INTRODUCTION
THE SEVEN CHURCH AGES DENOTED BY THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR
THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES AND THE SEVEN CHURCHES (Rev 4:7)
THE SEVEN AGES IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL
THE SEVEN MILLENIA OF MAN:
FOUR OF THE SEVEN SEALS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN OPENED

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INTRODUCTION
The seven churches are the seven distinct body parts of one church, which function in the same way like the seven different corresponding parts of a human body. Jesus cited the unique conditions that characterize each of the seven churches in his seven beatitudes that he presented at his famous sermon of the mount (Mathew 5: 1-9). Each of the seven churches covers a single age or period of church history. Each of the seven churches is predominantly possessed and shaped by one of the seven spirits of God i.e. each spirit dominating a given age of church history. Each of these churches is represented by an arm or branch from among the seven arms/branches of the lamp stand that was used to light the Holy place of the Temple. Each of the seven churches also possesses some distinct feature(s) that makes each of them interrelated to corresponding day of creation, thus making the seven churches and seven days of creation perfectly correlated.
Those seven church ages reflect the seven distinct phases in the history of Israel as presented in the Old Testament. The seven ages of church history also act as a mirror by which we can visualize how God has partitioned human history into seven millennia with six millennia almost completed and the seventh/sabbatical millennium to be presided over by Jesus as the Lord of Sabbath and King of Kings. In the latter editions of this website I shall dissect the similarity between the seven different parts of a human body and the seven senses of a human being (that include sensitivity to the density/pressure of air and the sensitivity to frictional/gravitational force needed by your toes to facilitate movement) from a scientific perspective to present man as the very likeness of God who is known to have seven eyes (senses).
The four living creatures in the book of Revelation are living ‘mirrors’ of the four dimensions in the life and duties of Jesus that are portrayed in the four gospels of Jesus, which dimensions have also been demonstrated through the activities of the four churches out of the seven churches.
Four of the seven seals in the book of Revelation have already been opened with the white horse carrying the flag of imperialism that has been flying over the last five centuries; the red horse carrying the sword of divisionism with numerous wars and bloodshed that followed in the last couple of centuries; the third black horse delivering economic conditions and policies that have spelt doom and disaster to hundreds of millions of people around the world; and the pale horse that has wrecked havoc and ruined the continent of Africa.


THE SEVEN CHURCH AGES DENOTED BY THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR
The book of Revelation is a prophecy that God handed down to his son Jesus to pass it to his servants in the seven churches of Asia through his angel. All these churches existed in Asia at the time when John the Apostle was serving as a minister in that region of the world, which is present day Turkey. I believe this revelation was a fulfillment of the promise Jesus had made to the same apostle that he would not die until he had seen the coming kingdom of God. The seven churches received seven messages from John to relay to seven different ages of church history. Each church was symbolized by a lamp stand and a star symbolized the angel for each of the seven churches. Every angel had a unique spirit of the seven spirits of God to meet the needs of a particular church that he was assigned to serve. A lamp stand that used to light the Holy place in the temple had seven arms that branch out in pairs from the single stem for holding seven lamps that represent the seven churches.
The church of Ephesus and the church of Laodicea constitute the first and last churches respectively, with the outermost arms of the lamp stand that branch out at opposite sides from the stem of the lamp stand. These two churches have something in common as the Jews predominantly populate both of these churches. Ephesus is the church that received Jesus as a Lamb of God that was born to take away the sins of the world whereas Laodicea will be the church on stage through the seven years of great tribulation to receive Jesus as the Lion of Judah. Ephesus as the head of the church was predominantly composed of Judah and Levi, whereas Laodicea as the toes of the church will be mainly comprised of the ten tribes of Israel.
The second pair of churches includes the church of Smyrna and Philadelphia both of which are also represented by branches of the lamp stand rising from the opposite sides just inside and above the first pair of churches. These two churches exist at the neighborhood of Ephesus and Laodicea respectively in the context of time and geographical locations as well. These churches face the same problem of poverty, tribulation or persecution in the hands of people that Jesus described as the synagogue of Satan. None of these two churches were rebuked by the Lord due to the high level of purity that persecution and suffering had wrought among them. Smyrna stands at the beginning of the gentile period of grace whereas Philadelphia stands at the end of the gentile period of grace. The first rapture occurs just after the church of Philadelphia has served its role in church history, marking the end in the period of grace prearranged for the gentiles (Rev 3:10, 6; 11- 7; 6). Then the seven years to follow will be occupied by the church of Laodicea to fulfill the last seven years prophesied by Daniel. At the end of the seven years the second rapture comprising 144,000 believers will take place (Rev 14; 1-5).
The third and last set of churches is made up of three churches that include Pergamum and Sardis whose arms rise from the opposite sides of the lamp stand that surround the central arm occupied by the lamp for the church of Thardis. These churches have been perpetually condemned for sexual immorality and idolatry. These are the periods of church history when the church became amalgamated with the kingdoms of this world. These churches constitute the most earthly parts of the church and cover some of the most godless periods of church history. These phases start from around 313 AD world and nearly lost its role as the salt of the earth and the light of the world. These churches of darkness also correspond to human body parts that are constantly kept under cover or in the dark, especially the church of Thyatira that occupied the dark age of church history (500AD - 1500AD). Thyatira gained the notoriety of mass killing of hundreds of thousands of believers who refused to worship idols, only comparable to the works of Jezebel in the Old Testament.

