Bible Prophecy has a dual fulfilment application the first is short-term fulfilment which is now history that is a fulfilled prophecy which has happened in the past. Next is the future application or the long-term fulfilment
When we come to the Book of Revelation most people do not understand that it has a dual application. The Continuous Historical interpretation understands the Book of Revelation as setting forth the major events of Christian history spanning the time of John until the second coming. Therefore the seals and trumpets have already been fulfilled in the past.
However I believe that the seals and trumpets have also a dual fulfilment to come to pass in the last days
John was told that the events of the seals "must take place". The Olivet prophecy uses the same phrase (Mt. 24:6; Lk. 21:9). The Olivet prophecy describes the events of both AD70 and our present last days, with special reference to the tribulation of God's people, both natural and spiritual. The connections between the Olivet prophecy and the seals would therefore indicate that the seals, and therefore much of Revelation, has a fulfilment in the last days.
MATT. 24:4-5 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. | 1-SEAL FALSE CHRIST'S | REV. 6:1-2 AND I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. |
MATT. 24:6-7 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these thingsmust come to pass, but the end is not yet.7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: | 2-SEAL WARS | REV. 6:3-4 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.4 And there went out. another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. |
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MATT 24:7 and there shall be famines, | 3-SEAL FAMINES | REV. 6:5-6 5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. |
MATT. 24:7-8 and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. | 4-SEAL PESTILENCE AND DEATH | REV. 6:7-8 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell fol. lowed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. |
MATT. 24:9-13 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. | 5-SEAL MARTYRDOMS | REV. 6:9-11 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy, and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11, And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until . their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled: |
MATT. 24:14 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. | THE GOSPEL NOW BEING PREACHED IS THE "GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD": ACTS 20:24. | |
ANSWER TO THE SECOND QUESTION | ||
MATT. 24:15 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand,) | "THE SIGN" OF THE "DESOLATOR" DAN 9:27 | |
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MATT. 24:16-22 16 Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:17 Let .him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his. clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give. suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: | ||
| 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. | <--- THE "GREAT TRIBULATION" | |
ANSWER TO THIRD QUESTION | ||
MATT. 24:29-30 29 ¶ Immediately after the tribulation of those days 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:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. | 6-SEAL PHYSICAL CHANGES | REV. 6:12-17 12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;1 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to 'the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? |
THE "FIG-TREE" SIGN MATT. 24:32-35 32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the floors. | 6-SEAL PHYSICAL CHANGES | |
| 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. | <-- JEWISH RACE |
The seals, then, can be applied to our latter day tribulation. They are snapshots of the same scene from different angles. The seals and the repeated references to the tribulation period can be understood likewise; they are giving different aspects of information about the same basic scene.
The sixth seal concludes with the great day of the Lamb coming, with the fig tree casting her immature figs (cp. the fig tree parable), and great changes in Heaven and earth. This must have some reference to the second coming.
Revelation 7 then describes how the 144,000 are sealed to ultimately survive the persecution, and due to the accumulated intense prayer of the persecuted believers, the seventh seal of judgment is poured out on the world (8:3,4), resulting finally in the establishment of the Kingdom.
