6. The seals = the beginning of the birth pains (Rev. 6, 8:1-5)

6.1 Important purposes

I believe that through the events of the end times God desires mainly to:

1. save as many people as possible from the judgments of wrath and hell,
2. expose the nature of evil and its consequences, and
3. develop the Bride unto a greater Christ likeness, characterized by:
• Jesus' character (the lamb)
• Jesus' ability to see the truth - through eyes like flames of fire - and to act accordingly, and
• Jesus' willingness to help his fellow man.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve did not pass even a single test. The Devil won that time, even though the test was simple in comparison to the complex temptations and trials which we meet in our modern society.

All the greater, therefore, will God's triumph be when Jesus Christ wins the final victory in cooperation with his church.

6.2.The seals are broken

In the Bible, Jesus Christ is called the divine alpha and omega; that is, he is both the beginning and the end. Therefore, he has the assignment of starting the end times, by breaking the seals of the scroll, and ending them, when he has disarmed the Devil, death, and all evil.

6.2.1. The first seal - truth

The first seal which is broken is represented by a rider on a white horse. Currently, I believe that with his bow he represents the Truth of God's Word, preached in the revivals of the end times. The key phrase for this interpretation is that "he went out conquering and to conquer."
Through everything that happens, the spirit of truth will prepare the way for Christ's final appearing as the rightful victor on his white horse in Rev. 19:14. (See note)

The last great revival, which is a result of this, is described further in section 7. Here, we only state that the things we see happening today have been prepared in waves during the whole 20th century, beginning with the Pentecostal revival in 1905, followed by the charismatic waves of the 60's and 70's, and the third wave in the 80's and 90's. Already in the year 1995, WB Barret's missions statistics stated that one out of four Christians, or 500 million, have been touched by revival. (More on this in the introduction to the Prophetic/Technical supplement.)
The developments have occurred in response to a personal experience of the Holy Spirit becoming all the more accepted within Christianity. The purpose of the Spirit is of course to first and foremost glorify Jesus, by making more real to us who he is, what he has done, and what he wants to do in and through us.

Currently, Christianity is increasing in some countries three times faster than the population growth. As a result, there could be between 1.5 - 2 billion confessing Christians in the beginning of the new millennium, if the trend continues.

Note. In the Bible, arrows symbolize thoughts, which can affect our behavior. In this sense, they are also used in the illustrated series, for example in illustration 3.11. Even in the Garden of Eden, therefore, God revealed his truth first, before the Devil could come with his lie. So he does even today. Many of those who believe in Darby's theory that the Bride is to be rescued before the birth pains begin interpret the first seal as false religion or the Antichrist. In our interpretation, these are instead included in the second seal, according to the logic above. A different interpretation could even be in conflict with the logic in the book of Revelation, which very clearly defines other negative symbols; for example, the Antichrist = the beast, the Devil = the dragon. It should have also done so even here, if the rider was false religion or the Antichrist.

6.2. 2. The second seal = the lie

The second seal is represented by a rider on a red horse. With his sword, he stands for the counterpart of truth, the lie. These could be in the form of various political lies, which "take peace from the earth", and among other things, lead to the many wars of the end times.
The remarkable thing is that ever since the communist lies came forth, the world has almost not had a single day without a war someplace. Everywhere it has appeared peace has been blown away. Its followers deceptively call themselves freedom movements, but the final result has usually been even greater oppression. They are also characterized by their red banners. The rider's great sword can signify that wars will become more and more widespread over time, and that weapons will become more effective. The last and greatest war is called the Battle of Armageddon. The wars of the end times are covered in greater detail in section 10, and in the Prophetic/Tecnical supplement section 5. The most incredible thing is that the poor third world paid out 60 billion dollars every year for weapons during the 1980's. Half of this would have sufficed to improve their standard of living through industrialization.

But this is the way it always goes when truth and peace are replaced by lies, fear and the lust for power.

6.2.3. The third seal - expensive times and famine

The third seal is represented by a man on a black horse with a scale in his hand. The scale symbolizes in part the instability in the world's economy with its rapid fluctuations between prosperity periods and periods of high prices. It also symbolizes the gap between the poor and the rich, with scarcity of food bringing famine among the poorest peoples. During the world wars, we had widespread rationing in the countries at war. For example, one could only buy a smaller size loaf of bread.