EPHESUS (Rev 2:1-7)
The origin of this church in the context of time dates back to the arrival of angel Gabriel at Jerusalem to visit the priest called Zechariah at the time he was burning incense in the holy place of the temple before the Lord. Zechariah just like his wife and other priests belonged to the tribe of Levi, one of the two tribes with Judah that comprised the Kingdom of Judah. Just as the conception of John the Baptist, who was filled by the holy spirit right from the time of his birth was preceded by the visitation of angel Gabriel, the conception of Jesus was also preceded by the visit of the same angel to Mary, the relative to John's mother. This period of human history was marked by unprecedented impregnation of our natural world by the spiritual kingdom of God with angels seen flying between heaven and earth ferrying divine resources from God to our physical world. The traffic of angels is not only cited at the birth of Jesus Christ but also during his infancy, time of ministry and time of resurrection. Ephesus is the church that was overtly baptized by the Holy Spirit after Jesus ascended to heaven and was also distinguished by an explosion of miracles that was performed by Jesus before his departure and later on by his own disciples. That explosion of miracles confirms the fact that Ephesus is the church that received the spirit without measure. The spirit of God was certainly the one predominantly dwelling on Ephesus out of the seven spirits of God listed in the book of Isaiah chapter 11.This was a period in history when the Roman rulers ruled Israel and Israel was eagerly waiting for salvation from God and the restoration of the throne of David, to whom God had given his promise of eternal dominion through the messiah. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Mathew 5:3) is the first beatitude that suitably describes the situation of this church. Ephesus is the church that was waiting for the king that comes from God himself as the old man like Simeon and a widow called Anna were found waiting upon God for the promised messiah (Luke 2). The Headquarters of the church during the age of Ephesus was located in Jerusalem, which is the city of the great king.
Jesus rebuked the church of Ephesus for their loss of the first love they had for him and told them to repent or else he would remove its lamp stand from its place or displace them from Jerusalem as it happened in 70AD. He promised to offer believers that could emerge victors from this church the privilege of eating the fruits from the tree of life (Rev 2:7). This tree is one of the ultimate symbols of the promised kingdom of God (or paradise) and it will be literally found in Jerusalem at the time of the millennial reign of Jesus as promised through prophet Ezekiel in chapter 47.
Ephesus serves as the brain and eyes for the whole church and as you may know that all the systems/organs of the body are built around the brain, which is the center of the nervous system. The whole of the New Testament was written in the age of the church of Ephesus. Jesus while addressing himself to church of Ephesus introduced himself as one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands as a measure of power vested in Ephesus. This statement depicts enormous influence that this church of Ephesus wields over the rest of the churches that is equivalent to the same measure of power that the brain exercises over the rest of the body. Ephesus as the eyes of the church perceives light, which is the first object that was created by God in the very first day of creation (Gen 1:3), showing how the seven churches perfectly match with the seven days of creation. Light is to this planet what the brain is to the body. Light is the source of energy for all plant and animal life that were created on subsequent days of creation, just as the other six churches also derive their forms and empowerment from the church of Ephesus. Whereas the age of the church opens with visit of angel Gabriel with the message of conception of John the Baptist, it closes with the angel of the Lord delivering the book of Revelation to John the Apostle. It between those periods all believers who had seen and worked closely with him had either retired or passed on. The next church or set of believers had only heard about Jesus but had never seen him.

SMYRNA (Rev 2:8-11)
The church of Smyrna was located in the city of Smyrna that derived its name from a seed that was liked by many people for the rich aroma or pleasant smell that could be produced from crushing these seeds. This introduction gives one a somber reading and grim insight on the wretched conditions that believers in this church had to live through in order to get to heaven. This church mainly covered societies at the outskirts of the Roman Empire and within the proximity of Palestine like northern Africa, present day Turkey and other regions in the Middle East. Most of the Jewish Christians that were dispersed to exile as a result of persecution of Christians and destruction of Jerusalem settled in those places. The church of Smyrna was composed of the poor among the very poor who accepted the gospel of Jesus. It was the strategy of Jesus and his disciples to target the poor with the Gospel and they found a majority of their audience among the poor who lived in the fringes of the Roman Empire. The age of Smyrna in church history ranging from about 95AD to 313AD was characterized by widespread persecution of Christians with the Christian faith being illegal. Believers were dragged to prison and murdered en mass, those who survived were held in captivity living through torturous conditions and working in most dangerous places like mines for survival. Their lives were meant to be a constant nightmare that they always lived in suspense between this life and the next life, not knowing the ultimate day and hour when they could finally settle down on one side of life. They sought for refuge in the solitary deserts, caves and lonely mountains so much so that they could not find a place good enough for settlement and resigned to living a life of sacrifice, living one day at a time. No wonder that it is written of Smyrna “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted “Mathew 5:4.
Smyrna is the section of the body from the roof of the nasal cavity up to the base of ones neck. It carries the hearing and speech faculties of the human being as opposed to Ephesus who contains the mental and seeing faculties of the body. This section of the body is the lifeline for the whole body or entire human being. Cutting off or twisting the neck implies killing the whole body. It essentially draws in air and receives other resources necessary to sustain life in the body. Jesus while addressing himself to the church of Smyrna introduced himself as the first and last, once was dead but came back to life. Jesus endowed Smyrna with the power to be the only lifeline of the church by enduring bodily death as spiritual vessels to deliver the words of life in their spirits to other churches coming after them. Not many of you know what it means to be persecuted or trapped between life and death like brethren in Smyrna. Some of them were forced to die a slow death of torture or starvation.
Smyrna depicts the significance of our biosphere or atmosphere, which is the envelope of air around our planet earth that was created on the second day of creation (Gen 1:6). It is transparent so as to serve as the passage or conduit of light energy from the sun to the earth for plants to manufacture energy-giving food for animals and for us. The same atmosphere is the sea of air from which we obtain oxygen to keep us alive. This object also provides a medium for transmission of sound waves (words) from one person to another, enabling us to feed on the knowledge and wisdom from other people to keep us alive. Atmosphere also serves a medium of distributing water from rivers, lakes, wetlands and oceans to gardens of men in form of rain. Jesus promised to offer victors from this church immunity to the second death, which the ultimate immunity that could ever be given to any person.


