As we continue our study of Revelation chapter 6, we find Jesus revealing to John what would soon come upon Israel for rejecting Him as their Messiah. Under the 6th seal He showed what would happen to the people once they were barricaded behind the wall of Jerusalem when the wrath of the Lamb was executed. People from all over the territory who had come to the celebration, as well as for commercial endeavors, were confined by the Roman army - 6,000 strong - the abomination of desolation.
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains...and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb...for the great day of His wrath has come and who is able to stand?...Rev. 6:15-17.
Did Jesus prophesy this moment when He walked the streets of Jerusalem? Jesus was beaten and bloody, bearing His cross in the streets of Jerusalem - the Via Dolorosa. Many sorrowful weeping women walked beside Jesus to whom He prophesied...
Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children...for indeed the days are coming in which they will say, "Blessed are the barren wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!"...then they will begin to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" And to the hills, "Cover us!"...for if they do these things in the green wood what will be done in the dry?...Luke 23:28-31.
What did Jesus mean when He said to the weeping women...weep for yourselves and for the children? Many of these women would be alive to experience the war of retribution in 70 A.D. The people of Israel will be held captive behind the walls of Jerusalem for three and a half years, eventually impoverished, bereft of food and water. So Jesus knew that the severe famine would cause the ugliness and degradation of cannibalism - they will eat their own children. We will go more into detail about this devastation in our next series - Daniel's 70-week vision.
What Jesus showed to John is a confirmation of His own prophecy. When the prophecy says the people cry out for the rocks to fall on them to hide them from His wrath, it is metaphorical language describing the shame and humiliation of a proud and stiff-necked people when they endure the wrath - vengeance - of the One they rejected.
The very last sentence of Jesus' prophecy...for if they do these things in the greenwood, what will be done in the dry...is definitely a riddle. But my blog is all about defining riddles, enigmas, metaphors and the esoteric imagery of Revelation. Historians refer to this statement as a proverb.
By His enigmatic statement, which people of His day would have understood, He was conveying to the women, if His sufferings are so great at the hands of the Jews, the sufferings of the Jews will be more intense, when His wrath comes upon them in the coming war. Jesus was letting these women know His vengeance for rejecting Him as the Messiah will come - Israel will not go unpunished.
John was shown that the prophecy of Jesus would come to pass very soon, so that John could sound the alarm to the disciples of Christ, giving them time to flee from the city before the abomination of desolation appears in Jerusalem - Roman armies.
John has witnessed under the first six seals the war, famine, death and destruction of Israel - judgment for rejecting Jesus Christ as their Messiah. When He opens the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven for about half an hour...Rev. 8:1. What does this mean? The number 7 means complete - perfection. Vengeance upon Israel is complete - they are no longer a nation. God is not rejoicing over this - there is deep sorrowful contemplation - expressed by silence in Heaven.
Then John saw seven angels with seven trumpets. They are announcing the judgment that is coming upon the whole world throughout the Christian era.
Can the 4 Horsemen ride again? Historically, the symbolism of the horses - war, bloodshed, famine, death - represented judgment upon Israel two different times in their history. With the end of times upon this generation, as the signs of the times reveal, could this same judgment come upon the blood-bought church of Jesus Christ? Yes - for their sins of immorality and paganism.
What historical documentation proves that the 70th week of Daniel's vision was fulfilled in 70 A.D., which Jesus referred to as the great tribulation? Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question~~~
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