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I responded to the very common pretribulational claim that the seals in the book of Revelation express the day of the Lord’s wrath. They argue this namely because it says that Jesus himself opens the seals. I refuted this notion by actually examining the biblical texts in Revelation 6.
First Four Horsemen Seals
I began with the first four seals showing that these are natural events in contrast to the supernatural judgment elements in the trumpets and bowls. The first four seals will purify the church before Christ returns. I also responded to the pretrib ignorant claim that “God would never bring tribulation to the church”; for example, I noted 1 Peter 4:17: “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
Fifth Seal
The fifth seal is deeply problematic for pretribulationism. I demonstrated that the fifth seal thoroughly refutes the pretrib notion that the seals are the day of the Lord’s wrath. The fifth seal depicts martyrs, showing that they rightly recognize the day of the Lord’s wrath has not come. In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, we have a promise from God that no believers will experience the day of the Lord’s wrath. Pretribs would have God breaking his promise by claiming that the fifth seal is God’s wrath.
Sixth Seal
I explained that the sixth seal is also problematic for pretribulationists because the depiction of the wicked convey that the wrath of God is impending, not that it already started in the past. In addition, Joel 2:30–31 explicitly states that the celestial disturbances happens before the day of the Lord. I also noted Luke 21:25–28 and Matthew 24:29–30 that corroborates that the day of the Lord happens after the great tribulation.
Seventh Seal
Finally, I mentioned that the two groups of people being delivered between the opening of the sixth and seventh seal demonstrates that the day of the Lord’s wrath has not happened because they are being protected before God pours out his wrath with the opening of the seventh seal containing the trumpet and bowl judgments. There is a progression in the final seals: the fifth seal promises wrath, the sixth seal portends wrath, an interlude in Revelation 7 protects from wrath, and the seventh seal pronounces wrath.
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Progression Towards God’s Wrath |
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Seal 5 |
Promises God’s Wrath |
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Seal 6 |
Portends God’s Wrath |
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Interlude |
Protects from God’s Wrath |
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Seal 7 |
Pronounces God’s Wrath |
It is wrong to claim that because Jesus opens the seals himself the seals therefore contain God’s wrath. Instead, it means that he is sovereignly orchestrating eschatological history—for the ungodly and the godly. The seals function as conditions that must be first met before the scroll is opened.
I concluded with the exhortation that the overarching question in the book of Revelation is—not are you going to be an escaper—but will you be an overcomer?
