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January 3, 2026 |
| The Sixth Seal | ||
The Sixth Seal should not be confused with the Sixth Trumpet. Both come from Revelation, but the 7 seals come before the 7 trumpets.
Just as a football game has a kick-off, so does the end-times. That's an event that gets the whole thing rolling. For the end-times, that event comes with the Sixth Seal. You might expect that the Seventh Seal would be the one to get things rolling, but not much happens in it.
This will be a high-level study of the Sixth Seal because much of what Revelation says about the Sixth Seal is too symbolic to be explained in a short study. So there won’t be as many verses as I would usually have.
We'll see that Revelation isn't the only place where this event is described. Paul says the same thing, without the symbolism, though he leaves out some details. So we'll spend some time mixing what Paul says with what the Sixth Seal says to get everything we can from it.
We will also look at Ezekiel's Battle, described in chapters 38 and 39, because that is also related.
We will also glance at Daniel because some of what he says relates to the Seventh Seal and the First Trumpet.
The Sixth Seal is not a single event. It is a cascade of events, but it isn't clear which one comes first. It may not matter which comes first because they will be fairly close in time.
I think the first event comes from Daniel, not Revelation. It is the collapse of the current world order. This naturally begins the building of the next world order.
Then comes a trifecta of Sixth Seal events:
Nothing in particular happens in the Seventh Seal. That is a time when the world deals with the consequences of the previous seal. One of which is the First Trumpet, which is called The Great Falling Away.
I'll go into these in detail now.
For the new world order to come into place, the old world order must first disappear. World orders do not go away quietly. History tells that they can go away quickly, for example, the overnight death of the Babylonian empire, or they can slowly crumble away, for example, the Roman world order.
In some sense, we are still in the remnants of the Roman world order. That needs to disappear and be replaced with a worldwide governance system that the Bible describes as 10 toes. That reference comes from Daniel's statue. Revelation refers to it as a 10-headed beast.
It will be a world government that consists of 10 leaders and 10 countries or groups of countries.
Gog, the leader of Magog, will cause Israel to be unprotected and friendless. He will get a bunch of Islamic nations to invade Israel under a pretense, supported by many non-Islamic nations. Not all Islamic nations agree to this. Egypt is most notably not in the group. The countries north of Israel will be attacking from the north. The countries south and southwest of Israel will be attacking from the south.
The attackers will be slaughtered, but not by Israel. Israel will be defenseless. They will be slaughtered by what will be unmistakably an act of God. God will be making sure it is clear to everyone that he is protecting Israel.
God does this with a huge earthquake and something else that isn't clearly described. There are hints that sound like Sodom and Gomorrah. The destruction will be clearly focused on the attackers, north and south, but Israel will be preserved. It will be obvious to the world that God intervened, and therefore, there is a God.
After the shock wears off, instead of turning to God, most people hate the mean God who would wantonly destroy those Muslims. For Israel, it's obvious that their God is still protecting them. The Jews in these enemy nations all move to Israel.
It takes 7 years to completely clean up all the dead bodies.
Included in God's people will be 144,000 Jews. They will have a part to play in the 5th Trumpet events that come later. It is not clear now what this mark will be.
The modern church isn't aware that this is coming, and even now, they aren't prepared for it. In both believers and unbelievers, the Holy Spirit will cease to guide the people.
Paul talks about this and we'll look at what he says later.
There are many consequences that will fall out of these events.
With the Holy Spirit inactive, Satan will be able to bring out the anti-Christ, who Paul calls the Man of Sin, and Son of Destruction.
Islam will rebuild. It's impossible to say that Islam doesn't have a connection in the end-times. As much as 200 years ago, the modern Western World became aware of Islam. Even then, it was clear that these people were the ones the Bible was talking about.
Israel will be free to rebuild the Temple Mount. Currently, because of a desire to have good relations with the Muslim who live in and visit Israel, the Jews are prevented from doing anything on the Temple Mount. After Ezekiel's Battle, there will be nothing to stop them, and their fervor to please the God who protected them will drive them to it.
The anti-Christ will begin to exhibit amazing abilities.
This will be another Consequence. There will be a massive turning away from God by those who had called themselves God's people. This may seem counterintuitive. God has just demonstrated that he exists - why would people turn away from him? For some people, liberals in the church, the reason will be that God destroyed all those Muslim. That isn't the kind of god they want. For others it will be deception that takes them away. These are not grounded in the faith and are without the Spirit's guidance. They hear the words of the Man of Sin.
We have to ask an obvious question. How is Israel unprotected from this attack? The Israel that we know now is more than capable of defending itself from attackers. Sure Israel is frequently attacked by its neighbors, but those are not existential attacks. Ezekiel's attack is.
Ezekiel refers to other enemy nations where the Jews are living. These would be non-Islamic nations. So it appears many nations have conspired against Israel. Ezekiel hints that this attack is coming as a pretense. A false reason is being given for them to come in, but their intent is to steal everything Israel has.
If Daniel's old world order is in place, then these enemies are probably in the UN.
