AN OVERVIEW OF THE SIXTH SEAL/RAPTURE/FIRST RESURRECTION

07-13-14  This message may be viewed live streaming video at www.tabernacleofmoses.org commencing today Sunday at 11:00am, and repeated 24/7 for one week; thereafter, the audio and notes without video are archived.

THE SEVEN SEALS IN PROPHETIC ENTIRETY

            WORLDLY EFFECTS                                                    SPIRITUAL EFFECTS

Escalating consequential physical effects                  Ascending consequential physical/spiritual effects

from strong to severe denoted by the four                from severe to calamitous/catastrophic connoted by “Come and see” repetitions:                                       the absence of “Come and see” repetitions:

seal one    =    strong delusion                                          seal five   =            great tribulation

seal two    =    wars and rumours of wars                 seal six     =     the return of Jesus Christ and our

seal three  =   famines and pestilences                                                                       simultaneous rapture/resurrection

seal four   =    death and hell                                                                          to meet Him in the air

seal seven =     the wrath of God

AN OVERVIEW OF THE SIXTH SEAL THAT COMMENCES WITH THE RAPTURE

WHICH IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION

 (Mat 24:29)  Immediately after the tribulation of those days [after the Fifth Seal of Great Tribulation: Rev 6:9-11; 7:13-17] [“Immediately after” = thus “suddenly” forming the conclusion of the fifth seal, and the beginning of the sixth: “For when they [the unsaved] shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 1 Thes 5:3] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken [Ezek 37:7; Mat 24:29; Rev 6:13]:

1.      (Rev 6:12,13)  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake [“the heavens shall be shaken”]; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair [“be darkened”], and the moon became  blood [“shall not give her light”]; (Rev 6:13)  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth [“shall fall from heaven”], even as a fig tree [Mat 24:32-35 (details)] casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind [wind is a biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit: John 3:8].

(Mat 24:30,31)  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn [Gk: to beat the breast in grief: wail], and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven [“with the glory which shall be revealed in us” Rom 8:18 & 2 Thes 1:7,10,12] with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect [Gk: select: chosen] from the four winds [the encompassing Holy Spirit], from one end of heaven to the other [“For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles (the eagle saints of Isa 40:31 & Joel 2:1-11; Rev 20:1-6) be gathered together.” Mat 24:28].

1.      rapture = Dict: 1. ecstatic joy or delight. 2. the carrying of a person to another place or sphere of existence.

2.      (1Thes 4:16,17)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

a.       caught up = Gk: to seize: - catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force) /// to take for oneself, to prefer.

THE PROPHECY OF THE SIXTH SEAL/RAPTURE/FIRST RESURRECTION

(Ezek 37:1-14)  The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley [Heb: a split, that is, a wide level valley between mountains /// to cleave; generally to rend, break, rip or open: make a breach] which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley [2x for emphasis]; and, lo, they were very dry [water is the primary symbol of the Holy Spirit, thus these bones had no Holy Spirit, no life]. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones [i.e., unsaved peoples], hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you [“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;” Gen 2:7a], and ye shall live [“and man became a living soul.” Gen 2:7b]: And I will lay sinews [Heb: tendons] upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know [Heb: comprehend, discern, have knowledge, perceive, understand] [John 16:13; 1 John 2:27] that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise [“a great sound of trumpet” Mat 24:31; “the trump of God” 1 Thes 4:16], and behold a shaking [Ezek 37:7; Mat 24:29; Rev 6:13], and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews [Heb: tendons] and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds [Mat 24:31], O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath [the Holy Spirit] came into them, and they lived [eternally], and stood up upon their feet [pictured by a vertical tabernacle of Moses], an exceeding great army [“And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army” Joel 2:11]. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel [“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Rom 2:28,29]: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves [“This is the first resurrection.” Rev 6:5 & 1 Thes 4:16,17], and cause you to come up out of your graves [from a horizontal laying inactive lifeless position of no power into a vertical standing up active position of great power], and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY OF

THE SIXTH SEAL/RAPTURE/FIRST RESURRECTION

(Rev 20:1-6)  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit [Gk: abyss] and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him [with “a great chain”] a thousand years [bound Satan for the 1,000 years duration of the Millennium], And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season [at the advent of the Seventh Seal]. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them [Saints], and judgment was given unto them [“Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” 1 Cor 6:3, i.e., Satan and his fallen angel minions]: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded [a favorite act of those who worship a moon god] for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years [the Millennium]. But the rest of the dead lived not again [i.e., were not then resurrected] until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection [i.e., the rapture: 1 Thes 4:13-18; the sixth seal]. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death [at the conclusion of the sixth seal and beginning of the seventh seal] hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign [Gk: rule: king (s)] [as “kings and priests” Rev 1:6; 5:10] with him a thousand years [from the conclusion of the fifth seal/beginning of the sixth seal to the conclusion of the sixth seal/beginning of the seventh seal (i.e., the wrath of God)].

Supporting details (evidence) verifying this overview of the Sixth Seal to follow next week, God willing.

Amen