I will not be able to go into details of the remaining churches until I have sufficient resources to gather relevant and adequate literature.

PERGAMUM (Rev 2:12-17)
This church corresponds to the body parts that range from the base of ones neck running down up to the diaphragm including both arms of the body. The church period covered by this church from the perspective of history dates back to around 313AD when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire. At that point the church became a tangible or a recognized institution/organization in the society. The eastern arm of the church had its headquarters in Constantinople whereas Rome was the headquarters of the western arm of the church. This was the church that Jesus commended for being meek with the promise that it would inherit the earth (Mathew 5:5). This church was also well endowed with the spirit of understanding (Isaiah 11:2). This church embodies land and plants, which God created on his third day of creation (Gen 1:11-13).

THYATIRA (Rev 2:18-29)
The part of a human body that runs downwards from the diaphragm up to the upper section of the lower limbs functions closely in a manner similar to the services discharged by the church of Thyatira. This particular church served from about 500AD to the end of 1400AD. This church was identified for its hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mat 5:6). It was well endowed with the spirit of counsel (Isaiah 11:2). This church depicts the creation of the sun to rule over daytime and the moon with the stars to rule over nighttime, which occurred on the fourth day of creation (Gen1: 14-19).

SARDIS (Rev 3:1-6)
The rise of this church, which occurred towards the end of the fifteenth century, is marked by the events of reformation and invention of a machine called the printing press. The body part of a human to which this church is related runs down from the upper section the leg up to the ankle. This church carries the banner of mercy (Mat 5:7). She is well endowed with the spirit of might (Isaiah 11:2) and she relays the creation of birds in the air and fish in the sea (Gen 1:20-23).


PHILADELPHIA (Rev 3:7-13)
The body parts typical of this church in a human body are the feet and it is the current church in office. This church has been described as one that is pure in heart (Mathew 5:8). This church is endowed with the spirit of knowledge some of which knowledge you are already consuming from this text (Isaiah 11:2). This church relates to the creation of man and other animals on the sixth day of creation (Gen 1:24-27).

LAODICEA (Rev 3:14-22)
The toes comprises body parts that Laodicea and comes into office after the departure of Philadelphia from the scene after the first rapture (Rev 3:10, 6; 11- 7; 6) and Laodicea will last in office for only seven years from the time of the first rapture. It is the church of peacemakers who are to be called the children of God (Mathew 5:9). This church is endowed with the spirit of the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2). This church comes after God has finished with his plan of salvation of the gentiles and returns to his place of rest in Israel, which makes sense to relate this church with the seventh day of creation when God rested and blessed that day as holy (Gen 2:1-2).



THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES AND THE SEVEN CHURCHES (Rev 4:7)
The four living creatures that we are about to look at include; the first living creature that looks like a lion, the second living creature looks like an ox or calf, the third had a face that looks like a man, and the fourth creature looks like flying eagle.

MATHEW
The writer of the book of Mathew captured exceptional events, sermons and characteristics of Jesus that depict him more as a Lion than any other form of his life. He introduces Jesus as a descendant of King David in his first chapter. The three wise men from the East described Jesus to King Herod as the King of the Jews in their bid to locate him (Mathew 2) and the three wise men brought him gifts worthy of a royal birth. Mathew closely watched and took interest in the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in his final leg towards eternity (Mathew 21), where he was openly received and hailed as the King of the Jews. Jesus talked of his royal powers to choose guests for his banquet in the parable of the wedding banquet (Mathew 22). Jesus spoke of his royal powers to demand faithfulness, readiness/dedication and accountability from his servants at his return (Mathew 24,25). Jesus also spoke of his royal powers to sort between the sheep and the goats at his return (Mathew 25). The written charge against Jesus at his crucifixion was his being the King of the Jews.
The church that closely bears the royal face of Jesus is the church of Laodicea and accurately portrays him as a lion. Jesus introduced himself to this church as Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. He cautions believers in this church to buy refined gold from him (that is an article of royalty) and buy salve to put on their eyes so they can see (knowing clear sight is vital for Lions or rulers). Jesus promised believers who passed the test in this church the right to sit in his throne with him. Remember it is written of Laodicea “Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called sons of God”. The same church is associated with the seventh day of creation when God decided to rest from his labors and have therefore have peace in its fullness.
A lion is the animal that embodies majesty and displays stability in its course of rest. No animal can dare to unsettle it from its position of rest; if you do it once at your own risk, you will never repeat the same mistake or probably never live to tell the tale. It is immovable and unshakeable at its throne, making it the only reliable throne to which cases should be taken for resolutions. A lion is quoted among the four things that are majestic or stately in their strides together with a strutting rooster, a he-goat and a king surrounded by his army (Proverbs 30:29-31).

