And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to get the book open, or to see what was in it.
Rev 5:3
A long time ago, I shared that scripture can be read on different layers. I talked about literal, allegorical, moral, and hidden. I also believe that scripture is historical, prophetic, personal, and public. What do I mean by that?
There usually is a historical event that either is talked about in a verse or story, or that was a first prophetic installment of the story itself. A famous case: the lamb at Passah in Exodus, where it is an actual barn creature eaten and used to signify both an already executed death in the house to let the death angel pass, and the eaters willingness to partake in that death.
The same story usually has a prophetic, future event portrayed with a deeper meaning. In our case: Jesus, the lamb of God. His blood saves us from spiritual death, if we are willing to partake.
On a personal level, a story always can be applied to a single individual or a group, not depending on the time or season. Everybody can at any time accept Jesus and make him his personal lamb, his personal savior.
And last, on a public or world wide church level, there is a time the whole church enters a season portrayed in the story. Jesus historical death and resurrection brought the church into being, set it up for its founding in Pentecost.
In the following I will have a look on the seven seals and the events leading up to their opening on a personal level – both in portraying my personal view as well as in giving tools to apply the scriptures in a personal way for the reader to insure growth.
The seven seal season starts with John up in heaven. After describing the scenery, he is grieved by the fact that a book is presented that seems important, but is sealed, and nobody has the authority to open it – but the lamb that was slain. The fact that first the lamb was not there sets the time frame for the things happening. Jesus at the cross became the lamb of God slain. So John entered the scene before the cross, wept, and Jesus returned from the cross as the lamb.
The scene we see represents our outer court experience, the time around Passah. There is the sacrifice of the New Covenant Jesus Christ, returning from the alter, the cross. There is the sea of glass. Now let’s have a look on that sea of glass. in the outer court we find this sea as well, sometimes called the laver. In it, the priests were to wash themselves before entering the Holy place. They put some blood into the water. And since the laver was made out of the mirrors of the ladies, they saw themselves through the blood of the sacrifice.
In the Passah experience we get a first impression of our real personality, the new creation. We see dimly as through glass. It is finished, but we only get an idea of it. There are two things that hinder us: we need the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth – Pentecost – and we have been imprinted by the world and the enemy for so long that we need to change our world view. The bible calls that: change our thinking patterns.
In Pentecost, in the Holy place, the law – which is still external and limiting in our Passah experience – is written onto our hearts. And the liberating process of changing our mind set under the leading of the Holy Spirit can begin.
This is the story of the seven seals.
Ever heard that thoughts are galloping through our minds? What better way to portray that than using horses!
The first horse speaks of victory and success. In our old thinking, victory and success is outwardly, has to be accomplished, people sacrifice for it, it is work, and others suffer. In our new thinking, victory has been won by Jesus at the cross. It has to be lived out under the guidance of the Spirit. But it is finished.
The second horse speaks of peace and war. Do you let circumstances rule your live and war against you? Or do you find peace in Jesus and his finished work?
The third horse speaks of financial and economic instability. Do you believe that God is your provider? Oil and wine – the workings of the Holy Spirit – are not touched. We can trust in him.
The forth horse speaks of death, sickness, disease, and lack. They do not come from God, nor do they belong to our new nature. Do you trust in God as your healer, as the giver of eternal life?
Tame those horses, even ban them by changing your thinking.
The next seal speaks of how we see ourselves. Are we victim or overcomer? Do we want revenge or reward? God, forgive us our trespasses, as much as we forgive our trespassers.
The sixth seal speaks of the old covenant. Sun, moon, and stars represent the old covenant, as seen in the dream of Josef: they stand for Jakob and Israel. Even as the lights in the sky, they were created after light was created. They only represent light, they are not light. The old covenant only reflected, while the new covenant shines. We are to shine – and here we take a first step. In the trumpets and bowls, this symbol will return, as we more and more grow into this – until we shine just as Jesus shun on the Mount of Transfiguration.
This leads us into rest. The seventh seal let’s us have a break before continuing the process in the trumpets. But it is more than a temporary pause. It tells us that there is still rest available for the people of God.
Soon thereafter, the seven trumpets are blown. From Pentecost, we have come to the Feast of the Trumpets. I have written about the trumpets already. What starts in the Feast of Trumpets, finds its culmination in the Day of Atonement. Look at the bowls: he, who did not respond to the trumpets during the time set until the day of atonement, judges himself and bears the consequences when the bowls are emptied.
Yes, God does not judge. God’s eternal laws and principles work, and for those that changed their thinking, they bring life. For the others, the consequences are death – the absence of life.
But the overcomers of the old ways of thinking enter the next feast: Tabernacles. Holy of Holies. God dwelling with us. No other light but him – all old is gone: old covenant, old thinking, both earthly as well as our own understanding of heaven, represented by the sky. A new earth – habitation that is – and a new sky – this is heaven.
I am on a journey. And you?