We now enter the main section of Revelation which consists in three groups of seven judgements: 7 seals, 7 trumpets and 7 bowls. Numbers have important symbolic significance throughout Revelation, in particular the number seven, which was the number associated with completion and perfection. The seals correspond with the things Jesus predicted in Matthew 24 of the present age: war, famine, plague and earthquakes. The point here is to show that God is Lord of history, even over the evils that plague the earth. There is even the sense here that God regularly stirs things up to remind human beings of the nature of their predicament. Human beings have been trying to make earth into their own little heaven since the fall, and they will continue to do so. But our utopias are always destroyed from within by the corruption in our hearts. And God stirs up the evil within, as is symbolised here in the four horses, so that we are always reminded that the world needs to be saved. God does not cause evil, but he often stirs it up, so that we become aware of it. Sometimes things must get worse before they get better. We don’t consult a doctor until we feel the symptoms. So, God will often stir up the symptoms to remind us that we are sick. There have been many times in my life when an issue has laid hidden in my heart, and because I would not face it, God put me into a situation where it manifested itself in all its ugliness. I thank God that he does this. It is my saving grace.
Ask God to show you the things he wants you to deal with in your life.
Read Revelation 6:1-8.
