This is a condensed summary of a very detailed study of the letters, trumpets, bowls and seals of The Book of Revelation which goes verse by verse through the relevant sections of the Book. The Interpretations in the study and the summary below are based on the replacement of the numbers and Biblical symbols in the Biblical text with their interpreted meanings.
The seven seals appear to summarise the Church age from the viewpoint of a series of enfolding events. The opening of the seals reveals the state of God's people at their various stages, what is in store for them (declared by The Trumpets) and what the outcome will be (the Bowls) during that period in time. The opening of each seal details the successive external forces that would be at work, both collectively on the church as a whole, and individually, in the life of the followers of Jesus. They are called seals, because the events spoken of were sealed or hidden away, having been determined by the foreknowledge of God, but their contents hidden and unknown until they came to pass, or are revealed in prophecy, as is the case here.
The Trumpets are the declarations of the key events of that era relating to the followers of Jesus, both collectively and individually. They delineate the conditions which would characterize the successive stages in their progress.
The bowls represent what is "poured out" on the people of that era, and are therefore the consequences or outcome of the events taking place at that time.
In the timline of "Sevens" in the Book of Revelation, the events pertaining to the The Woman Clothed in the Sun and her man child appear to take place in the third era of the Christian Church.
The Woman Clothed in the Sun The church of Pergamum has held fast and not denied their faith, but have allowed false doctrines to infiltrate their beliefs. They are warned to repent, but are also promised that God will ensure they will receive hidden manna to eat, and begiven a white stone. Manna was a food given directly by God to the children of Israel as they travelled from Ehypt to the Promised Land. This food was just enough for one day's requirements, and was given at a place where there was none to purchase.
It was in Pergamum where the Provincial temple of the Imperial cult was first built in adoration of the pagan gods. It was also the placewhere, for the first time in Roman history, there was an equal acceptance of both civil and religious authority that would eventually see civil authority pass from the Emperor to the Roman Catholic Church's pope. This was a befitting symbol for the third church period in which the ultimate marriage of political and religious Rome merged into one authority. Satan signifies and evil power, perhaps in this case a line of Roman emperors who were brutal and evil, pariculary to people of the Christian faith. Satan's throne, which is referred to here, identifies the true nature of the Roman political system.
The ray of hope for the church of Pergamum lies in the white stone mentioned at the end of their letter. The white stone they are given appears to be a reference to the same rock/stone cut out, but not by human hands, referred to in Daniel 2: 34-35: "While you were watching, it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth."
These verses are part of Daniel's description of a statue in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, foretelling the fate of the nations that will rule over the Children of Israel. The feet of iron and clay are widely accepted by scholars as referencing the Roman Empire, the last foreign power to dominate the Children of Israel.
White signifies purity, a stone signifies a foundation, so the white rock given to the faithful of of the church of Pergamum signified a pure foundation on which they could stand, and use it to not only stand against Satan (the power of Imperial Rome) but ultimately bring about Imperial Rome's demise. It brings to mind Jesus' observation of Peter's faith in Matthew 16:18: "on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it", as well as Matthew 21:42: "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." Within just over a century, the Christian faith that the 2nd century Roman Emperors fought so hard to destroy, ended up usurping them, and it became the cornerstone of the empire they once ruled over over.
The name Pergamum is Greek for 'perverted marriage', which culminated in Emperor Constantine's act of 313 AD when he made it illegal throughout the Roman Empire to be of any other religion than Christianity. His edict, outlawing other religions, resulted in the merging of the truth taught by Jesus with many false doctrines and practices from the religions that had been outlawed which the people who practiced them simply brought with them. Because of the sheer numbers of people practising these other religions, particularly Mithraism, many pagan festivals and holy days continued to be practiced in the church and in time became absorbed into Roman Catholic theology and tradition. These included the replacement of the Sabbath with Sun Day (a holy day for Sun God worshippers); the pagan feast of Yuletide ('Christianised' as the day on which Christ's birth was celebrated).
Mustard is a herb that, through cross breeding, can mutate into a tree. Instead of retaining its original form, that of a herb, it changes its appearance to that of a tree. By the beginning of the third century, the church was almost totally unrecognisable, bearing no resemblance to the little fellowship of The Way in first century Jerusalem: (see Acts 4: 31-35).
The church had gone from being a small herb that seasoned the world around it with the love of God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, to a giant tree where all and sundry brought their various pagan doctrines and philosophies and practiced them in the church. ie. from many small bodies of people of equal standing directed by God, to a huge multi-branched organisation operated by man in the many branches of which false doctines have taken up their abode. These pervert the seeds that the tree is producing. What was once the greatest among herbs had now mutated into a tree that bore no mustard seeds (fruit).
I beheld, and see a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the middle of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see you hurt not the oil and the wine.
Interpretation: Black signifies death; a horse signifies trength and Power in Battle. "Earth" signifies the place or nation involved in the prophesy. The rivers and springs (source of spiritual food) becoming blood (polluted), results a shortage of spiritual food, the church is judged (the rider with the balance), and it is found wanting. Unlike in the previous era where the benefits of being of the faith were free, now their is a price to pay for one's spiritual food, however the power of God's spirit (oil) and the healing powers of the word of God (wine) are still freely available and not restricted by the activities of the church leadership.
