The TTUF STUDY on The REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST – Chapter SIX: Part Two

~ By James Fire

We will now pick up where we left off in Part One of Chapter Six. Thus far we covered the first two seals on this scroll that the Son took from the Father, this title deed of the Earth and its inhabitants which was purchased by the very blood of the LAMB of GOD (REV 5:9).

The rider on the white horse we saw as GOD’s judgment on a Christ-rejecting world by giving them what they want (JOHN 5:43): the one world leader conquering (subduing, from the Greek verb nikao) the nations, by ‘arrow-less’ achievement. A bit of interesting legend about Nimrod's arrow in a little bit . . . 

The rider on the red horse is a judgment from GOD in the way of war – and as we observed before, it’s not until man ceases in his war against His Maker – rejecting both Him and His Righteous Rule and obtains peace with GOD (ROM 5:1-2), that there will be peace on Earth (LUKE 2:14), but not until then!

So now we move on to the other two of these four horsemen (Incidentally, we see a similar vision of four horses, but here with chariots, given to Zechariah in ZECH 6; like in REVELATION, these are sent to the earth from the presence of the LORD, and it specifies that these are “spirits” that are sent with a mission from GOD, and He will even use evil spirits to accomplish His purposes (1 KINGS 22:21), just as He used Satan himself in regards to Job; JOB 1:6-12; 2:1-6):

We have the breaking of the Third Seal:

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Famine is often the consequence of war, particularly in ages past when preservation of food was limited because of lack of modern refrigeration techniques as well as the plunder by armies that raided towns to feed hungry soldiers.

Imagine war on a global scale so that “peace [is] taken from the Earth”! No doubt power disruptions and food supplies will contribute to massive shortages of food, to such a degree that a quart of wheat, a day’s worth of food for one person, will cost a full day’s wages!

Statistics from a Koinonia House article (link above) shows inflationary costs for food are as follows:

• In 1921 Poland, food prices doubled every 19 days.
• In 1923 Germany, they doubled every four days.
• In 1944 Greece, they doubled every four days.
• In 1946 Hungary, food prices doubled every 15 hours.

We’ve also seen government-engineered famines more recently:

• In 1982 Mexico, the inflation rate hit 10,000%, driving the price of food up 100 times in 12 months.
• In 1989 Argentina, the Peso was devalued three times, driving food prices up 3,079% in a single year.
• In 1994 Brazil, inflation raged at 2,075.8% per year, making food more than 20 times more expensive.
• In 1994 Yugoslavia, food prices doubled every 34 hours.
• And in 2008 Zimbabwe, they doubled every single day.

Much of what drives prices of goods up (inflation) is what is called a fiat currency, whose value is so elastic that by flooding the economic banking structures with it, one can drive prices up, and conversely, by retracting these bills one can bring prices down, thus those who control the money, controls the economy (and of course, our food supplies) thus the state.

“Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws.” Mayer Amschel ... [Mayer Amschel Bauer] (1744 -1812)

Here is a six-part series on this subject:

Fiat Empire - 'Creature from Jekyll Island' – part One 

Fiat Empire - 'Creature from Jekyll Island' – part Two

FiatEmpire - 'Creature from Jekyll Island' – part Three

Fiat Empire - 'Creature from Jekyll Island' – part Four

Fiat Empire - 'Creature from Jekyll Island' – part Five

Fiat Empire - 'Creature from Jekyll Island' – part Six

Every major nation in the world has a fiat currency and is contributory towards the globalist economy: this places power in very few hands and if those hands deem it necessary to bring about drastic change that will lead to mass starvation and chaos, they’ll be able to bring it to pass. The people of the world will cry out to their respective governments to do something and this (this very thing happened during the economic crisis in early 20^th century America that led to the formation of the Federal Reserve (a central bank) system as well as the IRS – both of which are unconstitutional) will lead to a para-national monetary system controlled by an autonomous oligarchy that will hold the world hostage and demand their submission.

For more on this, see the following article:

THIRDWAVE TSUNAMI OF DECEIT (RIDING The THIRD WAVE INTO The LAST DAYS) - 

We know that the economics of the last days, during the final week of Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy will involve allegiance to the anti-Christ, the Beast of Revelation, which we will examine in REV 13.

We have the breaking of the Fourth Seal:

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

This last rider seems to have in his employ the same formidable accouterments as the former riders: “to kill with sword and with hunger” but also “with death and with the beasts of the earth.” This fourth horse brings to an operatic and excruciating crescendo what was the sorrowful song of the suffering, subjected to those who brought forth war and famine.

The word for “pale” in the Greek is chloros, thus it is thought that this particular horse is associated with pestilences (diseases), which often coincides with war as a natural after-effect. Predation on carrion by animals and bacteria feeding on the slain would frequently bring about plague – and when we see in this verse “beasts of the Earth” we should be careful not to rule out microscopic beasts (bacteria).

