64The smoke, mixed with the incense, was combined with the prayers of God's holy people [people are made holy by their faith in Jesus, "our faith is counted for righteousness making believers holy"] Romans 1:17-3:28. Then one of the angels took a burner filled with incense and fire and threw it to the earth; with thunder and lightning, it crashed on the earth and caused a horrible earthquake.

63There was another angel with a gold burner of incense that stood at the altar. 

     He had a large amount of incense to mix with the prayers of God's people as an offering to God on the golden altar before the throne.

62Then the Lamb of God broke the seventh seal and there was silence throughout heaven for about 30 minutes.

61The Lamb of God will be in the center of the throne because He is the good shepherd that gave His life for the sheep.

     Christ will lead them to the springs of life-giving water. The God of glory will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

60Our God will be their [the tribulation saints] shelter and protection throughout all eternity because of Jesus the Messiah.

     There will be no more hunger or thirst and no more pain or sorrow because the former things of this life will pass away, but God's Word will never pass away.

59Now we can understand why they [the tribulation saints] stand in front of the throne of God praising and worshiping Him day and night [there is no higher calling in the whole universe].

58One of the twenty-four elders asked me [John] this question.

     "Where did these people come from that are dressed in white robes?"

           And so I replied to him. "Sir, you are the one who really knows."

                Then he responded, "These are the ones that died and came out of the great tribulation. These all have washed their clothing in the blood of the Lamb and their sin was made white as the new driven snow."

57And all the angels, the elders and the four living creatures surrounded the throne and all fell down on their faces as they worshipped God and then they sang, "Let it be! Bless the Lord with glory and wisdom and honor and power and strength and thanksgiving, it all belongs to our Lord God forever and ever, never to end! Amen.

56Then I saw a great crowd, too many to count. They were from every nationality, people, tribe and language.

    They were standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb of God.

        They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches and were all shouting in one voice, "Salvation comes only from our God and from the Lamb."

55Then John saw four angels waiting. They were at the four corners of the earth and they held back the wind so the winds could not blow across the earth or the sea.

     Then another angel came from the east and shouted to the four angels, who had the authority to harm the land and sea. "Wait! Don't damage the earth or the trees or the seas before we place the seal of the Almighty God on the foreheads of His faithful followers from Israel."
       

 They are the ones that received His Son and are born of the Spirit of God. There will be 144,000; 12,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel.

54Then all international leaders, the rulers, the kings, the wealthy and powerful, the famous celebrites, all people to the poorest [and all of the believers who thought they were so cool], ran to the mountains to hide themselves and begged the mountains and rocks to fall on them with the hopes of hiding themselves from the Almighty and from the wrath of the Lamb.

    The great day of His wrath has come; who in the world will be able to survive it?

53John watched as the Lamb of God broke the sixth seal.

    Then there was a great earthquake. 

   

The sun was black as night and the moon was read like blood. The star fell from the sky like ripe apples from a tree in a violent wind storm. The sky peeled away like a scroll rolling back, and the islands and mountains were moved out from their places.

52Now a white robe is given to each one of them; "Now rest, it is just a little longer until all the brothers and sisters, My faithful followers are martyred and they will be joining us."

     Here Jesus puts on quite an affair! It's not a black tie affair but a white robe affair.

51Then the Lamb of God broke the fifth seal.

    Appearing under the altar were the souls of those that had been martyred for God's Word and for being a faithful witness to what the Lord Jesus had done in their lives.

        Then they all shouted before the Lord and said: "You are Sovereign Lord, trustworthy and holy. Will it be much longer before You pour out Your judgment on the people that have chosen to serve the world system and reject You? How long will it be before You avenge our blood for what they have done to us!"

50Then the Lamb of God broke the fourth seal and the fourth living creature said: "Look to see the pale green horse."

     The rider's name was Death and it was accompanied by the Grave and authority was given to over one-quarter of the earth, to take the sword and kill with disease and death, including the wild animals.

49Then the Lamb of God broke the third seal and the third living creature said: "Look to see the black horse."

    The rider had a pair of scales in his hand.

        Then the four living creatures said: "One loaf of bread will cost a whole days pay [because of the food shortage] and don't forget the Spirit of God or His everlasting Word!"

48Then the Lamb of God broke the second seal and the second living creature said: "Look to see the red horse." 

    The rider had a mighty sword and he was also given authority to take peace from the earth.

        Then there was a horrible war with slaughter all over the earth.

47The Lamb of God took the scroll and broke the first seal of the seven seals.

    Then one of the four living creatures exclaimed in a loud voice, sounding like thunder, "look up here" he said and I [John} saw a white horse and its rider was carrying a bow and on His head was a crown. He went out to conquer; but he didn't have arrows. This is a false conqueror. 

46And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power
    belong to the one sitting on the throne
    and to the Lamb forever and ever.”

And the four living beings said, “Amen!” 

And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.

45Then I [John] looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. 

And they sang in a mighty chorus:

    “Worthy is the Lamb who was 
    slaughtered—
    to receive power and riches
    and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and blessing.”

44 And they sang a new song with these words:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
    and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation.
And you have caused them to become
    a Kingdom of priests for our God.
    And they will reign on the earth.”

43Suddenly there appeared a Lamb that looked

like it had been slaughtered, now He was alive standing between the twenty-four elders, the living beings and the throne.
     
    He had seven horns and seven eyes representing the seven spirits of God that go back and forth throughout the entire earth [looking for believers to display His power through].

        The living Christ took the scroll and the twenty-four elders and the living beings fell down before the Lamb of God. Each one of them had a harp and a golden bowl that was filled with incense which were the prayers of God's people.

42Because no one was found worthy to open the scroll, I [John] began to cry bitterly.

  Then I heard one of the twenty-four elders speak to me: "Stop weeping, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the  heir to the throne of David the Messiah won the victory.

        Christ Jesus is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll.

41Then I [John] saw Jesus sitting on His throne holding a scroll in His right hand. It had writing on the outside and inside of the scroll it had been sealed with seven seals.

     Then a strong angel shouted with a loud voice, "Is there anyone worthy to break the seven seals and to open the scroll?"

          No one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.

40The twenty-four elders fell down before His throne and worshiped as they gave honor and thanks to the One who never had a beginning nor will ever have and end.
   
They all laid down their crowns before the throne and said: "You are so worthy to receive honor, praise, glory and power. Because you created everything and the reason for creation, it pleased you."

39In front of the throne and the seven torches was a sea of glass and it sparkled like crystal.

     In the middle were four living beings, each had eyes in front and on back, one looking like a lion, one like an ox, one had a human face, one like an eagle in flight; all of them had eyes all over them. All of these creatures worshiped the Almighty saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, the One that is, the One that has always bee and the One that is to come."

38The One sitting on His throne appeared brilliant as precious gemstones and they circled His throne and appeared like all the colors of the rainbow.

                 In front of His throne were seven torches that were burning.

   This is the seven-fold Spirit of God.

       There were twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones surrounding Him and they were all clothed in white and they had gold crowns on their heads.

    Coming from the throne were flashes of lightning and roaring thunder.