Summary: The Third Seal reveals much about the conditions of the believers during the time it seems to represent (3rd century AD). It was a period of spiritual famine, a time when it became unlawful to read The Bible without the authority of the church, as it was considered too sacred for the masses to handle. Daniel 8: 12 prophecies: "On account of transgression the host will be given over to the little horn along with the continual; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper." Sadly, history shows that the ministry of Jesus was handed over to the little horn (the Pope) who led the people of God's Kingdom into spiritual darkness with the incorporation of Mithraian theology in the Christian theology.
There fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell on the third part of the rivers, and on the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood (bitter): and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
Interpretation: A river of water signifies a channel of teaching of the Word of God. Such a river falling on the third part signifies it relates to the channel of teaching that feeds the "Redeemed of the Lord", or God's people, the followers of Jesus. The Word of God (river of water) that is now being taught and fed to God's people, the followers of Jesus, no longer brings life, but leads to many being spiritually sick and has resulted in many losing their faith and turning their back on God totally.
False teaching was rife within the Holy Roman Church as the Roman Catholic Church was known in its original form. The Arian heresy denied the divinity of Christ; the Nestorian heresy divided his person; and the Eutychian heresy confused the two natures in Christ; the Macedonian heresy took away the deity of the Holy Spirit; the Pelagian heresy denied the grace of God, and set up the power of man's free will. These doctrines were like wormwood - a herbal tonic that leaves a bitter after-taste - that polluted the waters of truth and starved the people of their spiritual nourishment by denying them access to the Bible (it became only available in Latin and it was against the law for common folk to read it). Wormwood is a very bitter substance (Jer 9:15, Lam 3:19) and indicates affliction and misery. John may have had in mind the water at Marah, which was bitter but which the Lord made sweet, there the Lord promised not to bring any of the diseases that he brought onto the Egyptians provided they obey the laws of God (Exo 15:22).
In Biblical times, religious leaders were symbolised as stars, being lesser lights in the process of spirtual guidance. A star symbolises a messenger, and a star from heaven, a messenger teaching things spiritual. "A great star from heaven falling to the earth" or similar words signifies a highly respected or powerful spiritual leader experiencing a vision in which transforms their beliefs and/or thinking.
Constantine the Great, a powerful political and spuiritual leader, claimed to have had numerous visions. One such experience, prior to him becoming Emperor, led to his claimed conversion to Christianity and played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan in 313, which decreed tolerance for Christianity in the empire. After his declaration that Christianity would be the one and only religion practiced throughout the Roman Empire, his former faith - Mithraism - rapidly declined, but not before he introduced Mithraian priests into the Christian priesthood, bringing with them aspects of Mithraian theology that were woven into Roman Catholic theology and remain a major part of it to this day. Could Constantine be the one whose teaching turned the waters of the Word of God bitter?
Paul also had such an experience on the Road to Damascus, which led him to develop the theology upon which much of the modern day Christian faith is built. In Acts 23: 13, Paul described his vision as "a light from heaven, brighter than the sun", which parallels the Third Trumpet's description of "burning as it were a lamp". At first, Paul's vision does not seem to fit into the timeline the "Sevens" of the Book of Revelation seems to be creating, except when one examines the events surrounding the selection of which books made it into the Biblical Canon of Scripture.
The task of compiling a draft Canon for the Church in Rome to approve was given to Marcion, a 2nd century bishop and leader of the Marcionite sect, who preached that the god who sent Jesus into the world was a different, higher deity than the creator god of Judaism, and that Paul was the prophet sent by God and not Jesus. A major component of Marcion's draft New Testament were the Epistles of Paul. Marcion was eventually communicated because of this teaching.
It is highly significant that numerous bishops and theologians of the day expressed concern at the inclusion of Paul's epistles because they were not divinely inspired. They in fact viewed the epistles as containing some truths, but most of their content was at odds with accepted Christian theology. This clearly indicates that the gospel as taught by Paul was not part of mainstream 2nd century Christian teaching, which is contrary to what we have been led to believe. This is supported by the Church adopting Peter as its founder, and not Paul, even though Peter never went to Rome and Paul did, and in fact died there. How Paul's epistles made it into the canon of Christian literature only to be largely forgotten, but were then revived and elevated to "divinely inspired" status later during The Reformation is covered in later chapters.
Summary: The followers of Jesus, both as a church and as individuals are now being fed a tainted gospel introdued by a powerful leader of the church. The lack of pure teaching causes many to stumble in their faith or abandon their faith altogether.
The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgements, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; For they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."
Interpretation: Just as the second angel made the sea turn into blood so now the third angel turns the rivers and springs into blood (Psa 78:44), a harsh but just punishment metered out on the Roman Empire. The reason for the judgement is given here, they shed the blood of the saints - the martyrs who died for their faith. The punishment fits the crime, they shed blood so they must drink blood - this is similar to the Levitical code 'life for life' Lev 24:17-18 see also Gen 9:5-6.
Summary: The Roman Emperors lost their power and their empires to the Christian Church, the very people they persecuted.
74 AD - 313 AD. During the third church period, the strength and power held by Rome over the then known world was mirrored in the church. The christian churches of Rome became big, strong and powerful, their influence growing so strong that it became illegal throughout the Roman Empire to have any religious faith other than christianity. At the beginning of the era, the Roman state persecuted the church, but within just over 200 years the church had taken control of the Roman state, or what was left of it.
Chapter 9: The Fourth Era of the Church AgeDesign by W3layouts