MARK
Mark predominantly covers the life Jesus from the perspective of his services as ox or a servant of men. Mark opens his account of Jesus by heading straight away to his ministry of preaching the good news to the poor, converting fishermen to fishers of men, driving out demons and healing many people (Mark 1). Jesus declared his coming to call the sinners but not the righteous and Jesus also fasted on the behalf of his disciples (Mark 2). Jesus accepted to work even on Sabbath for the sake of improving on the welfare of men and becoming the lamb of sacrifice due to such activities (Mark 2,3). His enemies plotted for his death because of his practices of helping the sick and demon possessed win their freedom even on a Sabbath.
The church of Smyrna that we have already looked at offers the best description of Jesus as an ox for all the great suffering they endured and the sacrifice that brethren in this church had to put up with in order to convey the words of life to generations coming after them. Smyrna had to lay down its life in order to be the lifeline for the whole church. Read more about it in the seven churches.
An ox does not only have to be killed by the priests so as to be offered as a burnt offering for the atonement for sins of men but also offers its flesh as food and milk of its offspring to men for food. Notwithstanding the great comfort and relief that oxen have offer men by being used to drag ploughs for men so as to alleviate the burden of curse that God had laid on the backs of men for the sin that Adam committed in the garden of Eden. Put such great benefits we derive from oxen into perspective in order to appreciate the great sacrifice that God has laid down for us. The life of an ox is one that is trapped between a rock and a hard surface; it is trapped between life and death for the well being of men. It is either subjected a life of hard labor that is equivalent to slow death to meet the labor needs of men or slaughtered to yield instant food for its owners. An ox is comparable to four things on earth that are small but are extremely wise; a rock badger, locusts, ants and a lizard (Proverbs 30:24-28).

LUKE
Luke was originally a physician or scientist of his day. As a scientist he closely followed Jesus from the front of his human origin and status. He exposed the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist (Luke 1). Luke traced the ancestry of Jesus back to Adam the father of human race (Luke 3). Luke also stressed the exceptional involvement of the angels of the lord and the Holy Spirit in the conception, birth and protection of Jesus. Luke also records the warm reception that Jesus received at his dedication in the temple from holy elderly people who had been moved by the Holy Spirit. Luke recorded the prayer that the Lord taught his disciples to show the underlying need of having regular communion between a human being and God (Luke 11) and also he also recorded the parable of a widow who persistently prayed for justice until she got it as a lesson for disciples to pray without ceasing (Luke 18). Finally, Luke exclusively cited one of the most important instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples at his departure not leave Jerusalem but wait upon him until they received the Holy ghost power from above (Luke 24; 49).
Ephesus is the church that best describes the inability of man to cope without living in communion with the divine being or Holy Spirit. More information has already been given about the church of Ephesus. The church of Ephesus of course started with the ministry of the Holy Spirit satisfying the barren womb of Elizabeth wife to Zechariah. The whole church of Ephesus is comparable the list of things that exhibit the typical nature of a human being such as a barren womb, a dry or thirsty land, a wild fire, and the grave (proverbs 30:15-16). Man is the only one among the four living creatures that has a spirit and the drive to commune with God for continuous spiritual enlightenment, guidance and well-being. This element renders man incomplete and inadequate without the presence of God in his life. The insatiable nature of a human being can only be filled by the nature of God




JOHN
The gospel of John takes the original and radical view of Jesus as God living among men, which quality of life is best described by the life of a flying an eagle. John embraces Jesus purely as a natural manifestation of a divine being in the person of Jesus. John specialized in presenting the divine background, confessions and lifestyle of Jesus. In the first chapter John gives an exclusive introduction of Jesus as the word that was God, which was with God and that was there in the beginning. He presented him as light, which brings life for all men while giving men the right to be the children of God. Jesus declared his prospects of being the focal point for angels ascending and descending from an open heaven above him. Jesus outlined the precondition of spiritual birth before anybody can qualify to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3). Jesus promises to offer a Samaritan woman living water as a gift from God (John 4). Jesus speaks of God as his Father (John 5). Jesus declares himself as the bread of life (John 6). Jesus states that before Abraham was born he was (John 8). Jesus openly declares to the Jews that he and God the father are one for which he was threatened with stoning and he went ahead to successfully justify his statements with reference to the miracles he had performed (John 10). Jesus declares that he is the resurrection and the life and went a head to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11). Jesus declares that he is the way, the truth and the life, and that whoever has seen him has seen the father (John 4). Jesus appears to Thomas after rising from the dead and confers his blessing on those who believe without seeing (John 20).
The church of Philadelphia offers the best living expression of Jesus as a flying eagle. It shall be the first church to be ruptured as this church simply cuts across that divide between time and eternity. Philadelphia offers the world the glimpse of eternity while still living in this realm of time. Philadelphia puts heavenly features into our earthly language to enable us understand things in the heaven. Philadelphia has been given the mandate by Jesus to perform greater works than Jesus performed and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
An eagle is a bird that is not that strong or well endowed with muscular power but flies some of the longest distances and the scales greatest heights on minimal resources leaves other creatures wondering and simply envious of such exploits. It wields remarkable ability of attaining excellent efficiency. Efficiency is the measure of output that can be achieved from a given level of input and the eagle leads God’s creation in terms of achieving the highest possible level of efficiency. An eagle is the bird that rides between the earth and the heavens, reigning at the very top of other creatures with the broadest view of all. Its power of sight is thus marvelous and it symbolizes life that cuts across time and eternity. It enjoys exceptional levels of serenity or calmness in the face of storms while other creatures scamper for cover and run for their dear lives. The way of a flying eagle is among the four things that are simply too wonderful together with the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on high seas and the way of a man with a maiden (Proverbs 30:18-19).

