Hey Nehemiah6 if my memory is correct , upon last year or perhaps the year prior , we had a discussion on this very topic , but let us all examine this for a moment .
Something to ponder on , and study carefully in the sixth seal , this takes a mind that has wisdom ...
Revelation 6:11
And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
This was not written only to Jewish Believers but also includes the Gentiles Believers , for when the Roman Cesar persecuted the church , afterwards the corrupted Roman Church persecuted the saints of God. That is why we have a huge , index of history that is clearly presented to the church today , to see where we are in prophesy ...
I would like to know Nehemiah6 if possible , which seal are we in , according to what you have learned ...
Shalom
Greetings Vic1980!
Forgive me for jumping in here Vic and Nehemiah, but I'm sure that your answer will be along the same lines.
The answer to your question would be that, none of the seals have yet been opened. In Rev.1:19, John is told to write:
What you have seen = Everything listed from Rev.1:1 thru 1:19
What is now = Represented by the letters to the seven churches and represents the entire church period
What will take place later = What takes place after the "what is now," i.e. after the church period
The "what is now," that is, the end of the church period is completed in Rev.4:1 when John hears that voice (Jesus) that sounds like a trumpet saying, "come up here and I will show you what must take place after this," which is synonymous with the "what must take place later." Rev.4:1 is a prophetic allusion to when the church is caught up.
In addition, the first seal rider on the white horse represents the revealing of the antichrist. The first seal rider on the white horse is a counterfeit of the rider on the white horse in Rev.19:11-13 who is the Lord. Since we have not yet seen the revealing of the antichrist, then the first seal could not have possibly been opened yet. And since the seals, trumpets and bowls take place in chronological order, then neither could any of the other seals have been opened.
The events of wrath via the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments, will be like nothing that has ever taken place on the earth. To be clear, they will not be passive events which will come and go with the world continuing on as usual, but will have the worlds complete attention, bringing about the end of the age. For by the time they have been completed, the majority of the earths population will have been decimated and all human government dismantled, which will all take place in a seven year period. There are only two places that give fatality percentages, one being at the 4th seal and the other at the 6th trumpet, which is a fourth and a third respectively. That would be well over half the earths population with just those two and that is not including the fatalities resulting from trumpets 1, 2 and 3, nor from the seven bowl judgments. Jesus described the outcome of God's wrath saying that If those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved, i.e. no one on earth would be left alive.
Another reason that we cannot be in the seals, is because they are apart of God's coming wrath. Since Jesus already experienced God's wrath on behalf of every believer, then God's wrath no longer rests upon us and the Lord will appear and gather all believers from the earth prior to that first seal being opened (see Rom.5:9, 1 Thess.1:10, 5:9 and Rev.3:10)
Regarding that time of Wrath, Dan.2:31-45 describes it figuratively using Nebuchadnezzar's statue, which represents the previous Gentile kingdoms, with that future last ten-toed kingdom made of partly iron and baked clay. The Rock cut of the mountain without human hands (Jesus) falls on the feet of the statue (seals, trumpets and bowls) and smashes it to pieces like chaff on a threshing floor and blown away
without leaving a trace. Then the Rock (Jesus) becomes a huge mountain (kingdom) and fills the entire earth. This is referring to Jesus thousand year reign on this present earth.
The seals, trumpets and bowl judgments will take place as a woman having birth pains, which start off far apart and get closer together and more intense as they go.
The fact that the church has not yet been removed from the earth, demonstrates that the first seal has not yet been opened.
