The Seals

The number seven represents a completion. But more specifically it represents the completion of God's work that belongs solely to God. In other words, it is His work to do alone. As seen in the creation of the heavens and the earth. It tends to establish a pattern, six days of work followed a seventh day of rest, when the work has been completed. But the day of rest is not a pause, nor is it unimportant, because it represents the goal of work. Provision! The six days of work have provided fully for the seventh day rest, making it a time of plenty. For the believer the seventh day rest is God's provision in Christ, attained through faith in the work of Christ. So seven seals represent God's work being accomplished with the ultimate result of "rest", or sabbath. It is interesting that the sign God gave for the Mosaic covenant was the sabbath. Anyway, the number is not necessarily to be taken as literal, because it stands symbolically without the need for literal interpretation. There were seven generations from one person to another, and seven generations from that person to the next, yet we know that some people were missing from the genealogical list because they are included in other sources but not this one. So it is not necessarily the literal number that's being recorded in the New Testament genealogy of Christ, so much as it signifies the work of God in bringing about the appearance of Christ. Anyway, the same thing applies here. The number seven is sufficient for us to recognize the work of the creator. And the order in which the seals occur is also important. They don't just establish Christ's identity as individual seals, pointing to specific things that Christ overcomes or that describes His authority but collectively they establish a theme. The theme of Judge, King seated at the right hand of power. Here is the theme!

Seals 1-4 give Christ power over the curses of the covenant. If it were likened to a local municipal government, Christ would be like the local magistrate or mayor and the angels of the curses like the police who enforce the punishment of the law against those who break it.

Seal 5 is the complaint lodged in court by those who suffer at the hands of the lawbreakers. Not only is Christ the judge to whom the complaint is lodged but He is also one of the complainants. The major point here is that He is the judge receiving the complaint. And there is no need for evidence, because the evidence is lodging the complaint. How easy would murder trials be today if the blood of the victim could literally talk in court, saying who it was and what they did.

Seal 6 represents His authority to take action against those who have broken the law. He is judge and His decree moves heaven and earth, erases all other decrees and is irrevocable. It is the Lord of power speaking from His throne, and heaven and earth tremble at His voice, bending to His will.

Seal 7 is the 'rest' that results from the Lord's decrees. Silence represents a cessation of decrees from heaven. God's work is done. Christ is seated at the right hand of power. And His ability to open the seals on the scroll of the New Covenant, the book of life, show that He is the only one God intended for this position. The Lamb of God.

In a nut shell that is the seven seals of the book of Revelation. Next come the trumpets. Trumpets are different than seals. Identification is no longer required, now it is time for warning. Trumpets announce, warn and call. They announce the coming judgment of God, the coming of the day of the Lord. They warn the faithless to turn back from the direction they have chosen. And they call the faithful to full repentance and worship. The faithful must not lose sight of the hope of the prize despite the suffering and death. We must see beyond what is happening in this earth and know that the loss of our physical body is not the worst thing that can happen to us. We must stay in humility before the Lord, seeking His character in our lives, looking beyond the grave.