THE THREE CHURCHES ON EARTHLY MINISTRIES

The three churches not included above have already been put in place to suffice the earthly needs of the church: Pergamum had a prophetic mission, Thyatira plays the role of priesthood, and Sardis has a kinghood ministry.



THE SEVEN AGES IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL

Israel is to the Old Testament what the church is to the New Testament. It is that background that provides similarity between the seven ages in the history of Israel and the seven ages of church history. You are encouraged to be well informed on what the seven churches and four living creatures denote for you to fully appreciate the constituents of the seven ages in the history of Israel.
The first age in the history of Israel that is synonymous with the church of Ephesus revolves around the life of Joseph. Joseph is to Israel what Jesus is to the church. Whoever Knew Joseph could easily tell what Jesus looks like. Joseph was borne to Jacob in his old after along spell of bareness on the side of Rachel. God used the residue of his strength to create Joseph and so Jacob had every reason to love Joseph exceedingly above all of his other children given that he was a miracle baby. Joseph had such a drive for perfection that would later on land him into trouble with the rest of his brothers. He conceived a dream of heading his father’s household for which his brothers plotted to kill him or send him to exile for life. He lived through hardships and persecution to see his dreams come to pass. He was the most spiritually talented offspring of Jacob with ability to interpret dreams that propelled him to the top of the world super power of that age. Joseph secured the best piece of land for his father’s household, which became a cradle land for the nation of Israel. Israel flourished under the reign of Joseph and all the twelve sons of Jacob passed on in Egypt. Joseph just like Jesus was a man of sorrows who chose to tread the path of forgiveness in spite of all the wrongs his brothers had committed against him. Joseph had an exceptional likeness for perfection of a human being as a human being himself that he always chose to forgive. Joseph prophesied the return of Israel to their land of promise and refused to be buried in Egypt to validate his prophesy. Joseph lived long enough to see his great grand children. The children of Israel multiplied rapidly in Egypt like the name of Joseph implies that they threatened to overtake the nation of Egypt to form a nation of their own. That rate of multiplication is similar to the rate at which Christianity was spreading in the age of Ephesus under Roman Emperors, which brought serious oppression and persecution in both cases.
The second age of Israel as a nation was marked by the rise of a King in Egypt who did not know Joseph and was scared by the rate at which Israelites were rapidly multiplying in Egypt. The king recommended for Israelites to be subjected to hard labor as a means of oppression to stifle their population growth. However the more the Israelites were oppressed the more they multiplied. This period is comparable to the church age of Smyrna when the church was severely persecuted by the Roman emperors in a bid to stamp out Christianity and instead the Christian faith continued to flourish. Moses was born in this age of oppression when oppression was scaled up to a new level of killing all Hebrew male infants. The irony or miraculous aspect of that policy was the life of Moses that was brought up in the very palace where the infanticide directive originated. Moses grew up in that environment of racism, which motivated him to try and rescue his brothers from such misery but failed. It is the same scourge of racism that the church in Smyrna was also faced with. Later on God called upon Moses to go back to Egypt from where he had fled to rescue Israelites. Moses stood in the gap between God and the nation of Israel like an ox. At one point in time when God threatened to wipe out the Israelites he interceded for Israel and offered to forfeit his place among people whose names are written in the book of the living unless God changed his mind.
The third age of Israel of Israel revolves around the life of Joshua and Caleb, who among the twelve spies that Moses had sent to survey the land chose to believe in God and preach the positive report. They are the two arms that enabled Israel to embrace the land of promise whereas the other spies died of unbelief. All adults who were above the age of twenty by the time they left Egypt were denied the privilege of entering the land of promise. This period of Israeli history is identical to the church period of Pergamum who due to their spirit of meekness was able to inherit the Roman Empire.
The fourth age of Israel is comparable to the church period of Thyatira. It is the period of Judges that starts from the time after the death of Joshua, after which a series of rulers chosen by God presided over cases in Israel and led them to war against their enemies who had oppressed them from time to time like stars and moonlight punctuating the dark skies. This period carries on up to the rise of Samuel also known as the kingmaker and is characterized by a long spell of darkness in the nation of Israel. The word of God through prophets was scarce to come by. The people at the ultimate place of worship descended into great wickedness with sexual immorality being committed at the very place of worship by the sons of the priest. The place and symbols of worship lost their original sanctity and virtue to the effect that the enemies of Israel finally carried away the ark of covenant to captivity. Ichabod, whose name implies the departure of the glory of God, was born on the same day of defeat of Israelites at the battlefield. The same depth of wickedness is what one could find in the church period of Thyatira as the very people who claimed to be servants of God turned out to be sexual perverts. People held on the outward form of the Christian religion as a guise to enrich them while exploiting the poor with Christian faith being sold for money.
The fifth period in the history of Israel was ushered in by Samuel by anointing Saul and later on David as the Kings of Israel having been pressured on by Israelis to adopt that system of administration rather than depend on God. The nation of Israel was divided into southern Kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel when Rehoboam was the king of Israel due to the oppressive and rebellious nature of king Solomon. There were many kings that ruled over both kingdoms of Israel until the nation of Israel was taken to captivity. This period is corresponds to the church period of Sardis when several kingdoms and nations have arisen to assume to their identities around the world over the last four centuries. Both are mighty in deeds but virtually empty spiritually. More information about this period can be obtained from the books of Kings and books of Chronicles.
The ministry of Daniel in exile personifies the sixth period of the nation of Israel. It is the age when the eagle in Israel was manifested in the lives of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These four young men were more or less age mates of Ezekiel and all of them belonged to this sixth age of Israel. You can read the book of Daniel and book of Ezekiel to be versed with what transpired in this sixth phase of Israel. Philadelphia is the church age in history that mirrors the wonders and miracles that happened during that given period in the history of Israel. Daniel ruled until the time when Cyrus who ordered the rebuilding of the temple conquered Babylon.
The reign of Esther and Mordecai in the empire of Persia marks the seventh period in the history of Israel. At that time Jews faced the threat of extinction by Haman because Mordecai had refused to bow down to Haman in accordance with his religious convictions. This is the same threat that Jews in the church of Laodicea will face when the antichrist attempts to commit genocide against them. Just as Jews prevailed under Esther and Mordecai so will the church of Laodicea prevail in the heat of persecution. Read the book of Esther to know more about the seventh age in the period of Israel. Esther and Mordecai perfectly brought out the lion in Israel that one can correctly compare with the exploits of Laodicea.