The only scenario I've found that fits the facts is:
Throughout Ezekiel 38 and 39, God says he's doing this for the purpose of making himself known to the nations and to Israel.
And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 And the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God from that day onward. 23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them. (Ezekiel 39:21-24)
And if you haven't figured it our yet, it continues.
Therefore thus says the Lord God, "Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. 26 They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. 29 I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord God. (Ezekiel 39:25-29)
The whole world will know there is a God, the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Who can miss it? Protected by the world, Islamic armies attack Israel, and they are completely destroyed by an earthquake and something else.
The knowledge that there is a God is a characteristic of this new world order. Instead of the dividing line being "there is a God" versus "there isn't a God," it becomes "I love God" versus "I hate God." This will continue to the bitter end.
144,000 Jews and an uncountable number of Christians are sealed on the forehead before the Holy Spirit becomes inactive. They are referred to as "the servants of God."
What does "sealed on the forehead" mean? The verses give us no answer, but there are many Old Testament references that give us insight. It means "a reminder that emboldens and/or strengthens." God's people will be given something to remind them and embolden them to get them through the times that are coming, without the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit becomes inactive and no longer guides or comforts Christians. The Holy Spirit also has a role in guiding unbelievers, and that will cease as well. The Holy Spirit will probably still indwell Christians as a sign of who they are.
The world gets the chance they've always wanted to live without God and to discover how that turns out.
I've used the word “inactive” because that reflects how Revelation describes the change, though described symbolically. But Paul seems to speak of it as a removal. I think this is a distinction without a difference.
At first this is not significant. The anti-Christ begins by working himself up in the government that Daniel describes as a 10-headed beast.
At some point, the anti-Christ begins showing extraordinary powers. This probably happens in small ways at first. Eventually he gets to the point where he represents himself as a god. Remember that the people still remember and know there is a God.
Paul puts forward a list of things that must come before the anti-Christ comes on the scene. His list includes:
Let no man deceive you by any means, to the effect that surely no revolt will first come and the Man of Sin, the son of Destruction, be revealed, 4 he who opposes and exalts himself against everything that is called God and religion, just as he will sit in the Temple of God, as God, and will show concerning himself as if he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
The word "revolt" that is seen in this translation is translated as "Great Falling Away" in the KJV translation. That's where the phrase comes from that everyone uses.
Paul describes the Man of Sin's actions, which line up with what Daniel said about him, so we can be certain that they are talking about the same person and who he is.
And now you know what controls, that he may be revealed in his time. 7 The mystery of evil has even now begun to work within, only if that which now controls will be taken from the midst; 8 And then that evil one will be revealed, whom our Lord Yeshua will consume with a breath of his mouth, and will destroy him by the revelation of his coming. 9 For the coming of that one is in the activity of Satan in all power, signs and false wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:6-9)
Paul's main point is to list things that must come first. He drifts from that point to tell us that it is the power, signs, and wonders that will pull Christians away from the faith.
There will be a large turning away of the faithful. Some look at the falling number for church attendance and say this is already happening, but this will be noticeably different in its scale, quickness, and cause.
Revelation details the damage, though symbolically, as it does.
Then, if a man shall say to you, "Look, here is the Messiah", and "Look, he is going there", you should not believe him. And false Messiahs and lying Prophets will arise, and they will give signs and wonders and they will deceive if possible, even the chosen ones. But pay attention; behold, I have anticipated this; I have told you everything. If therefore they will say to you, "Behold, he is in the desert", you should not go out, or "Behold, he is in an inner room", do not believe it. For just as lightning goes out from the East and appears unto the West, so will the coming of the son of man be. Wherever the body will be, there will the eagles be gathered. (composite of Mark 13:21-23, Mathew 24:23-28)
Yes, the Holy Spirit is inactive, and yes, the anti-Christ claims to be a nicer god, but how can that be enough for believers to fall away? We see people now being slowly pulled away from the faith, and we've seen how that works.
These are all individualized issues. They cause a continual slow dripping away within the church. What we see in the Great Falling Away is a sudden, large departure. What could be the cause?
Jesus gives us a key piece: "they will give signs and wonders." They will do things that the people of that time have never seen before, as evidence for their claims to be messiahs (anointed ones or saviors) or prophets (messengers from God).
Shouldn't the response by the church to these signs and wonders be, "We know who you are. Jesus warned us." Surely, at the first of these miracles, all the churches would feature sermons on Jesus' warnings about these people.
In the end, the same kinds of forces that cause the dripping away in the church now will be present then. The difference in the power of them makes them more convincing.
We've seen that the Sixth Seal will be a big kickoff for the end-times. Afterward the world will be a much different place than we know now.
There will have been a collapse of the world order. This will leave most people struggling to survive and looking for a savior. This situation has happened many times in history and usually results in a horrible person coming to power.
The world will have been convinced that there is a God, but most of them are in open revolt against him. They will tell all sorts of lies about how terrible and mean he is.
The Holy Spirit will have become inactive in mankind. As weak as the current church is in the Holy Spirit, and the weaker influence he has on the unbelievers, the anti-Christ is still kept from appearing. The loss of the Holy Spirit's voice will be disastrous.