A scroll is given by Him Who sits on the throne to the One Who is the Lamb (Yeshua). Revelation 5:1-10 / Rev. 6:1-11:19
How should we read this scroll?
There are seven (7) seals on the scroll which the Lamb holds that lock up the information within. This scroll may not be one continuous length of paper (as like a Torah scroll). It may be comprised of 7 distinct pages with the outer page being the 7th seal. Each seal represents and locks a different section of the scroll (see illustration).
When John wrote this part of the vision, he wrote the order of the seals on their respective pages beginning with page 1 and ending with page 7. Page 7 is the inner most page and receives the 1st seal. Page 1 is the outer most page and receives the 7th seal. To read the information contained within each page of the scroll, each of the seals must be broken in descending order as opposed to ascending order. (more confirmation given below)
The 7th seal must be unlocked in order to read page one. Once opened, there is now access to the 6th seal and page two. This procedure continues until each consecutive seal has been opened, and the page unscrolled so that eventually the final inside 7th page (1st seal) is opened. Revelation chapter 6 through to chapter 8 confirms this is how Yeshua proceeded.
To further confirm that this is the order which John used as he described the details of the scroll and the procedure that Yeshua used while opening the scroll, we must ask and answer the following questions.
Why would the order of the seals be in the reverse in the Bible? There are two verses in the first chapter of Revelation that gives us the reason why John wrote everything he saw in the reverse. John explains to us what was happening to him while Yeshua revealed the events. John was in the Spirit, meaning he had been ‘transported’ into a period of time that was showing him what was to happen while he was given the verbal revelation by Yeshua. To what time period was he transported to? As John states in verse 10, he was transported to the time of the Lord’s Day. This day is well known to be the final day of the tribulation, specifically as a terrible day of battle and death. This is referring to Armageddon and means that John was in Spirit at Armageddon. (Click this link to see all the Biblical battle references to the phrase “day of the Lord”). Yeshua was having him write down the events that lead up to this battle, but in the order of from the “day of the Lord” backwards. This is why the seals need to be viewed opposite of what is the traditional understanding.
· Revelation 1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
As corroboration, Yeshua had John placed “in the Spirit on the day of the Lord” so he would write in this reverse manner to purposely convey this revelation is a COUNT-DOWN with a dedicated end. If it was a count-up (aka 1 to 7) people would have concerns that further seals could come. Elohim gives us this format of a count-down to comfort us so we know there will only be 7 seals and no more.
In addition, Elohim want us to know Their plan, but They have given us the plan in reverse to confound the enemy.
Why didn’t John document the seals, trumpets, plagues and woes as they were revealed instead of doing this reverse writing? This is where we need to understand how a scroll works.
He did document them chronologically as he saw them, but the interpreters misunderstood how John set up his accounting of events in his ‘book’ (aka scroll). As with the writing of any scroll or book, it begins with page one. In John’s case, the pages he writes upon are most likely separate pieces of paper/linen/papyrus stacked one upon the other which we can believe to be the case in order for the scroll to have seven seals. He writes what he first sees in his vision. Remember, he is in the Spirit on the Lord’s day – which is at the end of the tribulation and he is recording the most recent events he just witnessed (the white horse) first. John begins to write everything down and once he has completed page one, John proceeds with documenting the next events witnessed onto page two. This continues with the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh pages. Each page is stacked, one on top of the other with the first page at the bottom and the final seventh page at the top. This is done for a specific purpose.
The process of sealing the pages involves sealing the seventh page first. Remember, it is on the top of the stack of pages and will become the page/seal that is the inner most page/seal. The next page is rolled up with the previously sealed page inside it and then sealed as number two. This continues with each consecutive page being rolled up and sealed with the other pages within. The bottom page (the first page) is rolled up with all the previous pages within and sealed last. The bottom page acts as a covering for the whole document (to keep it all together). Refer to the picture below.
