One day, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray (Luke 9:28–36). There He was transfigured, and His divine glory revealed. Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus about what would soon happen to Him in Jerusalem. An awed and nervous Peter wanted to put up three shelters, one for each of them.

This is one reason why some believe that the “two witnesses” in today’s reading are Moses and Elijah (vv. 3–6). The text doesn’t say so, but it does assign these two men powers notably similar to those wielded by Moses and Elijah. For example, they can turn water to blood (like Moses) and stop it from raining (like Elijah). They wear sackcloth, signifying mourning, and call people to repentance. Their coming had been prophesied by Zechariah (Zech. 4). Amazingly, this late in the game, God is still making sure the gospel is proclaimed, and salvation is offered! The two witnesses are divinely empowered and protected to do so until their work is done.

When that time comes, the beast from the Abyss attacks and kills them (vv. 7–13). The world celebrates their death and gives gifts as if it’s a holiday while the bodies of the two witnesses lie unburied. Why? Unrepentant people had been “tormented” by the witnesses’ message. Miraculously, after three-and-a-half days the Spirit raises them to life, showing that the “breath of life” is entirely God’s to control. His enemies are understandably terrified, especially when the two witnesses ascend to heaven (like Christ), and an earthquake hits. “They gave glory to the God of heaven” even though their hearts remained hard. No believer dies until their work is done. Believers facing persecution and martyrdom can take heart from this end times narrative!

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So many wrong predictions have been made about Christ’s Second Coming that there is a Wikipedia page devoted to the topic. Hippolytus of Rome, for example, predicted that Christ would return in AD 500. More recently, a cult leader predicted He would come back on Pentecost in 2019. They are only two examples of many who have been proven wrong!

Jesus said that only God the Father knows the day or the hour (Matt. 24:36). Just as there was an interlude before the seventh seal, so now there is an interlude before the seventh trumpet. A “mighty angel” appears, straddling land and sea and holding a “little scroll” (vv. 1–4). He’s met by “seven thunders,” but John is forbidden to write down what they said. What they said, and even why it was hidden, remains a mystery. No one should ever be able to think that they have God’s plans all figured out!

The angel raises his right hand—just as we do in a modern court when promising to tell the truth—and swears by the Creator that there will be no more delay (vv. 5–6). “The mystery of God will be accomplished” (v. 7). Our redemption will soon be completed. The end of history is nearly here. All prophecies are about to be fulfilled. This oath would have been a tremendous encouragement to John’s original readers.

John is told to go and take the “little scroll” from the angel’s hand (vv. 8–11). He eats it, and as he was told, it tastes sweet, though it sours in his stomach. Ezekiel had had a similar experience (Ezek. 3:1–4). This means that John’s vision is not yet over. He must continue to watch and write down the end times prophecies he sees.

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We’ve all experienced times in our lives we might label as a crisis, either personal or in our community, our nation, or even the world. The word permacrisis is defined as “an extended period of instability and insecurity, especially one resulting from a series of catastrophic events.”

At this point in Revelation, we see what qualifies as a “permacrisis.” The second round of judgments in Revelation 8 is marked by an increase in their severity. As with the seal judgments, the first six trumpets are sounded, followed by an interlude. The first trumpet leads to natural destruction (8:7). It becomes increasingly difficult to understand what is happening. Is it a volcano erupting? Or is it a worldwide epidemic? Is an asteroid falling into the sea? Or are the events purely symbolic? In any case, the consequences are horrifying.

The second trumpet brings oceanic destruction, including both sea creatures and ships (8:8–9). The third trumpet affects water, but this time, freshwater as a blazing star falls on rivers and springs and turns them bitter (8:10–11). With the fourth trumpet, the scope of disaster becomes astronomical, as the sun, moon, and stars are “struck” (8:12).

The fifth trumpet introduces demonic affliction (9:1–11). Satan or perhaps another powerful demon is allowed to open the “Abyss” and loose a swarm of “locusts.” These demons are given the power to torture unbelievers with painful bites. The sixth trumpet unleashes large-scale death in war (9:13–19). Natural, human, and supernatural causes blend in the apocalyptic imagery. The people experiencing these judgments do not repent but actively pursue idolatry, sexual immorality, and other sins (9:20–21).

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William Blake, an English poet and artist, drew a well-known picture titled “Angel of the Revelation.” In it, a tall, powerful angelic being towers over John, who is recording his apocalyptic vision. The angel holds a book in one hand and is making a commanding gesture with the other. His feet are burning (like Christ’s in Revelation 1). This is how Blake imagined the significant role that angels play throughout the book (especially chapter 10).

In chapter 8 of Revelation, the seventh seal is opened and there is a half-hour of silence in heaven (v. 1). What is the purpose of this? One reason is preparation. After the seven seal judgments, there will be a second round of seven trumpet judgments (v. 2). Some see the silence as dramatic, increasing the suspense and anticipation. The silence also likely signifies the momentousness of what is about to occur. Finally, silence in the Bible also often indicates another form of respect and worship. For example: “Let all the earth be silent before him [God]” (Hab. 2:20). “Be silent . . . the day of the LORD is near” (Zeph. 1:7).

Next, an angel takes a golden censer or firepan containing incense, representing “the prayers of God’s people,” and offers these prayers as worship to the Lord (vv. 3–5; compare Ex. 30:1–10). Then he fills that same censer with fire from the altar and hurls it upon the earth. The resulting “peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake” symbolize God’s wrath and judgment. This is a kind of poetic justice: The same golden censer that held the prayers of the saints also delivers justice from God’s throne.

The seventh seal, then, mainly introduces the next sequence of seven judgments and reminds us of the book’s central themes of worship and justice.