There is however, something far more nefarious that’s been in the works, since the days when NBC (nuclear/biological/chemical) warfare became a reality. Engineered diseases on the cellular and even microscopic level is something not merely obtainable, but achieved in what’s believed to be the manufacture of the dread disease, AIDS. See the following article that addresses the creator of this plague, Dr. Robert Gallo, and the purpose behind its creation. 

In this broken seal, death itself becomes a plague – however three chapters from now, death will flee from those who would yearn rather for it (REV 9:6), than for agonizing, nightmarish suffering which is the lot of those who are left in this world to suffer this time of great tribulation.

When I scan the headlines, scroll through websites and hear the news on the radio, everywhere I am assaulted with bad news – tragedies galore and violence and mayhem and I sadly ponder that these things would never have been if only this world wasn’t burdened with the curse of sin, brought on by the rebellion of mankind against the Creator.

Judgment upon this rebellion is seen in fierce and fulsome fury by the hand of a Holy God, and this fury will be poured forth, not sparing a single drop, until it’s fully spent. The world would have been spared this fury had they only bowed the knee and submitted their hearts to the LORD Jesus Christ, Who took the fury from the cup of wrath that the Father gave Him (MATT 26:39-42).

Not only these first Four Seals, but even these that proceed after them, when compared with the Gospel accounts of this same time period bear a striking resemblance so that there is no mistaking what the LORD Jesus spoke about during His earthly ministry and what He later revealed to John the Apostle in the Revelation.

Here is a comparison chart for your consideration: 

You can read the very competent exposition that focuses on the texts of Scripture as we have elaborated upon here. (note, the personal view of the author of this article is amillennial, a view that we here at TTUF do not subscribe to; we are pretribulational rapture (I prefer pre-seventieth week), premillennial (Christ will come prior to the thousand years and reign physically, literally from Jerusalem over Israel and all the Gentile world).

We now have the breaking of the Fifth Seal:

REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 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.

We see here saints who were martyred for the LORD’s sake because they “held [fast their] testimony”. The saints of GOD have been martyred ever since Abel was slain by Cain – it’s a world where the righteous are at odds with the religious; from the very beginning and continues today, and will continue to the end, when the Mother of Harlots (Babylon that reigned supreme thousands of years ago and will find her rule restored to supremacy) will become “drunk with the blood of the saints” (REV 17:6).  

Just as the LORD Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (LUKE 23:34), we see Stephen echoing that prayer in ACTS 7:60. We are told as saints of GOD:

MATTHEW 5:38-45
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Yet here we read the cry of these saints who have been “slain for the Word of GOD and for the testimony which they held” – “How long O LORD holy and true will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood upon those who dwell on the Earth?”

Quite a different petition, wouldn’t you say? Not exactly something a New Testament saint would or should pray, considering what we just read in MATT 5:38-45 – so why this dichotomy? Again, if this seven-year period is in some sense, a continuation of the previous four hundred and eighty-three years of Daniels 70 weeks (490 yrs.) prophecy, then what we are seeing here is an Old Testament-style cry for justice against the enemies of GOD. Compare this with the prayer of David which he petitioned against his enemies:

PSALM 58:1-11
Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? 2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; 5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. 6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord. 7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. 8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun. 9 Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. 10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

We are all of us servants of GOD, conducting ourselves not as lions, but as sheep and doves, even before the wolves of this world (MATT 10:16) and like Paul, are accounted as sheep to the slaughter, but still stand resolutely, fixedly as “more than conquerors through [Christ Who] loves us” (ROM 8:36-38). Vengeance is the LORD’s and He will recompense every affront, every insult, every instance of persecution, every injustice against His own – and this is a comfort to saints the world over, throughout history:

ISAIAH 63:3-5
³ I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. ⁴ For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. ⁵ And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore, mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.

ROMANS 12:18-20
¹⁸ If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

In the mean while we seek the Spirit of GOD by Whom we are empowered to be faithful “witnesses” (ACTS 1:8; Greek word: martos from which we get the word martyr) by “the Word of GOD, the word of our testimony, and we love not our lives unto death” REV 12:11.

Even in today’s world we see persecution of the righteous increasing exponentially in 2019 alone! And it’s only going to increase as the coming of the LORD draws near! 

I also believe that, barring the rapture happening first, that the church here in America will finally get a taste of persecution that the church virtually everywhere else is suffering daily. Let us be prepared and be persecution proof! 