THE SEVEN MILLENIA OF HUMAN HISTORY:
I intend to be brief due to the limit of resources at my disposal hoping that I will be in position to give you more details on this theme next time; You are advised to have studied the seven church ages and four living creatures before attempting to understand this theme.
Enoch is the man of the first millennium and was clearly endued with the spirit of the Lord. He was so desirous of the spirit that God incorporated him into his kingdom. He was a typical human being in every sense.
Noah is the man of the second millennium and was exceedingly endued by the spirit of wisdom. He mourned the destruction of his contemporaries by the flood so much so that God offered him comfort. He labored like an ox to sustain human and animal lives in the face of floods.
Abraham is the man of the third millennium and was well endowed by the spirit of understanding. He was such a meek man that God promised him the inheritance the earth. He was a perfect prophet in a sense that he was willing to sacrifice anything at his disposal in obedience to God. He was the first to host and feed God in human likeness from his own utensils.
Solomonl is the man of the fourth millennium and was endued with the spirit of counsel. He was so hungry and thirsty for righteousness that God offered him satisfaction. He served as a judge and priest.
Jesus the son of Joseph was the man of the fifth millennium and was endued with the spirit of might. He was so merciful that God promised to show him mercy. He was the first King to conquer the world with words of mercy.
Cyrus is the man of the sixth millennium and was endued with the spirit of knowledge. He is so pure in heart that God has endorsed to have a face-to-face meeting arrangements with him. This eagle is charged with the power to authorize the rebuilding of the temple.
Jesus the Son of God is the man of the seventh millennium and is endued with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He is such an effective peacemaker that God is not a shamed to acknowledge him as his own son. He is the lion to watch.


FOUR OF THE SEVEN SEALS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN OPENED
Historical events over the last five centuries indicate that at least four of the seven seals for the scroll that God had handed down to Jesus have already been broken. It is a question of being keen to identify such events in history and put them into prophetic perspectives. The four horse riders that followed the opening of the first four seals are certainly identical to the chariots that prophet Zechariah identified in his sixth chapter. The angel of the Lord interpreted those chariots as the four winds or spirits of the heaven and cited the different directions to which each of those riders had been sent to execute their tasks; with the white chariot going west wards, black chariot going northwards, and dappled chariot going southwards. The different directions to which those chariots where assigned in that particular mission give us a clue of the likelihood of different directions that the horse riders in the book of revelation where bound to concentrate their efforts in the next mission explained below. Whenever the Lamb opened each of the last four seals, John was invited by one of the four living creatures listed in Revelation 4:7 to witness the departure of a horse rider to which a living creature in question was attached.