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What is the “seal” in today’s reading? While we don’t know exactly what, we do know why. In John’s day, a seal represented authority, protection, and ownership. Someone who carried a seal acted with the authority and under the protection of someone greater. The seal was a guarantee that the “someone greater” stood behind the person with the seal.

At this point in the narrative, the opening of the seven seals on the scroll of judgment is paused. Four angels, standing at the four corners of the earth, who have been given power to harm land and sea and nature (represented by trees), are told to stop temporarily (vv. 1–3).

The purpose of the pause is to “seal” or choose and commission 144,000 evangelists from Israel, including 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes (vv. 4–8). These numbers might be symbolic, but the reference is to ethnic Israel. This is one reason why the restoration of Israel as a nation in 1948 was so significant.

Next, John sees “a great multitude… wearing white robes” and holding palm branches. They lead heaven in praise, proclaiming, “Salvation belongs to our God.” The angels, 24 elders, and four living creatures join in, falling on their faces to worship (vv. 9–12).

But who are they? An elder explains, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation” (vv. 13–14). Some see them as believers who trusted Christ during the Tribulation and were martyred. Given the vast size of the multitude, though, they might be the church, raptured out before the Tribulation began. Either way, everything that is said about them is true of redeemed people in general, including the beautiful blessings of verses 15–17 (see also Isa. 25:8; 49:10). These believers contrast vividly with the sinners fleeing God’s wrath in the previous chapter (Rev. 6:15–17).

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In 2004, a devastating tsunami swept across the Indian Ocean at the speed of a jet airplane. A train in Sri Lanka was driven off the tracks. A boat off the shore of Thailand was thrown more than a mile inland. Triggered by a magnitude-9.1 earthquake, the tsunami killed nearly 250,000 people.

Natural disasters give us an idea of the catastrophic scenes recorded by John in his vision. In today’s chapter, the Tribulation begins as six of the seven seals are opened. The first four seals reveal the “four horsemen of the apocalypse”—conquest, war, famine or economic disaster, and Death (Zech. 6:1–7). First is a white horse with a rider who is given a bow for conquest (vv. 1–2). Next is a red horse with a rider who is given a sword to take peace from the earth (vv. 3–4). Next is a black horse with a rider who is given scales or balances, representing hunger and poverty (vv. 5–6). Finally, there is a pale horse whose rider is Death itself (vv. 7–8). The color “pale” is best thought of as the color of a corpse. Death is allowed to kill one-quarter of the world’s population.

When the fifth seal is opened, there is a pause in the action (vv. 9–11). Christian martyrs call for justice, lamenting, “How long?” They’re told to wait but assured that the time is drawing near. This scene no doubt provided encouragement to persecuted believers in John’s day and has done so throughout history.

Finally, the sixth seal is opened and, in the words of the Moody Bible Commentary, the world experiences “cosmic upheaval” (vv. 12–17). Though sinners recognize God’s wrath, they do not repent or seek His mercy, but instead foolishly try to hide or escape.

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Scripture often pictures God as our Shepherd (Psalm 23), including Jesus as our Good Shepherd (John 10). John the Baptist also called Him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This is probably a reference to the Passover lamb, which foreshadowed Christ (1 Cor. 5:7; Isa. 53:7).

These images are the biblical background for the Lamb in Revelation 5. Now that God’s throne room has been described in Revelation 4, the drama of the end times is set to begin. What will happen is written in a scroll with seven seals… but who is worthy to open this scroll (vv. 1–4)? As the tension rises, John weeps because apparently no one can be found.

Then one of the elders tells him that the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy (vv. 5–7). This and the Root of David are Messianic titles. John turns and unexpectedly sees “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne.” The seven horns symbolize strength, while the seven eyes symbolize knowledge and wisdom. He takes the scroll from the hand of God.

Three waves of praise follow. First, the four living creatures and the 24 elders play harps, holding golden bowls of incense that represent prayers, and sing of the Lamb’s worthiness, as He has accomplished God’s mission of redemption (vv. 8–10). Second, hosts of angels join in praising the Son’s worthiness to take the scroll and initiate God’s eschatological judgments (vv. 11–12). Third, “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” join in a thunderous and triumphant doxology for both Father and Son, with the four living creatures saying “Amen” (vv. 13–14; Phil. 2:9–11).

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Church tradition for various reasons has assigned four symbols to the four Gospels: Matthew is a man. Mark is a lion. Luke is an ox or calf. John is an eagle. Historically, these pictures are found in illuminated manuscripts, paintings, and church architecture details. Together all four are called the “tetramorph.”

Do these symbols sound familiar? They’re based on the four living creatures found in Revelation (vv. 5–8). These are likely angels, since similar living creatures are described in Ezekiel 1 and 10, and these are cherubim. In some ways, the descriptions also resemble the seraphim in Isaiah 6:2–3. Like those, the four living creatures here sing “Holy, holy, holy!” to the Lord.

Revelation 4–5 introduce and set the tone for the rest of the book. In chapter 4, John sees a vision of God on His heavenly throne (vv. 1–3, 5–6). In the throne room of heaven, the consummation of history is about to begin! Words aren’t enough, and John uses images of radiance, color, and precious jewels to depict God’s glory, and images of thunder, smoke, and lightning to convey His power and awesomeness. Many of these are references to Old Testament passages in which God appears, such as Exodus 19 and Ezekiel 1.

Around the throne, also on golden thrones, are 24 elders (v. 4). These are likely human beings. They’re dressed in white, signifying purity and righteousness. Some believe that the number 24 indicates twelve from the tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. Just as the four living creatures praise the One on the throne, so do the 24 elders (vv. 9–11). They lay their crowns before Him, giving Him all the glory. Their praise focuses on His worthiness to be worshiped as the Creator, a theme found in the Psalms (see Psalm 19).

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