The 7 Seal Judgments

hese next 3 articles are going to be extremely hard hitting. I am not going to pull any punches on what will be discussed in these articles. These 3 articles will be on the judgments and wrath of God hitting this earth full force during the 7 year Tribulation - which will be the last 7 years of the world.

Many Christians are afraid to read this part of Book of Revelation because it is just too horrible to think about and contemplate on. However, God is specifically telling us what is going to happen with these judgments.

If God did not want us to know or have this information due to the intensity and severity of these judgments, then He would have never put it in the Bible. But since He did, this means He wants us to have all of this information for our own knowledge, and to also to be able to pass this knowledge onto other people if these events start to occur in our lifetime.

For those of you who have the stomach to press in on exactly what is going to happen with these specific judgments, I challenge you to just sit back, relax and use your imagination to fully visualize these events as they are being described in the following Scripture verses.

If you do this, you'll be able to grasp the intensity, severity and magnitude of these events. The world has never seen anything like this before - and the world will never see anything like this ever again!

Remember one last thing when you start reading on exactly what is going to occur with these judgments - these events will be occurring on a worldwide global scale. When using your imagination to visualize these events, imagine you are hovering above the earth, looking down and seeing these events occur on a worldwide global scale. Then you will be able to appreciate the magnitude and intensity of these events.

The Judgments and Wrath of God

There will 3 sets of judgments that will come upon the earth during the last 7 years. Some of these judgments will be allowed by God to occur. The rest will come directly from His hand. These 3 sets of judgments will occur in chronological and successive order as they are presented to you from the Bible. They are called:

1. The Seal Judgments (7)
2. The Trumpet Judgments (7)
3. The Bowl Judgments (7)

There are 7 judgments within each of the 3 specific set of judgments. If there is a Rapture, the Church should be off of the earth by the time these judgments start to occur. These judgments are targeted for the rebellious and nonbelievers - the hardened sinners.

When you read what is going to occur, the first question you will ask is why? Why is God going to go to such an extreme extent to allow and cause this type of massive destruction to hit our earth?

There are two main reasons as to why God is going to allow all of this to happen - and you need to get a strong, firm grip on each of these two reasons so that you can perfectly understand why God is going to allow and cause all of these extreme events to occur.

The two reasons are as follows:

1.  To try and get as many people saved as He possibly can before the end comes. Remember, the Rapture will probably have occurred before these events start to occur. This means that all of the real Christians will be gone. What will be left are the hardheads who either did not get it the first time around or who were too stubborn or too rebellious to get saved the first time around.

God, in His incredible loving mercy, is going to be coming after these people for a second time. However, in an effort to try and reach them with the seriousness and gravity of the situation, He will literally be throwing everything at them, including the "kitchen sink" in an effort to try and to let them know that He does exist and that He will calling them for the last and final time.

As you will see in some of these verses from Scripture, many of these people will still fail to repent and turn to God - even after the most serious of these judgments literally hit this earth with full force. After you read what is going to happen, you are going to be blown away that so many of these people will still fail to repent and turn to God after seeing and literally living through these massive onslaughts by God.

They will even know that it is God Himself doing all of this because these events will be so supernatural. But they will still continue to curse Him and refuse to break because of their hardened natures and sinful ways. Their eventual end, when it is all said and done, is that they will be thrown into what is called the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will live under severe torment for the rest of their eternal lives.

But as bad as this eventual end is going to be for these people, you have to understand that God the Father did everything He possibly could to try and get these people saved before the final judgment takes place where they are thrown into this horrible place of torment for the rest of their eternal lives. This is why these judgements will be so severe and so intense and will be occurring on a worldwide global scale.

God doesn't want or wish that anyone should perish into this horrible place of torment, but He cannot make or force people to accept Him and His gift of eternal salvation through His Son Jesus. However, He will be going to the most extreme lengths possible with these judgments to try and get some of these hardened and rebellious sinners to repent and turn to Him.

If you read about all of these judgments in this light, you'll be able to appreciate and understand why God will have to go to this kind of extreme length. When these judgments are over, and Jesus returns for the second time, there will be no second chance for these people. If they don't accept Jesus before He comes back, their final fate will be sealed for all of eternity in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.

