Beginning
4 After I wrote down these messages, I saw a door standing open in heaven and heard again the first voice that sounded like a trumpet.
A Voice: Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.
John’s next vision begins when he sees an open door in heaven. What happens next would be impossible for John to imagine.
2 Immediately I was caught up in the Spirit, and I saw a throne that stood in heaven and One seated on the throne. 3 The One enthroned gleamed like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow encircled the throne with an emerald glow. 4 Encircling that great throne were twenty-four smaller thrones with twenty-four elders clothed in white robes with wreaths fashioned of gold on their heads. 5 Out of the great throne came flashes of lightning, sounds of voices, and peals of thunder. In front of the great throne, seven torches were ablaze, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 Also in front of the throne was a glassy sea of shimmering crystal.
In the midst of the throne and encircling the throne were four living creatures, covered all over with eyes, front to back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature was like an ox, the third creature had a face like the face of a human, and the fourth creature was like an eagle in full flight. 8 These four living creatures, each of which had six wings and was covered with eyes—eyes on the outside and on the inside—did not cease chanting. All day and night they were singing.
Four Living Creatures: Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God who is the All Powerful,
who was, and who is, and who is coming.
9 And when the living creatures declared glory and honor and thanksgiving to the One seated on the throne, the One who lives throughout all the ages, 10 the twenty-four elders fell prostrate before the One seated on the throne, worshiped the One who lives throughout all the ages, cast their golden wreaths before the throne, and chanted to Him.
11 24 Elders: Worthy are You, O Lord; worthy are You, O God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
You alone created all things,
and through Your will and by Your design, they exist and were created.
Throughout this book of letters and visions, numbers play an important role. Numbers and their multiples are signs of great mysterious realities. The Son of Man moves among seven lampstands and holds seven stars in His right hand because the number “seven” represents perfection and completeness. Another important number is “twelve” because it represents the people of God. The children of Israel consisted of twelve tribes, and Jesus called “the twelve” to follow Him and embody the new covenant. The number “twelve” and multiples of “twelve” recur throughout the book to signify the people of God, so here the twenty-four elders (12 + 12) signify the people of God, both the old and new covenants.
5 And then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated upon the throne, a scroll written both on the inside and on the outside. It had been sealed with seven seals. 2 Then a mighty heavenly messenger proclaimed with a loud voice,
Mighty Messenger: Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?
3 No creature of creation in all heaven, on all the earth, or even under the earth could open the scroll or look into its mysteries. 4 Then I began to mourn and weep bitterly because no creature of creation was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look into its mysteries. 5 Then one of the elders consoled me.
One of the 24 Elders: Stop weeping. Look there—the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. He has conquered and is able to break its seven seals and open the scroll.
6 I looked, and between the throne and the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders stood a Lamb who appeared to have been slaughtered. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes (the eyes are the seven Spirits of God sent out over all the earth).
John hears that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has arrived and will open the seals to reveal the scroll’s mysteries. But when he turns to see the Lion, he sees a Lamb instead. Not everything is as it appears. The Lamb stands, even though He has been slaughtered as a sacrifice, because He has been resurrected from the dead. And now in his vision, John sees things as they truly are: the Lamb-King has seven horns and seven eyes, signifying the perfect power and perfect sight He possesses to rule the world.
7 The Lamb came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated upon the throne. 8 And when He took it, the four living creatures and twenty-four elders fell prostrate before the Lamb. They worshiped Him, and each one held a harp and golden bowls filled with incense (the prayers of God’s holy people). 9 Then they sang a new song.
Four Living Creatures and 24 Elders: You are worthy to receive the scroll,
to break its seals,
Because You were slain. With Your blood, You redeemed for God
people from every tribe and language, people from every race and nation.
10 You have made them a kingdom; You have appointed them priests to serve our God,
and they[a] will rule upon the earth.
11 When I looked again, I heard the voices of heavenly messengers (numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands). They surrounded the throne, the living creatures, and the elders.
12 Thousands of Messengers (with a great voice): Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.
Worthy is the Lamb to receive authority and wealth and wisdom and greatness
And honor and glory and praise.
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and beneath the earth and in the sea and all things in them echoing the messengers.
Every Creature: To the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
Be blessing and honor and glory and power
Throughout the ages.
14 And the four living creatures kept on repeating:
Four Living Creatures: Amen. Amen.
And the elders fell down and worshiped [Him who lives forever].[b]
6 Then I saw the Lamb break the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out with a thundering voice.
First Living Creature: Come!
2 Then I looked, and what a sight! There was a white horse carrying a rider with a bow. He wore a wreath and came riding like a conqueror, intent on complete victory.
3 The Lamb broke the second seal, and the second living creature called out.
Second Living Creature: Come!
4 Then another horse, fiery red, sped forth. Its rider was granted the power to steal peace from the earth and received a large sword so that people would slaughter each other.
5 The Lamb broke the third seal, and the third living creature called out.
Third Living Creature: Come!
Then I looked; and behold, there was a black horse! Its rider held in his hand a balance scale. 6 And I heard a voice emanating from the middle of the four living creatures.
A Voice: A quart[c] of wheat for a whole day’s wage,[d] three quarts of barley for a whole day’s wage, but do not harm the olive oil and the wine!
7 And when the Lamb broke the fourth seal, the fourth living creature called out.
Fourth Living Creature: Come!
8 I looked; and behold, there was a pale green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades accompanied him. Together they were granted authority over one-fourth of the earth to kill with weapons, with famine, with disease, and with wild animals that roamed the earth.
