What are the 7 seals in Revelation?

The seven seals

The seven seals represent events to take place on this earth during each seal’s specific time period—beginning at the time of Christ and continuing until Christ’s second coming. Below is a listing of the seven seals.

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Seven seals list:

Jesus, seals and prophecy

The whole book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament, is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John” (Revelation 1:1).

A great many of Revelation's prophecies have already been fulfilled, and history bears record of them. Some are now in the process of being fulfilled, and others are still in the future. Most of these important prophecies of the Bible are in figurative language so that they might be understood equally well in any age of the world.

The seven seals are found in Revelation chapters five, six and eight. As each of the seven seals is broken a picture or representation of events to take place on the earth during that seal period is described.

Who can open the seals?

As this prophecy opens, we see Christ as the Lamb of God take the great book of God’s providence and begin to open its seven seals, one by one. The right to break these seven seals of future events belongs to Jesus Christ because He died for humanity of all ages, from creation to the end of time. When He took the book, the holy ones about God’s throne…

“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation’” (Revelation 5:9).

The lamb is worthy

There, supreme, at the center of power of the whole universe, is the Lamb of God who died for us. In Him we see infinite power in self-sacrifice. Lucifer in heaven sought power in self-exaltation, but Jesus humbled Himself and was awarded exaltation above every name—something He had never sought. He came to save the lost and to glorify His Father. As by faith we see the shining ones above bow before Him in loving adoration, declaring Him worthy to open the seven-sealed book.

1. The first seal: a white horse

As the Savior breaks the first seal of the great book, a wondrous scene flashes before the gaze of the holy apostle John, He says, “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer” (Revelation 6:2).

These seals cover seven eras or periods of time from the time of the apostles to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and, to a large extent, they depict: religious affairs in the world.

In the first seal we see Christ with the wreath of a conqueror. He rides the white horse, white being the emblem of victory and also of purity. This prophetic picture shows the apostolic church led on by its divine Captain to victory over a pagan world, its doctrines pure, and its victorious Leader, Christ Himself. As the apos­tle Paul exclaimed when he saw the pure gospel transforming men:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans. 1:16).
Read more about the first seal

But after the apostles died, a change came. Faith grew cold, and the predicted days of “falling away” came (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The next seal flashes a sad picture on the screen of prophecy.

2. The second seal: a red horse

“When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, ‘Come and see.’ Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword” (Revelation 6:3, 4).

From a white horse, denoting victory and purity and truth, the color is changed to red—the red horse of bloodshed. These days, from the death of the apostles to exaltation of the worldly church by the great emperor Constantine, depicted the times of pagan persecution.

Nero, Diocletian, and other emperors of Rome put the followers of Christ to death and also attempted to destroy all copies of the Bible. Many Christians found refuge in the catacombs or underground rock quarries in Rome.

But, when one Christian was thrown to the hungry lions or burned at the stake to make a Roman holiday, another took their place, and faith spread more and more. The martyrs of Jesus “loved not their lives unto death” (Revelation 12:11).
Read more about the second seal

3. The third seal: a black horse

The third seal was broken and the apostle says, “When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come and see.’ So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand” (Revelation 6:5, 6).

What a strange picture this is! The color black surely implies a departure from the purity of the faith of Jesus, represented by the white horse of the conquering apostolic church. Black also signifies sadness and want.

The pair of balances is a symbol of scarcity of bread representing spiritual food or the scarcity of the holy Word of God—being doled out by weight. The apostle Paul had foretold the apostasy in Acts 20:29, 30: “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

And so it happened. For the next two hundred years there was a great departure from pure gospel truth and widespread absorption of pagan philosophy and forms. There grew up also a union of the church with the state.
Read more about the third seal

4. The fourth seal: a pale horse

This is the vision of dark times: “When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, ‘Come and see.’ So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:7, 8).

Notice it is a pale horse—the very color of death. Notice the fourfold judgment: “Power was given unto them...to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

This seal represents “the Dark Ages,” when the principles of religious and civil liberty were obscured, and leaders in both the political and spiritual realm were far from our present-day blessings of democracy and religious freedom.

This seal was marked by much cooperation of the political and spiritual powers and of religious wars and troubles. The history of those times is full of the sad record of intolerance, especially religious intolerance, and it was not limited to any one religion, or to anyone nation or race.

