Increases in false prophets, war, famine, pestilence and martyrs are leading even skeptics to believe we are in the end-times and the opening the possibility that Jesus has opened the seals. Let’s examine the signs to determine if the seals have indeed been opened.
The Opened Seals are a Sign and a Warning
Despite the beliefs of many eschatological experts, the six seals are not part of God’s judgement and wrath. They are signs and warnings to let us know the end is near.
We know this because the seals match the signs Jesus told his disciples when asked about His coming, in order, content and language. Also, neither Revelation or the Olivet Discourse use the term “wrath” until after the six seal. I will not go into detail here, but for more on this topic see Six Seals Revealed in the Olivet Discourse.
People have witnessed these signs since the disciples walked the earth – wars, false prophets, famine and pestilence. So how do we know when the seals corresponding to the signs have been opened?
Fortunately, Jesus tells us, “when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
So what we should be looking for is the convergence of all of the signs including those mentioned in other scriptures. Once we see this, we will know Jesus’ return is imminent.
Are “all these” signs manifesting today? Let’s take a look at each one.
Has Jesus Opened the First of the Seals?
The first seal is the appearance of a false prophet and/or false prophets. In revelation, the rider on the white horse is carrying a bow. In the Bible the bow and arrows are doctrine and words, both true and false. But this rider is false – his purpose is not to save, but to conquer.
Jesus describes these prophets to be many who “will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.” From the text, I believe these are not necessarily people claiming to be Jesus, but pastors, preachers and ministers who come in Jesus’ name misleading many with false doctrine. Of course, the will be one false prophet yet to come.
One false doctrine is the acceptance of homosexual practices. In just the past few years we have seen this sin become increasingly accepted within the church, creating division. As an example the Methodist Church has split over those who stand by the biblical definition of marriage and those who believe in gay marriage and affirm LBGTQ practices. The LBGTQ ministers conquered half of the Methodist church with their heretical beliefs. There are also reports of Catholic churches having gay masses in the U.K.
Let me be clear, it is right to accept LBGTQ people into church. After all Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” However, it is false for churches to affirm unrepentant practices by placing practicing LBGTQ members in leadership positions.
Other popular teachings such as hyper-grace, the “prosperity gospel,” and interfaith dialogue are twisting God’s message throughout the church.
“Pope Francis has placed peace with other religions ahead of the truth that there is one true God”
As the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has crossed into falsehood by affirming other religions and their idols. In prioritizing peace with other religions over truth, he is denying that our true God has a nature and character that is different than every other so called god. The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob is not the same god of Islam, allah, who persecutes the Jews. Yet the Pope in his treaty on the “Human Fraternity” denies this truth in favor of peace.
Don’t get me wrong. We should love all the people of the earth as God loves them. What I am saying is that we can still strive for peace and also recognize that we serve different masters.
We should not seek peace at the expense of the truth. Jesus made it clear that a disciple places the truth of Jesus over peace. (See Matthew 10:24-37)
Examples of the Pope’s Worldliness
The Pope has shown he is of the world. Here are several articles that document some of the Pope’s worldly actions and statements.
- Pope Calls Coronavirus “Nature’s Response”: No Mention of God
- With approval from Vatican: Canaanite idol ‘Moloch’ put on display at entrance to Colosseum in Rome
- Did Pope Francis defend Pachamama idolatry at Vatican in new Amazon synod exhortation?
- Pope Advances One World Religion Agenda: Presents Buddhist Leader with Manifesto
- Erdogan, Pope Form Unholy, Anti-Trump Alliance to Control Jerusalem
- Scantily Clad Women, Men Dance in Suggestive Manner for Pope
- Pope presents document to imam to unify all religions
- Pope Francis: Abbas is an “Angel of Peace”
The False Prophet
But this seal may not only represent false prophets but the false prophet, the antichrist. It may surprise you to know that both Iranian leaders and Jewish rabbis are claiming to have met their respective messiahs.
In the post Are the Beast and Antichrist Among Us Now? I discuss the beast and antichrist in more detail and why they may be already among us, though not yet fully revealed.
Has Jesus opened the first seal? The signs indicate it is so.
Has Jesus Opened the Second Seal?
The second seal grants the horseman to take peace from the earth. Notice that the scripture does not use the word “war” in the description of the second horseman. That’s because this is broader than war. The second horseman removes peace, or as Jesus said, “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
Most people think of nations and kingdoms as the same thing, but they are not. The greek word for “nations” is ethnos, meaning a race or people or culture. This reminiscent of Paul stating that “most people’s love will grow cold.”
Do we see this today? Absolutely.
