 years or less. On the surface this sounds reasonable.
"Take place soon" can refer to different time frames for different individuals, depending on their frame of reference. To a geriatric adult, "soon" may mean anytime up to five years away. A thirty year old may think "soon" could be one year. A child hears "soon" and is thinking in terms of five minutes. The Son of God could view "soon" as meaning 4000 years of our time. You may think not. People say 20 years is soon in respect to the date of the Revelation being given and the destruction of Jerusalem, yet 10 years is difficult to consider as coming soon.
In Deuteronomy, just as soon as the Israelites began to possess the Promised Land, they were told they would "soon" be utterly destroyed.
- I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land where unto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. (Deuteronomy 4:26)
Is this utter destruction a reference to the Assyrian invasion? Or the Babylonian invasion? Or AD 70, when Jerusalem was finally destroyed?
Whatever the case, in the above verse, "soon" appears to reference utter destruction that will occur sometime between 900 to 1600 years in the future, depending upon when you want to say that the prophecy was finally fulfilled.
Saying that the time is “near” presents us with much the same situation as we have discussed regarding “soon”. When God speaks of time, what is short to Him, can be very long to us. Our perspective is different to the Eternal One.
While the book of Revelation is a prophecy about what is to take place after it is published, it is also the Revelation of Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the book is a prophecy of how Lord Jesus is going to reveal Himself to the world from that date, until the day of the Great White Throne Judgment and the New Creation. Being prophecy, none of what is in Revelation could have already happened. More to the point, even it if concerned events that were happening at the time of the prophecy, these were to be ongoing events
- Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5)
- But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)
The Church Age began when the prophecy of a nation being born in one day was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, AD 31. This is a nation made up of living stones. A race of priests now form a nation of God’s own people. Through these people the revelation of Lord Jesus Christ is to be manifest in the world. If we recognize this, then we might be on the right track to realizing the truths of the book of Revelation, which have been hidden in symbolic form.
After having spent many years reading the beliefs of scholars and theologians in respect to their teachings from the Bible, I understand why the Church, which is meant to be victorious, is like a damp hessian sack attempting to smother the light of Christ. No wonder we read the words that Jesus Christ will spew a particular group of people out of His mouth, even though he stands at these people’s doors and knocks in the hope that they might recognize Him and desire to have fellowship with Him.
Just after prophesying about the lukewarm church that Jesus is going to spew out of His mouth, the prophet John is invited to Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this (Revelation 4:1). Now that is an interesting play on words. John is caught up to Heaven. He sees worship being offered to God. He sees the Lamb of God with the seven seals.
The seven seals are broken and we are given symbols that need interpreting. Yet instead of Scripture interpreting Scripture, all these scholars, theologians and pastors begin using their imagination as they detail what they think might happen, drawing on the guesses of others, to support whatever they want to believe; whatever seems the most plausible to them or whatever endears them to the ears of their hearers.
When Scripture is used to interpret Scripture, there is no need to draw on the guesses of other people. Just use the Bible. But unless you understand the progressive revelation of Lord Jesus Christ throughout the Old Testament, how are you going to interpret the symbols in the New Testament. I suppose you can use your imagination. The trouble with using imagination is this does not lead you to the truth.
What a genuine answer. Especially when you talk about the church, and Him spewing them out of his mouth. This is something, we as children of God, we have to be careful of. Out of the 7 churches, only one didn't mention him having something against them, which was the church in Philadelphia. The others he was there telling them to repent, and do better. I feel like you find this a lot in the world. That it's viral to study the Bible and know what it means to you, before you allow yourself to agree with others because they are supposed to know more.