We have the breaking of the Sixth Seal:

REVELATION 6:12-14
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

The scene presented before us is a familiar one because we read something similar from –

MATTHEW 24:29-31
²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: ³⁰ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Yet whereas in MATTHEW’s account, this phenomenal event is followed by the appearing of the sign of the Son of man in heaven and angelic escorts of the saints who reside in heaven, in the REVELATION account, what follows is the Seventh Seal, then the Seven Trumpets and Seven Vials – and it’s not until after the last vial (and some other events) that the LORD appears.

Is this a contradiction in Scripture? It can’t happen both ways, can it? Actually again, if one considers that these are two separate events: the event in MATTHEW is indeed at the end of the age when the Son of man appears (MATT 13:41-43), and it would seem, given the calamitous nature of what happens in the REVELATION account that this too must be at the end of the world, for we read about stars falling from heaven, the heavens rolled up as a scroll – and mountains and islands moved out of their places. However, what is actually being spoken of here?

Let’s consider these things:

To think of a star falling from the heavens sounds cataclysmic – considering their size and power, any single star falling from the heavens (presumably colliding with Earth) would mean the end of all life, even the existence of the planet itself, of course. The Greek word, aster, refers to literal stars, or heavenly bodies (comets, asteroids, meteors, etc.) that are “strewn” across the skies.

Interestingly enough, this is the same Greek word referring to the third of the stars that the dragon cast to the Earth (REV 12:4). Could this reference of stars falling from the heavens have spiritual implications as seems to be confirmed by MATT 24:29; MARK 13:25 and LUKE 21:26? That these things might possibly coincide with the rapture of the church (1 THESS 4:16-18)?

In any event, these “stars” could be indicative of meteors or even bolides that would certainly wreak havoc on a global scale.

As for “the heaven departed as a scroll” – what could this mean? Here, the Greek word ouranos is used which can refer to the aerial heavens or the heavenly domain where the throne of GOD is located; determining which definition applies depends on the context in which it appears. This “departs” or is in some fashion is “rent, divided, separated. This doesn’t mean that the heavens are destroyed but that there is a breach of some kind – again, this might have spiritual implications: perhaps the satanic hosts of the kingdom of darkness are finally unleashed at this point and have their ‘hay day’ with the “earth dwellers”, but this doesn’t coincide with the actual destruction of the heavens, which doesn’t happen until REV 20:11.

Then there is mention of every mountain and island being moved out of place; needless to say, that this speaks of mountains in general, as islands are simply underwater mountains, except for the above water habitable portion.

In any seismic activity, the geologic tectonic plates shift, which causes earthquakes. There are a number of horrendous earthquakes that take place during the time of this tribulation (REV 6:12; 8:5; 11:13,19; 16:18) and testing that shall come to pass upon all the earth dwellers, and in this one, it seems that every tectonic plate shifts sufficiently that there is no mountain chain that is left undisturbed. Again, horrendous certainly, resulting in devastating ruin, but not utter destruction as in the end of the world scenario.

In fact, the literal end of this physical world won’t happen at least for another 1,007 years to date (May 26, 2019) because even if the rapture happened today, there would still remain the seven years of Daniel’s final week (with who knows how long a time period between the rapture and the beginning of the last week: it could be immediately after the rapture, it could conceivably be a decade from that point) and then the 1000 year Millennial Reign of Christ; not until REV 20:11 does the actual planet Earth dissolve – as well as the heavens themselves (2 PET 3:10,12) and the creation of new heavens and a new earth (ISA 65:17; 66:22; REV 21:1) where only righteousness and the righteous in Christ will dwell, forever and ever! Hallelujah!

Essentially then, I think that the events as described above with the moon turning to blood, earthquakes, etc. of REV 6 and MATT 24 are different time periods of similar phenomena.

REVELATION 6:15-17
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

There are many who would claim that the church will not depart from this world until just prior the commencement of the wrath of the Lamb (a pre-wrath rapture, as it were), and they base the commencement of this wrath on this verse (6:17; this “day” is not a 24 hour period, but a time period that we know will complete the last prophetic week of Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy). Let us consider who is declaring this: not GOD but men (thus not in itself authoritative); and they declare this from having observed what has already transpired. It’s reasonable to attribute the wrath of GOD as happening from the very commencement of the first seal being broken, for in the breaking of these seals of the title-deed of the Earth, the One Who purchased the Earth  with His own blood is enacting judgment, and by virtue of said judgment, wrath upon “the earth dwellers” who have rejected Him and His right to rule upon His arrival (PSALM 2; LUKE 19:14).

So ends this chapter. We will see one more seal broken of this title-deed of the Earth, before we then examine these seven trumpet judgments. Remember, that the LORD Jesus, by His blood, has purchased this world and all that there is within it, and He alone is worthy to open the seals. For more on this aspect of REVELATION, check out Dr. Daniel Woodhead’s article:

Jesus Earned The Right to Take Back the Earth and Start The Great Tribulation