Study Desk

"You have made them to be a kingdom [of royal subjects] and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth."

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and [the voice] of the living creatures and the elders; and they numbered myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands (innumerable),

So I looked, and behold, an ashen (pale greenish gray) horse [like a corpse, representing death and pestilence]; and its rider's name was Death; and Hades (the realm of the dead) was following with him. They were given authority and power over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with plague (pestilence, disease) and by the wild beasts of the earth.

When He (the Lamb) broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained [out of loyalty to Christ].

They cried in a loud voice, saying, "O Lord, holy and true, how long now before You will sit in judgment and avenge our blood on those [unregenerate ones] who dwell on the earth?"

Then they were each given a white robe; and they were told to rest and wait quietly for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed.

and they called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the [righteous] wrath and indignation of the Lamb;

and in a loud voice they cried out, saying, "Salvation [belongs] to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [our salvation is the Trinity's to give, and to God the Trinity we owe our deliverance]."

And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the [twenty-four] elders and the four living creatures; and they fell to their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, "These who are dressed in the long white robes—who are they, and from where did they come?"

I said to him, "My lord, you know [the answer]." And he said to me, "These are the people who come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [because of His atoning sacrifice].

"For this reason, they are [standing] before the throne of God; and they serve Him [in worship] day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them and shelter and protect them [with His presence].

The name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters, because they had become bitter (toxic).

They were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment and cause them extreme pain for five months; and their torment was like the torment from a scorpion when it stings a man.

And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die [to escape the pain], but [will discover that] death evades them.

They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.

They had breastplates (scales) like breastplates made of iron; and the [whirring] noise of their wings was like the [thunderous] noise of countless horse-drawn chariots charging [at full speed] into battle.

They have tails like scorpions, and stingers; and in their tails is their power to hurt people for five months.

They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss (the bottomless pit); in Hebrew his name is Abaddon (destruction), and in Greek he is called Apollyon (destroyer-king).

For the power of the horses [to do harm] is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and it is with them that they do harm.