2.  The second reason these judgments are going to be released by God is to punish and show His wrath to all the hardened and rebellious sinners, which will include the Antichrist, the False Prophet, Satan and all of his demons. You will not only have the Antichrist and Satan killing and persecuting others, but other people will be killing one another as well.

This will all be worse than the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many of the Christians who get saved during the Tribulation will be killed by the Antichrist. This one event alone will cause God to release His anger, wrath and vengeance with full force upon the rest of the unbelieving world. It will also serve as a warning and foreshadowing of what is about to come their way very shortly - eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.

In one of the actual seal judgments, there is a whole seal judgment just devoted to the Christians who are martyred during the Tribulation. They are crying out to God to extract vengeance on their behalf and He tells them to wait just a little while longer before He does so.

This is how wicked the world is going to become during this time. The persecution and bloodshed caused by the Antichrist, Satan and the rest of the unbelieving world will be so bad, that it will cause God to release with full force, the fury of His wrath upon all of these wicked people.

Again, if you can grasp how bad and how evil people are going to become during this horrific time, you can then fully understand and appreciate why God is going to release such severe judgments upon the earth during this time.

As intense and powerful as these judgments are going to be, the real sad part about all of this is that there will still be many of these people who will not turn to God. But at least we can all take with us in the next life that our God did everything He possibly could to try and get these people saved and pulled in.

But just as a certain amount of the angels have fallen, rebelled and turned away from their God, a certain amount of humans are going to do the exact same thing - and there is absolutely nothing that we or even God Himself can do about it because of the free will He has given to each and everyone of us. This is going to be the saddest part of human history after it is all said and done.

Now on to the 3 sets of judgments that will take place during the last 7 years on earth.

The Seven Seal Judgments

These first 7 judgments will more than likely occur during the first three and half years of the Tribulation. Here is a description of each of these judgments along with the Scripture verses from where they are coming from.

1. The First Seal

The first seal judgment is the releasing of the Antichrist upon our earth. The rider on the white horse is the Antichrist. You will notice that he is given a crown to wear. He is also riding a white horse. The color white stands for the fact that he will initially rise to power on peace and diplomacy.

People will think he will have the answers to all of the world's problems. He will appear to be a good guy. However the color of his horse is going to change in the second seal revealing his true nature.

Also notice this verse says that a crown was given to him. This means that God is allowing this man to come forth at this time to eventually rule most, if not all of the earth, for a specified period of time.

This man would not be able to come to this kind of power unless God Himself would allow it. Also notice how this verse ends. Even though he is riding on a white horse, his ultimate aim is to conquer and gain control of the entire world.

This verse then ends with the statement that he goes out to conquer. Once he is allowed to be released by God, this man will waste no time in gaining control of his 10 nation confederacy, which he will eventually rule from, along with the rest of the nations of the world. Here is the verse:

"Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer." (Revelation 6:1-2)

Notice that Jesus is the Lamb at the beginning of the verse. Jesus is the One who opens up the seal, which means that God is allowing this event to occur.

2. The Second Seal

The second seal is again with the Antichrist riding on it, but this time the color of his horse changes from white to fiery red! This means that the Antichrist starts to show the rest of the world his true beastlike-warlike nature. Again the key word to catch is the word "granted." It says in this verse that it was granted for this man to start to wage war and to take peace from the earth. Again, this will all be happening only with God allowing it too.

The last half of this verse tells you that this man will be allowed to take peace from the entire earth - not just from a few countries. When he starts to do this, this verse ends up saying that people will start killing one another. The last sentence of this verse says that the Antichrist is given a great sword, which means that he now can go out to start wars and the killing of many people and nations in order to get them to come under his rule.

"When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and see." And another horse, fiery red went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword." (Revelation 6:3-4)

Again, notice Jesus is the One who opens this seal allowing these events to occur.

3. The Third Seal

Again, Jesus is the One who opens this next seal. In this seal, the horse of the Antichrist will now change from fiery red to black. As a result of the wars and the killing that starts to occur when the second seal is opened up, the color black represents the results of what wars start - and that is famine, disease and food shortages.

In this verse, it says that people will work all day long in order to get just enough food to get them through for the day. It says a "quart of wheat for a denarious." A denarious was one days wages back in the Bible days. A quart of wheat was just enough food to get by with.

