1 . And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
3 . And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4 And there went out another horse [that was] red: and [power] was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
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.
6And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts , 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 sits 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?
I've looked through all these verbs but there doesn't appear anything conclusive that their entirety takes or took place on a single day. It appears there's a progression going on here. There's nothing for people (Christian, Jew or other) to see going on. If it did, when did the heaven depart as a scroll rolled together? There is a day coming, however! In the last verse, verse 17 it says: 'the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?'
So we've had the first six seals without noticing them! We need now to consider what will come next. Will events be in chronological order as in the Scriptures? Let's read Chapter 7. (To help I have broken it down into what I see as the relevant sections.) (The translation is again from Online Interlinear Bible NT.)A
1 . "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the Seal of the Living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,..." It seems four angels are going to hold back the winds of the earth. In the Interlinear it's a little more confusing because it says land instead of earth but earth is probably what it means.
...3 "Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Juda [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad [were] sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses [were] sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of the tribe of Simeon [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar [were] sealed twelve thousand.
8 Of the tribe of Zabulon [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin [were] sealed twelve thousand." Then a different Angel steps forward first saying seal those of the God of us on their foreheads before this. There's nothing here that says they have to be sealed in one place or one time, e.g. a day or a week or a month but in Revelation 14:1 it says of the same group of people: "Then I looked, and there was the LAMB standing on Mount Zion; and with Him were 144,000 who had His Name and His Father's Name written on their foreheads." Wow! Having said this the Bible is doing what it does best, namely, giving a little bit in one passage and a little in another. Building up the whole. Do we now have the whole picture? Probably not. It seems to me particularly around this time there is an earthquake coming. Is this coming too America? I have heard words that this might be the case and coming on Saturday, 11 June. But that's before the sealing which may start the following day on the Sunday. But then Seal 6 comes chronologically before Chapter 7. And when does the economic collapse and World War 3 escalate? In short, they come in a great jumble and nobody really knows until they do come.
9 "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the Throne, and before the LAMB, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the Throne, and unto the LAMB.
11 And all the angels stood round about the Throne, and [about] the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the Throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, [be] unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." This bit is rather morbid. The Interlinear in so many words makes it clear that these have come up from the Great Tribulation or close to its starting. Whichever they come up from we aren't informed but they do die because of it and from every tongue, tribe, nation proving this is coming on the whole earth. That's what it means. In Heaven they are given white robes and palms in their hands. Remember ADONAI's triumphal entry into Jerusalem? Palms were being laid down then. This group is representative of the time period in-between. In other words what are known as Christians.
13 . And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the LAMB.
15 Therefore are they before the Throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His Temple: and He that sits on the Throne shall dwell among them." I particularly like the bit in the Interlinear which states (about verse 14): "AND I-HAVE-declarED to-him master YOU HAVE-PERCEIVED AND he-said to-ME these ARE THE ones-COMING OUT OF-THE CONSTRICTION THE GREAT AND THEY-PLUNGE THE robes OF-them AND THEY-WHITEN them IN THE BLOOD OF-THE LAMB." This bit I have already mentioned above. One of the twenty four elders has perceived this and tells John so he can write it for our benefit. There they worship day and night forever.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the LAMB which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Amen.
From here we move onto (Selah) Petra. There are two Scriptures to quote concerning this place. (Isaiah 26:20.) "Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until His wrath has passed by." (Isaiah 27:10.) "For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken like the wilderness; there the calf grazes, and there he lies down; he strips its branches and eats its twigs." The powers of the world know we are going there. Drones have been sent to spy out the place and have found a new building! A place not known before. National Geographic have done a programme on it. Rather than listen to that there is a good short video on YouTube under the title "Massive New Monument Found in Petra." There's no worries, however! Our God knows what He is doing. One thing that I would understand is that the capacity to do us harm will have been greatly reduced by the time we start settling in.
Before this, however, we need to look at the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11. (Verses1-4.) "A REED [as a measuring rod] was then given to me, [shaped] like a staff, and I was told: Rise up and measure the Sanctuary of God and the Altar [of incense], and [number] those who worship there. But leave out of your measuring the court outside the Sanctuary of God; omit that, for it is given over to the Gentiles (the nations), and they will trample the Holy City underfoot for 42 months (three and one-half years). And I will grant the power of prophecy to My Two Witnesses for 1,260 (42 months; three and one-half years), dressed in sackcloth. These [witnesses] are the two olive trees and the two lamp-stands which stand before the LORD of the earth." Well that 'court outside the Sanctuary' I'm reliably informed refers to Upper Room, David's Tomb and the city of David (across the road) from Dung Gate. This is the area somewhere around here where the 144,000 are sealed with the seal of the Living God probably on Sunday, 12 June. It could be talking like this because the Tribulation temple will (likely) be next to the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount or because this is where the Two Witnesses minister most of the time. We will soon start to see where these Two go and what they do.
(Revelation 11:6.) "These [two witnesses] have power to shut up the sky, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying (their prediction of events relating to Christ’s Kingdom and its speedy triumph); and they also have power to turn the waters into blood and to smite and scourge the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose."
(Psalm 2.) "WHY DO the nations assemble with commotion [uproar and confusion of voices], and why do the people imagine (meditate upon and devise) an empty scheme? The kings of the earth take their places; the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and His Anointed One (the Messiah, the Christ). They say, Let us break Their bands [of restraint] asunder and cast Their cords [of control] from us. He Who sits in the Heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision [and in supreme contempt He mocks them]. He speaks to them in His deep anger and troubles (terrifies and confounds) them in His displeasure and fury, saying, Yet have I anointed (installed and placed) My King [firmly] on My Holy hill of Zion.
I will declare the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, You are My Son; this day [I declare] I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like potters’ ware.
Now therefore, O you kings, act wisely; be instructed and warned, O you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with reverent awe and worshipful fear; rejoice and be in high spirits with trembling [lest you displease Him]. Kiss the Son [pay homage to Him in purity], lest He be angry and you perish in the way, for soon shall His wrath be kindled. O blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are all those who seek refuge and put their trust in Him! AMaN!!