The Sealed Scroll: Times of the Gentiles

Theology
1

The sealed scroll in Revelation 5 tells us that Israel has been blinded and the Gentiles have been blessed. This can be understood by reading about the desolation of Jerusalem in Isaiah 29. “The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, ‘Please read this,’ he will say, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’” (Isaiah 29:11, NASB1995) This could explain why the seven churches in Asia Minor were addressed before the sealed scroll was mentioned. This would be the time the Church witnessed to all nations. This would be the Times of the Gentiles.

Revelation 6 shows Jesus opening the seals. These signs line up with the signs Jesus provided in His Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. These signs would signal that the Church Age would be coming to a close and Fullness of the Gentiles would be near.

  • Seal 1 - Conquest - “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars”
  • Seal 2 - Bloodshed - “Nation rise up against nation, and kingdom will rise up against kingdom”
  • Seal 3 - Famine
  • Seal 4 - Pestilence
  • Seal 5 - Persecution - “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name”
  • Seal 6 - Signs - “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many”
  • 144,000 Sealed - “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved”
  • Multitude from All Nations - “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”
  • Seal 7 - Day of the Lord begins - “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heaves will be shaken”

The breaking open of all seals shows that Jesus Christ has fully reversed the desolations of Jerusalem. The Fullness of Gentiles has come where their sins have reached up to heaven and God’s wrath has come. This, I argue, is the time when those who seek to destroy the Jews and Jerusalem are punished; the day of vengeance, as Isaiah 61:2 and all of chapter 63 speak about.

Interested to see your thoughts.

2

The recent alliance of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan (of which Iran was also supposedly invited) might be the beginning of the coalition described in Ezekiel 38 that goes to war against Israel.

Since the first four seals result in the death of 25% of the people on earth, one might think that a combination of nuclear war, disease and famine will be needed to reach that number.

3

I think the alliance is too significant to overlook, but I think that falls into the trumpets. If you take a look at the sixth trumpet in Revelation 9, there are four angels bound in the Euphrates River rather than one angel bound in each channel coming out of Eden. The idea is that nations along the four rivers would unite as one force to try to overwhelm and sweep away the Jews at Jerusalem.

The Euphrates ran through the territory of Meshech, Tubal, and Beth Togarmah (Magog). The Hiddekel (Tigris) ran along Persia. The Gihon ran along Cush. The Pishon ran along Sheba & Dedan.

I think this is the battle of Gog and Magog. Both involve massive armies with horsemen. Both involved destruction by fire. The battle even begins with a seven year period of burning the weapons as fuel. After the sixth trumpet is done, we are introduced to the narrative about the two witnesses and the beast from the Abyss. Daniel 9:27 shows a covenant being confirmed with many for one seven. Daniel 4 shows us Nebuchadnezzar becoming a beast for seven years due to his arrogance.