The breaking of the seals releases the four riders and a series of disasters and plagues. Even though what follows appears to be extreme violence unleashed against the earth and its inhabitants, there is a limitation to what follows. Death and Hades have the authority to kill, but their authority extends only to one-fourth of the earth. The slaughtered souls cry out for vengeance, but they will have to wait a little longer until more martyrs are killed for their testimony.
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the heavenly altar the souls of those murdered for holding fast to the word of God and their testimony. 10 They cried out in a great, singular voice.
Murder Victims: How much longer, O Lord, the holy One, the true One, until You pronounce judgment on the inhabitants of the earth? Until You avenge our blood?
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest for a little while longer—soon their number would be complete. In a little while, more of their fellow servants, brothers, and sisters would be murdered as they had been.
12 When the Lamb broke the sixth seal, a great earthquake shook the earth and the sun grew dark and became black (like mourning sackcloth) and the full moon became red like blood. 13 The stars of heaven fell to earth as a fig tree drops its fruit during a winter storm. 14 The sky snapped back as a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain was shaken off its foundation, and every island melted into the sea. 15 The rulers of the earth, the important and the great, the generals, the wealthy and the powerful, the slave and the free person, all hid themselves in the caves and among the mountains’ rocks. 16 They pleaded with loud suicidal requests to the rocks and mountains.
People of the Earth: Fall on us. Hide us from the fierce presence of the One who sits on the throne, from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 The great day of their[e] wrath has come. Who can withstand it?
7 After this vision, I saw four heavenly messengers standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds so that the earth would not be overcome by violent, rushing winds blowing over the land or over the sea or blowing down any tree. 2 Then I saw a fifth messenger, coming up with the sun as it was rising in the east, carrying the seal of the living God. He called with a great and loud voice to the four messengers who had authority to harm the earth and its seas.
Fifth Messenger: 3 Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God with a mark of ownership on their foreheads.
4-8 Then I heard that 144,000 would receive the seal, that is 12,000 from every tribe of Israel: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.
9 After I heard about these who would be sealed, I looked and saw a huge crowd of people, which no one could even begin to count, representing every nation and tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and waving palm branches. 10 They cried out with one loud voice.
Crowd: Salvation comes only from our God, who sits upon the throne, and from the Lamb.
John hears that 144,000 people out of Israel are destined to be sealed, but then he turns to see an innumerable multitude from every people group in the world. What he sees reveals the truth of what he hears: the number “144,000” is not an exact count of who will be saved but is a symbolic number (12 x 12 x 1000). “Twelve” is a number that signifies all the people of God, from both the Old and New Testaments. In reality, between the sixth and seventh seal, there is an interlude, an opportunity for people from every nation to enter into the people of God, to receive God’s mark, and to take their places among the redeemed.
11 All the heavenly messengers stood up, encircling the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell prostrate before the throne and worshiped God.
12 Heavenly Messengers, Elders, and Living Creatures: Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom
And thanksgiving and honor
And power and might
Be to our God on and on throughout all the ages. Amen.
One of the Elders (to me): 13 Who are these people clothed in white robes, and where have they come from?
John: 14 Sir, surely you know the answer to your own questions.
One of the Elders: These are coming from the time of great suffering and affliction. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, cleansing them pure white.
15 Responding out of a heart filled with praise, they congregate before the throne of God
and constantly worship Him day and night in His temple.
The One seated on the throne will always live among them.
16 They will never be hungry or thirsty again.
The sun or blazing heat will never scorch them,
17 Because the Lamb who stands at the center of the throne is their shepherd and they are His sheep,
and He will lead them to the water of life.
And God will dry every tear from their eyes.
8 When the Lamb cracked open the seventh and final seal, a great silence filled all heaven penetrating everything for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw seven heavenly messengers, the ones who stand before God, receive seven trumpets.
3 An eighth messenger came and stood before the altar carrying a golden censer. He received a large portion of incense to complement the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that sits in front of the throne. 4 From the hand of the eighth messenger, the smoke of the incense mixed with the prayers of God’s people and billowed up before God. 5 The messenger filled the censer with fiery coals from the altar and cast it upon the earth, causing a great commotion of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
Throughout the ages God’s people have been asking Him for justice in their prayers and laments. Now, in response to these, God pours out His judgment.
6 The seven heavenly messengers raised the seven trumpets and prepared to sound them.
7 The first messenger sounded his trumpet, and a blast of hail and fire mixed with blood was cast down to the earth. As a result, one-third of the land was set ablaze, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was scorched.
8 The second messenger sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, with bright flames of burning fire, was cast into the sea. As a result, one-third of the sea turned into blood, 9 one-third of the living sea creatures died, and one-third of the ships were obliterated.
10-11 The third messenger sounded his trumpet, and a great star called Wormwood dropped out of heaven, flaming like a torch as it fell on one-third of the rivers and the springs. As a result, one-third of the waters turned bitter like the herb wormwood so that many people died from the poisonous bitter waters.
12 The fourth messenger sounded his trumpet, and one-third of the sun, one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars were darkened. As a result, one-third of their light flickered and failed. For one-third of the day, the sun did not shine; and likewise for one-third of the night, the moon and stars did not give their light.
13 Then I saw an eagle flying through midheaven, and I heard it cry with a loud voice.
Eagle: Woe, woe, woe—horror, disaster, and calamity—to the earth dwellers! The rest of the trumpet blasts from the last three messengers are about to sound.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.