The Scroll of Suffering

Sean Sutton

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Crisis in Heaven

Revelation 4:11 (AV 1873)

11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

In eternity past all agreed that God was worthy of our praise. But then something changes:

Revelation 5:2 (AV 1873)

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

What changed?

The Great Controversy

What did Satan claim?

“Did God really say…” (Gen. 3:1)

Satan insinuates that God is untrustworthy.

God said that if they sinned (by eating the forbidden fruit) they would die, but Satan says “You won’t die!” (Gen 3:4)

Satan’s main tool is his mouth, which is why Revelation mentions “mouths” as being the source of demonic power.

Sin has no natural consequences.

Sin isn’t a big deal.

God’s law are arbitrary.

God can’t be trusted.

How can God win them back to Himself?

Reveal His true character and expose the lies of Satan.

Revelation of the Transparent God

What else does God do in response to the accusations of Satan?

God must also permit Satan to carry out his alternative plan based on his beliefs.

What’s the result of this decision? Suffering.

That brings us back to…

The Sealed Scroll

Revelation 5:1 (AV 1873)

1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

Ezekiel 2:9–10 (AV 1873)

9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and lo, a roll of a book was therein; 10 and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without…

What was written in this scroll?

and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

To confirm this all we need to do is see what happens as the scroll is opened…

The 4 Horsemen

The 1st Seal

Revelation 6:2 (AV 1873)

2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Revelation 19:11 (AV 1873)

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Revelation 19:12 (AV 1873)

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Revelation 19:15 (AV 1873)

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword…

1st Seal = Jesus?

Similarities?

Differences?

Horseman in 1st Seal wields a bow, Christ wields a sword (His testimony).

Horseman wears a single crown (stĕphanŏs), Christ wears many diadems (diadēma).

Christ has already won the war (Rev. 5:5), Horseman is still trying to win.

Could this horseman be symbolic of counterfeit Christ’s like Satan?

Is misrepresentation part of Satan’s arsenal? (Rev. 13)

We’ll come back to that.

The 2nd Seal-War

Revelation 6:4 (RSV)

4 And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given a great sword.

The 3rd Seal-Famine

Revelation 6:5–6 AV 1873

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

The 4th Seal-Death

Revelation 6:8 AV 1873

8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Notice the parallel to Christ’s Olivet Discourse:

Matthew 24:4–9 (AV 1873)

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

1st Horseman

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars… 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

2nd Horseman

and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

3rd Horseman

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

4th Horseman

Is God the active cause of these sufferings?

Revelation 6:4 (RSV)

4 And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted [G1325] to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given [G1325] a great sword.

1325. δίδωμι didomi can mean… deliver (up), give, grant, hinder, make, minister, number, offer, have power, put…

John often used the word for “permitted” to describe: “the divine permission granted to evil powers to carry out their nefarious work—the denizens of the abyss (ix. 1, 3, 5), the monster (xiii. 5, 7), and the false prophet (xiii. 14, 15)… It follows that all four riders represent evils which are not directly caused by the will of God, but only tolerated by his permission…” G.B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993), p. 81.

The Sealed Scroll

What could it mean that the scroll is sealed?

Daniel 12:4 AV 1873

4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

What does it mean that Daniel was a sealed book?

The contents of the sealed book were known, but they were not understood.

Same idea in Isaiah 29:11-12.

Ezekiel’s scroll was full of suffering inside and out, and Revelation’s scroll is likewise full of suffering inside and out.

“There in His open hand lay the book, the roll of the history of God's providences, the prophetic history of nations and the church. Herein was contained the divine utterances, His authority, His commandments, His laws, the whole symbolic counsel of the Eternal, and the history of all ruling powers in the nations. In symbolic language was contained in that roll the influence of every nation, tongue, and people from the beginning of earth's history to its close.” 9MR 7.2

The scroll is the history of all things, and it has been filled with “lamentations, and mourning, and woe.” (Ezekiel 2:10).

The crisis is not that the angels aren’t sad they don’t get to read a book, but they are sad because they read it but don’t understand it!

The Question Which Highlights Crisis

Revelation 6:9–10 (AV 1873)

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Habakkuk 1:2 (AV 1873)

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save?

Habakkuk 1:13 (AV 1873)

13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, And canst not look on iniquity: Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, And holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

The question the angels (and much of humanity) asks is why God has permitted such evils to occur?

More specifically, why does God allow the innocent to suffer?

Bucky Bailey

14 y/o Emmett Till who was tortured and killed

We read the record of suffering, but our understanding is sealed as to why it happens.

Unsealing the Understanding

Revelation 5:5–6 (AV 1873)

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Only Christ crucified can explain suffering.

What does the Cross reveal?

The cross exposes Satan as the Liar and Destroyer.

God’s laws are not arbitrary.

Why aren’t they arbitrary?

The result of sin is death.

Satan has the power of death (Heb. 2:14) because he leads people to sin, and sin “bringeth forth death” (James 1:15).

The cross reveals God as Trustworthy and the Source of life.

Did God want His Son to suffer the way He did? No.

So why did God allow Him to suffer?

One of the reasons God allowed Christ to suffer was to reveal the injustice and oppressive nature of sin and its evil results.

Why did God want to reveal this to us?

So we can make a choice and choose His way of life, or Satan’s way of death.

Isaiah 53:3–5 (AV 1873)

3 He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5 (AV 1873)

5 But he was wounded for [BY] our transgressions, He was bruised for [BY] our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.

Past tense in italics-He is wounded whenever we sin.

He IS wounded BY our sins.

Hebrews 6:6 (AV 1873)

6 if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Hebrews 6:6 (NLT)

6 … by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

If we choose to live Satan’s way of sin and selfishness, we are continually piercing the heart of God and His Son.

Back to the main question, why does God allow the innocent to suffer?

God allows His innocent children to suffer for the same reason He allowed His innocent Son to suffer.

To expose how sin affects mankind and provide us with a choice: will we help perpetuate this injustice, or will we be agents to help stop the suffering of these people, and Christ in them.