Disciples Digital Library

Paul responded to concerns about the dead in Christ by pointing to the resurrection that will occur when Jesus arrives from Heaven .  In his first Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul reassured the congregation concerning the participation of saints who die before the ‘ Parousia ’ in the glories of that day. According to him,  BOTH  dead and living saints will assemble and “ meet ” the Lord as he descends from Heaven. Thereafter, they will be with Jesus “ forevermore .” He wrote these words in response to believers who were sorrowing over the deaths of fellow saints.

If the Thessalonians continue to emulate the apostolic example, they will receive the Crown of Glory when Jesus arrives from Heaven . Opposition from the local synagogue had compelled Paul to leave Thessalonica prematurely. Though initially, some members of that group had welcomed his message, they turned against him once the Gentiles began to embrace the Gospel. Even after he left the city, some synagogue leaders pursued Paul when he preached the Gospel elsewhere in Macedonia.

At the end of the seventh seal, seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets, unleashing judgment on the “inhabitants of the earth”  – Revelation 8:1-6.  The saints have been “ sealed ,” washed “ in the blood of the Lamb ,” and brought safely through the “ great tribulation .” The full complement of “ witnesses ” has been assembled, and the time has arrived for judgment to be rendered against the “ inhabitants of the earth ” that persecuted the martyrs. Their plea for “ vengeance ” is about to be answered.

John next sees an innumerable multitude of men from every nation standing before the Lamb and the Throne  – Revelation 7:9-12.  The saints are “ sealed ” before the unleashing of the “ four winds of the earth ,” then they are assembled for the sojourn to the Promised Land and John “ hears ” their “ number ,” 144,000 “ males ” from the “ twelve tribes of Israel .” Next, he “ sees ” the assembly of the saints as it arrives at its destination, a multitude so vast that “ no man could number them .”

The sixth seal ushers in the Day of the Lord, the time of wrath upon the inhabitants of the earth and all the Lamb’s enemies  –  Revelation 6:12-17 .  The opening of the sixth seal causes celestial and terrestrial trauma as the “ day of wrath ” dawns. It is nothing less than the “ great day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb .” Men of every rank panic in terror, but their every attempt to hide from the impending “ wrath ” is in vain. There is no escape, for no one can “ stand ” before the “ Lamb and the throne. ”

The opening of the Fifth Seal revealed the souls of men kept “ underneath ” the Altar, saints who had been slain for their “ Testimony .” They pleaded with God for their vindication and for judgment on the “ Inhabitants of the Earth ” who had persecuted them. They were told to wait for Him to answer their plea until the full “ number ” of their “ fellow servants ” who were going to be slain “ just as they were ” was added to their company.

In many interpretations, the forces unleashed by the breaking of the “ Seven Seals ” are linked to the horrific calamities that unfold on the Earth prior to the coming of Jesus at the end of the age, especially so when the first four seals are opened. Apparently, His patience with humanity exhausted, God pours out plagues on the world in a last-ditch effort to bring men to their knees in repentance.

After Jesus finished dictating his letters to the seven “ Assemblies of Asia ,” John saw an “ open door in Heaven ,” and he heard the voice from his first vision summon him to “ come up here .” He then found himself standing before the “Throne sitting in Heaven.” Does this image symbolize the physical removal of the Church from the Earth before the visions of chapters 5 through 22, the so-called ‘Rapture’?

The conspiracy by the Earth’s kings to unseat God’s Son is applied by the New Testament to the plot to kill Jesus . The  Second Psalm  is a key messianic passage applied to Jesus several times in the New Testament. But precisely when were its predictions fulfilled, and is the Messiah reigning now on David’s Throne? Or is the world still waiting for his accession to God’s Throne at a future date? What about the “ revolt ” of nations and kings against Yahweh’s “anointed one”? Is this a prediction of a future conflict between Jesus and the government of the Earth - (Psalm 2:1-6)?

SYNOPSIS: The central figure of the book is the freshly slain Lamb who alone has the authority to open the Sealed Scroll, beginning with its seven seals - Revelation 4:1-5:14.  The scene in chapters 4 and 5 is the theological center of the book of Revelation and sets the stage for all that follows. Through a paradoxical victory, the sacrificial Lamb is crowned sovereign over the Cosmos.

In the third chapter of  Revelation , Jesus promises to “ keep ” overcoming saints in the city of Philadelphia “ from the hour of trial ” that is coming upon the “ whole habitable the earth .” A comparison with similar passages demonstrates that this ominous “ hour ” is nothing less than the time of judgment and condemnation for all those whose names “ are not written in the Lamb’s book of life ” when they will experience the “ second death ” in the “ Lake of Fire .”

Deceivers within the seven congregations are encouraging disciples of Jesus to compromise with the idolatrous rites of pagan society .  One of the chief concerns in the seven letters is with deceivers working in the congregations. While several groups and one individual are named, the net effect of their efforts is to cause believers to “ commit fornication and eat food offered to idols .” In short, to induce idolatry and accommodation to the surrounding pagan society.