The Revelation Mandate

Revelation 6 opens with John watching as the Lamb, having received
universal acclamation of his worthiness, begins to open the seals of
the New Covenant. We must understand, at this point, what the
significance of breaking these seals is. Why not just open it and read
it? The problem is that there is already a covenant in effect. There
are actually a series of covenants in effect and this New Covenant is
to be understood as the fulfillment of them all. As such, the
prototypical appearances of what has gone before must be removed in
order that the perfection and authority of the New Covenant may be
clearly and unambiguously seen. Hebrews 9, especially vv. 8-10,
explains the nature of the problem. The whole temple/sacrificial
system of worship and the old Jewish hereditary and governmental
polity, being only physical prototypes of the kingdom of heaven, must
be removed. So, the breaking of the seals is, at once, the abolishing
of the old order of things and the ratification of the new. We must
not attempt to literalize the images that follow. The images and
symbols must be understood in their theological sense. Therefore,
theologically speaking, we are about to witness the end of an age and
the heavens and earth that symbolize it and the beginning of an age
that really is something entirely new.