The Wrath & Protection of the Lamb

Timeline of the Wrath

Order of Judgements

What are the biblical clues? Rev 6:12-17; Mt 24:29-30; Isaiah 34:1–4

Revelation 6:12–17 “12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?””

Matthew 24:29–30 “29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Isaiah 34:1–4 “1 Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it. 2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. 3 Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood. 4 All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.”

The 7th Trumpet

Revelation 10:7 “7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

Revelation 11:15 “15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.””

The 7th Bowl

Revelation 15:1 “1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.”

Revelation 16:17–20 “17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.”

What about the 7th Seal?

Revelation 8:1 “1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”

Zephaniah 1:7 “7 Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.”

What is the purpose of Chapter 7?

When do these events occur?

Who is represented in the text?

Throughout the judgment scenes of chapters 6–16 there are three interludes: 7:1–17; 10:1–11:13; and 12:1–14:20. These are scenes that interrupt the flow of the seals, trumpets, and bowls. They have multiple purposes:

The seals, trumpets, and bowls describe the judgments that are happening to the sinners, while the interludes provide information about the place of the saints in the action of this period.

They stress even more God’s sovereign reign over the whole process; he is watching over and protecting the saints at every stage.

When we consider the placement of chapter 7, we begin with the question that ends the narrative of the opening of the sixth seal: “Who can stand?”

The Wrath of the Lamb

200 scriptural references in the OT

Let’s look at 7 references in the NT

Flee the coming wrath

Matthew 3:7 “7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

Reject Jesus

John 3:36 “36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Unrepentant

Romans 2:5 “5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

Saved from wrath

Romans 5:9 “9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

Disobedience

Ephesians 5:6 “6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

Delivered from wrath

1 Thessalonians 1:10 “10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

Not destined for

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Who can stand?

Revelation 7:1–3 “1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.””

Notice the repeating pattern of the #4

4 Angels, 4 winds, 4 corners in chapter 7

4 Cherubim, 4 horses , a 4th of the earth in chapter 6

4 is number of creation (remember chapter 4 - God the creator) and the wrath is being poured out on creation

Why is the wrath being held up?

The remnant must be marked

Is there a promise being keep?

Isaiah 45:17 “17 But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.”

This promise is in the the scripture 153X

And His promise still stands

Romans 9:27 “27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,”

Romans 11:25–27 “25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.””

John 21:11 “11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.”

Revelation 7:4 “4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:”

12000 from each of the 12 tribes

This is not the first time we’ve seen a remnant in Israel

During the 3 1/2 year reign of Ahab & Jezebel God revealed to Elijah the remnant of 7000

12 & 7 - Perfection \ Completeness

Matthew 14:20 “20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.”

Matthew 15:37 “37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.”

Revelation 7:5–8 “5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.”

How many tribes in Israel?

Who’s missing?