The opening of the seventh seal in the book of Revelation marks the beginning of the end. God’s seven-year plan to purge the earth and make “the kingdoms of this world, the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ” is fast coming to a close. The seventh seal is only the beginning, however, for as we shall see, the seventh seal is made up of seven intense judgments called the trumpet judgments and the seventh trumpet judgment is in turn comprised of seven even more intense plagues, called the vial judgments.

The book of Revelation can best be capsulized by saying it is about the redemption of the earth by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Its success hinges on Christ’s authority and power to take back possession of the earth from Satan. It is Jesus, and Jesus alone, who has paid the price to win it back. He paid it in His own blood when He gave Himself as a willing sacrifice and died on the cross for the sins of the world. He has defeated the enemy in the arena of the flesh. Now it is time for Him to come back to the scene of His victory, just as He promised He would, and take control of the “purchased possession”.

Revelation is also about the fulfillment of God’s promises to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God promised them that their seed would possess the land and that one of their line of descendants would sit on the throne of Israel forever. Revelation is not only about the salvation of the Church, but it is about the salvation of the Jewish nation. The process is one of burning and purging. The judgment is leveled on the earth to sort things out. The wheat is being sorted from the chaff, the sheep are being separated from the goats, the dross is being skimmed from the pure (Isa. 2:19,13:6; Zeph. 1:14; Ps. 76:7).  That which can be saved is being redeemed and separated from that which cannot be salvaged and must be discarded. All the things that the Lord has promised through His Word and by His servants, the prophets, will come to pass. All the false promises of man, instigated by Satan, will come to naught.

Revelation is also about the Tribulation. As Daniel puts it, this is the 70th, the final week of God’s plan to purge and restore the earth. Daniel 9:24-27 God told the world the six basic things that would be concluded by the end of the seven-year Tribulation. It says, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, (1) to finish the transgression, and (2) to make an end of sins, and (3) to make reconciliation for iniquity, and (4) to bring in everlasting righteousness, and (5) to seal up the vision and prophecy, and (6) to anoint the most Holy.”  The six things are simple and yet wonderfully inspiring because they are the fundamentals of redemption.

   1. Finish the transgression.

   2. Put an end to sins.

   3. Make reconciliation for iniquity.

   4. Bring in everlasting righteousness.

   5. Seal up the vision and prophecy.

   6. And anoint the Most Holy.

Wow!!! What a promise! What an end! What dynamite! What hope we are given! What vision of the future! This should be enough to cause all Christians who are tempted to put their trust in political force or social reform to turn to God’s Word and cling to it like a life jacket in the middle of a dark and tossing sea. Christians are not commissioned by God to forge out a decent and sanitary world, free of wickedness and perversion, one swept clean for Christ, so He can return to a righteous earth with a smile on His face. On the contrary, we are told He will come back to a filthy and sinful world. We are to preach the gospel and tell people to come out and be separate from the world of idolatry and sin. When the time has come, Christ will storm the earth with a sword in His mouth and a rod of iron in His hand and completely judge the nations. Daniel shows us that the seven-year process of judgment will be anything but clean and tidy. Revelation shows us that the seven years just prior to Christ’s return will be violent and bitter. Christians ought to repent of their efforts to bathe the earth in religious and moral antiseptic, hoping to make it a pure and clean place for Christ’s approval. The concept of righteousness promoted by the religious right and other moral Christian organizations is often nothing more than pious pharisaical religion, vain and alienated from God’s Word of truth. They would do better to review their doctrines and works to see if they line up truly with the Word of God, lest they be found to be working at cross purposes to God. Time spent on preaching the salvation message and the truth about the Rapture and the coming of the Antichrist and his kingdom would be time well spent, instead of trying to convert governments and bring in everlasting righteousness before its time. The earth will not be made into a decent place to live because of man’s efforts, including Church efforts. The Church’s mission is to testify to Christ’s love so that the individual soul may be snatched from the cargo-hold of Hell. Man will not be able to legislate righteousness. Sin, transgression and iniquity will be put to a fiery end by the harsh business of purging the earth.

A Fiery Judgment That Cannot Be Averted

Today, God begs and pleads with each individual lost soul. Soon His patience will be gone and He will send a fiery judgment to punish and destroy the transgression of man. The study of Revelation shows that God’s judgment is coming, and as Christians, we ought to realize: what is written is written in stone, it cannot be changed. God’s fire from heaven and his judgments will bring about the six fundamental prophecies promised in Daniel. The transgression of mankind, the usurping of God’s authority and rejection of His prescribed salvation will be summarily dealt with during the seven years of the Tribulation. The sin of rejecting God’s salvation (by doing it man’s way, or any other way for that matter) will no longer be tolerated. In the end God will require the blood of those who have shed the blood of innocent people.

Some of those who have persecuted and murdered the martyrs will actually live to see the world’s water supply turned to blood during the last horrifying days of the Tribulation. In response an angel in heaven says, “Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” Rev. 16:6 The martyrs of God and the Church of Christ will be avenged and vindicated Rev. 3:9. The government, headed by Jesus and administered by the saints, will be just and fair and merciful. The earth, which now cries out against the bloodshed of the innocent, will no longer cry to God for justice, because justice will be meted out. The righteous indignation and wrath of God will be quenched. All things that are written shall be fulfilled and the vision and prophecy of Daniel, Revelation, the Psalms, Jesus’s words, and all the prophets will be sealed up and concluded. (Rev. 10:7) This is the promise of Daniel fulfilled in Revelation. Nothing will be left undone concerning the promise of God’s plan of redemption. It will happen just as He said it would. Not one jot or tittle, as Jesus put it, will be left out from what God has prescribed will happen.

Then everlasting righteousness will be brought in and the “Most Holy” anointed. Jesus will be crowned King of kings in Jerusalem. The “Author and Finisher of our faith” will bring in everlasting righteousness. Every man and woman, every child and servant, every person on earth will get a fair shake from government. Mercy will emanate from the throne. Wisdom, and not hypocrisy; faithfulness, and not corruption; service, and not bribery will forever be the basis of Christ’s government.

Revelation revolves around these wonderful promises. We study it to understand God’s promise to us so we can fit, by faith, into His plan. We study it so we can reject our own personal notions and presumptions about what is fair and loving, or what we think God’s plan ought to be. We study God’s word in Revelation so we can flee vain hopes and dead religious works so we can “get with the program”.

Taken from the book Revelation Pure & Simple by Terry Myers Smith.