Consider the racial riots in Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore, Chicago and Cleveland related to the Black Lives Matter movement. Further consider the intolerance and hypocrisy of Antifa, claiming to support tolerance but violently squashing every opinion that differed from their own. Next, look to the media and politicians. There is hatred in their words and their actions. Our civil society is dying, even our leaders aren’t remaining civil as evidenced at the last State of the Union Address.
World Conflicts
There is war today, yes, as there has been throughout history. But in regards to wars in the end-times, the Bible largely refers to Israel and the Middle East. About one quarter of all conflicts in the world are taking place in the middle-east and Arabia. Where there is not war, there is rumor of war. There is no peace in the middle east, especially since Israel was reborn.
Has Jesus opened the second seal? The signs indicate it is so.
Has Jesus Opened the Third Seal?
The third seal is famine. Famine tends to come about through other factors, such as war, drought, locusts and even disease.
In my recent post, Plagues of Coronavirus, Locusts and Drought are a Warning from God, I address this in detail. Currently we see massive locust swarms devastating crops in East Africa and moving into the middle-east and possibly China. A combination of unusual factors drove the growth of these historic swarms. These factors included heavy rains from cyclones, an undetected origination in a remote area and supply chain issues for pesticides as a result of the coronavirus.
The swarms have already caused food shortages, but according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), by June the size of the swarms could grow by a factor of 500. “This represents an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods,” FAO officials wrote in a brief last week. “All this is happening while the region locks down to stave off the coronavirus pandemic, … It’d be hard to imagine a more brutal confluence of factors.“
Below is a current map of world hunger, which is widespread throughout Africa, the Middle-east and Asia.
Unfortunately, these locust swarms are expected to hit many countries already suffering from famine. Here is a map of the locust swarms, showing the growth over the past week.
This map will only look worse in the coming months. Keeping in mind that the Bible largely refers to the middle-east in its prophecies.
(Note: It is worth mentioning that the coronavirus is not the only disease threat coming out of China. The African swine flu has resulted in the death or extermination of 40%-50% of China’s pig population. According to this article, this disease has driven up pork prices and could be a threat to the world’s food supply.)
Has Jesus opened the third seal? The signs indicate it is so.
Has Jesus Opened the Fourth Seal?
The fourth seal is Death. This includes death by pestilence, famine, wild beasts and violence. This will affect one-fourth of the earth. I want to clarify that this does not state that one-quarter of the earth will be killed, only that Death will have authority over one-quarter of the Earth.
I’ll keep this one short. Take a look at the three maps above of world conflicts and famine and consider the effects of the coronavirus as well. Looking across East Africa, the middle-east and Asia, is there any doubt that death has been unleashed over one-quarter fo the world?
Has Jesus opened the fourth seal? The signs indicate it is so.
Has Jesus Opened the Fifth Seal?
After Jesus opens the fifth seal we see the martyrs. Keep in mind that these martyrs are not the saints that the beast kills. These martyrs are killed before the abomination of desolation occurs and the beast is revealed.
Christian martyrdom became more visible when ISIS began beheading those who refused to renounce their faith. However, there are people being killed for their faith daily but this remains unreported in the mainstream media. Open Doors USA, a non-profit that supports persecuted Christians in 60 countries states that 11 Christians are killed each day because of their faith.
That number is even small compared to the number of Christians killed by the Ottoman Empire in the Armenian genocide. According to “The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute” Foundation an estimated 2 million Armenian Christians were killed by the Ottoman Turks between 1915-1923. This is concerning considering President Erdogan’s Neo-Otttoman ambitions and that Turkey will lead the invasion into Israel according to Ezekiel 38.
When John describes this seal in Revelation, he does not describe it as the start of martyrdom. Rather, he describes the souls of people already martyred who ask God when He will judge those on the earth.
Accordingly, we would not see the results of the opening of this seal, but we would expect two things: 1) some have already been martyred, and 2) more will be martyred before God judges the earth. So while we cannot say this seal has not been opened we also cannot say it has.
What this shows me is that there is a time gap between the first four seals and the sixth seal. Christians will continue to be persecuted and martyred up till then, and likely on a larger scale.
Has Jesus opened the fifth seal? The signs are inconclusive.
Has Jesus Opened the Sixth of the Seals?
The answer to this is clearly, no. When the sixth of the seven seals is opened there will be dramatic events clearly visible on the earth including the rapture of the saints.
For this seal we will wait. We will wait for the great apostasy to peak, the signs to manifest fully, for an empire to be resurrected and a king to invade Israel.
As far as the first four seals are concerned, I believe Jesus has opened them. The signs accompanying these seals as described by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) have all started, but they have not fully manifested. I believe these signs will continue to grow in frequency and intensity until the end comes.