So it would work like this:
· Page 7 -- the first seal (the last page) 1st horseman (white)
· Page 6 -- the second seal 2nd horseman (red)
· Page 5 -- the third seal 3rd horseman (black)
· Page 4 -- the fourth seal 4th horseman (pale)
· Page 3 -- the fifth seal martyrs cry out
· Page 2 -- the sixth seal darkness
· Page 1 -- the seventh seal (the first page) 7 trumpets
Additionally, the interpretation of this portion of John’s vision could have been purposely organized into a count-up format to throw off the unconverted. Or interpreters (from the time of the invention of the book with a spine) unwittingly organized this portion into a count-up format because they did not consider the method of creating and reading a scroll.
Also, the contents of the seventh seal add a further confirmation to the scroll order. Reading the contents of this seal/page will confirm this would be at the start of the tribulation/battle strategy of Yeshua. With the 7th seal announcing the 7 trumpets, it does confirm the seventh seal with its trumpets are the first of the seals to happen.
The contents of Page One with the 7th SEAL: (the outside last page)
Silence in heaven for ½ hour – Rev 8:1-6
Angel casts censer upon the earth (to stop the spread of judgment upon Israel in the same manner that Aaron stopped the judgment/plague on ancient Israel in Numbers 16:46-50)
The seven angels are given seven trumpets and told to prepare to sound
These trumpets take place from start to end of the tribulation time period.
What is the purpose of ‘seals’, ‘trumpets’, ‘plagues’, ‘woes’?
Seals hide/protect.
Trumpets announce/warn.
Plagues are the action of the seals and trumpets.
Woes express the emotional and spiritual heaviness mankind is to bear.
One More Question: If the seventh seal is supposed to be opened at the end of the tribulation revealing the 7 trumpets, how can these trumpets sound throughout the tribulation since the seal has not yet been opened?
Therefore, the traditional order/interpretation of these seals, trumpets, woes and plagues needs to be reassessed.
Traditional Timeline Interpretation
The traditional interpretation explains that the seals are opened in the order they are written in the book of Revelation. The first four seals (Four Horsemen) are attributed to the beginning of the tribulation while the 7th seal (with the seven trumpets) is opened at the END of the tribulation and IMMEDIATELY BEFORE Yeshua returns.
However, a problem arises with this order. The 7 trumpets (which are the events of the 7th seal) do not properly correlate with the events of Yeshua’s return. Traditional interpretations cannot mesh the events of the trumpets with the events of Armageddon and the casting of the beast and false prophet into the lake of fire. This is also the time of the wrath of Elohim and the description of the wrath does not match with the events of the first five of the trumpets.
Thus the traditional interpretations awkwardly attempt to explain the trumpets by giving them their own stand-alone status to happen throughout the tribulation without explanation of their connection to the 7th seal. Actually, the trumpets do sound throughout the tribulation, but with the traditional understanding that the seventh seal is opened at the end of the tribulation, the whole issue of the timing causes the understanding of this seal to be very awkward and unnecessarily convoluted.
Proposed (and most probable) TIMELINE ORDER
By reversing what is the traditional understanding of the opening of the seals (which unleashes everything else), there is a simply elegant continuity with the prophetic events. The opening of the 7th seal at the start of the tribulation (which unleashes the 7 trumpets) now aligns with the prophetic events. Now we clearly see this is Yeshua’s battle plan against hasatan and his kingdom.
-Sacrifices stopped on the altar / abomination is set up; Holy Place is desecrated / those in Judea flee / numeric prophecies begin (Adar 14 – Purim – February 28/March 1, 2037) -Two witnesses begin / the Greater Exodus / the beast now rules / mark of the beast (Nisan 14 – Passover – March 29/30, 2037).
Seal 7 is opened first:
silence in heaven, angel casts the censer, the trumpets begin to sound
coincides with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th trumpets
Seal 6 is opened second:
earthquakes, sun/moon/stars darkened, mountains/islands moved, man hides in caves
coincides with the 5th trumpet, the 1ST WOE
Seal 5 is opened third:
saints of Elohim ask when their blood/deaths are avenged. Further martyrs to come.
coincides with the end of the 1260 days of Judea which happens 30 days before Yeshua returns.