Catholics suffered, Protestants suffered, Jews suffered—and those of other religious views, and even those of no religious profession, suffered. It is said that many, many thousands were put to death for their faith in those sorrowful years. How thankful we can be for the religious freedom we enjoy today!
Read more about the fourth seal

5. The fifth seal: souls crying from under the altar

Next, the fifth seal is opened and we see…“When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (Revelation 6:9-11).

Remember the story of Cain and Abel; and that the Lord said to Cain, who had just killed his brother, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10).

This is a picture of the martyred victims who were killed during the previous seal and up until the sixteenth and seven­teenth centuries when the power of perse­cution for religious faith was restrained. During this time those who witnessed for the faith with their blood are shown as crying out to God.
Read more about the fifth seal

6. The sixth seal: earthquake, sun & moon and stars

“I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 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” (Revelation 6:12-15).

The days of the fifth seal, the Protestant Reformation, had just closed, when according to the pro­phecy, the sixth seal was to open with "a great earthquake.”

Lisbon Earthquake

Sure enough a great earthquake did follow. History shows God spoke the truth, for “the most notable earthquake of history,” as Nelson’s encyclopedia calls it, took place on November 1, 1755. It is called the Lisbon Earth­quake because that great city was practically destroyed by the quake in six minutes.

The dark day

25 years later came the next event of the sixth seal, the great Dark Day of May 19, 1780, when that mysterious darkening of the sun took place which scientists are still arguing about. Its real cause is not yet known. But God foresaw it, and it was a part of the prophetic fore­cast of the book of Revelation nearly 1700 years before it made its black mark on the face of nature. The following night the moon appeared as blood.

Stars falling

Prophecy now marches on 53 years, to the night of November 13, 1833, when stars fell over America in the most gigantic display of celestial fireworks ever seen by the eye of man. Eye-witnesses of the falling stars describe with vivid words that never-to-be-forgotten night when the whole sky seemed to be on fire with blazing stars—and continued so for hours.

Deeply impressed with these signs in the heavens, someone wrote the following few lines:

“Let your eyes to heaven be turning,
Darkened sun and falling stars,
See the crimson heavens burning,
Earth prepared for final wars;
Hear the scoffer ask with jeering,
‘Where’s the sign that He is nigh?’
Turn your eyes with joy and fearing
To the omens in the sky.”
— L. D. Santee

The vision of the sixth seal sweeps on to the events that occur in connection with the second coming of Christ. But multitudes are pictured as unprepared for His appearing. They have no faith in God's Word; therefore they are not looking for the certain events of the sixth seal.

They have not yielded themselves to God's love, nor received the free gift of eternal life offered to them through the blood of Christ as a gift to all men. They have either rejected or neglected so great a salvation. And as the sixth seal closes they are being forced out of the era or time and are not prepared for eternity.

God grant that none of us be in such a situation and that our hearts may be prepared for Christ’s appearing, with every sin confessed and forgiven. Men who never prayed to God will cry to the rocks and mountains of inanimate nature, and say…

“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?’”
Read more about the sixth seal

7. The seventh seal: silence in heaven

“When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Revelation 8:1).

That's all—silence! But silence where? Silence in heaven? Yes, silence in heaven.

This is the end of the seven time periods in the history of redemption, the completion of God's plan for humanity in the Christian dispensation. It's the end of the story, when God puts a period to history. It is that “divine event, to which the whole creation moves.” (Tennyson) It is the return of Jesus in power and great glory.

Heaven is emptied of all its angels. The songs of many angels around the throne are stilled, because the singers are not there. They are with Jesus on the happiest mission of all their blessed ministry for the heirs of salvation.

When our Lord returns in His glory He will have “all the holy angels with Him” (Matthew 25:31). Not one will be left behind. Heaven will be emptied of its angel throng; as they accompany Him to earth to gather together His elect.

Heaven is silent, but earth is not. When the righteous return with Christ and all the holy angels to the Father’s home above, heaven will be no longer silent. At the coro­nation of the King the whole universe will rejoice in glorious song!

And you and I may have a part in that song—the song of the redeemed as they praise the Lamb for the victory of the cross.
Read more about the seventh seal

Conclusion

So, at last, when time shall have run its sevenfold course, and the last of the seven seals are broken, all the saved will unite in the anthem, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Revelation 5:12) and who has redeemed us to God by His blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.