It also says that the oil and wine are not to be harmed, which means the rich and the affluent will still have their rich lifestyles, while many other people and nations will go under this type of tyranny where they will basically be living under slave labor conditions. Imagine all of this with our wealthy lifestyles in our country.

This verse also says that the rider on the black horse, who is the Antichrist, has a pair of scales in his hand. I believe these scales show that the Antichrist has the power and authority to tip the scales in his favor. He will have the power to arrange for many countries to be living under these slave labor conditions where they will have to work all day long just to be able to buy enough food to barely live on.

Bottom line - living conditions will become horrible and deplorable for many people throughout the world once the Antichrist is able to adjust the scales to make all of this happen. Here is the verse:

"When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and 3 quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine." (Revelation 6:5-6)

3 quarts of barley are also considered just enough food to get by on.

4. The Fourth Seal

In this next seal judgment, things start to go from bad to worse. The color of the horse now changes to a pale color. The pale color stands for death!

I believe this is still the horse of the Antichrist. This verse then goes on to state that power is given to him to kill a fourth of the earth's population by sword, hunger, death and by the beasts of the earth.

I repeat, one fourth of all the people living at this time are going to be killed by one of the 4 ways mentioned above. The Antichrist will be the one responsible for arranging and setting up these events to occur in order for this many people to be killed.

Again, notice that this power is given to him. This means that God is allowing these turn of events to occur through this unholy man. This verse also says that Hades follows death. This will be another whole article. However, long story short, Hades (hell) is the place where nonbelievers go when they die.

Nonbelievers do not go to the Lake of Fire and Brimstone until after the 1000 year Millennium Kingdom has passed. Hades (Hell) is their temporary place of torment until that event happens. With Hades following after Death in this verse, it seems to be implying that the people being killed are nonbelievers, not Christians.

Many of the Christians that get saved after the Rapture are going to be martyred, but God seems to be keeping their deaths separate from the deaths talked about in this seal judgment.

So if you put these two together, you will have most of the Christians who are saved after the Rapture getting killed by the Antichrist, along with one fourth of the rest of the nonbelievers also getting killed due to the wars and bloodshed that will be caused by this man and some of the other kings of the earth.

This will be a mass killing of humans on a scale that the world has never seen before. This will be a world holocaust, not just a Christian-Jewish holocaust.

Here is the verse:

"When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth." (Revelation 6:7-8)

I believe the beasts of the earth are other kings and rulers who will be joining forces with the Antichrist in setting up this mass slaughter of humans.

5. The Fifth Seal

Now this next seal judgment is different than the first four. With Christians now under heavy persecution, along with one fourth of the nonbelievers, this seal judgment deals with the cries of the martyrs who are now living in heaven with God.

They are literally crying out to God asking Him when He is going to stop all of this persecution and bloodshed and avenge them for being killed in this manner. God tells them to wait just a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants still on earth are killed and martyred as they were.

From this verse, you can tell that these days are literally numbered by God, which we already know from previous verses. We know that once the 7 year Tribulation starts, it will run for a full 7 years.

This verse also tells us that even though the martyrs are crying out in heaven for God to take some kind of action, God is not going to move until these events run their course by the exact number of days as prophesied in Scripture. For God to allow this event with the martyrs crying out in heaven for Him to do something to act as one of the actual seal judgments - this shows us how bad this persecution is going to be on the earth.

This verse may also be implying that we, who may already be in heaven from the Rapture, may be allowed to watch all these events unfold from heaven. I have always believed that this was a possibility, since I feel the last 7 years on earth will be a major history lesson that God will never want us to forget.

I believe that God wants to show all of us what will happen to our earth once He pulls back His restraining hand and allows Satan and one evil man, the Antichrist, to wreak as much havoc and destruction as they possibly can get away with. With the main body of believers having already been raptured before all of these events start to occur, God is going to show all of us what will happen to our world when He is not a part of our lives and a part of our world.

All of the atheists and nonbelievers who are living during this time are going to wish they were never born after they see what will be coming their way once God pulls His Church off of the earth. Atheists and the rest of the unbelieving world are going to find out the hard way that man does not have all of the answers to solve all the world's problems - only God does. And if you take God out of the equation, then you will end up with maximum death as will be shown in these last 7 years.