After the world wars, we have seen near foolishness as a result of egoism, namely the huge difference between the poor and the rich countries even in peacetime. In poor countries, many barely have enough to buy food for the day. During the 1980's, almost a billion suffered from starvation. At the same time, we in the industrialized world lived (and continue to live) with an overabundance of food, and with luxury items such as wine/alcohol, and oil. The difference in the standard of living has also increased yearly instead of diminishing. For example, while in the rich countries we used up to $30,000/year in medicine for an aids patient, the patients in undeveloped countries were forced to settle for $10.

But the scale of justice can quickly tip over, so that even our overabundance runs out.

6.2.4. The fourth seal - death from starvation, epidemics, and the sword.

The fourth seal is represented by a man on a pale horse. His name is Death, and he was given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people through the starvation, epidemics, and the sword. Under this are presumably included both of the world wars, which altogether claimed at least 65 millions lives. Communism alone is estimated to have robbed the lives of 100 million people, if one counts the genocides in the Soviet Union, China, and throughout Asia. During the 1980's, 100's of millions died of starvation. In the last decades, new destructive epidemics have appeared for which there are no cures, for example, aids and mad cow disease. Out of the 34 million aids patients in the world, as many as 22 million live in Africa, where in some areas the infection rate increased from 1% to 35% in 10 years. The world has not seen anything like this since the days of the Black Death in the 1300's.

Unfortunately, things will get a lot worse in connection with the future great wars. (See section 10)

As long as the Devil is the ruler of this world, (see illustration 4.7) we will have to count on suffering or even persecution as a natural consequence of our true Christian faith. In several countries, it can even result in death. The fifth seal is therefore represented by martyrs, who are killed for their Christian faith. This has happened, is happening, and unfortunately will continue to happen before the second coming of Christ.
In the Soviet Union alone, from an official Russian investigation in 1995, it was estimated that 200,000 Christian leaders were killed and at least 500,000 were persecuted for their faith, under directives from Lenin and Stalin. Additionally, they are said to have torn down at least 40,000 churches. The final great persecution will occur during the time of the Antichrist. (More on this in sections 8 och 11)

In the year 1996, it was estimated that persecution against Christians was taking place in 30 countries, which resulted in 150,000-160,000 martyrs each year, or about one martyr every three minutes.

6.2.6. The sixth seal - natural disasters

The sixth seal deals with increasing turmoil in all of nature. The number of natural disasters has risen 10-fold in 30 years. Those affected by drought or downpours and flooding have tripled in 30 years to between 50-80 million. In 1998 alone, hurricane Mitch caused at least 10,000 deaths and made millions homeless in Central America. Flooding in Bangladesh killed many and left at least 20 million without homes. If a large earthquake were to hit a major city such as Tokyo, it is estimated that 160,000 would be killed and injured, and 600,000 buildings would be destroyed. In addition, the world's economy would probably be negatively affected. As a result of a major volcanic eruption, the sun and the moon could be locally darkened from dust which is thrown up into the atmosphere.

According to the trend theory, the final great earthquake of the sixth seal coincides with the seventh bowl of wrath. (See section 10.3.3)

The seventh seal releases the 7 trumpets, similarly to how a rocket explodes into several second-stage rockets. But above all, something special happens in heaven. The moment is so holy that even the praise becomes silent. At that moment, Christ can open the whole scroll for the first time, and can perceive God's secret battle plan in more detail. (Rev. 5 and 8:1-5)

With this, Christ also takes over the command for the subsequent developments:

• This implies that we will experience his presence in a more tangible way than before in, for example, our gatherings.
• Further, God gives his people answers to their prayers, in that the collected prayers of Christians are emptied from the prayers bowls.

This results in the last great revival, among other things. (See section 7.2)

6.3. Where do we now stand?

When you have read this far, the following questions probably arise:

• Can we know whether the end times have already begun?
• Where do things stand now?

But since ALL of these things are already happening, I firmly believe that the end times have already begun, in accordance with verse 33.

6.4. Jesus' first and second coming

Now God is again arranging things so the Gospel can relatively quickly be able to reach all peoples on earth.

This illustrated series therefore has the intention of providing an easily understood guide for everyone concerned.