Rev. 6:1-17
Last Week: In Rev. 5:1-14, John described three visions of heaven, the Scroll, the Lion, the Lamb. The Scroll, held in God's right hand, contained the detailed plans and purposes of God for defeating the enemies of Christ and establishing His reign upon the earth, and it was sealed with seven seals. A mighty angel asked who was worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. One of the elders de- clared that the Lion of Judah, the Root of David was worthy, both OT names of the Messiah pointing directly to Jesus Christ. When John turned to look, he didn't see a Lion but a Lamb who had been slain but was alive. There were three main points of application: 1. God is in COMPLETE control of the future. In vv. 1-5 John saw God in heaven sitting on a throne and holding in His right hand a scroll that contained the detailed plans and purposes of God for defeating the enemies of Christ and establishing His reign on earth. This tells us that no matter how strong evil may become or how bad God's people on earth are opposed and oppressed by the forces of evil, history still resides in God's hand. 2. Jesus Christ will carry out God's FINAL PURPOSES on earth. The purpose of the Lord's first coming was gracious, but in His second coming, He will deal with His enemies and fulfill His promise to bless His own. The time will come when all people must deal with the Lion, either as the One who was believed, watched-for, served, and prayed-to, or the One who was ignored and rejected. 3. God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ, are worthy of OVERWHELMING praise-forever and ever! In this vision, John heard every created thing giving praise to God and the Lamb. We noticed that God is praised as the Creator and God the Son as the Reconciler of the creation, so that God the Father and God the Son are both equally to be worshipped forever and ever. One of the spiritual shortfalls of many people today is that they want to worship "God," but they are unwilling to believe in and confess Jesus Christ as Lord.
This Week: We move to Rev. 6:1-17, where John describes the opening of the first six seals, each one having its own vision, and according to the "Futurist" interpretation of Revelation chronology, marks the start of the Great Tribulation with the opening of the first seal. According to the SBC Baptist Faith and Message, we accept the "Futurist" interpretation, which, among other things, believes that the rapture of the church will occur before the Tribulation.
Read Rev. 6:1-2 - The First Seal - World Conquest
1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
vv. 1-2: John was seeing this vision, not read from a scroll, but has an eye-witness who was seeing it take place like an action scene in a movie. The voice of the first living creature like "thunder," symbolized a judgment that would come on like a storm-a voice of terror. The command, "Come!" was voiced to the horseman. The second verse doesn't identify who the rider is, but it's most likely the coming Antichrist (Dan. 9:26-27) and represents a conquering power that no one can resist (Mt. 24:3-6). Although the rider has a semblance of Christ, he is, in fact, and imposter and a deceiver. The bow he carries symbolizes violent conquest and his crown is God-given because God is the only one who can give rulers authority to rule. The crown also represents the world dictatorship over which the Antichrist will be enthroned as the "god-leader."
TRUTH 1: The opening of the Seals in Rev. 6 explicitly AFFIRMS the absolute sovereignty of God. The four riders receive their authority from heaven and everything they do is controlled by Almighty God and the Lamb. As these events unfold, God's people have nothing to fear from the Antichrist because they belong to the Lamb.
Read Rev. 6:3-4 - The Second Seal - Internal Insurrection
When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
vv. 3-4: On the breaking of the second seal, John heard the second creature order the second horseman forward. The red horse represented bloodshed and the great sword symbolized the rider's power to cause bloodshed by "removing peace" from the world. While the white horse represented conquest by external force, the red horse represented internal conflict-anarchy, riots, and civil war in which people would turn against and kill each other. Today, we call it "terrorism." Comment: Taking the white horse and the red horse together, it tells us that in the years just prior to the Second Coming of Christ, God will give world civilization over to war.
Read Rev. 6:5-6 - The Third Seal - Death
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
vv. 5-6: On the breaking of the third seal, John heard the third creature's command, and a black horse followed. Black, the color of fear and mourning, symbolized the ravages of war, namely, shortages of food and vital supplies. The third rider carries scales of the kind used to measure out grain. A denarius was one day's wage, a quart of wheat would feed one person for a day, and three quarts would feed a few. All of this signified a critical scarcity of food, which would require some sort of absolute authority to oversee and ration it. But inevitably, the shortages would worsen and malnutrition would follow. Oil and wine is associated with richer people, and the deeper roots of olive tree and grape vine would survive longer, so that the poor would suffer more than the rich.