May we all be there!

 

14 Most Popular Custom Home Options

Below is a list of 14 most popular custom home options homebuyers really value. These are things you can usually add to an existing new home plan as an added new home feature. 

 

 

1. Extra Storage Space

New custom homes offer better storage options than other homes. Here are a few of the most standard and popular options for more storage space: 

• Add extra coat closets, linen closets or a walk-in pantry to your new custom home

• Increase kitchen cabinetry storage by going as high as 48" with full-extension drawers and pull-out trash bins

• Enlarge the master closet so you have more room to hang clothes and store shoes. You can even add options like shoe racks, dressers or seasonal storage. 

 

 

2. Open Floor Plan

Gathering in the heart of the home is more popular than ever. Open floor plans in new homes enable the person cooking in the kitchen to keep connected with activity in the family room, like movie-watching, or conversations happening in the open dining room. 

The views from interior rooms are also enhanced by the removal of walls and doors. It allows sunlight to flood in from the outside through the windows and into the heart of the home. 

This is a standard option in most floor plans that buyers love, so not only will it offer you benefits while you live in the house but buyers will also enjoy it if you ever decide to sell. 

 

 

3. Large Master Suite

Master Suites are all about privacy and comfort. With new custom homes, you can make the master suite larger than typical bedrooms and fit for a king-sized bed. It can also have more windows than other bedrooms in the house and the connected master bathroom is separated from the rest of the house, allowing for more privacy.
 

QUICK BUDGET TIP FOR HOMEBUILDING

One way you can save money on your master suite is to include a soaking tub/shower combination instead of doing a separate shower and tub. You can also do a single-bowl vanity sink instead of two, finish the bedroom with carpet and use vinyl plank flooring for the bathroom. 

Tile is more expensive; you can always do that for a later bathroom remodel. 

 

 

 

An upgrade you can make to your master bedroom is raise the ceiling in the master bedroom, enabling the sunlight to filter through the room and lend a light and airy feel to the room. 

 

 

4. Open Dining Area

Another standard and popular new home feature are open dining areas. They have become more popular as dining has become more casual. People want to be more connected as they sit at the table. 

We are also doing more things at the table these days other than eating, like homework, crafts or playing board games. Now that the dining room is a multi-use space, it has moved into the heart of the home and remains more open to both the kitchen and living room. 

Still, some people don't like looking at dirty dishes when they host people for dinner, so the open dining room isn't necessarily for everyone. 

 

 

5. Flexible Space

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Rooms with flexible uses have become very popular. Flex rooms can be used for home offices, homework and learning spaces, music practice or workout rooms. 

More people are working from home now, too, so a home office off the entry is a desirable option. 

A nice addition to a flex room might be a french door with glass panes, which gives the occupant a quiet space without shutting them off from the rest of the home. 

QUICK BUDGET TIP FOR HOMEBUILDING 

When selecting doors, consider that French doors will add around $1,100 to $1,400 to the cost of the room. 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Taller Ceilings

If you've lived in an older home with 8-foot ceilings then you know why taller ceilings as a new home feature is so freeing. You have a couple of options to make this happen: 

1) Vaulted Ceilings - vaulted ceilings are a nice house feature and can be dressed up further with a wood-clad ridge beam and additional can lighting. 

How Much Do Vaulted Ceilings Cost?
Vaults might run $1,400 to $2,000 depending on the height and trim package you choose. 

2) Tray Ceilings - Tray ceilings in the master bedroom are another option. This is where you angle the ceiling up an additional 12 inches.

 

 

 

7. Convenient and Spacious Laundry Room

Most people say one of their top new home features is to have a dedicated laundry room that doesn't feel cramped, so they can store their house supplies easily. 

Most new laundry rooms have a place to fold and hang clothes, and for another $500 to $1,000 you can add upper cabinets to store laundry supplies and household items. 

Some laundry rooms have space for additional counters and even an extra sink and faucet. This new home feature could cost you $1,600 to $2,000 more. 

 

8. MudRoom or Mud Bench

Mud Spaces are nice, new home features that could be as simple as a 3- to 4-foot-wide area for a bench and cubbies, or it could be an alcove off the owner's entry or near the laundry room. They provide a place to sit and take off dirty shoes, coats and bags and store them conveniently in a location that is out of the way. 