Here is the verse:

"When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

And a white robe was give to each of them; And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed." (Revelation 6:9-11)

6. The Sixth Seal

Now in this seal judgment God starts to take direct action Himself! With all of the killing that is starting to occur in the above events, God shoots a heavy torpedo at the earth. God causes a great and massive earthquake to strike the earth. This earthquake is so heavy, that every mountain and every island is moved out of its place!

This verse says that when the kings of the earth see this event unfold, they will know that it is God because of the intensity and magnitude of it. This verse says that all of the rich men, great men, the mighty men, the commanders-in-chief and all the kings of the earth will initially hide themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains fearing that God will be coming after them next.

They will know that God has just released His furious wrath against them for all of their atrocities and evil deeds. This will be a warning shot across the bowels of their deck in that their days are numbered, and that God will be coming after them very shortly to avenge the deaths of all Christians and all Jews who have been martyred during this time.

And as you will see in some of the other judgments to follow, these people still will not repent and turn to God. They will still continue to hold onto their evil ways and curse God. Unbelievable stupidity, pride and arrogance! And eventually that pride and arrogance is going to get them thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will suffer eternal torment for the rest of their eternal lives.

But we will all be able to look back on all of these events and realize that our God did everything He possibly could to try and get these people to repent and turn to Him. This great earthquake is the start of it. Here is the verse:

"I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountain and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:12-17)

Also notice in addition to this great earthquake, that the sun will turn black and the moon will look like blood. It also says that stars will fall to the earth. This could be possible meteor activity. But with God turning the sun black and the moon into blood, He is making a very powerful statement to the rest of the world.

He is showing His wrath by the sun turning black and He is showing, by the blood on the moon, that He will be extracting His vengeance upon all of these evil people shortly due to all of their atrocities they have just committed - especially against His own people.

Talk about a warning shot! God is mad and these evil people's days are numbered! When Jesus comes back for the second time in the battle of Armageddon, God will be spilling their blood literally.

I've already given a physical description of what will happen in my first end time article of this series. The Bible says that Jesus will dissolve their flesh while they stand on their feet, dissolve their eyes right out of their sockets and dissolve their tongues right out of their mouths.

As brutal as this punishment might sound, you can begin to understand God's wrath and anger against these people due to all of the bloodshed and horror that they have caused as described in the above seal judgments. These people will deserve the full punishment and full wrath of God for their heinous and evil acts.

God the Father is a God of maximum intensity. The Bible says that He is slow to anger. But the evil of the people in this day will cause Him to release His anger and wrath in a way that the world has never seen before and will never see again. I believe that the wrath He will manifest in this day will be greater than the wrath He manifested in the flood of Noah or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

For God to get this mad shows you how evil people will become during this time. Thank God we will never see another day or time like this ever again.

7. The Seventh Seal

This next and final seal judgment is another move from God. It is a prelude that will lead up to the next series of judgments called the Trumpet Judgments.

In this chilling verse, it says that there was total silence in heaven for a half an hour. This is the quiet before the next round of storm activity - just like the quiet that sometimes occurs before a storm or tornado.

The verse ends with an angel throwing what is called a censer, which is filled with fire, to the earth. When he does this, the earth is hit by thunderings, lightnings and another earthquake!

There are now 7 angels who are getting ready to sound what will be called the 7 Trumpet Judgments. And wait until you see what God is going to do in this next series of judgments.

Here is the verse:

"When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." (Revelation 8:1-6)

This last and final seal judgment is an introduction to what is getting ready to occur in the next series of judgments. What God did in the sixth seal judgment was just a warm-up compared to what He is getting ready to do in the next series of judgments called the 7 Trumpet Judgments.

God is getting ready to release full heavy torpedo action against all of these evil people, and still many of these people are not going to break and repent.

If you'll also notice in the last seal judgment, the angel is offering all of the prayers of the saints to God. I believe the prayers this angel is offering to God are the prayers from His people to avenge their deaths.

Now God has heard their prayers - and He is now going to start to take heavy action against the rest of the unbelieving and evil world. The Bible says that "vengeance belongs to the Lord." Now we will all get to see the vengeance and wrath of God released full force against these evil people.

Go to the next article titled "The 7 Trumpet Judgments" to read about what is going to happen in this next set of 7 judgments.

 

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Michael Bradley
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Scripture taken from New King James Version.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005-2008 by Michael Bradley.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.