First seal (Rev 6:1-2)
John was called upon by the Lion to see the departure of the first rider on a white horse that was sent on a mission of conquest, arising from Western Europe and covering virtually the whole world over the last five centuries. The rider on a white horse was given the mandate of conquest, which we have come to describe in historical language as imperialism or colonialism. The rise in the phenomenon of imperialism in our modern world dates back towards the end of fifteenth century. At this point in history the spirit or wind of change in the person of this white horse rider started sweeping over Western Europe, driving men into the Atlantic Ocean to explore and discover new Lands across the Atlantic and beyond it. This period in the history of sea voyages was characterized by the great leap forward in the technology of shipbuilding. Most of the famous pioneer sailors came from the country of Portugal and some of them include men like Christopher Columbus, Vasco De Gama, Magellan, and Amerigo Vespuci from whom the current American continent derives it name. Christopher Columbus discovered the West Indies in his attempt to find the way to the east by sailing westwards. Leaders who were interested in expanding their trading opportunities especially with India or Asia financed these sea voyages. The drive by countries in Western Europe to uplift their economic might and gain prestige, drove them to compete for the discovery of new lands and capture lucrative colonies abroad. Portugal managed to secure the current day Brazil as its colony but faced some level of rivalry from France. Spain was also able to capture large chunks of Central and South America. Britain was able to secure North America and a series of islands in the Caribbean before USA finally became independent in 1776. France was able to capture some territories in Canada and Africa. Britain went on to secure several other territories in Asia like India, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, etc. Most of the indigenous people in America and Asia have remained under the direct rule of those conquerors from Western Europe for example; the Maori from New Zealand, the Aborigines from Australia, the indigenous Indians form North, Central and Southern America. Those indigenous communities that have survived to this day experienced severe cuts in their populations due to diseases they contracted from coming into contact with these Europeans, displacement from their source of livelihood, and violence that was inflicted on them. Some indigenous groups of people were wiped out completely by those conquests. Although India and many other countries in Africa and Asia fell victims of these conquerors or colonialists, the substantial populations of indigenous people on the ground prevented these conquerors from taking root in those territories.
The Lion that invited John to witness the departure of the white horse had clearly given his blessing to the rider in question with achievements realized by this rider to show for it.

Second seal (Rev 6:3- 4)
The second seal was opened with the ox inviting John to bear witness of the departure of the rider on a red horse, who was given a large sword on a mission to take peace from the earth and cause men to kill or massacre each other. The work of this particular spirit or wind was to create fronts of conflict a long various social strata across which wars were fought. Most of these wars arose from a background of old age-established minority of wealthy feudal lords, monarchs and members of aristocrats lording it over slaves, poor peasants and working class who were actually the majority. The quest by poor people who were normally landless to win freedom for themselves and break free from the yokes of high taxes that were levied on them necessitated exploiting their advantage of large numbers. The wars were mainly driven by the common peoples’ urge to win freedom and respect for their fundamental human rights. These wars have been fought from as early as the seventeenth century when Americans fought against the British in a bid to gain their freedom and they were able to win their independence by 1776. Some say that success breeds success and as a result of that victory the French people were also inspired to take on their monarchs, priests and noble men who had for long oppressed them to secure their fundamental human rights, which led to a famous chapter in history called the French revolution (1789 – 1815). The aftermath of that revolution triggered off a series of wars that spread like a wild fire across the continent under the leadership of Napoleon and caused panic or instability throughout Europe. In a bid to consolidate their success the French people sought to export their ideas of the common men having to rise up to overthrow their monarchs while the monarchs fought so hard to resist such schemes. Napoleon arose from no where to cause sleepless nights throughout the palaces of Europe and the spirit riding this red horse certainly had his field day in this. Napoleon colonized Italy, briefly captured Egypt, fought against Austria, fought against Britain and Spain, attacked Russia, conquered many small countries across Europe and imprisoned the pope for insubordination.
Even though European leaders managed to finally contain Napoleon, the resolutions they arrived at the Vienna conference only created further problems that fostered instability that could rise to the surface in decades that followed. Those leaders did not address the root causes of the French revolution and therefore future conflicts became inevitable. The French revolted in1830 and toppled the monarch who was the kinsman of the previous French King that had been killed during the French revolution. The leaders who took part in the Vienna conference in 1815 had enthroned that King in a bid to restore monarchy that had been brought down after executing the king. That uprising inspired other revolts in Europe with the Belgians managing to throw off the yoke of the Dutch from over their shoulders that had been imposed on them at the Vienna conference. Other revolts occurred in several capitals of Europe following the downfall of another French king in1848 forcing the prime Minister of Austria called Metternich to flee to exile in Britain.
In China there was an uprising called Taiping rebellion (1851 – 1864) that was led by a certain cult leader who had forged his religious beliefs by combining some elements of the Christian faith with beliefs from Eastern faith like Buddhism and philosophies of Confucius. The cult leader managed to convince many disgruntled people to form an army of about one million people and waged war against their government leading to the death of about twenty million people. The loss of life that resulted from that insurrection left the Chinese deeply suspicious of Christians for several decades that followed and creating a wedge between the East and the West to further instability. Meanwhile war was also raging on in America with the southern states fighting against the states from the north before they were finally united in the same century. The liberal states from the north fought against the conservative states in the south that felt that they could not do without enslaving other human beings. Then came the First World War in which Germany with the help of Turkey, Hungary and Romania fighting against Britain, France and others. Germany was defeated and forced to pay war indemnity. The Germans forced their King to vacate the throne after that defeat. A revolution was mounted in Russia in1917 against the Czar and religious leaders who had influence over him following the end of the First World War. Then came the Second World War (1939 - 1945) in which many countries where involved and Germany, Italy and Japan were defeated. The Korean war in which the North Korea communist republic fought against the South Korea from around 1950, which countries still remain technically at war up to this day. The cold war that started from around that time of the Korean war went on up to early 1990s, at which point in time many countries won their freedom from Russia. Other wars include the Vietnam War, Cambodian War, etc.
One cannot be unspiritual to take it for granted that all these wars took place as a result of chance events without any design or form of wind/spirit fanning them.

