The Breaking Of The Seals -- Biblical Prophecy In Action

The government shutdown is frustrating and unnecessary. Yet, it continues because both sides blame the other side. Americans are also divided, although a majority blame the Tea Party, there is a substantial number who blame Democrats. Some blame the President. Others are saying this is just the political reality of our time. But this may not simply be a matter of politics. It may be a matter of biblical prophecy.

I saw that the lamb had torn open one of the seven seals and I heard one of the four alive things say with a voice that sounded like thunder, “Go!” And check it out! I saw a white horse. The rider of the horse has a bow and he was given a victory crown. Then he rode away, looking like a conqueror who was spoiling for a fight. 

This is a spirit of conquest. Nothing has defined the last decade or so better than the word "conquest." This image used to traditionally be interpreted as Civil Wars and Civil unrest. (Conservatives and Evangelicals like to interpret it as the antichrist, but there is nothing in the image to support that and it throws off the parallelism of the four horsemen). There have been waves of revolutions, civil uprisings, civil unrest, all over the world. The Arab Spring that is still moving throughout the Middle-East to the Shutdown of the American government. IT IS MORE THAN JUST CIVIL UPRISINGS, IT IS THE SPIRIT OF CONQUEST THAT MAKES DEBATE, CONVERSATION, COMPROMISE IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE NEED TO CONQUER THE OTHER SIDE. That is the time in which we live. The Tea Party does not want compromise, they want conquest. They want to destroy the President and blot out from the history books that he ever existed. Others want to blot out the Tea Party. This is the first horse and it has been riding for at least a decade.

When the Lamb tore open the second seal, I heard the second alive thing say, “Go!” Another horse, a fiery-red one, went out. The rider of that horse was given the power to take peace from the earth. He was also given a giant sword so that they will slaughter one another.

This has been traditionally interpreted as war. The United States has been involved in active warfare for over a decade. But even before Afghanistan and Iraq, there was Kosovo, Panama, The Gulf War, and other military operations that look and feel like war to those involved. While involved with Iraq and Afghanistan we were involved in Egypt and Libya, and there are those who want to send troops into Syria and Iran. Endless war has been triggered and more wars are occurring faster than we can finish old wars.

When the Lamb tore open the third seal, I heard the third alive thing say, “Go!” And check it out! I saw a black horse. The rider of that horse holds a scale in his hand. Then I heard something that sounded like a voice coming from the middle of the four alive things that said, “A day’s pay for a quart of wheat and a day’s pay for three quarts of barley! But don’t harm the olive oil and the wine!”

This has been traditionally interpreted as famine, but it is a famine that only affects basic foods, leaving luxuries untouched. The better interpretation, and the one that has been used by most scholars for the past decade or so is economic collapse. This image represents a situation in which people cannot afford the basic foods while luxurious foods are in abundance. All a person's wages go to buying enough food to eat that day. Yet there is plenty of food -- there is olive oil and wine -- but nobody can afford it. Since 2008 the world has been in recession. I was one of those who thought that the economic collapse of 2008 was this horseman, but I am not now seeing that it is the economic collapse of 2013 and beyond. 

The spirit of the first horseman (Conquest) is creating the situation that allows for the third horseman -- economic collapse. The shutdown is the first horseman riding. The shutdown going through the debt ceiling throwing America into default will usher in another worldwide recession or depression. What little gains were made the past few years will be undone and the economy will crumble to a point worse than 2008.

When the Lamb tore open the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth alive thing saying, “Go!” And check it out! I saw a pale-green horse. The rider of this horse is named Death and the grave follows behind him. He was given the authority to kill a quarter of the earth’s population by means of the sword, disease, famine, and the wild animals that live on earth.

This is an image of the total breakdown of the social order. It is common to focus on disease and interpret it as pestilence, but it is not just rampant disease, it is animals in the cities -- a biblical image for the absence of civilization. The economic collapse, coupled with endless war, and social unrest and the spirit of conquest is going to lead to the total collapse of the social order.

When the Lamb tore open the fifth seal, I saw the souls of those who were slaughtered because of the Word of God and because of the testimony they gave. They were beneath the altar. A loud voice cried out, “How long will it be, Holy and True Master? Why haven’t you yet judged those living on the earth and why haven’t you avenged our blood?” Then each one was given a white robe and they were told that they will rest a little while longer, until the predetermined number of their coworkers and fellow-believers, who are supposed to be killed like they were, is reached.

When society breaks down, people will look for those who can be blamed for it. I think it is fair to predict that those who have misused the name of Christ and who have claimed to be Christian while behaving and speaking in a manner that denies Christ will create the perfect scapegoat so that ALL Christians will be blamed. Those who are religious will be blamed for all the miseries because of those who used and misused religion to control others through fear and intimidation. This will usher in a period of martyrdom.

When the Lamb tore open the sixth seal, I saw that there was a massive earthquake. The sun became as dark as a black suit worn at a funeral. The whole moon turned the color of blood, and the stars of heaven fell upon the earth, just like a fig tree throws ripe figs to the ground when a strong wind shakes it. The sky came apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved from their places. The rulers of the earth, the movers and shakers, the military commanders, the rich and powerful, and every person, both slave and free, hid themselves in caves and among the rocks on the mountainsides. They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us! Hide us from the face of the one sitting on the throne, and from the Lamb’s anger because the great day of their anger has come! Who can stand it?”

And all this is only the beginning of things to come. The breaking of the seventh seal will lead to the blowing of seven trumpets of and then there will be seven bowls of judgment.

Sorry if it makes me sound like a religious fanatic or a nut -- I'm sure this update will be used against me when society breaks down and I will be seen as one of the people who caused it. Or I could be wrong about all of it. Either way, I'm cool with it however it goes.

Prophecy is not necessarily predicting the future. That is the common misconception. Past prophecies are often used to interpret present situations, but that does not mean that prophets in the past were necessarily writing to us about our time. They were merely commenting on their own time, and their own time happens to parallel our own time in significant ways. Even if this prophecy is not a blueprint for future events -- which it is perfectly valid to think that it is not -- it does provide a means for social commentary. That is what prophets were in the Bible and that is how their prophecies always remain relevant. It is people speaking on behalf of God who are looking at what society is and what it is supposed to be and commenting on it. The prophetic hope that God will restore society is also a threat to those who have distorted society. And it is not that God is mean, but that if I haven't cleaned my house for a long time, the act of cleaning it and putting it in order throws up dust and other factors that make cleaning uncomfortable, but the end result makes it worth the discomfort.