During the end times, God will pour out his wrath as judgment for the sin of the world and as a final call for humanity to repent and worship him. In the book of Revelation, John describes the vision that God gave him of a future period. The 7 seals of the apocalypse they are the first series of God’s judgments during this time, and are described in Revelation 6:1–17 and 8:1–5.
Jesus is the only one worthy of opening the seals
In his vision, John sees an angel looking for someone who is worthy to open a scroll that will begin to judge the world. In Revelation 5:4 he says that he cries because he does not find someone worthy to open the seals. He then looks, “And between the throne and the four living creatures, and between the elders he saw a Lamb standing, as if he had been slain.”
Who he saw was Jesus who had died to pay for the sins of the world and was the only one worthy of opening the parchment to judge the world. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell in worship to Jesus (Revelation 5:8–14). Then Jesus began to break the seals.
As he takes to open the seals and pronounce judgment on the unbelieving world, the beings in heaven glorify him with a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and open their seals,
because you were killed
and with your blood that you bought for God
people of every tribe and language and people and nation. . .
Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength,
honor, glory and praise! ”(Verses 9 and 12).
In the midst of the worship due to Him, the Lamb begins to open the seals (Revelation 6:1). With each seal opened, the scroll can be unrolled a little more, gradually revealing the judgments that God has in store during the tribulation period.
The first four of the seven seals they unleash what is known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, for the judgments appear symbolically as a horse and rider bringing devastation in their wake.
Meaning of the 7 seals of the Apocalypse
The following are explained 7 seals of the Apocalypse and their meaning:
first seal
The first seal introduces the Antichrist (Revelation 6:1–2). From the biblical description we gather several details: he rides a white horse, which speaks of peace; at the beginning of the tribulation, the antichrist will come under the pretext of bringing peace to the world.
He is given a crown, indicating that the Antichrist will wield great authority. He takes a bow, which shows his true intent, and advances “like a conqueror bent on conquest” (Revelation 6:2).
The arc reveals that he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing intent on deceiving and conquering the world. The image of the white horse is similar to the one used to describe the second coming of Jesus in Revelation 19:11. However, Jesus will come wielding a sword with the intention of bringing justice to the world.
second seal
When the Lamb opens the second seal, a great war breaks out on earth (Revelation 6:3–4). This is symbolized by a rider with a great sword on a fiery red horse.
The second seal marks the beginning of an intense war. This war will be worse than any war we have experienced so far.
third seal
The breaking of the third of the 7 seals of the apocalypse causes famine (Revelation 6:5–6). The rider Juan sees is riding a black horse and “holding a pair of scales in his hand.” He then hears a statement that people will have to work all day to earn a little food.
fourth seal
The fourth seal. The fourth seal is opened and John sees a pale horse. “His rider of him was called Death, and Hades rode with him from near near” (Revelation 6:7–8). The result of this fourth seal is that a quarter of the earth’s population is killed “by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
fifth seal
The fifth seal of the scroll reveals those who will be martyred for their faith in Christ during the tribulation (Revelation 6:9–11; Matthew 24:9). The souls of these martyrs are represented as dwelling under the altar in heaven.
God hears their cries for justice, and gives each one a white robe. Martyrs are told to wait “until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, have been killed just as they had been.”
sixth seal
When the Lamb of God opens the sixth seal, a devastating earthquake occurs, causing massive upheaval and terrible devastation, along with unusual astronomical phenomena: the sun turns black, the moon turns blood red, and the heavens they receded like something from a scroll.
Every mountain and island was removed from its place (Revelation 6:12-14). The survivors of the sixth seal, regardless of their social position, take refuge in caves and cry out to the mountains and rocks: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
After the opening of the sixth of the seven seals there is an interlude in the book of Revelation. John describes the 144,000 Jews who will be protected during the tribulation (Revelation 7:1–8). Then he looks up to heaven and sees so many people, so many that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. This is explained in verse 9.
seventh seal
When Jesus opens the last of the 7 seals of Revelation, it happened that there was silence in heaven for about half an hour (Revelation 8: 1). The judgments leading up to the end of the tribulation are now visible on the scroll and are so severe that a solemn silence falls over the entire sky.
The seventh seal obviously features the next series of judgments, as John immediately sees seven angels being handed seven trumpets ready to blow (verse 2). An eighth angel takes a censer and burns “much incense” in it, representing the prayers of God’s people (verses 3–4).
Once the seven seal judgments are complete, the next part of the tribulation, featuring the seven trumpet judgments, is ready to begin.
Why should Christians worry about this now?
God has provided us with a plan of what will happen during the end times. As we rapidly approach those moments, we must be aware of the severity of the judgment that will take place. When we realize such catastrophes will occur, we understand the great cost of Jesus’ salvation in order for us to be freed from God’s judgment.
We also understand that we need to spread the Gospel to as many souls as possible, so that they can receive God’s grace. Considering that some plagues only affect non-Christians, if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will prevent some of these events from taking place in the future.