The third seal (Rev 6:5–6)
The living creature that had a face like a man called on John to witness the rider on a black horse who was given the mandate to create for men economic conditions and policies that are simply disastrous. The weighing scale that this rider was carrying symbolizes the power that he received to shape economic policies of nations all over the world. Man by nature has unlimited wants yet resources are limited is a statement that forms a background against which the subject of economics exists. The economic policies devised by this rider makes the rich richer and leaves the poor worse off regardless of whether it is a market economy or a socialist economic system. In socialist economies it is merely disguised as being pro-people, yet in actual sense all these systems promote production of products that enables people who are already empowered to consolidate their positions against people at the grassroots and external economies or forces. The principle of this rider is clear, produce for the rich at the expense of the poor, which principle not only drives research in the field of modern medicine but also features in the new bio-fuel industry. The rider aims at polarizing economic conditions with a resultant scourge of obesity on one end and malnutrition on the other end to the detriment of all the victims concerned. This rider is currently responsible for the high and rising food prices across the world. Those economic policies entail unfair trade policies where rich countries subsidize their own producers in order to ward off competitors from poor countries. The selfish policy of protecting domestic markets that is still being pursued by developed economies to this day is meant to stifle the economies of poor countries so as to perpetuate income inequality, neo-colonialism, and conflict or disparity in between the two worlds. In other words, the rider of this black horse is there to uphold achievements or perpetuate the roles of the last two riders; as economic hardships were clearly one of the root causes of the Second World War. One of the causes of the economic depression of 1929 was the discriminative or isolationist economic policy of Americans in which they exported their products to other countries but set up high tariffs to prevent other countries from selling their products to Americans. Economic depression is a period of general decline in the level of economic activities with very little money in circulation. It is characterized by a steady fall in price levels with the fall in the quantity of goods that firms produce, and subsequent fall in the number of jobs. You may know that the bigger the market available the higher number of jobs that can be created to satisfy the demand for products required in that market. Therefore the loss of jobs as a result of economic depression is inevitable and definitely leads to poverty, starvation and increase in social evils like crime. Other countries in Europe reacted in view of that discriminative American economic policy not only against America but also against each other. The reaction by European countries destroyed international trade and domestic markets were hence filled with surplus output causing price levels to fall and setting the motion to economic depression. Economic depression of that time caused political instability in several countries in Europe.
In 1932/1933 artificial famine caused massive loss of lives across several countries of the then Soviet Union; due to crooked economic policy that dictators of that republic had imposed on the people in a bid to force them to produce for the state. Peasants’ foodstuffs were confiscated in a bid to centralize agricultural production. The final death toll is thought to have ranged between 3 and 10 million people in Ukraine alone but that gives one a fair estimate that goes into several millions of people who lost their lives in the Soviet Union at large. The same problem is known to have happened in China under chairman Mao in 1950s/1960s when between 20 and 30 million people lost their lives or starved to death due to the similarly dreadful socialist economic policy. North Korea is the third list of these countries whose terrible economic policies has led to unbearable suffering among the people of North Korea and untold millions of deaths due to man made famine.

The fourth seal (Rev 6:7- 8)
The rider of this fourth pale horse came out with the blessing of the living creature in the likeness of a flying eagle. This rider was given the power to kill a fourth of the earth by sword, famine, plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. One does not have to strain his neck to look further than Africa so as to identify the main workstation of this rider. The name of this rider is called Death and Hades. The wild beast of the earth involves activities of sorcery. There are several wars that have been fought in Africa over the last century that time cannot let me list all of them right now. Nearly 70% of HIV/Aids victims are found in Africa. About 500 million people suffer from malaria every year and nearly 2 million of these people die of malaria, and about 70% of all these victims are from Africa. There are several other maladies apart from those two that affect Africans every year. There is frequent occurrence of famine in different countries from this continent of Africa and one of the most publicized in the recent decades is the Ethiopian famine of 1984-1985. This rider still has a lot of work to do and among the major tasks a head of him is to execute the mission of mass killing of people that have been identified in the prophecy of Isaiah18. It will be one of the most disastrous events in the modern world. No human hand will be involved in that mission considering the blessing of the living creature in the likeness of the flying eagle that has been vested on this rider. This event will be comparable to the killing of the first born in Egypt during the days of Moses and the killing of the soldiers in the Assyrian camp in the days of prophet Isaiah except that it will be in a greater magnitude than any of these previous events. Almost the whole country or countries will be wiped out leaving nobody to bury the dead. The people to be affected by this tragedy are brutal and stiff-necked lot of people who can hardly allow the Holy Spirit and her fruit to have her way through their lives. Their wild, oppressive and cruel way of life does not buy any iota of sympathy from any neutral observer with sound judgment. To the cruel God will show himself to be cruel; and to the just God will show himself to be just; and to the merciful God will show himself to be merciful.