A mud bench and cubbies might add anywhere from $1,200 to $1,500 to a home depending on its size and configuration. One way to save money on this new home option is to plan for the space but then buy a package from Ikea and install it yourself, which would probably cost more like $300 to $500. 

 

 

9. Luxury Bathroom

Bathrooms have evolved from utilitarian spaces to comfort spaces. We want master bathrooms, especially, to be bigger, to feel bigger, to have natural light, and to include multiple bathing options like a shower and separate tub. 

Upgrading from a typical bath to a luxury bath with a 3- by 4-foot walk-in shower and a separate soaking tub, as well as a double-bowl vanity, could run anywhere from $3,800 to $7,400. The higher end would include the cost for a tiled shower, tub deck and floors. 

QUICK BUDGET TIP FOR HOMEBUILDING

There are a couple of ways you can have your luxury bathroom while also saving yourself some money on the total cost of your new custom home. 

1) Choose to build a 5 foot, walk-in, tiled shower with no tub. This option would cost only $3,200. 

2) Forgo the tile for now and stick with an acrylic shower surround for the time being. 

 

 

 

 

10. Outdoor Living Space

Another popular new home feature, especially in Texas, is creating rooms outdoors to allow families to host and entertain lots of friends and family. It also gives them a place to retreat and stretch out for some reflective time. 

Extended covered patios in the rear of the house are one of the most popular new home options for this. Adding a 12' x 12' covered patio would run around $4,500, while a 6' deep x 15' wide extension to a patio would run around $3,500. 

 

QUICK BUDGET TIP FOR HOMEBUILDING

One way to save is extend the concrete patio out and wait to build the cover until later. You could add a cedar trellis or a framed roof when the time is right. 

 

 

 

 

11. Enlarged Garage

In Texas, the garage may need to be deepened to fully fit an extended cab pickup; or a third-car garage bay may need to be added to fit a third car, boat or UTV. The garage can be used as a shop or place to store tools, as well. 

To add a third-car garage bay to a two-car garage plan will add around $12,000 to the cost, while adding an entire two-car garage to a plan that doesn't come with a garage included would be around $21.000.

Garage storage cabinets are another added house feature that can run anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. A nice alternative for this is a garage ceiling rack over the garage door for things you don't access very often.

 

 

12. Fireplace

Fireplaces are important to some people, and for them no family room is complete without one. It feels cozy, like a campfire; and the fireside may hold a special place in our hearts. They certainly do give us something to gather around other than the TV, and they help us slow down and ponder. 

A 42" wood-burning fireplace with a cedar mantel and 5-foot tall stone surround will run around $2,400. Adding gas and gas logs with a glass door kit will run around $1,000 - $1,200, including the gas. 

QUICK BUDGET TIP FOR HOMEBUILDING

One way to save on the fireplace is to locate it away from the edge of the house so the chimney can pass through the roof and doesn't need to be finished. A tile surround is also a less expensive option than stone or brick for the fireplace finish. 

 

 

13. Unfinished Bonus Room

The taxing authority will typically not count a room unless it is conditioned, so one way to build inexpensive space for future expansion is to add an unfinished bonus room upstairs. This requires adding a staircase downstairs and reconfiguring the first floor plan, but you can leave it simply framed and insulated with power run to a junction box and finish it out later. 

The cost of an unfinished bonus room might be anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000, depending on the size of the room, the plan and the mechanicals included. 

 

14. Architectural Style

Another popular home option you'll have to choose from is the architectural style of your new home. Every floor plan we offer in our base portfolio comes with two standard architectural exterior style options: the Classic and the Legacy. 

The Classic Exterior

The Classic Exterior is our standard architectural treatment and our most affordable, with James Hardie siding in different patterns, a roof pitch of 6/12 and 8' tall walls (and ceilings inside) around the outside perimeter. The ceilings in the foyer, family room, kitchen and dining rooms are all 10' tall. 

 

The Legacy Exterior

The Legacy Exterior is built of brick with stone accents around the entire first floor, has a steeper roof pitch of 8/12 to give it slightly more mass, and has 9' wall heights around the outside. Some of the Legacy Exteriors also have larger covered front porches. 

 

Want to figure out which new home building features to prioritize with your custom home? Check out popular home bloggers to see what they wish they would have considered for their custom home and what they absolutely love that they chose!

 

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