Revelation 6:1-8 (read also Daniel 9 and Matthew 24)
7 seals
7th seal contains the 7 trumpets
7 trumpets
7th trumpet contains the 7 bowls
7 bowls
Warren Wiersbe says “It seems strange to us that worship and judgment should go together, but this because we do not fully understand either the holiness of God or the sinfulness of man. Nor do we grasp the total picture of what God wants to accomplish and how the forces of evil have opposed Him. God is longsuffering, but eventually He must judge sin and vindicate His servants.”
John writes to encourage God’s people and his writing contains great theology as he describes God’s character. He writes using symbols for symbols transcend generations. A picture of a horse 2000 years ago is still a picture of a horse today. We are nearer today than ever to the events of this prophetic writing and like all generations before us we should be ready, in fact, all the more ready.
The seals are opened by the Lamb. Only He has the authority to do so. He holds the title deed to earth and He is the One who takes His holy hands and breaks the seals revealing the contents inside. The living creatures (angels) invite John to ‘come’ or to see from heaven’s view what is to take place on earth. Horses represent God’s activity on earth. These 4 horses often referred to as the four horsemen of the apocalypse; depict the forces God will use to accomplish His divine purpose.
The 1st seal:
Vs 1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”
Vs 2 I looked and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode as a conqueror bent on conquest.
The White Horse:
The scene now shifts from heaven to earth.
The one who opens the seals: The Lamb. The only One who has the authority. He has received the title deed from the Father and now begins to take back what is His.
The horses: horses in scripture depict God’s activity on earth. These horses will represent the power of God as His judgment begins to be poured out.
Antichrist. The future world dictator who begins his career as a peacemaker. He will make a covenant with Israel to protect her from her enemies. Daniel 9:26-27. Some confuse the rider of this while horse as Jesus who also rides a white horse in Revelation 19:11. That is not the case though. This rider is an imitator, a deceiver. He is crowned with a crown (stephanos) a victors crown while Jesus is crowned with diadema or the kingly crown. Furthermore this rider carries a bow but no arrows. Jesus has sword. This rider was given a crown, he did not earn it. His charisma will charm and deceive the world and they will follow him. He will be received as the Great Liberator for the world as he solves their problems.
(Peace has been made with Israel by the world leader – antichrist. This is a false peace which will soon be shattered. But initially there is peace for the first time between Israel and the world. The world is deceived by the Deceiver. That has always been his game. He started with deceit in the garden and will continue it up until the end of the age. There have been many antichrists throughout the ages. Satan has always had his man. And yes, right this very minute there is someone on this earth that Satan could use as his devilish agent. He does not know the time for only God knows that. So he has had many in his arsenal that he could deploy. Hitler was once such a man. He began his reign of terror by deception. He claimed to be a man of peace. He even signed a peace agreement with British Prime Minister Chamberlain in 1938. Chamberlain returned to London waiving the agreement claiming peace and security not knowing that the paper was absolutely worthless. Winston Churchill did not believe it for a moment and was almost shouted out of the Parliament. The world had been lulled into Hitler’s plan. And in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland the truth began to hit them between the eyes and it was too late. World War II was inevitable.
Daniel 9:
7 years assigned to Israel in God’s prophetic calendar
– Beginning with the signing of an agreement with the world dictator (antichrist)
– Ending with Christ’s return to judge evil and establish His kingdom
- 3 parts:
- First 3 ½ years (Rev 6-9)
- Events in the middle part (Rev 10-14)
- Last 3 ½ years (Rev 15-19)
Daniel 9:27 Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel and becomes persecutor instead of protector
The 2nd seal:
Vs 3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
Vs 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
The red horse:
Red is the color of fire and blood and depicts war. Men will begin to attack one another on an unprecedented scale. This will be a violent slaughter. It will be internationally as well as nationally. We have not seen crime statistics as compared to this. Everywhere you look there will be war. War on the streets as well as military war. Read Daniel 11:36-45.
The 3rd seal:
Vs 5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
Vs 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
The black horse:
Black is associated with famine. When you have prolonged war, famine is often and end result. Food supplies are depleted or destroyed in battle and those who are involved in food production such as farmers, producers, etc., are killed. The pair of scales represent rationing. There will be world-wide food rationing. Standing in food lines will be common place. This is hard to picture in our land of plenty but the time will most surely come.
The voice from ‘the center of the four-living creatures’ is likely the voice of God. He speaks as a reminder that the famine is a direct judgment from Him. The horrors that will be poured out on man in the tribulation are not from man or Satan, but from God. He will employ them in his judgment but He is always in the control of these events.
A quart of wheat is barely enough to sustain one person for one day. The denarius represents one day’s wages. The people’s labor will barely provide enough food for themselves and not enough for their families. Those with families will have to eat barley which has lower nutritional value and normally used as livestock feed.
God cautions people ‘do not damage the oil and the wine!’ Olive oil and wine used the preparation and cooking food as well as the purification of water will need protection.
The 4th seal:
Vs 7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
Vs 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
The pale horse:
The pale horse or ashen horse is a horse that represents death. The word for ashen is chloros and is where we get the English word chlorophyll. It refers to a sickly, pale, yellow-green color. That color is fitting for a decomposing corpse. This is death on a massive scale. The wars and famine will leave massive death counts in their wake. Death claims the body while Hades claims the soul.
God gives death the authority to claim one fourth of the world’s population at that time. At our current population that would equal to about 1.5 billion people. This death will use four tools to accomplish this:
*Sword: war
*Famine: the resulting starvation from the wars
*Pestilence: disease (this term in Revelation is broad enough to include natural disasters such as the earthquakes predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24, floods, and volcanic eruptions.)
*Wild beasts: this could very well include rats. Rats can be one of the most deadly creatures on the planet. They breed at break-neck speeds and are hard to get rid of. They dwell in urban areas as well as isolated areas. They feed on just about anything and they carry diseases capable of taking down cities. Remember the Black Death of the 14th century was carried by rats.
These first four seals are frightening and staggering. Nothing like this has happened in our world thus far. But be very sure it will come to pass. The Lord Almighty has said it and it will happen. But even in the hellish days that are to come there will be some who come to the throne of God’s mercy and grace. They will come to find their Savior in such horrible conditions and will join us in heaven and the world to come. That’s the love of God. Not willing that any should perish but all to come to Him.
