The Revelation is more about present hope than a future calendar The Revelation is a storyline of hope, not a script of events Revelation 6:1 – I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Revelation 6:2 – Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. The horsemen rode in the past, still ride in the present, and will ride in the future Revelation 6:9-10 – When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” The more comfort I have, the more comfort I can come to expect Revelation 6:12 – I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red Revelation 7:4 – And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: Revelation 7:9 – After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands Revelation 8:1-4 – When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. God never misses a single prayer “The moral of the story is it pays to haggle with God…biblical prayer is impertinent, persistent, shameless. It’s more like haggling in an oriental bazaar than the polite monologues of the churches.” Prayer is shameless conversation in the context of relationship