Read Rev. 6:7-8 - The Fourth Seal - Famine, Pestilence, and Wild Beasts
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
vv. 7-8: When you think it can't get worse, it does. On the breaking of the fourth seal and the fourth creature's command, John sees a pale horse. The word "pale," (Gr. chloros), denotes the yellowish-green color of a human corpse. A rider named "Death" appeared, and he was followed by Hades (hell), which signified that death takes the body and hell takes the soul, which is the destination of all the souls who don't know Christ as Savior. The sword represents not military force but murder, a lawless society in which people take the law into their own hands. Famine will claim many in death, and "with pestilence," refers to death by widespread plagues-fatal diseases will cover the earth. Death from attacks by "wild beasts" could refer variously to literal animals but can also mean the Antichrist and his followers. At the end, one-fourth of the world's population will die (about 1.75 billion people in today's numbers).
TRUTH 2: The opening of the Seals in Rev. 6 clearly demonstrates the self-defeating character of SIN. The Antichrist shows us by visual imagery how the spirit of selfish gain-wealth, power, and fame-is a fruit of sin that ultimately leads to destruction.
Read Rev. 6:9-11 - The Fifth Seal - Jesus Will Righteously Avenge His People
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
vv. 9-11: John had been in the throne room but now, as the fifth seal is opened, he sees a temple and an altar. Under this altar were all the souls of the people who had been slain for their faith in God during the first four seals, and that they were under the altar implies that they were sacrifices to God. Although John didn't see their bodies because God had yet to resurrect them, he did see them as very much alive since their Spirit-indwelled souls were living and present (i.e., the body could be killed but not the soul). These martyrs cried out to be avenged by God's judgment, but they were given white robes and told to be patient, to wait a little longer-until their Christian brothers and sisters, who would themselves be martyred, could join and complete them. Apparently, many more would be martyred before Jesus returned to earth. God will avenge Christian martyrs at the right time and give them special honor.
TRUTH 3: The opening of the Seals in Rev. 6 reveals that the work of Jesus Christ not only includes the REDEMPTION of those who belong to Him but will also result in JUDGMENT against His enemies. Those who reject the Lamb as their redeemer will experience both the death of the body and the soul and will dwell in the kingdom of the dead-Hades (Hell).
Read Rev. 6:12-17 - the Sixth Seal - Jesus Radically Alters His Creation
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
vv. 12-17: On the opening of the sixth seal, the scene shifts from the temple back to earth, and John tells us the earth will be affected by six cataclysmic events. (1) A global-wide earthquake that will ravage the entire world, in effect rearranging the map by moving mountains and islands. (2) The sun turns black, with John using poetic imagery (sackcloth) to describe a time of darkness and despair. It could possibly mean ash, dust, and debris occasioned by the earthquake, or even volcanic eruptions. (3) The moon turns red. Again, John uses poetic language that speaks of a loss of life. It can also mean that the atmospheric disturbances cause by the earthquake, eruptions, and all the particles in the air could cause the moon to take on a red cast. (4) The stars fall to earth. The word used here for "stars" (Gr. aster) means any heavenly body seen at night. These could possibly be large meteorites, which John compares to unripe figs falling from a tree when shaken by the wind. (5) The sky-rolled-up like a scroll-will appear to vanish and rotate back in two opposite directions. This opening of the sky suggests that it will give those on earth a window-like look into heaven where they will see the Lord God and the Lamb, and apparently, this phenomenon will last for one full revolution of the earth so that all the world can see it. (6) Seeing this, the military leaders, the rich, the powerful, and everyone else will run for cover. But tragically, in the midst of all this incredible suffering, mankind doesn't pray for protection from God's wrath but cries out to the rocks and mountains to hide them. What we see is God's wrath is being displayed against unbelievers by letting them go their own way and face the consequences of their behavior.
TRUTH 4: The opening of the Seals in Rev. 6 reveals what a world OPPOSED to Almighty God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is coming to. Our civilization, as we know it, will one day cease to exist under the Antichrist. Therefore, the predestined future of this world holds not peace but judgment.
Comment: Reading about God's judgment on the world in the Tribulation is disturbing, isn't it? Critics might ask: if, as you claim, your God is a God of love, why would He allow those terrible things to happen to the people of the world. There are three main reasons: (1) God wants to bring people to repentance, all of them; (2) God wants to demonstrate His patience (long-suffering), while holding back His wrath against sin; and (3) God wants to establish justice, which involves both rewards and punishments. It boils down to this: as Christians, it's our job to warn people-with love-of the inevitable consequences of sin and invite and lead them to make the right choice-life or death?