YESHUA RETURNS (Tishri 1 – Yom Teruah – September 7/8. 2040)
The following seals (the four horsemen of the apocalypse) are opened for the purpose of totally destroying hasatan's world system (revised Roman Empire with Babylonian capital) so Yeshua can begin to implement His righteous system with a clean slate. These all happen during the 10 Days of Awe between Tishri 1 and Tishri 10.
Seal 4 is opened fourth:
pale horse – death
¼ of the earth to be killed
Seal 3 is opened fifth:
black horse – famine
economy collapses
Seal 2 is opened sixth:
red horse – final war – Armageddon
all opposition is destroyed
coincides with the 6th trumpet, 2ND WOE
Seal 1 is opened seventh:
white horse – conqueror
bow = strength / crown = rulership
needed to remove the Babylonian leadership (aka the beast and false prophet) and throw them into the lake of fire. And bind Satan into the bottomless pit for 1000 years
coincides with the 3RD WOE and all 7 plagues **
Hasatan’s kingdom and his capital city called Mystery Babylon is fallen
7th Trumpet sounds announcing Yeshua’s victory
Day of Atonement (Tishri 10 – Yom Kippur – September 16/17, 2040)
Resurrection and ascension of those who are found faithful – AT-ONE-MENT of the people and the earth
Blessed Day (Cheshvan 17 – October 23/24, 2040) – this is what we receive when we WAIT a full 1335 days from the day the sacrifices and offerings are stopped. What are we blessed with?
Isaiah 30:18 “Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.”
Our Elohim is waiting for that particular day also because this is the day that ALL the people will have the opportunity to come forward and make sacrifice and offerings.
Cheshvan 17 is the date that Noah, his family, and the animals entered the Ark. It was shut up and the flood waters began. Since the 1335 days ends on this date, we can extrapolate this is the time when the earth will truly begin its cleansing of the evil that has been upon the earth for so long. What would cleanse the earth? That would be the dedication and starting up of the altar and the daily sacrifices/offerings.
Cheshvan 17 is also the day which the Book of Jubilee's states is when that Adam and his wife took the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Interestingly, it lines up with our understandings that when we celebrate Sukkot with Yeshua at His return. This will be the time of dedicating the altar and inaugurating the start of His kingdom. After eight (8) days which completes Sukkot and the dedication process, there will be a further 24 days for the twelve (12) tribes to make their offerings (following the pattern of the inauguration of the altar in the wilderness - Numbers 7). From the final date of Sukkot to the end of the 24 days for the tribal dedication offerings, we come to the same date as is the completion of the 1335 days – Cheshvan 17. AND it will also close the door on the sin which Adam and his wife allowed to penetrate mankind, for now mankind will know how to righteously utilize the knowledge of good and evil.
Conclusion
If we look at the seals as they are opened like a scroll, the 7th seal is the first one opened and the contents of its page are made known first – aka at the start of the tribulation. From this perspective, the trumpets fit perfectly with the timing of the plagues. In John’s time, the method of writing was done in the scroll format (as evidenced by the Qumran [Dead Sea] scrolls) It seems clear that as John wrote of his visions in Revelation, he would describe what he saw as best he could. In this particular vision he was seeing Yeshua open the outer most sealed page first (seal 7/page 1), followed by the subsequent seals opened to reveal the next scroll and so on until the final inner most seal with the four horsemen is opened (seal 1/page 7). There is a correlated article on this subject with other addition information - titled: "Presentation Three - The Tribulation Events and Yeshua's Battle Plan" The information within may be helpful in understanding even further why seal seven is opened first and seal one is opened last.
Let this mind by in you that is in Messiah Yeshua.
Notes
** The plagues are stand alone judgments from Elohim that are the events of the 3rd WOE. Yeshua has just opened the 1st Seal of His riding the white horse with a crown and a bow. He is leading his army to victory and declares the 3rd WOE as His call to the seven angels with the bowls (plagues) to begin their attack. These plagues are attacks that happen on 7 fronts, which is a brilliant battle strategy to totally decimate hasatan’s kingdom. When hasatan’s kingdom finally falls, the 7th trumpet is sounded, announcing Yeshua’s victory.
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