On the basis of how the book of The Revelation opens, Christians, even in John's day, would have had good reason to be on alert for what was revealed to him to begin to take place.  John was shown many things that were going to happen, and for most anything that is going to happen, there is the time when it will begin to happen.  Look with me at the opening three verses of The Revelation and consider for yourself if it would not have been appropriate for members of the early Church to have been curious over what was about to start taking place:

​

  1   The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants things which must SHORTLY come to pass;  and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John:

  2   Who bare record of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

  3   Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein:  for the time is AT HAND.

​

     It has been over 1900 years since John recorded these words.  This is not a short amount of time.  But, the stated purpose of The Revelation is to show unto Christ's servants "things which must shortly come to pass."  And, as if to put some emphasis upon the word "shortly," these words follow:  "for the time is at hand."  I believe the simplicity of these words has been too often overlooked or dismissed---much to Satan's delight.

     We know that first century Christians were minded that Christ could return for the Church at any time.  This was their "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13)!  But, it should not surprise us to find that some of what was revealed in The Revelation concerned things that were going to happen in the meantime.  When John received The Revelation, he was told, "What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia" (Rev. 1:11).  John did as he was told, and in accord with the way The Revelation opens, the members of these churches would have had good reason to be on alert for at least some of what was revealed to him to begin to take place.  Said another way, from early in what has become known as the Church Age, Christians were informed concerning some things that would be taking place---even in their day.

     Also connected to this is just what things readers of The Revelation could have expected to see.  A few verses later, in Revelation 1:19, John is given these instructions:  "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter."  We know that whatever is spoken of in the past tense or the present tense cannot shortly come to pass.  It is only whatever is spoken of in the future tense that can shortly come to pass.  Where are the future tense things spoken of, or what is it that John was told would be hereafter?  The beginning of this category of things is not to be found until sometime after chapter four, as indicated in its opening verse:

​

  1   After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in Heaven:  and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me;  which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be HEREAFTER. 

​

      At this verse, the first century churches had their cue for where to begin looking for information concerning those things that were at hand to come to pass.  Beginning with the next verse, John beholds God on His throne and the worship He is receiving from twenty-four elders and four beasts that are before Him.  But, there is nothing here about what shall be hereafter.  Rather, this is part of the prelude to the revealing of what was to be hereafter.  This continues to the close of chapter four.

     Chapter five then opens with John's account of a mysterious book God is holding in His right hand, "sealed with seven seals" (vs. 1).  This is followed by a question posed by an angel concerning who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof.  No one is found worthy to do this, but "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David" (vs. 5), who is none other than "the Lamb of God" or Jesus Christ!  The scene is then of the worship He receives of all who are in Heaven, but again, there is nothing here about what shall be hereafter.  This also is part of the prelude to the revealing of what was to be hereafter and continues to the close of chapter five.

     It is not until chapter six, when the Lamb actually begins to open the seals of that Seven Sealed Book, that John is shown something that will go into the category of what was to be hereafter and at hand to come to pass.  Here, the Lamb opens the 1st Seal and John sees a white horse go forth, upon which is a rider with a bow.  John records of this rider that "he went forth conquering, and to conquer" (vs. 2).  After this, another seal is opened and another horse with a rider goes forth, and the same continues until there are four horsemen that have gone forth on differing campaigns.

     In review, our first key truth revolves around a couple of statements that are made in the opening verses of The Revelation.  First of all, that it was given to show unto the servants of Christ "things which must shortly come to pass."  Secondly, the statement, "for the time is at hand" for that that was to be revealed to come to pass.  Coupled with this, prior to chapter six, there is nothing revealed that will rightly go into the category of something that could have been looked for to come to pass.  Therefore, it only remains that if Christians were going to be on the lookout for some things to begin to happen, the only appropriate place to look concerning those things would have been towards the seals of that Seven Sealed Book and what those seals represented.  This, in turn, would mean that at least one or more of the seals was about to be opened.  I think of how with most movies, it is really helpful to catch the first five minutes.  This is like those first five minutes!

​