The Beginning of the End: Interpreting the Seals of Revelation 6 Using Biblical Theology for Hillcrest Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some social media sources that claimed to be Christian taught that the vaccine was the mark of the beast. This led some church members who had heard these ideas on social media to become fearful and decide not to get vaccinated. They did not make this decision because of health concerns, or scientific studies, but based on how some people interpret the Bible. The way the Bible is interpreted matters and has real effects on the lives of church members today. This project taught the members of Hillcrest Baptist Church to use biblical theology to interpret the Bible by showing the interpretive work while focusing on a short but difficult to interpret section of the Bible, Revelation 6. Equipping the church to use biblical theology on a difficult passage should mean the church would be able to interpret any passage they come across as they read their Bibles on their own. The church needs to be able to read and understand the whole Bible from the perspective of the people who wrote the Bible, the biblical authors, not from the standpoint of authors of fiction books or people on social media. This project interprets the six seals of Revelation 6 in order as the seed of the woman, the seed of the serpent, tribulation and judgment, Death and Hades, reigning with Christ, and the Day of the Lord by seeking to understand John’s perspective, the biblical author. John knows his Bible well and uses the same symbols that earlier biblical authors used with the same meaning, but then applies them in a new context to the church age between the advents. For some church members, this was an interesting study, and much was learned. For others, the study felt too complicated and too academic. One family of four visited because they heard on the church livestream that this was going to be a study on the seals of Revelation 6. The husband and wife have since been baptized and joined the church, and their son and daughter are learning a great deal in church, growing, and the mother believes their son is close to receiving Christ as his Lord and Savior. Praise the Lord.